US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums NORTHEAST LACROSSE BOTC MAIN FORUM (LI, CT, WC) Boys 2027-9th Grade Fall 2023/Summer 2024

Please stop this insanity. Every parent of a kid who isn’t as good as his competition makes excuses. That’s the real problem with lacrosse, parents who cannot accept the truth. Always an excuse as to why their kid isn’t the best player on the field. Ridiculous

That's very sad if that has in fact become "only natural". We are taking about lacrosse.....with the exception of posaibihelpjng a kid get into a school they otherwise would not it is a dead end sport with no future in terms of professional careers with money making ability like other professional sports . So first we accepted hood backs etc ...with parents justifying their kid getting an advantage and graduating at 24 years old from college ...now we're at the point where we are accepting parents pumping their kids full of substance to get an advantage.....again ...all for a sport with no future. Very very sad

So to recap.
Reclass your kid in K, 8th grade or both.
Then put them on HGH.
Prep school for a PG year.
Redshirt their first yr of college.
Brag about them playing in College.
Then they take a job working for one of their peers who graduated on time 3-4 yrs before them.
See a Dr for side effects of HGH use. Diabetes, heart disease and blood clots.
Have them talk to a therapist weekly about how their parents screwed up their lives.

It is sad but unfortunately it exists. The "dead end sport" is a moot point though. It's never been about a future career in lacrosse for these families. It's 100% about getting into an elite school or being able to brag about their kid playing D1. It's basically the Varsity Blues approach but cheaper and legal.

Where in that statement is an excuse? I accept that other parents will go to extremes I won't and I'm 100% content with my decisions. I always tell my kids that the playing field is never level in sports or in life - you'll have advantages over some and others will have advantages over you - get over it.

Is there any way to point out and acknowledge a serious problem in the sport that isn't "making excuses"?

Holdbacks, reclasses, HGH use .....what's next ?

To expand on the above posters point ....what happens after college ? In the real world and this is from a real experience that was passed on ....a kid goes to hey an interview at a job and the interviewing manager asks " what did you do in college besides play lacrosse"
...and that kid didn't make it oasg the first round of interviews. So if your kid will be content running lacrosse clinics when he graduates....start to focus on the grades and what matters most ..which is a good education that can help you with whatever you decide to do as a real career in the future .

There’s no HGH use, just disgruntled parents whose kids aren’t as talented making excuses for them. First it was holdback keeping their kids down, now it’s HGH, which if anyone knew anything about, would understand the difficulty of even obtaining it, keeping (needs to be refrigerated) and the insane cost, which is about $3000-$5000 a month on the black market. It’s a notIntelligent sad claim. Your kid [Censored], get over it.

Guess this topic hit a little too close to home!

Guy knows a lot about HGH but no one is using it. Just believe him and bury your head in the sand.

Your son is neither athletic nor very good at lacrosse. Therefore you make up excuses, I don’t, my kid either gets it done or doesn’t, he’s better than some and not as good as others. I don’t make excuses for him like you do for your son. That’s it.

lol.. Sounds about right.. Living the dream... haha.

Sounds like the 91 way!

Can someone in the know list the top 5 showcases

Pssst....no one cares about wins and losses anymore. Or rankings. It's about recruiting now. Being seen and being the best possible player.

Time for parents to lose their brand name club egos and focus on helping their boys get better.

pp didn't ask about clubs, he asked about showcases.

Sounds like the rantings of a parent of a subpar athlete.

I can’t believe we’re still talking about reclasses in high school.

In the know, not sure but my opinion based on navigating 2 high D1 kids through the process over the last 2 years.

1- Showtime- it’s the grand daddy of them all. All Star teams pre ordained but getting in alone adds credibility
2- Main Stage- Great event. Felt it was less pre ordained and venue is terrific.
3- Juniors Open- Philadelphia is not a place for a showcase
4- Inside Lacrosse- Get on their radar at their event.
5- OnePercent- Dont like it and didnt do it. Completely pre ordained but there are coaches there and it is NLF heavy.
6- Prospect days if you are not the pre ordained may have just as much value. One coach told us there is getting in to the showcase which is great but they are watching the all star game which are kids they request to see or that club coaches influence having on there.

