Originally Posted by Anonymous
Probably a better question for my local PAL director but what the heck why not get this thread's view on this. So the coaches on my 4th graders team I think are fine, but their philosophy definitely is win first (of course they don't come outright and say it), which means if it's a close game, some kids are lucky to get any minutes. My understanding is that this is against the spirit of what PAL is supposed to be. Am I wrong with this line of thinking? I mean look I get it, better players get more minutes, but to have kids not play at all, or just 2 minutes seems wrong. Let me know if I'm off base. Thanks


For PAL...for 4th grade... you are correct. The purpose is to still expose ALL kids to game concepts and split time evenly. That is the perfect world scenario. Do we live in a perfect world, where everything that is supposed to happen does? No.

Your PAL director will give you the most specific answer for your town and how they approach things. Many will say "Yes, we split time and/or teams evenly" and many of those towns then churn out deep talent at higher grades as kids mature at a different rate. Most important thing at this age (and even younger) is practice & game reps. Very easy to coach the most "natural athlete" when they are young, but some of the shining stars at the HS/college level may be the bottom of the roster kids now, or potentially haven't picked up a stick yet. It's not a surprise that towns that follow this are consistently ranked among the best HS programs on LI

Other organizations say they split equally, and do the exact opposite. And you can see that right away and it is unfortunate when coaches don't give attention to the full roster. For PAL, we're all paying the same amount. PAL isn't designed to be club lacrosse. It is still about learning.

My boys are lucky enough to not be in one of these towns. If we were, my younger son would be on the fast track, whereas my older guy would have been given no attention and left to flounder until he ultimately gave up. But with the attention of his PAL coaches thru the years (and some at home practice with me & some clinics along the way) he has become a 10th grade Varsity starter in a top-level high school program with a realistic shot at playing D1 or D2.

Listen, I get it. Everyone wants to win but some towns identify winning differently. I haven't heard of many towns that tout that their 4th grade PAL team went undefeated......but LI/state championships are counted!!

Good luck to your son
And I hope you don't get bashes on here for asking a normal question