BOTC - US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums MID-ATLANTIC LACROSSE MARYLAND FORUM FCA - Fellowship of Christian Athletes

Lots a freshman parents are going to be upset.

Part of the problem is that kids who were not dominant at all in middle school show up to large programs like CH and LB and somehow think they will turn into A conference starters in the most competitive league in the country.

Parents have to be objective and know realistically where their children slot in the landscape of their contemporaries.

Participation trophies stopped way back at lax max folks.

When you have that many kids in a program, you can’t coach em all.

Pretty sure Tillman only coaches his starters too.

If you are a player on the bubble that could use a little extra coaching choose another school, unless you are a legacy or received a large scholarship. Otherwise, find your rightful place as a practice player standing on sideline. BK take all just to keep you away from competition. The cellar dwellars are the ones who play & get the attention.

Cole Herbert is no longer at UNC. Transferred to Towson and I think is on the Club lacrosse team. Don't know the reason why. JAckson Marshall got cut from Maryland his sophmore year. Not sure if he is even playing. The reality is that no matter where you play college is a different beast. Perfect example. Public school kid from Catonsville is now the freshman starter for Maryland.

Cole Herbert is no longer at UNC. Transferred to Towson and I think is on the Club lacrosse team. Don't know the reason why. JAckson Marshall got cut from Maryland his sophmore year. Not sure if he is even playing. The reality is that no matter where you play college is a different beast. Perfect example. Public school kid from Catonsville is now the freshman starter for Maryland.

FCA girls really having tryouts June 28 (9am -11am)?? Huh??

First team to enter in to tryouts in June that I'm aware of.....really????, Most club will be in the middle of summer events, Who schedules tryouts early in the morning while parents are working?

This is intentional. If both parents have strict working hours (aka are not executives), why would FCA want you and your limited checkbook?

Not surprising, FCA girls program has never mustered up any steam like the boys and seems to constantly be having new leadership. Then again has anyone ever had a successful boys and girls club program at the same time?

I don't know what the "culture" is like on the boys side but the religious aspect was not something my daughter was comfortable with. She knows and likes many of the girls on her age team. She just didn't want to feel like it was part lacrosse, part religion.

The she shouldn't be at FCA. That is what FCA is.

So acronyms are hard for you, huh?

This is a dense comment. I am not an FCA parent, but I am assuming that they 1) want to lock in these girls before the other clubs have tryouts; and 2) their ability to get field time is probably limited and they likely don't get prime times like the other clubs. Just speculating. Has nothing to do with weeding out the parents as this quote alleges. I do wish them the best...TLC seems to be folding, so its in everyone's best interest to continue to have a strong club landscape here outside of some of the big clubs like M&D and SW.

There are two other tryout dates with times in the evening. Seems like an attempt to accommodate as many people as possible.

FCA Lacrosse is about as Christian as Jimmy Swaggart. But don't worry, FCA girls club isn't going anywhere and they'll continue to rumble along as a 3rd rate club. If your kid has any talent at all, pick another club. If she just wants to play with friends and do a few tourneys, FCA is fine.

FCA is worthwhile in hs... kinda.

Their youth teams from "27-"32 are not good.

28 and 29 FCA teams both ranked top 10 in the country...and 27 team not far behind. Most programs would kill to have teams that "not good".

This recent FCA discussion is about girls, not boys. Boys FCA looks good to me.

There is some grey areas with the rankings. Fca 29 should not be where they are they went from 11 ish to 9 with a championship loss to a team that was ranked mid 50’s.

Some?!?! It’s ridiculous

That is because of all the 27s on the 2028 team and 28s on the 2029 team.

The 28's and 29's are not that good. Once in high School they will fly in kids and take borders over local talent. They will promise that you can play at CH or other top high Schools. After dealing with some of the directors over the years while being part of the teams, They are clearly unethical and use the church as a front for unethical behavior. Do not buy the huddle god first mentality. It starts from the top down. If you want to wear the swag just ask the director and he will give you a shirt. Glad I am not longer with the program. Do your due diligence before you buy into the false sense of being saved.

