The Intercollegiate Men’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IMLCA) has issued a letter on Friday, November 1st encouraging all NCAA Division I and Division II coaches to NOT attend any midweek College Showcases despite these midweek dates being valid on the NCAA Recruiting Calendar.

While this does NOT impact any events being carried here on BOTC, this recommendation does impact our Youth Lacrosse community as evidenced in our Boys 2017 discussion thread where many in that age group had registered for the National Elite 175 recruiting event scheduled for Tuesday, November 26th. To their credit, the showcase organizers have opened a 48-hour window for refunds according to information we have received here at BOTC.

Now, it is completely unclear how tight the IMLCA's grip might be on the Division I and II coaches that were planning to attend this (or any) November midweek events.

Interesting to BOTC is that Division III institutions are NOT covered by this move and they continue to be free to attend the midweek recruiting events.

So, we are forced to ask what the difference is between a Division I coach attending a Tuesday afternoon event and a Division III coach? At first, we thought the IMLCA was making this move to self-police the recruiting cycles and avoid pressure to be seen on school days (despite this event being just before the Thanksgiving break). However, once we saw that Division III coaches were exempted, BOTC was forced to question the basis of the IMLCA's position.

What is your view?

The statement below came from Phil Buttafuoco, executive director for the IMLCA. BOTC has not learned the name of the event referenced in the note but strongly believes that this action was precipitated by the National 175 event.

It's not fair that they are doing this after kids committed to this recruiting event and decided not to attend others. Seems like they may have had an axe to grind with Nat175 organized, who are basically screwd also. Just feel bad for the boys that were looking forward to the event.

I just asked for a refund.

We were hoping to use this event to get tape against quality competition to have film to send out next summer when the summer recruiting picks up and also have him experience what a showcase event is like.

I considered still sending him but I'm concerned the quality of the event is going to drop significantly now.

Did a quick search and couldn't come up with much as an alternative this late in the fall season. Travel team is doing a couple of recruiting tournaments together, guess we will have to use film from there.

I cant really blame this on the event organizer as they did it last year without incident I believe. I do respect that they are allowing refunds.

They should have went across all levels but understand since $$ are given at I and II that is where it will make an impact to players and parents.

I support their decision, surprised NCAA does do something like that (it is student/athlete) but they should have made their intentions known sooner so plans could have been altered for the families organization and coaches.

But for goodness sake the games were in a week where historically students "miss" a few days do to the holidays - so is this the games/venue to make a stand! Is there another underling issue gotta be something else?

I support the IMLCA ban on not having events on days where public schools are in session and therefore would require a day missed from clasess. You can argue that it's only one day but if a line isn't drawn in the sand, how many other recruiting events do you think will begin to encroach on other "in school" days? Lots. And where will it end? Christmas day closed circuit remote video showcases? Bravo IMLCA - keep all recruiting events to the weekends during the school year and let the showcases fight it out for talent.

Why did the organizers schedule this showcase during school? Why did they think it was okay for kids to miss school so they could fatten up their wallets?
Maybe someone should call them and ask them that.
I have no sympathy for them or the parents who planned on taking their kids out of school for this.

The points that some posters have made about a showcase being scheduled on a school date are completely valid. BOTC agrees.

However, what about recruiting events that start on a Friday before a long weekend where student-athletes are pulled to do the drive with family? How about students that leave class early during the NYSPHSAA Lacrosse Playoffs in the Spring season?

These points are, however, smoke covering the main issues. Here are our questions.

[1] Why has the IMLCA chosen now, November, a heavy recruiting month, to reemphasize their policy regarding no mid-week activity?

[2] If the IMLCA is passionate regarding enforcement of a more restrictive recruiting calendar than that provided by the NCAA, why did the IMLCA not take their desires directly to the NCAA Compliance committee?

[3] Let's suppose that the IMLCA came forward now simply in response to the mid-week November 26th date for a showcase event because they were thinking about keeping the players in class. If that were the motivation, why is it fine with the IMLCA to have NCAA Division III coaches attend the event but not Division I or II coaches?

