So true. These big clubs have multi-squad practices too. Absolute chaos, few touches, no instruction.
An hour spent at the wall is much better. Supplement that by getting a bucket of balls and passing to your son to shoot them all into an empty net, lefty and righty. Repeat 10 times from different positions/angles. Do a few shuttle runs, and focus on footwork. Then do the same drills with a stick and pass back and forth while he does it. This takes all of an hour, and your son gets 100x the touches he'll ever get at a club practice. Then go get pizza and congratulate yourselves for not buying into the nonsense. And for dad, you've burned the calories to enjoy that extra slice.
Club lax can be worth it, but if you paid more than $800 for four tournaments you need to read and then re-read that article. Avoid teams with tryout fees more than $30 or $40, especially after 5th grade (it's all a money grab). And if you're on a "big name" club and not on their A team (and/or not getting at least half the game playing time), then you are just subsidizing someone else's son's lax experience.
