US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums MID-ATLANTIC LACROSSE MARYLAND FORUM Boys High School

The new MIAA excuse. Just say the league isn’t what it used to be and move on. lost mentality.

Used to be the league would pride itself on being the best in the country. Now it’s we only care about the league play. The shift is simple. They aren’t the best in the country. Haven’t been for many years.

May not have the top team in the nation year in and year out, but is undoubtedly the top league every single year. There's simply no disputing that.

I would also add most D1 recruits are coming out of the MIAA

The WCAC guys MIAA jealousy is stronger than ever.

The MIAA in Lacrosse is still the SEC in college football.

There are up years and down years. But it’s still the strongest and most respected conference in the country. By A LOT.

Not sure why. Those teams just came to our back yard and showed they can win.

Yeah, it doesn't survive basic logic. There are certainly TEAMS in CT, NY, MA who choose to play tougher overall schedules than the MIAA-A slate. But the bulk of their schedules (like 2/3 of games) are out-of-conference.

The Leagues they play in (NY Catholic AAA and NY Section 7 Public for example) are, maybe, reminiscent of MIAA-C with 1-3 MIAA-A (or better) teams thrown in at the top of the heap per conference.

This is about some WCAC dads who can't handle the truth. They play in a 2 sometimes 3 team League with the rest of the Conference being cakewalk games. The other DC programs are down (GP, Bullis and Landon) from their usual heights. Yes, SJC and Gonzaga have done well vs the MIAA A Conference this year and will probably end up higher in the year end rankings. But they've never had the A Conference regular schedule grind, where almost every game (two per week) is a contest. Apples and oranges folks. Occasionally a non SEC team wins the SHIP (see Clemson) but year in and year out the SEC is the toughest league.

It all comes down to money. The kids in the Baltimore and DC area will travel to wherever they get the sweetest deal.

St. Johns and Spalding have proven it. None of those starters lives within 2 miles of those schools. The best kids may live within 30 miles of DC or Baltimore, but they will play wherever the grass is greenest regardless of conference or tradition or anything else.

If the DC schools open their purses, the MIAA disappears.

This is a comically bad take. Family traditions run strong in MIAA and the lacrosse programs at most of the schools have been around far longer than WCAC. None of the kids from North Baltimore area (with a plethora of excellent academic/sports school options) is going to commute all the way to the DC area for a few dollars.

What is this "2 mile standard." The tolerance standard is about a 60 minute bus ride each way. Plenty of public school kids live 30+ minutes from school due to traffic, even if it's only 10 miles away.

There's an EW line (or really a transition zone), roughly Columbia ESE to maybe Edgewater/Dunkirk. North of that zone, nobody is commuting to a WCAC school. South of that zone, nobody is commuting to a MIAA school aside from maybe Spalding or St. Marys. Unless schools are giving out free housing a la St. Frances, it's not a money thing at all.

Of course its a money thing hence SJC and Spaldings sudden emergence.They have out paid and played the MIAA and WCAC teams over the past 4 years. Open purses? They have war chests and have simply played the old Elite shools game better. Gonzaga ,Dematha SJC,landon Bullis all pay and always have or else they wouldnt survive. Its no different than the decades old way of the MIAA. Dont confuse a few good years with the tradition of superior week in and week out league play of the MIAA.

Apparently family traditions not so strong at St Marys where the middle school kids were ready to run 20 miles away to Glen Burnie for a couple more dollars. The Baltimore kids will take a couple more bucks to lure away, but once the new McDonogh and Boys Latin dorms fill up with out of state or Canadian talent, no one will care where the kids' parents live.

Couple more bucks? Hardly call paid tuittion a couple more bucks! Its ok, no one is judging you! HAHAHA

Spot on

Clearly money has played a huge role in talent acquisition but I would posit the relative quality of coaching has as well. Both SJC and Spalding have up tiered their staffs (including sometimes consultants) and are running circles around many of their long time rivals from a tactical adjustment and game planning perspective. Watch the film...it never lies.

Only half of St Marys lower school goes to the high school. very notable alumni send their kids to better schools. The school is very old and the academics are not impressive. good lacrosse, but other than that, not sure why you go there.

MIAA tradition? Which teams have actually helped build tradition? 3? So the rest of the teams haven’t done anything except win JV league.

STM does very little recruiting and cant even keep their middle school Hawks kids there. Its very sad. The Royal Blue should open up the check book once in a while

STM always doing something right they always in top tier of the MIAA A Lacrosse. For a small school it’s impressive. Unlike Spalding public school with uniforms 4x the size.

An update to the DC area lax scholarship thing. Gonzaga, only offers lax scholarships to students in financial need. DeMatha too but there are more prospective students for them and they are now recruiting need-based lax athletes under the new coach. Bullis used to and still has some legacy non-need based lax scholarship students on the roster but those ended with the 2023's. SJC is recruiting and offering scholarships for lax kids regardless of need.

