A lot of people on here are very concerned about how others spend their money. If you do not want to pay to play on a high priced club that fine, you don't have to.
My issue is with people coercing others to play for a certain team. There is also the problem of misleading the community.
Yesterday I saw a list of "The Top Sophomores" in the country. It was a list of 100 players. It looked like every player on the list played for a club team. Just about all of the players were committed to D1 programs. Almost all of the top kids on the list were committed to great academic schools with excellent lacrosse programs.
Why would anyone try and convince a top player not to play for a top club team??????
If your kid is a strong player you should give serious thought to the motives of anyone who is trying to hold him back. Their motives are selfish and not in the best interest of your child.
You make valid points about people spending other peoples money. The choice is that of the consumer.
The list you refer to is put together by a person who sees kids play for their travel team. I can assure you that non of these kids is home schooled and they all attend a high school. I think its an injustice not to also list the hometown and high school these kids attend. So lets not overlook the high school teams completely.
Another point is the issue with coercing players to play for certain clubs. I don't think its an all out strong arm move but I do see how a player and their family may feel its obligatory they play for whatever team their high school coach is affiliated with. This can be deemed a bit awkward if you don't play for them. This has been a common practice for years in the privates and now seems to be occurring in the publics.
The list did list the high schools. However the recruiting is done through the clubs. It is very rare to see a college coach at a high school game. The college coaches are all over the tournaments that the top club teams go to. Unfortunately, High School Lacrosse is no longer the most competitive lacrosse environment. Even on Long Island only the top few teams in each division are competitive. Many of the boys on the list were recruit before they ever played a varsity game.
True, there are some boys on that list that rarely step on the Varsity field because of the depth, yet they are considered top prospects in there grad class due to their club.
I think they are considered top prospects due to their abilities. College coaches don't recruit kids based on the club they play for, they recruit based on the player.
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