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

The whole nation has been short on talent since Covid. Not just the MIAA. Lots of kids hung it up.

Agree, Lacrosse took a big hit. Club Lacrosse and $ have also contributed to decline.

Parents are realizing early that lacrosse is a waste of good money. Boys are dropping the sport earlier and earlier each year. The allure of college scholarships and easy entry into the top universities doesn't exist. If you look at where the kids are committing. For most it’s a lot of wasted money for a kid sitting on the bench.

So True, for a time with recruiting all you heard was , lacrosse will get you into an IVY or Top school. That talk is getting old now. Parents are realizing there are many easier ways to get in. Plus only a few get in each year , numbers dont lie.
Club has taken its toll along with at elite level competing against private school holdbacks or holdbacks in general. Many parents arent holding their child back to copete at a niche sport.
Numbers are down , no matter what the useless USL puts out.

St Mary’s athletic director out probably the lacrosse coach is next. Spalding getting stronger and stronger.

Holdbacks is not why anyone quits on the sport unless your kid doesn’t stack up. By the time you are in high school it makes no difference. It’s an advantage for younger players to play with bigger older teammates prior to high school. The non holdbacks should be comfortable playing with their older teammates vs the holdbacks who could get frustrated playing against older bigger kids!!

Please god let them replace the St Marys HC

I think it's going to get weirder. The MS age kids who are playing "serious" lax are almost all 3-sport athletes. In fact if you look at other sports, there are almost no single sports athletes anymore at the 2028-2031 age groups, except "track kids" and maybe "swimmers." Think it applies to 2026s and 2027s as well....we'll know for sure in about 6 months.

How did this happen? Especially the 2027s - 2030s were at MS / upper ES age when covid hit, parents of athletes signed their kids up for any and every sport that was willing/able to hold practice starting in Summer 2020. And the kids have generally stuck with multiple sports since then, at much greater percentages than, say, the 2018-2023 classes.

Why does this matter for lacrosse? It means that while the same # of teams has been filled across all sports, the number of total athletes is sharply down. On the surface, who cares, we still see fast, coordinated kids on the field in the 2026-2031 classes. But as they get forced to "make choices," I am definitely concerned that the best and fastest lax players (who traditionally would have given up lax by 10th at the latest, for monetizable sports) will eventually drop the sport.

An example, one family friend is getting heavily recruited for upper D1 football, though he's a respectable lax player. He's spending weekends touring with football coaches. No hitting the wall, no fall lax tournaments, etc. If he gets a D1 football offer he likes in the next 6 months, it's hard to see him risking injury in his final 2 lax seasons.

Next spring, I think we'll see the real drop in talent. And no it's not just in the IAC or MIAA. Club, rec, and school teams nationwide - and in other sports too - are struggling to find adequate coaches, players, etc.

Private high schools frown at good high school athletes. Excellent athletes often turn out to be great leaders in life. These athletes disturb the culture schools have created…. everyone is equal! Instead of pulling the bottom up they tear the top down. Kids are seeing this and many give up too soon, especially in lacrosse which is very expensive to participate

The extra year of college sports and the new transfer rules are the biggest drivers of the lack of talent. Those eliminated 4 years of incentive for kids to improve.

The lack of quality coaches and the cost of facilities is the next. Even in the suburbs, the cost to participate for the returns you get have become excessive.

AD gone to Hopkins .. Coach Next . Spalding is the team to beat in that neck of woods . Problem is the talent there is minuscule in AA.

Tell me your kid did “pre-first” and was an 8th grade holdback without telling me

[quote=Anonymous]Private high schools frown at good high school athletes. Excellent athletes often turn out to be great leaders in life. These athletes disturb the culture schools have created…. everyone is equal! Instead of pulling the bottom up they tear the top down. Kids are seeing this and many give up too soon, especially in lacrosse which is very expensive to participate[/quote
In what alternate world is this happening?

Private schools frown on good high school athletes? Where? Which ones?

Gilman? Maybe. Name another.

Yeah Everyone should be OK with my cheating and my kids cheating... If you are not then your kid is soft

We all know he is a private school parent who held his kid back . Private school parents are some of the biggest hypocrites I know when it comes to their child and lacrosse. The constant we teach good characters and love all around you especially anyone of color while using every means possible to make sure their child gets to the front of line with holding back, politics , change schools, etc. From a Private School parent of two boys .

Yeah, I mean Annapolis area really a waste land for lacrosse talent, don't even get me started on public schools like Broadneck and Severna Park..
.
Honestly, in what fantasy land do you live? LOL.

Yeah, they really do, bring in kids for sports, give them tuition discounts (we won't call them scholarships), they really are rough on those athletes.

St Marys dying a slow death. They be in the B conference shortly.

