Much of this back and forth is silly. For the younger ages at the Town level, its BOTH the parents AND coaches responsibility to work with the kids on skill development (catching, passing, cradling). Each side should not be pointing the finger at the other.

I am a parent, not a coach. My oldest child took an interest in lacrosse at a very young age because his friends were into it. He is not the greatest in terms of natural athletic ability. I spent a ton of time with him just getting him to be able to catch the ball. Even in the living room with soft underhand tosses. This allowed him to become a very good player - better than is athletic ability suggests he should be. He was also helped by the fact that for a period time his crew of friends had sticks in their hands everywhere they went. My younger son is more of a natural athlete so I just let him pick it up on his own and from just being with his brother.

The bottom line is that as a parent you have to know your kid and their inherent abilities. If your kid is not going to be catching the ball at 3rd/4th grade than you either have to work with him on it, or resign yourself to watching a kid struggle.

But more broadly, every community should have a lax program where every kid in town who wants to play gets to play. And this will include kids who won't catch the ball no matter how hard they work at home, and kids who won't catch the ball because they never pick up a stick other than at practice/games. It will include kids that seem like they hate lacrosse because they hate everything. It will include kids who are more into soccer and basketball and hockey. It will include all kinds of kids. Its very important for a community to offer this to their kids - not just lacrosse but other sports. Its up to the adults to integrate the kids in the best way possible. But every kid who wants to play lacrosse should have a team that he or she can be on.