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

What’s happened to Gilman lacrosse?
In my day they were very competitive and ranked in the top quadrant of the MIAA every year!

There is almost a zero percent chance Gilman finishes behind John Carroll.

Oh this should be good. Please, tell us why.

You first, since your sarcasm implies you have a valid argument … or not!

Gilman should drop to the B Conference in football and lacrosse like they are in basketball. Its unfair having the boys compete for a title they can never win. Nothing wrong with de-emphasizing athletics in favor of scholarly pursuits. Just be honest about it to your stakeholders.

Gilman is happy in A and will remain there. Competing against some of the best lax programs (MIAA A conference) and having the best academics in the conference is a good combo. And never say never btw

Gilman will be a relevant program again and some of the improvement will be organic. I don't think they will be able to compete with the boarding schools - BL, McD, CHC - but kids considering those schools will begin to look more favorably on the likes of Gilman and SPS knowing they won't be recruited, and then be recruited over. There are plenty of kids currently at BL and McD who are so bitter and unhappy that they have been recruited over. That dissention will show in the locker room and on the field. The sit for a year rule should apply to kids incoming from out of conference. If it doesn't, then the current MIAA kids should be able to move without sitting a year.

I don’t know of any Hawks at IAC.

The problem is approaching the league like there's only one way to do it.

Many A programs prioritize winning and capturing talent above all else.

Other programs prioritize competing against the best and developing talent.

Both styles have shown their ability to win championships in this league.

Just depends what you value and how you wanna get there.

Gilman will be a relevant program again and some of the improvement will be organic. I don't think they will be able to compete with the boarding schools - BL, McD, CHC - but kids considering those schools will begin to look more favorably on the likes of Gilman and SPS knowing they won't be recruited, and then be recruited over. There are plenty of kids currently at BL and McD who are so bitter and unhappy that they have been recruited over. That dissention will show in the locker room and on the field. The sit for a year rule should apply to kids incoming from out of conference. If it doesn't, then the current MIAA kids should be able to move without sitting a year.


I have a 27 (9th grader next year). Should i not consider BL because of recruitng?

When boys get kicked out of other Baltimore MIAA schools they are almost always accepted by and end up attending BL. 'Nuff said.

Landon, GP, and DeMatha all have Hawks. I think all are IAC but not sure?

Last 10 champions: CHC (4), BL (2), McD (2), St. Mary's (1), LB (1). How many 6th seeds have won, One LB in 2013, How many 4th and 5th seeds: At least 2. Some programs prioritize winning the championships, some don't seem to care too much. The kids know who's committed to winning and vice versa. Lots of playing time opportunities with programs other than the perennial contenders.

Does the coach know of (and want) your son to come play for him? If he’s local does he play for and start and stand out on a team in the HoCo elite division? If not that’s fine. JV or freshman team is a nice option.


If you are from texas, Florida or wherever and are considering BL - if you aren’t locked in at this point go somewhere else if you want to play.

Minor technicality

Looks like they had a decent showing at NHSLS. Where else did they play? Any freshmen/transfers that will step up to replace all of the lost talent?

True of all the schools for incoming, non-holdback 9th graders (and most holdbacks too)...........With the fool amount charged for tuition, even if there's a family legacy at a particular school, it's important to find the right fit...including spending maximum time with the coaches, current HS players, teachers, and on campus before he decides.

Nobody goes to BL for academics strictly (ironically over half the kids don't play a sport...which is atypical for the other schools), but they have a strong reputation for sending well balanced, high level athletes to pretty prominent academic-focused D1 colleges. Maybe that's your son?

But for all the MIAA A-level lax schools......unless your kid is a STARTER on a top 4 HoCo club team, he'll be in the applicant "mix"......assume a 25% chance of admission. If he's the starting FOGO for 91 Nationals, that's worth some extra mileage. Just a 3rd line player on Team 91, Predators, Sidewinders...?....all the same and a non factor.

If your kid absolutely is burning with desire to play varsity all four years, that's a key data point.

If your kid has always dreamed of that blue and white, blue and yellow, or shiny red helmet, and doesn't care whether he's on fresh/soph, JV, or varsity until some point in 11th grade, that's important to know too.

