BOTC - US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums NORTHEAST LACROSSE BOTC MAIN FORUM (LI, CT, WC) Girls High School Lax

You're correct, the top programs in the country recruit based on politics. I guess politics play a role in who wins games as well.

Give it a rest already, the top programs recruit and get the top kids. Don't let the facts get in the way of your argument, just keep bashing.

If these lists were so inaccurate and the best players didn't go to the top programs the on field results would be different every year, they are not.

IL chooses this list with the help of respectable club coaches and media personnel who cover a specific state/region but they don't have much coverage on the women's side compared to the men's side.

Just chiming in. My daughter made that list 10-11-12 grade. Twontime AA in hs. She's currently a soph at a top 10 school. Sat the bench entire freshman year. At a top program almost EVERYONE recruited is the best in their hs or club team. Have to earn your time.

I don't know how these young ladies will pan out in college but that is not what the list is about. It is about HS and probably in some way about their respective travel careers.

I can tell you that my daughter has played against many of the top 40 on the senior list in High School as well as travel over the years. I recognize many of the names and can tell you they are very good at this level. It is a list that only lacrosse parents and kids look at. I would not worry about it.

in general is it bad to get switched from attack or midfield to defense in girls lacrosse?

not if a coach feels I are more conducive in that spot

No.

Anybody having their daughter's stick restrung w mesh now that the rules allow it? With the depth of women's pockets, will mesh be advantageous?

My kid is on the list, we had no idea. We have no connections, no coaches pushing or selling her. Her hard work must havr got her there. Please don't assume it was political Because unless she has some fairy godmother that we don't know about The list is legit

Congrats to your kid. That is awesome! The list is "mostly" legit. And in NO way does that diminish your kid's or the others position on that list. All the kids on the list are great players for sure. And they are all heading to great lax schools.

But to the poster who detailed the schools the kids are going to: Sure they are all going to great lax schools. But there are many more kids committed to those same lax schools who are not on the list. It may be very legitimate to think that one of those other kids is better than the one included on the list. So the fact that a kid is on the list and going to a great lax school is not definitive.

As with any list like this, it is very subjective.

our daughter hasn't committed yet but that's because we are considering breaking the glass barrier and having her play with boys varsity team to see how it works out. she is very good size and is fast. lot of boys on the team smaller than she is.

2 of the LI kids being on that list is a joke

If your daughter is good its the easiest way to get on the field. Most me first parents want their kids scoring goals, pitching or playing quarterback. You also see on the club teams kids move to defense rather than take the demotion to a lower team. If she moves there freely and works on her game Defense is a great position especially if you are smart with quick feet. Lots of strategy that can decide games. Go D!

You had no idea your daughter your daughter was going to be on the list. Give us a break

I don't think that anyone who's kid is on the list thinks that their kid is the only good player.

It is funny to listen to all the experts who so desperately want to diminish the list and point out how their are other good players (namely their daughters) who are not on the list.

The facts are the facts. The best programs identify the top talent and the majority of top talent choose to go to the top programs. Like the earlier posts indicated: if a player is not on the list and the player did not have offers from the top programs then the player is more than likely not a top tier player.

Blame it on politics all you want but at the end of the day does it really surprise anyone that 5 Maryland Commits are listed in the top 40?

You are missing the point of the last post. There are plenty of players committed to the same programs that the girls on the list are committed to. For instance, Maryland has more than 5 commits in this class. Might there be some of the other girls who are also committed to Maryland who might be better than a couple of the ones on the list? There very well may be. And same goes for all of the schools. Some of the choices on the list may very well be political.

By far the toughest field position to play. Many are asked to play because they are the only ones who can do it. Only low level coaches who know very little put a liability on D. You can hide on attact and just move the ball and if you can run you can get away with playing midfield but if you are lazy , slow , not athletic , weak etc... You will be exposed on D. Plenty of slow lazy attack, and a lot of middies who are very average can hide on the field. Keep in mind I am not talking about stud attack or midfield players obviously they would most likely be able to play D. Mistakes on D are costly and obvious to a good coach . You must also be selfless (which is a not taught by many girls lacrosse parents) .

