Who cares about 8th grade teams when MIAA lacrosse is now about 1 year transfers and out of state boarders?
Because they have a solid nucleus of local talent, they don't need to rely on out of state transfers to fill their rosters. BL has a solid 9th grade already in the school, but they need to supplement. McD didn't even have enough players to field an 8th grade squad last year, so obv. they need to look elsewhere. Not sure why CHC needs to bring in outside talent due to the sheer number of players in their program, but I guess the coach isn't satisfied with the talent of the kids in his program and needs to recruit over them.
CHC recruits so many so that they don’t play elsewhere. They’ll sit on the bench at CHC instead of playing at other schools. He does exactly what the Maryland womens coach does, stack the roster so other schools don’t get the players.
Probably accurate. My son is a 7th grader for a mid-range Elite program. He's a solid player, not starter, but first off the bench and he contributes pretty significantly. He's likely headed to BL. But it's for the ESS program, not lacrosse.
It seems like a couple top MIAA programs will take anyone, whether they expect them to play or not. My feeling is there is considerable pressure to use lacrosse to bolster enrollment numbers at these schools. But it does seem like some programs really are trying to keep kids from going to the competition.
Anecdotally, I'm seeing a lot of his teammates (depending on where they live) looking hard at Spalding (south), JC (north) and StP (Balt Co.). StP especially. So it will be interesting to see how the next few years in the conference shakes out. I expect the Crusaders to be much improved.
I have been saying for years that CHC, LB, BL & StP recruit far more players than will ever see the field. This is done so that they do not attend other schools to be developed into starting players. Not all would make it to the starting role, but for those that do they would have a far better high school sports experience. If you are going to a school for legacy, scholarship or special program etc.. than by all means go to the listed schools. Otherwise if the commute make sense definitely look elsewhere. This is a timely conversation as 8th graders are starting to apply to schools now with decision time looming in February. Parents & players should ask coach's at those 4 schools roughly how many players were on their roster over the last 2 years and approx. how many players on the roster saw the field for any amount of time during an MIAA game. This is just a question. We know they play to win. We know this is not ever going to be about getting all 50 + players in the game. We know not everybody gets a trophy. We know we have to hit the wall more...
Just in time for fall, it's John Carroll dad! The idea that Loyola or Gilman each keep 60+ varsity players just to keep those players away from BL or Calvert Hall (or John Carroll or the public schools) is ridiculous. The fact is that they have adequate coaching and resources to keep huge rosters, and (Loyola's current coaching excluded) the schools generate solid talent that tends to be able to play in college "at some level."
I actually 1000% agree with you that each of the boys, by 8th grade at the latest, should honestly and deeply think about "how important is it for me to play the maximum minutes for my talent level?" If the answer is "It's more important than even academics or academic pipelines" then absolutely they should be looking at a Curley, MSJ, John Carroll etc program (or public school) unless they are on the "national radar" for talent (players should ask a coach....parents are the source of a lot of false pride on whether Little Brayden is elite...and just because a college program follows him on social media, does not mean he's "being recruited" lol).
But if you actually talk to middle school athletes (AAA, above average, ATG, whatever, up to elite), you'll get a surprising range of answers on this question. For some, lax is the 3rd or 4th priority at all. For others, the brotherhood and status of that shiny Calvert Hall helmet is the prize. Still others want to be on the team with their friends, wherever their friends end up. As a parent, stop assuming you/we know the answer to this.
It's interesting that your complaints about kids "commuting to big schools" has evolved into this important point. You're not wrong.