BOTC thinks that this announcement's motivation is still questionable.

The next question is-
Could the organizers of this showcase have scheduled it on a date that did not make these kids miss a day of school?
Yes, they absolutely could have, but they chose not to, because in their arrogance , they did not care if the kids missed school. It didn't matter to them as long as they got paid.
Don't put the blame on the IMCLA. It sounds like you are trying to find fault with anyone BUT the tournament organizers.

The IWCLA - Women's Coaches - hosts their own event which starts on a Friday in Florida. Kind of interesting?

The first step toward finding your answer, Cage, is to determine whether IMLCA coches have attended any other recruiting events held on a school day this year. Anyone know of any?

As a parent of a player who will be attending this showcase, I did contemplate the fact that it was scheduled on a school day, as a student athlete, my son attends classes everyday, when he received his invitation in August, as a family we chose to attend knowing he would be missing 1 day of school. We also knew in advance that he would have to prepare for the day missed. As a player it is disappointing that you work hard to achieve success and hope that your hard work will be noticed. The decision by the IMLCA is disappointing, we will still be attending the showcase as we feel it is a quality event with awesome competition. It is an opportunity to be in an environment with some of the best players, and to be in the same arena with some of the best college programs from around the country.

Did you know that many of the kids planning on attending DID NOT have shool that day. They turned down other recruiting events for this one.

I had my son registered because the cost associated with other prestigious fall events (JR) was too high, this was local and well regarded. There are also many kids registered from other states where they needed to buy plane tickets, it is not right!

You are entitled to your opionion about the ethics of taking kids out of school, but no one asked for your sympathy. As cage said, there are many sporting events (playoff games) that release kids from class, I guess that's ok for you?

Bottom line is the timing of this letter to coaches is hurting many kids, they are now left with no fall options. The letter should have set new rules in place for NEXT YEAR!

Since the schedule was never published, suppose this recruiting event was running from 3:00pm until 10:00pm? Remember, this was being held at Mitchel Field and the turf field and surrounding areas are well lit for evening action. Everyone has assumed that IMCLA was being altruistic (SAT Word of the Day) in their concern for student-athlete classroom time. Were they really?

Why would the IMLCA say that Division III coaches can attend a midweek recruiting event overlapping with school yet Division I and Division II coaches can not attend?

If there was no market for a Tuesday event, parents would not register their student-athletes and the showcase would not have occurred. What we are seeing is that there IS a market for a lower cost, local option and parents voted with their wallets to attend.

So, what does the IMLCA do? They prohibit scholarship awarding programs from attending (Division I and II schools) yet they allow schools without scholarships (Division III) to attend. Clearly, this is NOT about keeping the players in class during a midweek session and has everything to do with parents paying for recruiting access with an event organizer from which the IMLCA is going to withhold recruiting dollars.

Why didn't they just schedule this thing on aSaturday or Sunday?
If they did that, then there wouldn't be a problem.

Multiple wrongs don't make it right. Lets not continue to encourage bad behavior by allowing the 175 to accelerate a downward spiral in common sense. At some point the madness needs to be held in check and the IMLCA has taken this issue on because the NCAA has no enforcement backbone. Somebody has to put the money grabbers in check and I'm glad the IMLCA "Crippled" the 175 for the good of the student athlete. There are plenty of Saturdays and Sundays (which used to be a Church day) for them to hold their event. Enough is enough.

The 3d Bluechip event in Florida and Arizona this coming January will begin on Fridays and involves extensive travel for nearly all participants. Most boys will miss a day of school and many will miss two.

This event is part 1 of the Jake Reed Summer event for anyone who does not get a direct invite to Jake Reed. If the IMLCA wishes to be even handed in its approach, and REALLY look out for the kids they need to instruct coaches to NOT attend 3d blue chip AND NOT attend Jake Reed!!!!!!

