Originally Posted by Anonymous
I am faced with this dilemma now with my 8th grade son. He plays on his town travel team and on a summer travel team.As spring rolls around he will have lots of "travel" practice commitments. Last year the JHS "experinece" was wanting to say the least. Poor coaching and many players with little or no skills or lax knowledge. He has stated that he does not want to play school ball but I am afraid of alienating the HS coaches. We are in a strong LAX town. Some 8th graders are moved up to JV in our town but they are the exception, not the rule. My son is on the cusp of being able to play at the JV level but he and both agree he is not there yet. Nor will the school move 8th graders onto the freshman team. What to do? I have told him to play school lax and just have fun with it but he counters that its practice everyday and all they do is work on basic drills coupled with limited playing time b/c coach has to play everyone.


This should not be a "dilemma"...MS sports are what they are. Your son/daughter will be playing with his peers. As stated here, all of these kids are playing club ball year round. They have a lot of Lacrosse. Being on a school team is about being on a team. Im not "dating myself" when I say "that is important". I keep hearing on here about the individual kid, lacrosse is a team sport! There is something to be said about a kid who is "lights out" good, who plays for his school team and becomes a teacher, a leader, a role model. That is what playing team sports is about. Your kid (who is better than everyone else) can learn so much from this. sure it is frustrating sometimes but, learn from it, teach from it. It is such an incredible opportunity for a child to learn patients and acceptance. I Don't mean to get on my "soap box" but, it is frustrating to hear parents talking that their child is "too good" to play on a team or that it is a "waste of time". Nothing is a waste of time if you learn from it. And do I think not playing on a MS team will alienate a HS coach... Absolutely! Coaches want team players, no matter how talented they are. Go out there, play well & enjoy your time with some friends, you're 13 years old!