College coaches don't know what do do. You are seeing it already with the signings.
With the past few years of extra covid eliigibility and the transfer portal, coaches haven't had to really "recruit."
Kids just chose where they wanted to go, they got a test run of their freshman or sophomore year, and then they move to where they could play more.
So with a compressed window of eligibility, the coaches are struggling to get this class right.

Biggest lost were the 2021 and 2022 class. They have been getting shafted since ER ( changed at 2021) and then Covid extra year ( 2020 ) .

Why are Team 91 2025’s the only MIAA kids committing to D1 programs? Is the 2025 class that weak throughout the league?

Look who is here, Hi Mark ! Didnt you already tell us this over in Team 91 thread? I guess its time to get some new recruits to your program. We all know there is only one team that matters now to you now. The jig is up, your attitude and false caring is coming home now.

91's branding requires that they hyper-promote it. But objectively, it's a great team. To be fair.

91 has had two good teams, Everyone knows why , The whole program and its director have put their time and resources there , They are down to one now. Once he graduates , it is anyone's guest what MM will say and do.

I’m curious why 91 players year in and year out get to the top D1 programs vs the other clubs? It’s not marketing or shiny helmets.

That's false.

A multitude of 25s from the miaa and other clubs have committed to D1 programs.
M

Well let's get the facts in order first. Other than the outstanding 2023 and 2025 teams, where the owner of 91MD has his sons, the recruitment record of 91 MD is fine, and maybe boringly similar to other top clubs. It's fine, and they do a good job of it - just like Crabs, Hawks, FCA, Madlax, etc. Posting all over the internet that they'll "boast a significant number of top 50 recruits" is silly and not factual, unless you define "significant" as "2 of 50."

Another fact is that if you look at how many "91 players" are in the "top D1 programs", defining "top D1" as the top 20-25 D1 programs who are potential contenders for the NCAA tourney each year, then most years, "how many" is probably 2, 3, or 4 players. Very similar to other MD top clubs.

All of this leads me back to the point that, absolutely, 100% it is marketing. It is marketing a good product that for some players at the HS level, meets the promises made by the club after 8th grade when all the youth players are moved to "practice team" and the new players make up the new roster.

Mark will accurately say that "the 2023 and 2025 teams were together since 3rd grade," which is largely true, but it's also because a lot of really talented adults poured thousands of hours of coaching and parent-networking (and HS coach networking!!!) into ensuring those teams were an absolute Unit on the field. When you look at the younger 91MD teams, you see that they have about 50% player turnover every year, so clearly, the grip on this has loosened.

Great example is the 2027 team, who went from being a non-factor through most of 8th grade, to suddenly getting some big wins in the summer before 9th grade. Is it because the 5 years of player development suddenly "hit" between May and June of 8th grade? Or because the HS roster additions began? No judgment here, because we know Crabs, FCA, and absolutely the NJ and LI teams are building rosters this way at the very same time. It is what elite HS club teams do.

Good Lord Mark give it a rest.

Curious who the other 25’s are and from what clubs and to what D1 programs? Question is not to promote 91 but to compare clubs.

Again...facts matter. Until LOI day it's all verbal commitments and every family and every club treat them differently. Would be ridiculous to assume commitment #s 24 days into the recruiting of 25s just based on IG posts.

Completely agree about “excessive”— seems to me that College coaches are looking to make their pockets fatter. That contributes to the lack of “signing”. “Committed” kids don’t pay to attend events. Charging kids $150-175 for “Prospect Days” and then bringing in 100 kids? Easy $15k for one day and some mass emails. Seriously- No good evaluation can be done with those numbers anyways. Any kid who they can access is invited. Instead of telling Johnny he has no chance - “come to our prospect day”. (No camps will be attended unless the there is some actual person to person contact over here). They host these 3 times a year! It’s about money- whether you are at the scoopers, middle school or high school level- it is about making money and nothing to do with the sport or players.

I am curious what people do for a living to afford this nonsense- $300 for a few hour event? $900 for a two day showcase? That is on top of club dues- a few thousand? Add it all up- parents paying $15k to get a $10k “scholarship” at an overpriced school. Rant over.

But it’s the BOTC way!

All the commitments are on Inside Lacrosse

Not sure if it makes your point or disproves it, but that '27 91 team added just one player in the timeframe you mentioned. The rest was the exact same team that had been together the entire previous year. And they scrapped the offense they ran during the spring, installed a new offense, and ran some new lines during the summer.. So probably a few factors working there.

Many are not.

All commitments are on Inside Lacrosse. 91 has had more highly ranked players from the ‘22 thru ‘25’s than any other program. The ‘24’s just wrapped up and their ranking and signings are equally impressive as the other years.

No dog in this fight but NLF ranks seem to come out before commits happened.IL is good database after the fact so both useful.

FCA has players committed to:

Yale
Hopkins
UNC
Towson
Air Force

Seriously…. that’s all you have FCA, Yale??

Yeah....but they aren't. The vast majority are eventually posted there, yes. But a stocks ticker, it ain't.