[quote=Anonymous]Undoubtedly true but shouldn’t a surprise. I think the evaluators try to be impartial but if you’ve watched a kid play or coached against a kid (for a year or years in youth lacrosse), you have seen even more of them than a tryout allows. There are plenty of non-MIAA evaluators but the top players largely play in the MIAA-A and on the top club teams and so aren’t a mystery and hard to disguise them with a number pinney. So it stands to reason that coaches from the top programs have top players there or are familiar with them otherwise. I’m sure the Long Island evaluators and coaches are similar. Team 91/Express etc players from Chaminade or St Anthony’s are not only some of the best players, but likely to be well known to the coaches. Would be true in hockey or soccer I suspect... Is there a hidden bias, all else being equal, if a kid is wearing a Loyola or BL or McD lid vs a Fallston kid? Probably. But it also means that kid probably plays with or against top talent every day which just isn’t true with every team in MD. (There’s a good video on YouTube on the UA tryouts)

Well said and factual. I am an evaluator and your spot on. Comes down to the kids that play against the top competition regularly are given the benefit of the doubt. and 9 times out 10 they are the better players and show it. Just the way it is.