5th can be debated but if you look at generating views and the ranking systems IL and the NLF 1% have their own value.

just went through the process last year and these were my takeaways

1- Showtime- its is what it is, but do not panic if you dont get the look - plenty of kids going to top 10 lax programs that did not attend
2- Juniors open sidelines were absolutely packed, i would say as much as Showtime- Philly is tough, parking was tough , hotels were pricey - but 1000000000% worth it
3- main stage was awesome, except day 1 of the 2 day event was a dead period , so no coaches
4- One Percent is a waste unless you already ranked and your just looking to stay on Chandiks good side , not a ton of coaches- most parents just checking off that NLF Box
5- NLF 120 - it was good event - saw a fair amount of good coaches , but only 2 games,

6- Nike all star , last year it was absolutely packed packed with coaches - it was the day after Main stage and all those coaches traveled 20 minutes north to Nike (this year it may conflict)

one thing to be aware of, some tourneys Sweetlax, NALF, Yale Bulldog prior to the Prime time tourney have pre event clinics that in my opinion are very very good. , lets say your son lights it up, decent chance a coach shows up to watch him the next day

just finish on 2 things

1- if your son is a top ranked player , etc, you can get away with a combination of 2 of these showtime, mainstage , juniors etc plus maybe a prospect camp

2- communicate with your hs coaches, and directors prior to these events as advocate is essential

Best in Class as well -is very very good,. each year it gets better and better in terms of college coaches , but the instruction is A pLUS

I would add "The Show" as a showcase to consider. It really helped my older son get looks from some mid-Atlantic and southern schools that hadn't seen him up here. And it's not pre-ordained at all. My son made the all-star team and was under the radar leading up to it.

I wish more understood the “preordained”
It is alive and well. The parents that hustled and schmoozed know what I mean.

Amen to this.

I do find it interesting that so many are focused on the rich kids. I think it’s more the good ole boy my dad is friends with so and so more than his dad is rich. I watch some lax moms maneuver like nobodies business. It’s who you know for sure. As someone calls it “preordained”
Maybe networking is another word. But if you aren’t networking it seems your kid will get lost in the shuffle.

Someone keeps coming on here

Someone keeps coming on here trying to bait people to say something bad about high school players. As the pp said, coaches will find talent.

Okay, keep believing in your little fantasy. But if you just look at facts you’ll see the truth. Or keep fooling yourself, no one really cares.

Years ago took my kid to a clinic run by a professional lacrosse player. All went well, he was a great guy and taught the kids a bunch. We all leave and the pro gets into his beaten up Hyundai Elantra that he barely fits into. This is not a sport that will make you rich. Graduate on time.

Hey clown, ever think he loves what he does? You’re a typical lax parent, judgmental and an a.h.

You can love what you do and do what you love but you don’t need to reclass to do it. Sounds like we hit a re lass parent nerve though hahaha

Truth

"The Greatest Commodity in the world is Time" - Gordan Gekko

Any thoughts on The Show? It’s in October 2027’s only

Anyone do Excelsior? How was it?

Terrible...the whole organization is a bait & switch. STAY AWAY!!!!!

That means your kid can’t play!

Anything run by LILJ for boys is a joke . The family who runs LILJ ran FLG boys club into the ground and now tries to make money with these "showcases" among other things for boys. They also are trying to do high school rankings now lol.....they know nothing about boys lacrosse on long island and are just fed information from a few coaches that they know in exchange for propping up some of the coaches boys and club teams . Complete joke and money grab .

Do you think it’s the same for girls too?

Agree - LILJ is like a paid marketing firm for mediocre lacrosse players who like to see their names and pictures on the LILJ IG page....

Rosters are out for the LILJ All 91 Games.

They having a paid team practice.

This is true. Did Excelsior last year. Waste of time and money. At least it's local this year.

I can help get your kids on the LILJ watchlists if they care about meaningless Instagram fame.