I was one of the pro-middle school parents posting here before ... and now that we're half way through, my opinion has totally changed. So far, almost a complete waste of time, and we're in one of the best lax towns.
The boys can all play. The issue is with the coaching ... my son's coach forgets who plays what positions, and has no idea how to manage the talent he has. Worse, he has what can only be described as a poor understanding of the game. For example, he criticizes the wrong players on mistakes -- yelling at a kid who makes a good pass that was missed, instead of the kid who took the pass off his facemask, etc. He's mad when kids take open shots, but calls for passes to kids who are clearly covered. Defense is a complete mystery to him -- no communication at all to that end of the field.
What little communication he has appears to be confusing the boys and sending the wrong message. It's not a total disaster (yet), but you can already see he is turning some of the boys away from the game.
Thankfully his travel team has a coach who understands the game and appears to care.
Most, if not all Middle School coaches have never picked up a lacrosse stick. They coach for the money. They don't care about wins or losses. Once they become a coach it is very hard to have them removed. But fear not, the future of Long Island Middle School Sports will disappear within the next 5 years. With school districts starting to be in major budget toubles, MS Sports will be the first thing to go. All sports club teams, not just LAX, will become very important.
