BOTC - US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums NORTHEAST LACROSSE BOTC MAIN FORUM (LI, CT, WC) Girls 2021-7th Grade Fall 2015 Summer 2016

Yj will need to shop around which they have never had to or put much effort in. Many legit girls teams are popping up and are competing which pulls from talent pool. Yj will do fine against local programs but if want to compete with top elite programs outside they will need to fill many voids and on some grade levels they have eyes on outside players

What other LI teams can compete with the Maryland teams at this age? I have yet to see one.

But the smart ones won't come. Who wants to deal with the blatant favoritism toward some players, friends and family, politically connected, absentee coaching, complete lack of player development to name a few things. This is the single reason for the success of some of these other programs as why people are seeking other options.

Typical Skak parent attitude. Let's see barely squeaking by Heroes, losing to SW and multiple loses M&D this summer? There's no MD clubs fearing the bee in this age except maybe one M&D mom who is glad you lost to SW yesterday.

I guess it depends on how you measure success. Name one club that has won anything outside of LI other than YJ? TG 2020 had a good year 2 years ago and fell apart. YJ won 2 ages at Lax for the Cure this Weekend. M&D and Heros won 2 as well. SKywalkers the other. So MD teams won 5 of the 7 and YJ won the other 2. Where are the other LI teams?

Maybe success to some is not beating MD teams but playing time, player development, less BS and just having fun. Oh and once you get past the top handful of girls on the top team there really isnt much difference.

If Player Development is occurring, than team success will follow. There is not and should not be any guarantee of playing time on club teams. The expectation is to win championships.

This girl was just very harsh to her teammates, nothing to our girls. Getting on her teammate pretty hard and not going about it in a nice way. Berating one and dropping a "f" bomb at her at least once and then mouthing off to another girl on her team after that. We were all pretty shocked what came out of her mouth, and a little bewildered when we realized she said that to her own teammates. Didn't seem like a nice kid. Would want my daughter around that kid. Seems like the chemistry on YJ is different from last year. I guess losing will do that.

None but since YJ can't get it done either do you think it's time to send the crossfire girls down to MD to take care of business? You know that hobbled together team that just likes to play for fun. You could leave all the deadwood and the lunatic coach back on LI. Maybe CR will let you fly under a special YJ umbrella but you'll have to promise to keep it a secret as you might hurt some feelings back home.

Some of the Crossefire girls are the ones holding back YJ now as their development has stalled, while others have been demoted to the B-team. The ones who aren't YJ are a non-issue and were just along for the ride anyway. The team just needs to cut the roster and stick with one goalie.

Yes, that is just what you need to do. Cut the roster, and develop one less goalie. After all, this is not about creating opportunities for girls to become student/athletes, it's all about winning little league lacrosse games.

I have news for you. The losses mean nothing. Zero. For that matter, neither do the wins. Yes, trying to build a winning effort is important, but the reality is over-emphasis on merely winning and thereby neglecting to develop all players is a disservice.

Now, for the parents of girls going on to eventually sign large contracts to play professional lacrosse where they are destined to make large sums of money playing the sport they love, that all probably seems silly. But to the rest of us it makes sense to be more concerned about developing all the players instead of resenting their presence.

The fact is, you can have a roster of more than 20 girls, you can have a couple goalies, you can have differences in talent levels (which you may learn will evolve over the coming years) and you can still win lots of games while providing lots of opportunities. It doesn't have to be one or the other.

The worst thing to ever happen to youths sports is parents with egos.

I agree 100%. Club teams like YJ that emphasize winning over everything else, and their parents and club staff, have almost ruined the whole sport of club lacrosse. Winning is important and developing a winning attitude is important, but developing a winning player is MORE important. During my last two years as a club parent, I was the person who handed out the player profile sheets to the college coaches. Through that experience I met easily over 100 different coaches from all 3 NCAA college divisions, plus NAIA. I can remember only 3 coaches that knew the score of the game they were watching for recruits. 3! I'm sure they are aware of the game intensity, but I know from first-hand experience that they do not care about the score...only the girl(s) they are there to watch. Oh, and here's a few more tips I saw MANY times, from 2 or 3 feet away...I couldn't tell what they were writing, but...they watch what the players do when they are off ball, what they do after they make a mistake, what the parents are like, how "mouthy" a player is after a foul, how a player reacts to her coaches instructions, etc. Trust me, they take notes on all that stuff, plus more. Consider yourselves notified.

