Originally Posted by Anonymous
PREMISE: This is a transparent league that offers divisions that are recreational (PAL-like), divisions that are more competitive, divisions with travel teams, and run by an independent.

My thoughts: It would be awesome….but it must unite the entire LI lax community and it must benefit everyone involved.

If it’s only a league for travel/elite teams, it fails to serve the LI community.

I wish this attempt occurred earlier...at least for the age groups of my children.

Now, if you are the individual who is starting this new league, please take the following scenario under consideration, as I think it pertains to many towns here on the island:

A few of our local cronies who helped ‘run the show’ have split up this community, and now almost all families are forced to look elsewhere. Some great players/families want no part of travel lax. They wish for better options. Other families felt forced to join travel lax and are now regrettably pulled into the expensive travel lax machine. They wish for better options. Other families love travel lax but do not like the recreational scenario—because the town organization won’t make A/B teams, or make it very difficult to create a select tournament team, because the cronies want to control everything. Those families wish for better options.

Unfortunately, our kids, who just want to play together with talented friends in their age group/grade, may only play together in the MS or HS seasons only. Now there's tension from the different family factions on the sidelines looking for where they fit in an imaginary pecking order, all while the kids suffer throughout the process. It’s just wrong.

With tryouts 2-3 weeks away for travel, more families from all over LI are getting sucked into the vortex, and another nail is in the coffin for those who truly wish their community could develop together, cost effectively, in a league that benefits everyone of all levels.

I truly wish this league success BUT hope it benefits everyone in future generations. I really do.

Next year is definitely too late to mend the mess here. It will take 4-5 years to to correct itself, BUT ONLY IF the new lax kindergarten families can be educated. It sucks for those of us in it. Chances are the cronies will pass the power down to younger cronies, and so on…But if the process of a new league takes 4-5 years in order to clean up the old mess, and it's a league that can benefit everyone, fantastic. It’s worth it.

Who knows, maybe it will help those towns that can't decide on A/B teams...the town organization can now have a competitive offering with tryouts, and a recreational offering (PAL). But that may open a can of worms with any by-laws of PAL:…

...Any game not on the official schedule or any game played with a NON-P.A.L. Youth Lacrosse League will be considered a NON-SANCTIONED game. The team and or community playing a non- sanctioned game will assume all responsibility and liability for its players, coaches, spectators and officials...
...NO P.A.L. Lacrosse COACH will be permitted to coach in the P.A.L. spring youth lacrosse league if he or she is coaching in any other youth lacrosse league playing with NON-SANCTIONED N.Y. State or P.A.L. RULES DURING the spring. If so, the coach in question would have to sign a disclaimer. A Team participating in another league can not enter that team in the P.A.L. as a full team. That team must be broken up. This has always been a rule of the P.A.L….

In conclusion, if the organization for ‘Your Town' PAL sticks with PAL and not this new league, communities will be broken more, because some parents or hotbeds will create a new organization to play in this new sanctioned league…great, just what we need…two sets of cronies….if you think the back stabbing and nastiness was too much already, think about the fighting over field space in the town now!

THIS LEAGUE MUST UNITE EVERYONE, OR IT WILL CREATE A RIFT MUCH LARGER THAN THE ONE THAT CURRENTLY EXISTS.



I think these guys got tired of seeing how things were run by the people handling PAL. it lead to winter leagues and closeness with officials..Just a guess on my end I don't know for sure so purely speculation on my end.