If your kid has less than a 3.5 at a private school, or a 3.8 at a public school, that's a key data point.

Does your kid need resources - from athletic trainers to tutors to actual school therapists? Different at all of the schools.

In the academics, extra curriculars and sports your kid finally settles into at any of the private schools, if there's a decent fit, he will have brothers for life. No joke. Especially if it's competitive and challenging....many prep school lax kids find HS academics more difficult than college.

Very good advice and systematic but wait till you see what colleges and universities outside of Maryland are now charging! They are all north of $70-grand and soon to be over $80,000 per year.
….And you thought MIAA tuitions were high.

Pretty simple…. if you want academics and lacrosse you go to Gilman….. they have more kids playing in the Ivies then any other MIAA school in the past few years.

If strictly lacrosse then you go to any other MIAA school.

Said by a parent who's kid would ride the bench at "another" MIAA school

At least the bench won't have 60 kids on it, and the diploma means something.

It depends,is the answer to your Ivy League admission Gilman cache...If you qualify for significant financial aid, yes on the Ivies. If you don't qualify for any financial aid and have a 50% plus offer from a comparable academic school (Duke, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Stanford (for the ladies only) or an appointment from a top service academy to get an engineering degree, your answer may change.

Tell yourself whatever you need to to sleep at night pal.

He should sleep well. It’s actually a good point. And a great selling point.

Which MIAA school has the biggest varsity roster, CH? How many players last season? How many graduated?

Vague recollection:

CHC: 64
BL: 60
LB: 60
AS: 58-60
Everybody else: generally 48-56.


Both the CHC and LB rosters were light on seniors (10-15) and 0-5 freshmen. The former number is partly because kids who lettered in varsity (or didn't) in 10th or 11th, but who rarely played varsity in 11th and don't expect to play much as seniors or play in college, opt out, to pursue another sport for their college applications. (This is about the first time a coach gives them a realistic view of what the next year looks like for them).

The # of freshmen is realistic and you should heed it, despite what a recruiting coach told you last winter or this fall, about how your son is for sure D1 potential as long as you cut that tuition check. Because unfortunately he told that same thing to 50+ other kids.

You're #'s are about 10-12 high all the way around dude

You can go on the various school websites and view last year's rosters- CHC 57, LB 47

BK @ CHC will tell you anything you can imagine about playing time to lure you there and keep you from actually seeing the field @ another MIAA school. He has pulled this trick for years. Parents DON'T BUY IT!!! Several MIAA
rosters are in the mid-thirties. Numbers are 12-14 players on high side-has not gotten that bad yet @ CHC, LB & BL.... BL has a chance of getting there if they fill the "International School" dorms to capacity & keep ALL disgruntled locals.

Apparently that's true....I looked at the #s right after tryouts ended but I guess that # was still high? Fair enough.

All of this is wrong.

Take off your socks and work on your counting skills. Thank God you're not an eyewitness in a capital murder trial..... Varsity rosters, smaller schools (lower high school boy enrollment) low to mid thirties, some of the larger all boys schools have around 50. Fact: The best player (at the collegiate level) to come out of this Conference in the last ten years played JV for one or two years because the varsity coach had a loaded attack and it was better for him to get game time experience. I've seen freshman who make varsity never play a significant role for four years and seen multiple players be on a JV team as a sophomore make first team AA D1. The decision is Program and Kid specific. There is a group of kids (10-15) on every varsity roster who want to be on the lacrosse team for social reasons (they don't plan to play collegiately).

Lots of kids in this league decide not to play college lax.
They still play us lax for reasons beyond “social” and take it very seriously.

Why is everyone transferring out of Spalding ?

Define "everyone".

Kids transfer all of the time. How many are you talking about?

5-6 kids heading back to public schools.

Reality kicked in

They want a better education

No one “transfers” mid year. Tuition is already paid.

I have no idea whether 5-6 kids transferred out of Spalding but the idea that the full year's tuition is already paid is not correct in most cases. Most of the private schools in this area use FACTS Management to manage tuition payments. Tuition is paid monthly during the school year. You can cut off payments to FACTS. Now, the school may have a beef (and potentially breach of contract suit) if you leave mid-year, but tuition is not fully paid for most kids by Christmas break.