I could care less about this list or any other list but it does bother me when I hear the jealous A--Holes on this site, on the sidelines and elsewhere spew their bitter thoughts and try to tear down any girl who has more success or gets more recognition than their daughter.

Here are some facts.

Many of the best universities in the country also happen to field some of the best lacrosse programs in the the nation. These are the schools that the majority of the top players go to.

The 10 schools listed below are the only schools that have finished the season ranked in the Top 20 in each of the past six years. The number listed is the universities 2017 academic rank.

Does it really surprise anyone that the majority of the top players in the country are headed to the schools listed? These schools are at the top year in and year out because they get the best players. They are great schools with great lacrosse programs.

I'm sure many of you will still say the reason your daughter did not get an offer from these schools was POLITICAL.

1 - Princeton
8 - Penn
12 - Northwestern
15 - Notre Dame
24 - University of Virginia
30 - University of North Carolina
50 - Penn State University
50 - University of Florida
60 - University of Maryland
60 - Syracuse University

In addition to the 10 schools above:

8 - Duke
31 - Boston College
- Have both finished the season ranked in the Top 20 in five of the past six years.

5 - Stanford
23 - Southern California
- Will both more than likely be perennial Top 20 programs going forward.

Oh and by the way incase you missed it... just about all of the girls on the girls on the Young Guns list are headed to the schools listed above.

Keep telling yourself and your daughter that it is all politics.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm a parent of a college D1 Defender and it wasn't until college that anyone, except seemingly her parents and the parents of other defenders, realized that it's an important position. It was tough to watch my kid save games and have all the kudos go to whomever scored. Through the years I have watched coaches try to hide a player on D and it's just a gaping hole, a weak link, and a frustrating experience for all involved, from the goalie on on up the field and into the stands.

You really need to get over yourself. Most are asked to play defense because they are semi athletic and don't have the stick skills to play middy. There is a reason a lot of the better colleges don't recruit defenders and will convert middies to play defense.While I agree you can hide kids at attack I will guarantee you if your kid had the ability to put the ball in the back of the net they would be playing offense as you can convert any athlete into a decent defender.

No, you can't. Lazy, selfish, slow, low lax IQ players will be exposed instantly at the higher levels. I believe the previous post pointed out that the studs who play attack and midfield could make the switch but the rest would quickly be exposed.

The top colleges recruit the best athletes. If the best athlete on the field is playing D they will get recruited ahead of average athletes at the other positions. Coaches do not recruit at high school games as most are non competitive with few legit players on the field.

Go watch two top club teams play and I guarantee their defenders are getting recruited. If they are really athletic they will be recruited over all othe players with the exception of the true studs.

I don't care what anyone says about hiding a kid on attack it doesn't happen at the youth level where most coaches hide the weaker kids on defense because they are usually big and slow with weak stick skills. Then they just run around saying BALL BALL BALL

No, you can't. I've seen it tried often and no. It's a different mindset and a different skill set and some girls can't figure it out or don't have the mental toughness. You sound like someone who likes to talk up your daughter's stats.

Most youth coaches are not very good... I'm sure most of the coaches you are referencing tell their daughter to go to goal every time she touched the ball.

You really are clueless. As you stated I went to look at the YJ commitment page for the 2020 age group and of the 21 kids listed I think 20 play offense for their club team. The 1 that does not plays goalie.The best athletes play middy , the best sticks play attack and you take the next level middy and make your defenders just like the college teams do.

My kid is going to one of those schools you listed. And she is on one of the lists. And I still think the process for those lists is partly political.

Very funny you are 100% right!

At my own personal opinion is at the lower levels kids were hidden on defense but As the level of play increases you need good defenders. My daughter who is recruited to a top 5 school loves playing defense it's her thing she also does the draw and she can be a great mitty. You need stud defenders to counter balance the stud attack

yea , you need to be a stud to hold up a stick and move 3 feet in two directions

Judging by your comment, I'm guessing you've never played any sort of competitive sport beyond 2nd grade. How many feet to you move to get back to the buffet line?

