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Appreciate the opinion and advice and somewhat agree. You dont need to do all the showcases and should be focused on targeting schools. I was surprised how many coaches we spoke to during the recruiting process that put high value on prospect days. We didnt do any.

Now, where you are wrong is our need to find a new approach. We did all showcases this summer because it was our last run and my son LOVES to play lacrosse. Ask him wha he wants to do and he wants to find a lacrosse game. We also did all because it gave us the ability to adjust based on how he was playing/feeling. It is a long summer so playing hurt and not showing well was something we wanted to hedge against. So it def wasn’t a rip off as we controlled our narrative but def did not need to play all of them. Ultimately it paid off since he was able to pick his school and got a very nice deal but every coach said they saw him play a lot this summer and loved his durability but def didnt think he needed to play that much. To each his own.

Recommendation, take the spots you can get in the top showcases, ride your club director, friends, former teammates, alums, coworkers and ANY connection you have to get to coaches .and do the prospect days of schools you are targeting.

This is a valid statement. Of course it works both ways. There are only a handful of high academic schools. The vast majority of spots are at schools you’ve probably never heard of or would never consider in a vacuum without lacrosse. That is the trap far too many fall into. Honestly who in our are would consider Holy Family? Yet there are now kids committing there to play D2 Lacrosse for a program that lost their first head coach before they assembled their first team.
Most people need to come to the conclusion that lacrosse sticks should be hung up for good after high school. It’s hard to do that when your parents have invested probably 20k or more in club lacrosse since the age of 10

Agreed. And ask your high school coach & club coach their honest opinion where they slot you so you can focus on those type of schools Prospect Days. While prospect days are very helpful they are also a way for college coaches to make money. So make sure you are attending prospect days where you have legit opportunity to play at that level. Every school will gladly take your money to attend their prospect day. Choose wisely.

I did not mean any offense to nursing. It is a great profession, that pays well and they do bust their humps to help people. It just does not make economic sense to get the nursing degree from Penn when you can get the same degree from Penn State for half or a third of the cost.

Packing up and heading down to Florida for MLK Weekend. Hope to see many of you there. #ironsharpensiron

New to Philadelphia area, my son is a 2030. My son is an above average player, seems like two very strong teams in the area, Dukes and Dogs. Obviously plan on talking to coaches but anyone have info, useful opinions, etc?

You have come to the right place. Where did you move from?

There are plenty of options for your son, outside if those two clubs. 2030 Dawgs played a tough schedule in fall, they are not as good as ranking shows. That team will come back to earth in Spring, guarantee it.

Rule #1: avoid teams with Dad coaches. Not as important in 6th grade but an important criteria as you get to High School. Might as well avoid now if possible.

Before high school, Ignore Rule #1. The best two 2027 were Mesa and Team TEN. Both Dad coaches. Both great. For high school, I would say avoid Dad coaches, it would be a sign of bad judgement on the coaches part as far as their son is concerned. My son was well coached by a "dad coach" and I would be happy to still be under his coaching.

…which means both those clubs are out.

Nice to see the Dukes parents are taking both of last weekend’s losses to PennLax and their lineup of mainly 2030 Dawgs players well.

Both clubs will get your son out for a practice and chance for you to evaluate what they have to offer you and your family.

I'll keep it simple since he is only in 6th grade and no scholarships will be handed out anytime soon. Start with where you live, if it is closer to the Main Line/Mont Co, go with Dukes. Closer to the Chester County area, go with Dawgs.

Re-evaluate after his 8th grade year and determine what HS he will go to and what club will best serve him if he hopes to get to the next level.

Last, have him attend a couple winter training sessions so he can get a feel for some of his peers. Blue Ox runs a great program but it is a few bucks. There are free events like Bishop Shanahan is running in February that brings middle schoolers together. A few of the rec programs run reasonable winter skill sessions as well.

Good luck.

Dukes or Dawgs that’s it?
I’d suggest looking at programs outside of those two as well: NXT, Freedom, HHH, TeamTen…
Don’t let those rankings obstruct your view of other programs

Box lacrosse is a lot different than what we’ll see in the Spring. Rack up all those medals during winter…that’ll be all you get.

Where is the popcorn-eating gif when you need it!?!

HHH all day. If your son has talent, he will get recruited out of HHH. Get in early in the youth program. You'll take a lump or two, but well worth the while when you get to High School and everybody is climbing on board.

BM will be selling shortly; everything will change for HHH

So your path would include making a switch to another club team for high school to avoid Dad coach? If your son is in middle school and you are looking for a new team you oughta avoid it now if possible. You want to find a good fit for your son in middle school in hopes of riding that wave into high school and only make a move if needed. You do NOT want a dad coach in high school.