The 600 boys per grade attending 3d are only doing so for a shot to attend Jake Reed

If the IMLCA is serious about putting academics and student athletes first they should issue a statement to coaches to stay away from Jake Reed

Checkin is at 1pm
Field play begins at 3:30pm

Midwest region Friday 1/3
West region Friday 1/10
South region Friday 1/17
Mid Atlantic region Friday 1/24
Northeast region Friday 1/31

There are never any college coaches at the 3D blue chip event in Florida - It's not a recruiting opportunity in and of itself so it's not comparable to the deplorable behavior of the 175.

You are missing the point!!! The timing of the statement is irresponsible like I said, kids are being hurt by this. I still suspect that there is a personal motive somewhere here, or else this would not have happened weeks before a major showcase. Remember also that nobody was being forced to attend this event. Parents and their children evaluate the different options and then decide which is best for their situation. Not everyone can afford to travel to Florida and take even more days off from school.

Deporable behavior?? You are nuts!!175 is a quality showcase and the organizers are top notch. They have done nothing wrong. What is deporable is the behavior of the IMLCA. the organizers will move on. The kids that were not able to attend now may have just missed what may have been a key opprtunity to be noticed. Bottom line
Also what does it matter whether there are recruiters at 3d or not. They have organized an event that interferes with kids attending school. Do you think that is deporable as well?

No, you're missing the point. Why not confine this to Saturaday/Sunday? Answer, because there are other recruiting tournaments on the weekends that would minimize the money grab. That's what this is all about and the IMCLA has enough sense to see through that and stop the madness. Let the 175 jump into the same snake pit on the weekends as the other events and fight for the dollars.

Nobody has offered up a good reason why the 175 couldn't confine their event to a Saturday/Sunday. Hmmmm..

The event schedule could have run on Tuesday, November 26th from 3:00pm until 10:00pm under the lights at Mitchel Field. Why is there a difference running after school hours rather than on a Saturday or Sunday?

Now that we have addressed your question, answer ours : Why does the IMLCA believe it is fine for Division III coaches to attend a Tuesday event, but not Division I and Division II coaches?

You are looking at it from the coach's point of view. You need to look at it from the student athlete's point of view. That is, miss two days of school in January (non holiday week) so that you can be seen by coaches in June/July. This is actually worse than 175.

The only way to discourage the event organizers is by hurting their wallet. In this case the only way to do it is to instruct coaches that they cannot attend Jake Reed in June/July

175 is called national, but at least it is located in the region it is primarily selling its product to. 3d is in Florida or Arizona and requires significant travel for nearly all participants.

That's fine, but don't tell us this weeks before the event when there are no options left for fall. We turned down JR for this (which also would have resulted in missing school due to a 10 hr drive) THAT'S THE POINT!!!! IMLCA hurt kids!!!! And you can decide who you want to give your money to, and I will decide where mine is spent.

The day of the week was not a deciding factor for me. One day out of school is not going destroy my kids academic achievement. parents take their kids out of school all the time for a variety of reasons that they think are important. Taking off for a college visit is even considered a legeal absence. Nobody is being forced to miss school here. There are many showcase options, this one worked well for many people.

Just keep everything to the weekends and IMLCA would not have a problem with 175. Pretty simple.

Stop with the histrionics about kids getting hurt. That is soooo over the top and really takes away from the credibility of your position. You want to see kids really getting hurt? Spend a few days in the neighborhoods of Detorit. Another day in school wont hurt your little darlin' and I'm sure Danowsky and Starsia will patiently wait to see him play next summer. Relax, if your kid's a good player it's not the end of the world and everything will work out the way it should.

You are 100% correct that the timing of the IMLCA intervention is causing its actions to be hurtful to the very same student athletes they are trying to help.

If IMLCA does not request coaches to abstain from all events which interfere with academic pursuits then their actions seem insincere. I agree that coaches should be told to stay away from Jake Reed and probably similar cases can be made for nearly all events.

