And here is the catch 22. If your child is excelling in Lacrosse or may have the opportunity to grow as a player outside of his district, why not go play for a club where all of the kids are at their skill level as opposed to playing for a town program where the skill levels vary.
The coaches will get mad at you if you elect to leave as if you did something wrong. At the youth level its not about winning but development of players is important and the HS coach will frown upon that parent going and playing elsewhere. Is it because of caring or money?
My district the kids are going outside and there is a clear difference between the ones that stay and the ones that go outside. Huge difference but the HS coaches aren't happy and they are using all of there bullying techniques to get the kids to stay. Conflict as I see it.
Again I can only speak for my district. Some of the boys do play for outside clubs as well as the town club. The HS coach has no problem with this, he only asks that if there are schedule conflicts that they make the town team the priority or give him a heads up when they are not going to be available so he can plan for it.
This whole thread wouldn't exist if every district was like this, IMHO. In fact, the districts can act as a trusted resource for parents and advise them on travel and help families make the correct choices (objectivity is the key). Because we all can admit that there is a lot of benefit to being in the appropriate travel situation. No reason for this power struggle between district and travel, figure out a way to make it work and everybody wins.
"The District" has nothing to do with it in our town. It is the HS Coaches running a for profit business in the off season. The fact that it is "For Profit" takes the objectivity out of it. The coaches have a financial interest in their private business. The reason for the power struggle is due to more than one factor. Two of the factors are money and the ego of the coaches. Players and parents are afraid to say or do anything so it is allowed to continue.
There is most certainly a conflict of interest.
If you really believe that then don't play for them. No one can make you do something you do not want to do. Any high school coach who doesn't play his best players in the spring, no matter if they play for him in the summer or not, is out of his mind and will not have a job for very long. Every community wants to win at the varsity level in every sport. It is a pride thing. If the coach would purposely not play his best players trust me the community would be up in arms and the coach would not be coaching for very long.
In large districts with competitive programs this is not true. The absolute best will play no matter where they play in the summer but there are only a few of them. The next tier of player is where the problem lies. It is all very subjective so the coaches can do what they want.
Coaches are not fired for under performing and they are not fired for not playing the better players.
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