So your path would include making a switch to another club team for high school to avoid Dad coach? If your son is in middle school and you are looking for a new team you oughta avoid it now if possible. You want to find a good fit for your son in middle school in hopes of riding that wave into high school and only make a move if needed. You do NOT want a dad coach in high school.[/quote]

What I am confident of is that the people whining about dad coaches have son's that are not good enough to make it clear they should be on the field instead of the dad coaches son. If your kid is a player, the dad coach will play him. If your kid is not up to standard you will switch to a team of lesser talent where your son plays more and the coach is a genius for seeing your son's talent. I don't think dads should coach high school, because I think it is a disservice to their son. I also think clubs that have professional coaches are better situated to prioritize recruiting. Most of the dad coaches I know do it for the love of the game (and to spend time with their sons) but have real jobs to keep them from focusing on getting players recruited. The notion that you had to switch clubs in high school to avoid having a dad coach is a false choice in our case.

Another sport to get this funds.Fottball

Smart move by BM to get the bag before the well runs completely dry. Gonna be a massive decline in recruitng activity (at least the top tier D1s that they are known for) now that that ‘25 class is mostly locked up. Unless the ‘32 birddogs bring the swagger back.

The HHH 26 and 27 teams improved greatly as they entered high school. No reason to believe that trend will not continue. Either way, the kids that demonstrate talent in high level games will have a shot at the next level, regardless of what team they plays for.

That’s the commenter’s point; those teams, post 2025, do not have top tier talent.
They improved from being ranked 130 to top 100; big step I guess

My son guest played for the 2028 team last summer. It was a difficult weekend for all involved. BM is charismatic and has done this at a high level for a long time. I am sure he will things going in the right direction soon.

Charismatic???? Hahahahahaahaha
I like BM; he knows lacrosse and has helped guide kids into big time programs. BUT, he is not charismatic…actually, if it’s not lacrosse being discussed, he sounds brain-dead

He’s a simpleton who runs his organization off his dining room table. Always the path of least resistance.

Says the sad poster on here who isn’t half the coach or club! Keep quiet until you do something. Anything.

He does a great job for the families that invest in him. It’s club lacrosse, not Wall Street.

Things have calmed down here at EA. new staff and a new vision. organized and leveraging the newly engaged alumni base for $$$ support. Be on the lookout for some new helmets this year the best AD in the league with the most administrative support for our student-athletes. The team have been practicing all winter and ready to make a real run at the Inter AC title. We might not have the best stable of athletes but we recently hired one of the best D3 Coaches in the last 20 years and are finally ready to make some noise. Coach Kolffer has the ability to X and O his way through the gauntlet. Moved Zeke Kane back to O midfield where he belongs. he is gonna score 30+ goals this year. 6 DI defensemen and upgraded the D staff that are supported by a DI goalie. Have one of the best box coaches in SEPA hands down. In the high school we boast small class size and 87% of our teachers have advanced degrees. have to battle against Malvern and probably haveto split home and away. Hoping Malvern and Haveford also split, we sweep Haverford, and raise the elusive Inter Ac sweater. Ive been waiting for this season since I was an 8th grader the last time EA won it all. we have to play Radnor and might lose to them but that wont affect the interac record because they are a public school.

PRESEASON RANKINGS
1.) EA
1.a) Malvern
3.) Haverford
4.) SCHA
5.) Penn Charter
6.) GA

Lolololol. Are you under the influence ?

Thanks for the update. All the best to EA this season and hoping they can move on from the issues last year. They definitely have talent and will make the Inter Ac interesting. Malvern looks like the team to beat on paper but let's be honest, it is a team of holdbacks recruited to play lax and are not attending for the academics. As good as Radnor is, I think they are down (albeit slightly) this year. Any idea where the former EA staff landed?

There was an article out that Bates is at St. Andrew's school in DE.

Love the confidence and hope you are right. It would be fun to see a commitment comparison between the three schools. I had no clue EA had 6 DI poles. I know Haverford has at least 3 DI poles. Best of luck!

P.S. It is fun to see something other than HHH and Team TEN bashing each other.

The inter-ac is fairly predictable year to year at this point.
There are the two top tier teams, two mid tier teams, and two bottom tier teams.

The competition breaks down to who is going to out jockey who within those tiers, end of story. EA is clearly not in the top tier so don't waste your time trying to put forth that thought.

EA has 3 poles D1 about 7 total to D1
haverford and malvern starting line ups are all D1 plus some.
SCH has 4 D1, PC 3 D1 and GA none
numbers could be off but not significantly.
This is for the 25/26 groups.

Let’s clarify here: 24/25 groups would be more accurate since 26’s can’t be recruited yet. GA has a 2025 who is going to a top D1 - he plays for HHH 2025. I don’t think the OP was being serious about EA giving MP or HS a run this year. There’s a lot of talent on MP and HS and they will vie for the #1 spot in the Inter-Ac again

Malvern and HS have loaded 2025 classes. Those will be the top two teams in the inter-ac. Malvern will be as good as their defense will allow them to be this year and HS will be as good as their offense this year. HS returns one of the best long pole groups in the country and Malvern returns a stable of highly ranked, highly recruited offensive players. It will be a fun and competitive year of lacrosse. Good luck to all the teams out there.

Good luck trying to get the ball against Haverford as they have the best FO unit in high school lacrosse. One FOGO going to Duke and the other going to Virginia. If you do happen to get the ball, good luck scoring against that defense.