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College Lacrosse Discussion Page
Jamey Hebb · gt2on11u98t2l2200229h89d4c ·
A group member who shall remain nameless reached out to another page admin with some thoughts and reminders about the recruiting process for HS players, especially those outside of the Top 50, and I want to paraphrase, summarize, and sprinkle my own thoughts here for the benefit of fellow current and future HS lacrosse parents.

I grew up with parents who stressed that the biggest objective when you play sports is to HAVE FUN. Practice hard, play hard, play to win, but more than anything else remember that it's just a game and games are played for enjoyment as well as competition.

The game of lacrosse has grown, and continues to grow, exponentially over the past 20+ years. I spent three years working in California pre-pandemic, and was amazed and pleased by how many kids I saw on the west coast with sticks. All over the US there are HS athletes playing lacrosse at a pretty high level, where it used to be Baltimore/Annapolis and Long Island/Upstate NY that produced virtually all of the best college players.

This particular lacrosse parent (whose sons are both top tier lacrosse players themselves), made an observation that has occasionally been discussed in this forum but bears repeating. In a nutshell, it is for parents and kids not to get overly stressed out or concerned over which school they play for and what NCAA division they play in.

College admissions and college choice should be about academics first and sports second, which is why the term scholar-athlete is phrased in the order it is. Not every kid can study at Harvard just like not every kid can play lacrosse at UVA. And guess what? That's totally okay!

So enjoy the journey with your player(s), fellow lacrosse parents. Make sure first and foremost that your son or daughter goes to the SCHOOL they want to attend, without the focus being on the conference or division or national ranking in lacrosse. If your kid is a D1 talent, congratulations. If your kid is a D2 or D3 talent, I extend the same exact amount of praise and congratulations as I do to the D1 kid and his/her parents.

Set realistic expectations throughout his/her HS years. Make sure your child knows that you will be every bit as proud of him/her wherever they end up playing, even if it's a program no one is familiar with. Pursue an Ivy League education if the grades are there and that's what they want to do, or go to one of the MANY great D2 or D3 schools, or one of the service academies if that's appealing (everyone gets a full ride there).

I'll close with this. Many years back I was at a local Baltimore watering hole with a bunch of fellow old guys who were all former teammates or opponents. Someone asked what we thought the biggest single difference was between when we played HS lacrosse (the '70s and early to mid '80s) versus the kids playing today and the consensus answer was that we played FOR FUN. We didn't play year round, we all played different sports in different seasons, and it was all about the competition - other MSA 'A' Conference schools - and having FUN.

Wherever your son or daughter ends up playing, it's important to remember that having fun while competing is the real goal and reward, in addition to furthering his/her education.

Dude, 1 sentence in and I was bored. Go back to sleep. Its a kiddie lax forum, not the Confucius Journal...

The reason there is no growth at the D1 level is Title 9. It is next to impossible to add a 40-50 player roster in the SEC, Pac12, ACC etc without taking away football slots, which is not going to happen. It’s why they have been adding Womens programs at those schools. They can then add more to the revenue+ football teams

Watched Jets/Shock play today and surprised how well they play box. I guess they just focus on box all winter with the locals kids. That clearly translates to field because they really sharp passing. And moved it lightening fast.

This story is so made up it’s silly. The best part is when you say don’t worry about where your kids play but then have to point out your kids are “top tier lacrosse players” The watering hole story is also made up. Get a life.

Indeed. And every situation is different. From the best teams to low B teams. A lot have dads coaching. And like anything else, some are there for their kid and some can balance it.

The dad coach mentality was unavoidable in PAL because nobody else was going to do it. Now that these kids only play for clubs and school, the dad coaches need to go away. Stop trying to control your son's playing time and pay the tuition like everyone else.

The tuition isn’t commensurate with what is done. Granted some dads may be there for other reasons, but that is for the consumer to evaluate. Good thing is there is so much choice of clubs.

Blahblahblahblah!

Going to be some hard decisions and ego checks for this group in a few weeks. Some kids will be asked to play varsity some won't. If you get pulled up to varsity and just sit never playing, is that better than playing full time on JV? For some it may be, but let your kid decide with your guidance. It should be about coaching and if he's getting better. Good luck to all.

If your son is asked, he should go and see how well he can compete. Likely less minutes now, but it will increase year over year.

Realistically, if you’re son isn’t going to play on varsity, he shouldn’t even be brought up, nor should you want him to be. With that being said, most of you desperately want to tell people that your son is on varsity so you will push for it. Go watch a varsity practice. Most coaches spend half the practice running through offense and defense with the starters and the rest are standing around watching. That’s reality. Maybe a run here or there if someone doesn’t make practice. The move is to stay on JV, hopefully start, build confidence and skill, and contribute quality minutes as a starter next year.

I would say that it depends on the program and how well the JV practices. Sometimes there is a disconnect between Varsity and JV. At our school, it is much better to make varsity and practice with them. They will get runs in the JV games as well. Depending on the player, it can be beneficial to be around the juniors and seniors.

"Going to be some hard decisions and ego checks for this group in a few weeks"

" Going to be some hard decisions and ego checks FOR PARENTS in this group in a few weeks"

there, fixed it.
the kids will all be fine.