I think you all have it wrong. THe growth of the game is a good thing and will eventually make the game and the players better.

Think of football and baseball and basketball. Did the players get worse as the game grew? I think not. As more people pay the game gets more competitive.

One or two people see a game that isn't as skilled as they remember it being two years ago? I think time to recognize that your good old days are not coming back and the growth of the game will continue south and west as football parents search for safer alternatives. Over time it means that the best athletes, whether or not they are from hot beds, will continue to get recruited at the highest levels.

If and when it becomes a money sport at college level (10, 20 years?) D-1 schools will be offering full rides and then best athletes have choices.

Early recruiting is not too blame, it is a natural progression. At some point (assuming the NCAA doesn't change--and I think that is 50-50 at best) early recruiting becomes meaningless as kids commit and de-commit in greater numbers.

What kid wouldn't de-commit from say MD to go to Duke or Ivy? It will happen as the search for the best athletes continues...MD is a great school, so no disrespect

Growth and change are necessary and we are not going back to the good old days with one club or two clubs on LI and one or two in MD.

So, I completely disagree with the premise that because there are more clubs, the skill level will decline. Perhaps there is an adjustment period, but as more kids play, the skill level will grow as the better athletes pick up sticks.

It is a game that requires all the same physical attributes of all sports. Speed, strength, hand/eye and size...

Those physical attributes are the reason for the rising practice of re-classing.

I would counter argue that in fact clubs that used to be great, just aren't as great as they once appeared because everyone else is getting better, not that MD is getting worse, but Philly teams, Texas teams and CA teams and colorado teams are now getting more athletes and more competitive...

What would you take as your starting middie? A 6 ft 3 freak athlete that has played for 1 year, or a 5-10 lesser athlete playing for 10 years.