Anonymous wrote:Rick is a good coach, but the program turned around because his daughter was amazing. There were some other girls in that area who were also excellent, and they wanted to play together. That got the ball rolling and now they have a program with a nearby talent pool that is strong and the school is 2x cheaper than SSSAS.

SSSAS is always going to be excellent, but they are relying more than ever on girls outside of Alexandria.

Charlotte Sofield is awesome and yes, many girls moved to BI to play with her and to now attempt to follow in her footsteps. However, Rick has kept that pipeline flowing, and he has even more girls than ever this year (look at Varsity roster). Rick is a huge draw in his own right. He is a great coach and am amazing person.

While its true that BI is less than half the cost of SSSAS, the problem is that it also offers a much lower level education. You just dont get the rigorous, challenging academics at BI that you get at other area privates and Catholics. Even SSSA doesnt stack up academically against the other area privates in some folks opinions. Fo the girls who want to play at State schools this is fine but for those looking to the Ivy league and similar, BI isnt gong to prepare them for the acadmeics if they get there ( and yes, I know KD is at Yale but that is an anomoly). As for SSSAS relying more on girls outside Alexandria, great. There is nothing wrong with that, private schools are meant to attract students from a wide geographical area and that can only benefit SSSAS in multilple ways, not just for lacrosse.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is there such a disparity between the BI girls lax program and BI boys lax program? It seems given the strength of the lax programs near the school (ALC, Fort Hunt, etc), they both should be strong not just the girls.

Because of Rick Sofield. He built the girls program from scratch. No one has ever been interested in the boys program.

Why not? Ireton has the area talent. With PVI moving further west, there may be a gap that BI can fill.

O'Connell will be the beneficary of PVI's move to Loudoun, not BI. To get things going, BI needs a minimum of: a good/great coach AND a number of kids that form the nucleus of a strong team to get the school some publicity. Then hopefully better kids come and it becomes self-sustaining.

They've been trying for years with no success.

They should hire a coach from one of the powherhouse club teams. That synergy helped build up PVI through VLC.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is there such a disparity between the BI girls lax program and BI boys lax program? It seems given the strength of the lax programs near the school (ALC, Fort Hunt, etc), they both should be strong not just the girls.

Because of Rick Sofield. He built the girls program from scratch. No one has ever been interested in the boys program.

Why not? Ireton has the area talent. With PVI moving further west, there may be a gap that BI can fill.

O'Connell will be the beneficary of PVI's move to Loudoun, not BI. To get things going, BI needs a minimum of: a good/great coach AND a number of kids that form the nucleus of a strong team to get the school some publicity. Then hopefully better kids come and it becomes self-sustaining.

They've been trying for years with no success.

Rick is a good coach, but the program turned around because his daughter was amazing. There were some other girls in that area who were also excellent, and they wanted to play together. That got the ball rolling and now they have a program with a nearby talent pool that is strong and the school is 2x cheaper than SSSAS.

SSSAS is always going to be excellent, but they are relying more than ever on girls outside of Alexandria.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is there such a disparity between the BI girls lax program and BI boys lax program? It seems given the strength of the lax programs near the school (ALC, Fort Hunt, etc), they both should be strong not just the girls.

Because of Rick Sofield. He built the girls program from scratch. No one has ever been interested in the boys program.

Why not? Ireton has the area talent. With PVI moving further west, there may be a gap that BI can fill.

Anonymous wrote:Why is there such a disparity between the BI girls lax program and BI boys lax program? It seems given the strength of the lax programs near the school (ALC, Fort Hunt, etc), they both should be strong not just the girls.

Because of Rick Sofield. He built the girls program from scratch. No one has ever been interested in the boys program.

Why is there such a disparity between the BI girls lax program and BI boys lax program? It seems given the strength of the lax programs near the school (ALC, Fort Hunt, etc), they both should be strong not just the girls.

At least one of those transfers wasn't an actual recruit and will be lucky to even make the team.

I love how some people like to make predictions this far in advance. But your boosting of the Bullis program is transparent and worthless. Player rankings mean nothing. The coach is good, but he is heading down the same path as the GP coach, losing his mind during games and trying to win at all costs. He is a good man and hopefully will regain some perspective. Most of the IAC coaches are very, very good at this point.

As to why some transfer to Bullis from the other mentioned schools, a lower key academic environment is a major reason.

I find that hard to believe. Gonzaga's baseline tuition is much cheaper. Bullis has been doling out money to families that don't even need it. The student body mix at the 3 schools is vastly different. I smell a troll.

We applied and were accepted to Gonzaga, Bullis, and Landon for 9th grade and all 3 schools showed great interest in our son. All 3 lax coaches were very informative and helped us through the process. We decided on Landon due to their offering the best financial aid package. We felt all 3 schools could help our son reach his academic and lacrosse goals, but the money offered for FA was the final determining factor.

Anonymous wrote:its simple... they are offering MONEY / waiving tuition.

ASK the STAB transfer.

They are not waiving tuition, you idiot. Nor did they poach the assassination kid. You know nothing.

If I was an outstanding lacrosse player I'd look at Bullis. It seems that the Bullis program has been on a steep rise the past few years. But I wonder, why do these players want to transfer? Were they unhappy at their prior school? Is the Bullis coaching staff that good? Is it the new academic building on campus? Is it about financial aid? Does the team need the players? College connections? (Recent grads have gone on to play at top lacrosse and academic school) What is it that makes these players transfer to Bullis? What is IT that Bullis is selling, that kids and parents are buying?

It could be a combination of all of the above.

The team loaded up on several high profile transfers this summer (1 from MOCO Public, 1 from Sidwell, 1 from St. Stephens, 1 from SJC, and 1 from STAB)

Maybe Bellistri is just a great salesman

its simple... they are offering MONEY / waiving tuition.

ASK the STAB transfer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One things is clear: NL DCE and Next Level are really hurting Madlax. Madlax is getting very few kids from Montgomery County any more. Most kids from suburban MD are going either to those clubs with some going to Crabs, FCA, BW and VLC. You are really seeing it affecting Madlax, which used to have a much bigger pool.

I almost feel sorry for Mr. Madlax. He's made money hand over first in part because he cornered the market on talent. His was the only game in town. That's changed. Take Next Level. Just look at the rosters for Next Level just published. A decade ago most of those players would have only one real choice - Madlax. No more.

Oh, if anyone had any doubt about why this "sports" thread is so popular (and is a natural intersect with) the private school community, just look at those rosters. Chockfull of the ritzy private schools.

Take that DELETE THIS THREAD maniac.

DELETE THIS THREAD