Still debating, have until 1 today to decide on a refund or not. The sent an email that a link to film and rosters will still be sent to all coaches. Not sure if there is any value in that.

You purposely avoid the question : Why does the IMLCA allow Division III coaches to attend on a Tuesday, but not Division I and II coaches? You have skipped answering my question three times now which is clear evidence that you cannot defend their position.

We agree with your position. How is it possible to say Division III midweek recruiting is fine while Division I and Division II recruiting is not? The IMLCA has invoked this split policy for a reason - to control the potential flow of scholarship dollars through events of their liking. If this was not the case, they would have also banned Division III coaches from attending.

If this was NOT about the money, give us another reason - any other cogent reason - why there would be a Division I/II vs. Division III split.

Can somebody explain to me what the IMLCA exactly is?

I don't have an anser to that. So, do you have an answer as to why this event was not scheduled for a Saturday/Sunday? You seem to be dancing around this multiple times too - clear evidence you cannot defend 175's position. While you are thinking about this answer, please also answer for us whether the 175 organizers have paid you to advertise on your site either this showcase or other club related advertising. your answer to this second point may help us understand your non-answer about the Saturday/Sunday question. Thanks.

Division 3 coaches are NOT looking at 2016 kids yet, never mind 2017's. So there is no reason to go if you are in those classes.

This is not true . My 2016 has been contacted by numerous DIII programs, requesting his fall schedule, high light videos

Potential reasons why this was set for a Tuesday:

• Mitchel Field permits were already taken out for both Saturday and Sunday during November through the Thanksgiving week.
• Centrally located, Mitchel affords lighted fields which allows for the event to extend beyond 4:00pm-4:15pm when it will be dusk.
• In order to adequately handle 200 players or more, you need at least two fields and with game play, you need closer to four fields which are colocated.
• The NCAA Calendar clearly establishes Tuesday, November 26th as an open recruiting date. Starting Wednesday, November 27th, the NCAA established a Thanksgiving Dark Period. This made the Tuesday date as the only viable Thanksgiving week recruiting event.

The bottom line is that Long Islanders have requested - and deserve - more showcase events located here on the Island as opposed to enhancing the tourism economy of other areas. In order to host the volume of demand, the locations are limited. While the IMLCA established this policy earlier this year, apparently this event was already in process.

Please remember that BOTC really has no interest in this particular event since they were not sponsoring with us. However, the IMLCA is screwing with our lacrosse constituency here on the Island and BOTC believes that they are wrong. Effectively, they are trying to control their member coaches as a block, outside of the domain of the NCAA.

Let us go one step further. If the IMLCA can exhibit control over this recruiting situation, how long before they introduce other rules which name "specific" weekends on which their member coaches can attend events? Would those specific weekends be tied to specific recruiting events that are somehow sponsored with the IMLCA? Think about the resulting position for consumers.

All of this is already happening on the Women's Side under the IWCLA. They tell coaches what 4 "mandated" tournaments they need to be at each year. Those tournqments are now run by Corrigan Sports. It's all about the coaches taking back control of the money flow from the tournament organizers.

Speaking of money flow, when you go to the IMCLA website you are urged to joing their recruit listing service. Can part of this be an effort to control/grab some of the recruiting dollars on the boys side?? It's usually all about the money

BOTC believes that these are two thought provoking posts.

Posted on the IMLCA facebook page today

We're proud to announce our new partnership deal with Corrigan Sports!

Read more about it here:
http://www.insidelacrosse.com/news/2013/11/07/imlca-inks-partnership-deal-with-corrigan-sports

Wow. Speechless.

Now the college coaches are cashing-in, just like the high school coaches have been (with their town/summer teams).

I guess the NCAA lets this happen under the guise of having coordinated recruiting events. But usually one can follow the money to a conflict of interest somewhere in the process.

What's next ... "coach mandated hotels" near these recruiting tourneys?

