The Canadian holdbacks playing against the Baltimore holdbacks - what is so unsettling about that?
Not exactly close. Some Baltimore teams have some one year holdbacks on their roster, can range anywhere from 2 to about 6, on a total roster of about 22-25 players. Hill Academy players are, for the most part 2 years older than Baltimore teams. Most all of their roster have players that are a one year holdback and now are doing a PG year at Hill. So it is not even close to being equal. I would bet some of their players are 20 years old or close to it.
My son is doing a PG year at The Hill Academy this year. Guess what, he turned 18 this past fall. He said there is one player on the team that is 19. Sorry this information doesn't fit into your paradigm. The team is good due to dedicated professional coaching and very driven players, not because the players are older.
Here is a great article:
http://www.si.com/edge/2016/05/04/the-hill-academy-lacrosse-canada-high-school-brodie-merrillMay I ask why your son is doing a PG year? Is it for academics or to further enhance his game? If for academics, I applaud you forgiving your son the opportunity to gain and grow in the academic world. If for game enhancement, will the payback be worth the cost, I know the Hill Academy is expensive. My son is a hs freshman, does ok in school but I wish his grades were at a higher level and if they remain at this level a PG year may help him. He tries hard and is focused on his school work, just takes him a little longer.
The first thing that the folks at The Hill Academy will tell you is that it is not for everyone. My son is a very good student but he is there to enhance his game. By doing a PG year it made his senior season meaningful for recruiting purposes. It's expensive, probably the equivalent of boarding at McDonogh. But not nearly as expensive as the New England boarding schools or IMG. If you look at it strictly in monetary terms then no, the payback is not worth the cost. I might recover maybe a quarter of the cost with his athletic scholarship. But I knew that ahead of time. Very few will ever recover the amount of money spent on lacrosse.
Again, the school is not for everyone. Several kids that started at the school at the beginning of the year are no longer there. The lacrosse and competition for playing time is intense. Although the vast majority of kids are Canadian, there are a handful of Americans. I believe some attend for a year or two and then head back home with enhanced lacrosse skills to play on their HS teams.
The Hill staff works diligently to place each player in a college program. They know everyone. Check out their website and give the school a call. I would encourage you to explore all your options, though. There are many ways to do an extra year of HS. Your son needs to love lacrosse to consider the school, otherwise your're wasting his, and your, time.
If you want to get an idea of how Hill plays as a team, they have games at Salesianum, LaSalle College Prep and St. Joe's Prep from 3/30-4/1 this week.
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