BOTC - US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums NORTHEAST LACROSSE BOTC MAIN FORUM (LI, CT, WC) Player Passes - Youth vs. High School

Sorry for taking a left turn about this on the 'Boys 2017' thread. Also trying to tie together the 'Player Passes - what's your view' and the 'Advancement in Player Passes'.

The goal is to police player traffic for safety and fair competition, right?

IMO, this only applies to YOUTH tournaments. US Lacrosse takes this all the way to U19. Structured, photo ID, Player Passes is the only way. Since US Lacrosse has promoted itself as the governing body of YOUTH lacrosse, it is their responsibility to get this done. US Lacrosse must mandate and include a Player Pass as part of their membership. They've hooked us all in for insurance coverage purposes so now they need to include the Player Pass as parts of it's service.

The problem is HIGH SCHOOL tournaments are where the college coaches are going to do their recruiting. They simply do not have the time or resources to travel everywhere. HIGH SCHOOL has to be grade based because that is how college recruiting classes work.

Any ideas on how to bridge the gap between YOUTH and HIGH SCHOOL?

Actually, the "policing" of passes is done by the referees association on the field and tournament coordinators at the point of roster certification for a tournament. The US Lacrosse role in this exercise should be to provide the "licensing" function for players and coaches while also providing "sanctioning" for tournaments maintaining specific national standards.

The definition of "youth" can certainly vary, however coverage through the High School Senior Year should be included. If the national body felt that better progress could be made by just attacking this issue at the U/15 level and below, we would certainly be all ears for that step forward.

Agreed.

Disagree with this point that High School recruiting has to be grade based. Using your own discussion points, if High School showcase teams are not "pass" based, there will be a mixing of age groups within a given showcase team; hence, why should grade alignments matter?

Second, USYSA and Youth Soccer have clearly shown that national and regional recruiting can easily handle the U/age system.

Perhaps the player pass system should be for U/9-U/15 and then High School only?

I need to preface this with that my only experience is with Boys Lax. I don't know if any of this applies to Girls.

I think for U14 (most 8th graders) it is a no brainer that age based competition is the way to go. In this case there should be no restriction as to the JV or Varsity experience the player may or may not have. Age should be the only criteria. Yes, we do need player passes and a way of enforcing them.

As for High School,I think the graduating year based Teams that we are all accustomed makes the most sense. College coaches need to fill their roster spots by graduating year. They will keep an eye out for younger players but at the end of the day all they have to put their efforts into the next incoming Freshman class. Moreover, College coaches are no longer willing to let those tournament dollars go in someone else's pocket. The fact that they can make money and have the players come to them is good business and a more efficient use of time. The well established camp model of Top 205, Jake Reed, Peak 200, Blue Chip 225 etc. is growing. Travel teams would be smart to align themselves with college based camps and tournaments. I think most parents and players have some hope or dream of college lacrosse. The best part is you don't have to go D1 to get an exceptional college team experience.

Is US Lacrosse needed by college coaches? Not at this point. I do think they can create a vital feeder system to college coaches. A good start would be getting the U14 and younger age group better organized.