And what's wrong with this? The clubs and showcase organizers have strangled the golden goose with their greed. They are victims of their own success. Of course the coaches want in on the money grab - all of us would jump at the chance if given one. Can't blame them. The 175 and other showcase organizers are only taking offense to the IMLCA because somebody else is jumping into their profit pool. Whah whah. No matter what the Tuesday school day thing is wrong from any angle.

Mandated hotels are already part of the Corrigan deal. If you don't stay in their hotels you are automatically put on the waiting list for the tournament.

Can people give a rest to the whole Tuesday date thing. I am sure it was set to cater to prep/boarding school kids who don't have school that week. These kids generally don't have the opportunity to join any of the individual showcases during NOvember due to the fact that they have school on most Saturdays! For other kids, it's up to the parent and child to determine whether or not they can afford (academically) to take the date off. It is highly unlikely that any of the boys' academic well-being would be destroyed by missing a day of school, but that is between the boy and his parents and not the gang of opionated bloviators on this board!

Are they cancelling the Showcase or is it a go ?

It's kind of ironic that NCAA coaches are scheduling recruiting trips where kids have to miss a day if school.

According to the website, they are still a go. They have taken down the name of all D-I and D-II schools that had perviously indicated attendance. There are a bunch of D-III schools listed as having at least one coach attending.

The real point here is that somebody has to take a stand against mid-week school day recruiting events if the NCAA doesn't want to. It's not so much a condemnation of the 175 but a pre-emptive strike against the dozens of other showcases that would no doubt spring up on Mondays-Thursdays thoughout the school year if nobody does anything to put a lid on it and confine it to the weekends. Having said that, if Corrigan Sportsw and the IMLCA now go ahead and try to schedule a mid-week recruiting showcase, that would be the ultitmate hypocracy. However, if they don't, then we should probably all thank them for trying to keep the recruitng madness contained to the weekends.

In two weeks the IWCLA through Corrigan sports is hosting a sanctioned recruiting event in Florida with games starting on Friday. HYPOCRISY!!

Don't kid yourselves, Corrigan is totally behind this - follow the money trail.

Simple question : Why?

If your family decides that your student-athlete should not attend a particular midweek event, just don't attend. No harm, no foul. You still have all of those Saturday and Sunday events that are ever-present to satisfy your recruiting agenda.

Why do you believe that this event was interfering with school? Perhaps the schedule was in the afternoon and evening under the lights at Mitchel Field.

BOTC disagrees - the IMLCA absolutely wanted this National 175 event to be condemned. If you do not believe us, name another midweek option that would have been impacted by this decision. Name just one.

Remember that BOTC has no vested interest in the National 175 events and as a result it is not that we are advising the community on behalf of a sponsor. Instead, we are cautioning the community about the slippery slope that allows the IMLCA to control their coaching attendance outside of the NCAA guidelines.

Why should this tournament/showcase have to validate their dates with a coaching organization? What's next? Checking with the New [lacrosse] and New Jersey coaching blocks to see if they have to protect their own local recruiting events?

Having coached premier level athletes for years, I can tell you that it is NOT uncommon to have 120 minute practices three times per week (soccer) in order to get ready for a single weekend game. Exactly what is the difference between running a one evening, 4:00pm-10:00pm camp under the lights and weekly training?

BOTC thinks that it is a terrible sign that the IMLCA has forbid their Division I and Division II coaches from attending a midweek showcase yet :

• Division III coaches are permitted to attend
• a Press Release announcing their own IMLCA Tournament deal with Corrigan Sports is released less than 48 hours later.

You keep asserting that this has everything to do with a WEEKDAY schedule. In fact, nothing is further from the truth. Let's make it plain for your understanding.

IMLCA is going to stage their own recruiting events with Corrigan Sports. The IMLCA is going to exert pressure that their member coaches should ONLY recruit at their own sponsored events. This will be an attempt to CONTROL the Division I and Division II money flow for scholarships (which is why they do NOT care about the Division III coaches). By controlling the money flow, the IMLCA is trying to make a move on the market by controlling both the scholarships and the recruiting tournaments.