Great points. At times I wonder if the club affiliation is more important to the parents rather than the girls. My daughter currently plays for what most people on BOTC would consider a "B" team (non YJ, Heros, or M & D). Prior to this year she played on what would be considered an "A" team. Her love for the game and confidence are back because it's not all about 3-4 girls controlling the ball, she plays almost the entire game, and there really isn't that sense of superiority by some girls that you often find on the so called "elite" clubs. There is a ton of talent across the board for "B" teams, the simple difference between the two levels being the YJs and Heros of the world have rosters that are stocked from top to bottom. Unfortunately for many of those girls who are talented but languish on the end of the bench their development is slowed.

Amen. Doesn't matter if your daughter plays for one of the Big Kids On The Block or not, if she has the moxie and talent she will get looks by college coaches if that is her ultimate goal.

All true. However, if you find the rare place where all girls on the "elite" team get equal playing time and move the ball effectively, caring as much about the assist as the goal, then you have it all. Playing with great players, presuming that they play a team game, makes everyone on the team better. You might not win that close game against the team that shortens the bench, but you will be competitive and have a great experience for everyone. Of course that requires the parents to stop beating their chests about who won what and let the coaches coach and the players play. I know of only one that does it that way.

Please do share who this one is.

Which one does it that way?

heros?

LOL. I can guarantee you it's not Heros

Let me ask you, do you know of any LI or MD program that does it that way?

They are actually the only ones that play a team game. They have no dominate player but they are all getting better because of it. Not the best but who cares. Don't wanna hear from "angry parent cuz my child got cut"

You are full of it. We play heros all the time and there are plenty of games where girls don't play more than a couple minutes

Not that I know of. But should it be? The clubs make no secret of the fact that they are there to win. I will say that while there are games where some girl may not play on my daughter's team. But throughout a weekend like last, the playing time is pretty even. The girls that don't play in playoff games will play more in some of the pool games. So much more development is done in the 4-6 hours a practice a week than can ever be accomplished in games.

You have GOT to be kidding.

Not that I know of. But should it be? The clubs make no secret of the fact that they are there to win. I will say that while there are games where some girl may not play on my daughter's team. But throughout a weekend like last, the playing time is pretty even. The girls that don't play in playoff games will play more in some of the pool games. So much more development is done in the 4-6 hours a practice a week than can ever be accomplished in games. [/quote]

Well wanting to win is great. But why don't they try to win by playing all their kids? You can be there to win, and still play all your players in a playoff game. My rule is, if you take a kid on a team, they play. Somewhere along the line, the adults lost sight of what this is about. If a kid is dogging it, not showing up to practices etc., that's a different story. But if the effort is there, and you put them on a team, they should be given the opportunity to play in meaningful situations. And yes, of course skill development is accomplished in practice, but there is no substitute for feeling the pressure and the adrenaline of highly competitive and "important" games.

Well wanting to win is great. But why don't they try to win by playing all their kids? You can be there to win, and still play all your players in a playoff game. My rule is, if you take a kid on a team, they play. Somewhere along the line, the adults lost sight of what this is about. If a kid is dogging it, not showing up to practices etc., that's a different story. But if the effort is there, and you put them on a team, they should be given the opportunity to play in meaningful situations. And yes, of course skill development is accomplished in practice, but there is no substitute for feeling the pressure and the adrenaline of highly competitive and "important" games. [/quote]

The coaches answer to the club directors. Do you think a coach is going to go to their director and say we lost because I had to get all the girls in? Girls are put on the team based on a few hour long tryout. Some girls develop more throughout a season and earn the minutes they get in those games. As long as the coach is up front about how the playing time will be handled, there shouldn't be a problem. Our coach is very open at the beginning that there may be games girls don't play. That whoever plays best throughout the tournament will be the ones playing in the 20 minute playoff games. It's hard to sub in those short games. Especially if you get down early.