Back to lacrosse anyone watch SPalding on film yet. They look young lots of turn overs. SSDM look slow everyone seems to run by them. Goalie is small. #8 is very good but get no help from anyone else. Can Mighty Mouse do it all himself???

Well, Gonzaga, SJC and DeMatha don’t have to pay so much when their tuition is half that of all IAC schools.

Back to lacrosse anyone watch SPalding on film yet. They look young lots of turn overs. SSDM look slow everyone seems to run by them. Goalie is small. #8 is very good but get no help from anyone else. Can Mighty Mouse do it all himself???


Spalding loses to St Paul out of the gate. STP surprise team of MIAA this year.

There have been 6 different champions in the past 10 years, but don't let facts get in the way of your bias.

Not true about SJC offering scholarship for lax kids regardless of need . you have no clue what you are talking about .

The scholarships are not coming through the schools, there are "alumni sponsored" scholarships that carry the load.

This weeks IL rankings seem much more accurate:
1. St. John's (D.C.), 6-0 | Previous: No. 1
2. Brunswick (Conn.), 0-0 | Previous: No. 2
3. St. Anthony's (N.Y.), 2-0 | Previous: No. 3
4. Gonzaga (D.C.), 3-0 | Previous: No. 5
5. Boys' Latin (Md.), 4-1 | Previous: No. 11
6. Culver (Ind.), 4-1 | Previous: No. 4
7. Calvert Hall (Md.), 6-1 | Previous: No. 13
8. Salisbury (Conn.), 0-0 | Previous: No. 6
9. Deerfield (Mass.), 0-0 | Previous: No. 9 
10. Taft (Conn.), 0-0 | Previous: No. 12
11. Mount Sinai (N.Y.), 1-0 | Previous: No. 15
12. St. Mary's (Md.), 5-0 | Previous: NR
13. Hill Academy (Ont.), 1-1 | Previous: No. 14 
14. McDonogh (Md.), 2-2 | Previous: No. 9
15. Lawrenceville (N.J.), 0-2 | Previous: No. 6
16. Spalding (Md.), 3-1 | Previous: No. 8 
17. Darien (Conn.), 0-0 | Previous: No. 16
18. Chaminade (N.Y.), 0-0 | Previous: No. 17
19. Manhasset (N.Y.), 0-0 | Previous: No. 18
20. Don Bosco (N.J.), 0-0 | Previous: No. 19
21. Haverford (Pa.), 2-1 | Previous: No. 23
22. Garden City (N.Y.), 0-0 | Previous: No. 21
23. Ridgefield (Conn.), 0-0 | Previous: No. 22 
24. IMG Academy (Fla.), 7-0 | Previous: NR
25. Belmont Hill (Mass.), 0-0 | Previous: NR

I was about to post the same thing - it’s the poggi model - Plank is footing the lax bill, not the school so it’s kosher. Same thing with MDLax.

If how high school lacrosse is 9- 12 grade how can some of these schools be rank if they have PG players or pg schools

If how.

They figure that doesn’t necessarily make the PG kids any older than the majority of the schools on this list stacked with holdbacks.

It's absolutely true SJC offers financial aid to lacrosse boys to families who wouildn't qualify based solely on need. Perhaps you are a teenager who doesn't understand the definition of scholarship. It can be as little as free books or meals or it can go all the way up to 100% free tuition. It's not a secret and the WCAC has no rules against it.

Plank is no different than any other donor that donates money to a school. They use the money to upgrade facilities and give to students in need. Many are football and basketball players. Plank could careless about lacrosse at St. John’s.

Not sure why any MIAA school would even bring this up since they ALL do it. The poggi model gets you kicked out of the MIAA because he had more money than the other schools and the little white boys couldn’t hang. Poor boys might get hurt.

Looks like some really big games in the first week of the MIAA season next week. Boys Latin, Spalding or CHC are the teams to beat in the Conference. Can SM, Loyola and McD challenge them?

So true... the quarter zips got a little tight.

Poggi was recruiting kids from all over the country to play football. Subsequently, he was “encouraged” to play a national schedule.

Aww,. did some daddies get their felings hurt with some honesty on here.This is not a football thread even though the majority of boys in MIAA schools play football as well as lacrosse and other sports unlike SJC. Little white boys know better!
No on cares where the money comes from but lets not try to deflect or deny it. SJC has booster money for every sport that includes tuition, tutors,trainers,meals and even personal transportation 12 months a year.

Money coming in the building is money in the building.
Plan might foot the bill for football. Meanwhile the schools’s athletic budget goes other places- to lacrosse.