While there is certainly no evidence of such, doesn't one start to think that this sets up a pay-for-play model where recruiting tournaments will be charged for IMLCA sponsorship?

Good job! thank you Cage.

Why does someone have to "take a stand"? That is your opinion. Don't go if you don't like it.

Agreed 100% with all your comments. I made the first post pertaining to this issue and am glad to see that I am not the only one who smells something foul going on!

"...Remember that BOTC has no vested interest in the National 175 events and as a result it is not that we are advising the community on behalf of a sponsor."

Really? Don't you have a paid relationship with the Express whose director is also a principal of 175? Your views are tainted on this subject because you are defending a customer who has paid you advertising dollars through another entity. Explains your adamant and biased position on this subject. If a midweek showcase outside of your advertising base was the only tournament impacted by the IMLCA I doubt you would even mention it on this board.

Incorrect. BOTC does not have a business relationship with the National 175 program and we have no programs at this time with the Long Island Express. While we have no hands-on experience with the National 175 Showcase(s), clearly, a local market exists for their product as evidenced by families that purchased this Long Island based showcasing option for their student-athletes.

NCAA Division I and II coaches under the IMLCA were clearly registered to attend this Long Island National 175 event. There was an appetite to observe Long Island talent in this showcase event. Those coaches were following the NCAA calendar to the letter and completely within their right to attend.

So, the showcase put together the parents, student-athletes, and coaches right here on Long Island. What was the evil associated with that?

Apparently, you, dear poster, in your support of the IMLCA's position, believe that taking away that option provides an example of "doing the right thing". Because it was such the right thing, the IMLCA then announces "not to worry, we have Corrigan Sports to offer our own events".

Again, this event could have been from 4:00pm until 10:00pm on Tuesday and met everyone's needs. Yet, the focus remains artifically placed on a Tuesday event. No matter how many times we discuss this issue, you will never convince BOTC that this was about a Tuesday event.

This is an attempt by the IMLCA to control the recruiting market by leveraging their coaches' represented University's money.

However what is really troublesome is your assertion that our views can be bought. We believe that BOTC, a member of the BOTN companies, has proven that we provide an independent view on the lacrosse market. We reject advertising from individuals and companies that do not meet our standards and the needs of the lacrosse community. This is why you do not see syndicated advertisements on our web site.

In closing, we recommend that you do some additional research on Phil Buttofuoco and in particular his recent interviews in media publications. You will be enlightened.

I don't know the planning cycle for these events, but with the numbers growing it is understandably difficult to find open dates for these things. 175 did have a Sunday event this past weekend. We passed on that one because of another conflict and chose to travel to Long Island for the 26th because our son DOES NOT have school the week of Thanksgiving.

Who knows how many of the other boys who registered also didn't have class on Tuesday?

If this statement had been public knowledge well before the event, and had they not held the event on about the same time a year ago I could almost understand the IMCLA policy, but with the announcement of the deal with Corrigan I smell something fishy.

And I agree if this is really about the kids then don't differentiate between DI and DIII, and also issues a broad ranging statement about any paid events, recruiting or otherwise which conflict with school.

Why ask why? Ask Mike Chanenchuk (LI Express) he's one of the organizers.
Tues Nov 26 is one of the only free days left where coaches could attend under NCAA rules and MC could cash in.
The organizers clearly don't care if boys miss school.
Shame on the college coaches for agreeing to go in the first place.

Hey Sage are you kidding? Not sure it would interfere with school. This was scheduled as an all day event. Not an evening event.

It was wrong from the get go regardless of whether IMCLA has clean hands or not.

Maybe you were at a showcase when they taught " 2 wrongs don't make a right".

If we are lucky IMCLA will rule against committing Freshman and Sophomores.

Please share your copy of the day's schedule with us. BOTC was in receipt of a draft of the day's events and we would certainly like to see what you have that refutes our statements.

What was wrong? Attending a recruiting event on a Tuesday? Because these boys are locked away in their homes hitting the books from 2:00pm onwards after a school day?

