US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums MID-ATLANTIC LACROSSE MARYLAND FORUM Girls High School

As far as public schools go, it is an issue of perspective. Everyone who reads and comments on this board, play or have kids on a high level lacrosse team. There are 163 schools listed for Girls lacrosse on the MPSSAA site, there are 144 that will field a team for the playoffs. Of those 144 maybe 14 (and that is generous) are Elite (Dulaney, Towson, Hereford, Broadneck, Severna Park, Glenelg, Marriotts Ridge, Middletown, CM Wright, Century, Manchester Valley, Westminster, Liberty, South Carroll) and there are probably 10 more schools (again being generous) that wouldn't be embarrassed by those 14 (Catonsville, Howard, Mt. Hebron, Urbana, Linganore, Bel Air, Fallston, Huntingtown, Queen Anne's, Stephen Decatur). So at the low end 14 of 144 (10%) or at the high end 24 of 144 (~17%). In actually there are probably 6 Elite teams (Glenelg, Man Val, Liberty, Towson, Severna Park, Broadneck) that would be ideal for shot clock play.

The bigger argument is unbalanced Regions in terms of numbers and talent. The fact that only one of Glenelg, Man Valley or Century comes out of a region into the final 8 of 2A when the winner of Northeast (AA) and Frederick Douglass (PG) goes to the final 8 is a joke. The same thing happens in 3A where Westminster, Marriotts Ridge, and Hebron are all together but Catonsville has to battle through Poly, Mervo and Woodlawn to get to the final 8. This state is not that big, have play in games down to 32 (or even 16), seed 1 to 32 (16), and play it out. Teams should not be punished for being in proximity to other good teams. If we want a competitive final 4 and championship, have the best teams advance, not kill each other in the region.