Well wanting to win is great. But why don't they try to win by playing all their kids? You can be there to win, and still play all your players in a playoff game. My rule is, if you take a kid on a team, they play. Somewhere along the line, the adults lost sight of what this is about. If a kid is dogging it, not showing up to practices etc., that's a different story. But if the effort is there, and you put them on a team, they should be given the opportunity to play in meaningful situations. And yes, of course skill development is accomplished in practice, but there is no substitute for feeling the pressure and the adrenaline of highly competitive and "important" games. [/quote]

Our town team doesn't even play girls in big games!!!

It's completely unreasonable to think that all girls will play in every game. This is club lacrosse not a town team. What you'll notice on the teams that are developing girls as the girls that play in tight games changes throughout the season as girls develop. There's nothing wrong with the girls competing for playing time. Practice is so much more important than games in terms of development.

I was sitting next to a M and D parent a few weeks ago. He asked me who my daughter was, I asked him about his, he said she is on the sidelines and hasn't been in yet and it was midway through 2nd half. Everyone on our YJ team played this was pool play.

Impossible. She must have been injured. M & D is above reproach. They do it the right way every day.

It may have been pool play, but it was the game that determined who went to the playoffs. Everyone on M&D played in that game also. I don't know if there was a girl that didn't play until late in that game or not, but the girls that played less in that game started and played most of the pool games on Sunday. Again, this is club lacrosse. If you want to be on a team where playing time is equal, maybe you should play on different teams than M&D, YJ, Heros, etc. There are plenty of options.

I guess it depends on what you consider is the "right way". M&D makes it no secret that they are at every tournament to try to win. If this means that not every girl plays some games, that is understood from the very beginning. It is a choice to play for M&D. Is competition within the team a bad thing? The girls constantly push each other and starters change throughout the year based on how they are developing. If you are looking for a team that has equal playing time every game, go back to rec or find another club.

I think the point here is that this practice does occur on many ( if not all ) top tier travel clubs. I know my club & my Daughters team does it (YJ). there have been games this year in which she has played more minutes and games she has played less ( so far she has gotten in all of them..even finals) but I also know that a small few of her teammates ( 2 or 3) have had games they have not played in at all.
these are facts that need to be thought of or at least reconsidered each year you participate on these clubs..is the money, the time spent and the end result worth it..

I completely agree with you. I think it is on the parents and player to make the decision what is best for them. It can't be fun for the girls that don't play in these games. And they are putting in just as much work. But that's the deal. They are going into 8th grade and there will just be more separation as they get older.

Lets have some healthy, friendly discussion about the state of the 2021 Girls Club Lacrosse.

* Most Improved Team This Year

* Best Sportsmanship by Team

* Best Sportsmanship by Parents

* Best Uniform

* Best Run Tournament

* Rank Teams 1-10

If your daughter is playing club lacrosse and continues to struggle catching and throwing, she shouldn't be wasting $$$$ on club lax and probably deserves to warm the bench. On the other hand, if she is on par with the other girls skill wise, then maybe it's time to look elsewhere for another team where she can be given a clean slate.

Most Improved: Skywalkers
Best Uniform: Heros Lax for the Cure uniforms
Best Run Tournament: Lax for the Cure
Team Ranks:
1. M&D
2. YJ Skak
3. Heros
4. Skywalkers
5. Stars
6. NEMS
7. MD United
8. TLC
9. Pure
10. Elevate

No doubt a YJ Mom!

Need to add least improved YJ Skak

Most Improved: Stars
Best Unis: N/A
Best run Tourney: LFTC
Team Ranks:
1. M&D
2. YJ Skak
3. Skywalkers
4. Heros
5. Stars
6. TLC
7. NEMS
8. Integrity
9. Md United
10. Elevate