One more time : there was a market, there were parents, student-athletes, and college coaches who felt this was a solid recruiting opportunity. They were absolutely correct in that view.

Or perhaps getting my Master's Degree or PhD. Better yet, perhaps BOTC understands wrong from right without having to learn it in a classroom.

Friend, the IMLCA has made its will known. They have had the desired negative impact on the Long Island lacrosse community that they desperately wanted to inflict.

So, when any parent who is cheering this turn of events now needs to attend an IMLCA hosted showcase (starting this Spring in case you all have not seen it) in Maryland, Virginia, or points further south, think about how you are going to get there for your Saturday morning events. When the IMLCA refuses to have their coaches attend any Long Island based showcase in maybe a few years down the road, think about the ground work that you are allowing to be built today.

Why would that be lucky? Is your little fellow having trouble getting looks and you are hoping that the same opportunities will be there in two years time if he grows?

Focus on academics, improve your student-athlete's grades heading towards his or her AP (or IB) coursework, and your payoff will be substantially better in the end game.

Any idea if IMLCA will be taking the same stand for Blue Chip? Rising Seniors and Juniors have NYS Regents exams during the dates of their camps.

FACT : The press release from the IMLCA states that the midweek ban only covers September 1st until May 1st.

OPINION : The IMLCA must therefore be of the position that it is fine to remove students from their classrooms midweek during their AP review and exam periods as well as their final examination periods.

Oh please. You think long island events are the only ones that will have this restriction? Why is it that Long Island is the only place that has a mid-week recruiting event? The answer is because the greed here is greater than anywhere. Stop drinking the local cool-aid and come clean on any business relationship (the boxes on top of this page) that BOTC (or parent company or any of its affiliates) have had with Chanenchuk via the Express.

Why not just drop us an e-mail and we will give you all of the details? You'll be very disappointed.

Trust BOTC when we tell you that our view is not biased by cash. Would you like a list of clubs from which we refuse to carry advertising?

Last year this same event was NOT held on LI, and while there was some chatter, no association forbade coaches from attending that event.

What is the schedule for this showcase, as our son will be in attendance and we do not have a schedule as of now, please post BOTC if you have this information it would be greatly appreciated

The schedule for the Avon Old Farms tournament didn't get published until a few days before the event.

Does anybody else find it ironic that the Avon event was held at a prep school on a Sunday even though the host school and most prep schools have off the entire week leading up to Thanksgiving? Yet the Long Island event, where the majority of the audience will come from public schools, is being held during the week. Why not reverse them?

Is it definite that D1 and D2 coaches will not be there? The website says TBD.

Our guess is that the NCAA Division I and II coaches will not want to PUBLICLY remain on the web site to avoid running afoul of the IMLCA. That said, will the IMLCA been policing the sidelines next Tuesday checking on their membership's attendance? Think about it.

BOTC has learned that the 2013 IMLCA Convention will take place between December 12th and December 15th in Baltimore.

BOTC strongly urges our Maryland readers to be very concerned about attending on either December 12th (Thursday) or December 13th (Friday) given the conflicts that the IMLCA has with public and private school scheduling in the area.

Yep you hit it on the head, my 14 year old hasn't gotten any offers yet. But be that as it may, I think 15 year olds committing to colleges is nuts. And I'm pretty sure most people agree. And most of the college coaches agree.

What was wrong with kids making choices in Junior year, like my older boy had the luxury of doing only a few years ago? Is it in the kids' advantage to commit earlier? The road to early verbal commits began as a way for a certain college to gain an advantage over Princeton, after they had a string of National Championships and stacked recruiting classes, by offering verbals faster than the Ivy's can. And the arms race began. It sure as [lacrosse] wasn't done for the benefit of the boys.

And Sage it's kind of a lame move to talk about anyone's "little fellow" . Don't you think? Stay classy Back of the Cage.

