I don't know why some of these high school polls include the P.G. schools. Having post H.S. players makes you a junior college in my opinion. It would be nice to see a public school only poll as well.
Get used to the not so new reality. The balance of power in H.S. lacrosse nationally has changed dramatically over the past 10 years. Public H.S. lacrosse is an after thought now when talking about the best in the country. Even on Long Island, arguably the last of the Mohicans when it comes to nationally recognized public H.S. lax, there are only maybe 10 towns that matter on the local scene and maybe 5 on the national scene out of dozens of districts that play. And even the best on the Island are two privates. Far cry from what it used to be. Even traditional powers like Manhasset have fallen off the national map because they never schedule the national powers in PA and MD. Beating up on Floral Park and others like it may make the record look good but actually substracts points from their strength of schedule and their standing on a national level. Garden City recognized this years ago and added much more meat to their schedule and therefore remains on the national scene. In fact I would argue that GC's games against out of state national powers have become more important than the Woodstick.
. You forget Ward Melville was National Champions in 2013, Garden City in 2012, West Islip in 2010 and 2007. I agree that you will have to play nationally ranked teams to stay relevant. Suffolk "A" is still the best public league in the nation usually with 2-4 top 25 teams. They only have two open dates to schedule out of conference games . One of those dates are usually a nationally ranked top LI Catholic team like Chaminade or a nationally ranked Nassau team like Garden City. West Islip played Ridgewood,NJ every year although I think Mountain Lakes or Summit would have been a better match-up. This year they play Chaminade and Penfield,NY, a good but not great upstate team. I would rather see them play a top public school team like Darien or Ridgefield,CT. or Conestoga,Pa.