You really are clueless. As you stated I went to look at the YJ commitment page for the 2020 age group and of the 21 kids listed I think 20 play offense for their club team. The 1 that does not plays goalie.The best athletes play middy , the best sticks play attack and you take the next level middy and make your defenders just like the college teams do.

In reply to the above:

Don't look at YJ or any other club team, look at HS, MS or Town/PAL teams... That's where you will see the better athletes are M/D. Weaker athletes, if they have to be played, get exposed more on the M/D end.

I guess the takeaway is the majority of the players on the list must be pretty darn good. Are some political? who knows? As the above post indicates, the 10 schools listed are the Top 10 programs in the country. That is not an opinion, That is a fact. They are the only schools that have finished the season ranked in the top 20 in each of the past 6 years. Duke and Boston College are right there with them.

Based on actual performance, it is safe to say that these programs consistently identify, recruit and get the best players in the country.

An earlier post stated that "these coaches are wrong all the time". They can't be wrong too often if they are always the best teams in the country.

You can call the recruiting process political, you can call the list political and you can say that it is all a joke or a head scratcher or whatever you want but at the end of the day the majority of the best players are the players who make up these lists and were recruited and had offers from many of the schools listed above.

Sure there are good players who did not make the list but to call the list political or to call it a joke is a bit of a stretch.

Congratulations to the girls who were recognized.

In reality, anyone can score in lacrosse, it's the easiest thing to do. Any 5th grader can score on the best goalies if given enough shots. Stopping a girl from scoring is far more difficult. Anyone that says being a defender is easy never played a competitive sport.

Which position are you speaking of?

My daughter is not a defender, and as a lacrosse fan in general, this comment is just stupid. Good lacrosse can be appreciated when played well at every position. Good goalies, make it look easy and integrate well with the defense. Even after a save and into transition, you need some defenders who can move the ball to get it downfield. Great defenders need to be athletic and have great awareness and when you have good defenders playing as a unit it really is a great thing to watch, great middies can play many different roles, from speed players, to offensive weapons, to ones that cause havoc between the 30's, and great attackers have a flow that makes the game look easy and exciting. But, I have heard many great coaches say that defense in lacrosse is the hardest type of defense to play compared to most other sports because the rules are stacked against the defender, and there is truth to that statement. There is so much that a defender can do wrong that will have negative consequences just from a free position/penalty standpoint, not to mention the playing portion. This also makes it very difficult to coach correctly, especially at a youth and MS and in many places through HS level depending on the experience of the coach.

If that's all you see then you are watching some poor lacrosse. What I see is a girl who sees the field, who sees a play develop on the other side's offensive end and uses her knowledge to decide how best to meet the coming challenge. A girl who constantly communicates with the other defenders, both listening and giving information, so they can work together as a unit to shut down the offensive drive. A girl who has to sprint all the way down the field on breakaways but be smart enough to know when to foul and when not to foul. A girl who has to use her wits to place herself to block, whether it's cutting off a runner or cutting off the shooting angle, all while not getting called for shooting space. A girl who can and will carry a ball up the field to start an offensive play. A girl who understands different defenses (and believe me, I've seen your superstar shooter who does not and cannot figure that out). A girl who has to be fearless regarding physical contact, whether by body, stick or ball.

You are so correct, this is probably some asshat who grew up in Queens and never held a lacrosse stick. A lot of the defenders are some of the best athletes on the team. When you watch some of the higher quality playoff games in HS and high level travel teams you will see some tremendous defense with incredible speed and agility. You also need to keep in mind that no one on the filed is at more of a disadvantage then a defender. The rules are so slanted towards the offense.

Perhaps your daughter has been involved in some of the lower level games where there is limited defense and everyone goes to goal. Go watch a Mt. Sinai game once in a while. Man to man, zone...etc.

And anyone who says scoring is easy is an idiot.

It's not easy, just easier than playing D

The defense at our HS is all girls who either couldn't cut it at middy or attack or can't run. None of them started on Defense, they kind of just ended up there