I do not have a child at the recruiting age yet, however he will be approaching this stage of his career in a few short years. I am disturbed after reading about the IMCLA's partnership with CSE sports marketing and event planning. It appears to me after reading the press around this merger that only IMCLA sponsored events will provide the "scholarship opportunities" for the student-athlete for a "family friendly fee". If DI and DII coaches do not attend other IMCLA non-sponsored events then it seems to me that IMCLA and CSE will corner the market and capitalize on family's dreams of pursuing an athletic scholarship for their son. Families with no other options will have to favor these events, paying fees as requested and lining the pockets of this one recruiting organization. I think it's a terrible, slippery slope.

What he said.

I think its obvious now why the 175 was scheduled for during the week. They didn't want to run into the buzzsaw of the SWR showcase on Sunday the 24th (now at Farmingdale). The 23rd also doesn't work because some schools are still involoved in the football championship games that day and that night St Anthony's (one of the 175 directors is employed by St. Anthony's) plays Chaminade in Football and many of the football players on both sides would likely have to pass on the 175. Only divine intervention would interfere with that football game.

How's the turnout at 175 today?

Interestingly enough the women's college coaches (IWCLA) held their big fall recruiting tournament this past weekend in Florida which was run by Corrigan Sports. The majority of teams all had games on Friday. This meant teams had to fly either Thursday night or Friday morning thus mussing a day of school. At 7:30pm on Friday, Club Directors were sent the following email form the IWCLA's Executive Director Gothard Lane:

The IWLCA coaches are excited to watch the many student-athletes playing lacrosse in the 2013 President’s Cup this weekend at the ESPN Wide World of Sports at Disney World in LarryMiller, Florida. Due to NCAA Recruiting Rules, Division 1 college coaches are unable to attend this year’s Friday night games, but can attend both the Saturday and Sunday games. Division 2 and Division 3 coaches are able to attend all of the days. In addition, every IWLCA coach has access to IWLCA’s video library of HD quality video of every single game for the entire three-day tournament.

The problem with this is that many teams had already played games by the time the email was sent out. This was an IWCLA event and they held it out as the biggest recruiting tournament of the year because it coincides with the the women's coaches annual meetings yet they don;t let clubs, families or players know that the D1 coaches would miss 1/4 of your games. Ridiculous. Is Corrigan going to offer a 25% refund back to each club that was effected?

Note that this situation is VERY different from what has been discussed with the IMLCA situation with the National 175.

In this IWLCA case, the coaches association was actually following the NCAA Recruiting Calendar. In the IMLCA case, the coaches have been invoking a policy that was established outside of the NCAA Recruiting Regulations.

NCAA Women's Lacrosse Recruiting Calendar

BOTC published this calendar months/weeks back and warned parents against expecting Friday engagements in November. Again, this is NCAA Recruiting Regulations, not an arbitrary decision of the IWLCA.

The fact that parents are not staying informed regarding the NCAA Recruiting Calendar, despite BOTC recommendations, is part of the problem here. Our guess is that the IWLCA and Corrigan Sports themselves did not consult with the NCAA Calendar which is why the sudden "mea culpa" e-mail was sent. (The other interpretation is that the IWLCA/Corrigan knew about the regulations and intentionally misled parents and student-athletes. BOTC will take the high road on our interpretation of the events as they transpired.)

I can only speak to the 2017's, but overall looked ok. Poor turnout on the 2017's. Most of the teams had only 13-15 players and one team had only one pole. That definitely hurt, but the talent level was quite good, especially at middie. Lots of really strong shooters.

Too bad it was a gigantic waste of time and money.

Could of been a great event, many players hurt, sad.

Bumping this in relation to a comment on the 2018 thread.

If school is still in session are IMCLA coaches attending Adrenaline on Friday?

What about the Denver Shootout having games on a Friday?

Coming from the east coast you'd probably have to miss a day and a half if not 2 days of school.

IL invitational this week also requires missing school. What gives? Don't they care? This is totally out of control. Why are they so anxious to start the summer before school is out?