Originally Posted by Anonymous
Originally Posted by Anonymous
this thread has been a real wake up call for me and I feel so stupid and used by the system.

I had been so naive about summer lacrosse and raising my son, I had been lead to believe that club lacrosse was about having fun, making new friends, playing for new or different coaches and maybe at the end of the day becoming good enough at the sport to maybe improve his chances of getting into a better college than he would have without lacrosse.

I now realize (thanks to the posts on BOTC) that it is all about return on investment and the only quantifiable answer to "was it worth it?" is how big an athletic scholarship he received.

Now looking back, I wish I had not spent all that time in the car with my son, all that time meeting new people and watching my son enjoy himself playing the sport he loved when I could have been at home reading a book while he played xbox or hung out with his friends.

We are all fools to allow our kids to play travel sports and spend so much time with them when they so clearly could be doing something else with there lives.

shame on us.
While I do appreciate most of your sarcasm, the fact is, the combination of both a grade based system with the recent emphasis on early recruiting has in fact spoiled the summer travel game for many. And it's really not about what summer travel sports should be, as you correctly point out.
I have picked up on a divide in Club/travel lax. It used to be just Rec and Club, but there is actually Rec, Club, and Recruiting Club. This structure is widely supported buy the Club population, as many clubs strive for if not exist for getting kids in a recruiting groove (Recruiting Club). Other Clubs like to have teams to go and compete in tournaments where there will be few if any coaches, and these kids want to play at a higher level and be with friends (Club). Then there is good ole Rec.