Yeah... by the same token, the kids who were dominant due to size from 1st to 8th grade and never needed to learn great technique (or work ethic), about 1/3 of the time, stumble in 9th-10th when suddenly everyone else is 5'8" and the same speed. But yeah 2/3 of the time, youth lax's total failure to actually develop non dominant players is enough to keep the big kids in the lead until late in HS.

This should be called the Bash FCA board.

My son plays there and loves it. They have huddles with former players who are good role models for the boys. Not sure what issue you could have with that.

My son played for another top club, FCA is a better fit. If your son was unhappy, I hope you find a better fit elsewhere.

There is a reason for these comments. Obviously some people enjoy it for one reason or another and others don't. From my experience there is a lot behind closed doors that people don't see which is hypercritical to the mission and belief system of the program. It starts from the top down. Everyone is entitled to play where they want and believe what they may. There is truth behind every comment on this page both positive and negative.

Vague insinuations of how someone was done wrong by a club director - yawn. I like the direct email and chat quotes we've seen from others.

Said coach was poaching teams for players after fca’s tryouts were done. Fca did not get the player outcome they needed from the tryouts so players who had already committed to other roster and never tried out for fca were contacted directly from the coach and offering them a starting position. After all tryouts were done and teams were set. If you don’t see anything wrong with this then there’s a problem. This shows a lack of integrity and respect for other coaches, players, teams, and the game. Remember people this is a very small community and information spreads like wildfire. Especially when you have been in the FCA circle for a while.

Which team was that exactly? Only teams in the program that aren’t established yet are 31 and below and I am sure that is only a matter of time. If you are going to say it…say it

2029 but not specific to that.1

Reaching out to other players on other teams after tryouts is not uncommon among the top teams. Adding to the roster midseason is routine. If your point is that FCA is no better than any other club as far as recruiting, allowing holdbacks, etc your point is well taken. When they tell parents that they seek to build teams to compete at the highest level I take that as a disclaimer.

Interesting, 28 had something like 120 players at tryouts. I doubt they had to do too much back door dealing to field some teams.

They are clearly doing something right.

Just plan shady in my eyes. Asking players to try out is one thing but doing after the fact when you know they have already chosen a team is another. And on top of that taking them from teams and depleting them. Talking to players before tryouts is fine in my book. Doing it after all everyone has held their tryouts is being a snake. Poaching - to take and use someone or something that belongs to someone or something else, especially in a secret, dishonest, or unfair way.

Case closed - Off to the next topic. Hopefully a lesson was learned.

Public service announcement - People talk, brag, and information is spread faster than ever.

I think Hawks has called every 2029 goalie in the state of Maryland and Virginia now. It's part of being good. At the end of the day if someone wants to leave, that's the families decision.

From reading this thread about contacting players. I think what i gather from it is that it's not about contacting players from another team to join their team, but rather the timing, and how it was done deceptively. If it was common place why wouldn't teams take each others players or sabotage rivals more frequently. Imagine Hawks convincing 2/3 FCA starting players to come to their team 2 weeks before playoffs start leaving FCA without their starters. If this happens regularly I stand corrected.

If a family wants to leave. Not let them convince a family to leave by promising them “bigger” things.

I know of half a dozen kids that switched between elite teams at the beginning of summer tournaments - is that timing better or worse? How would a coach contact a player in a way that is not "deceptive"? Are the coaches supposed to call the other coach and ask them permission? Sabotaging rivals does happen regularly - look at Madlax vs Next Level for examples.

Bottom line is that nobody owns a player. At the elite level of club/high school/college, teams with holes to fill will reach out to players throughout the year to let them know they have an opportunity available. It's up to the parents and kids to decide if/when it's right to leave a team. It's up to teams and coaches to keep their players happy.

A coach can simple call a player and say hey (when) we are having a tryout for next season I want you to come out to tryouts and we will have a spot for you. That can be done at any time. A coach shouldn't approach at player when they are already on a team and committed to them for that season. Especially if a player never had an interest to go to that team. Also what does that say about the coaches and their ability to fill their needs with foresight. Good coaches are able to plan ahead and have discussions with players and parents where they see their players down the road. My sons coach does this very well and while not every situation has worked out, there has been "planning for the future" conversations with players and parents. Tournament season is completely different because of many variables.

FCA White '27 = True Baltimore Black '27 v2.0

I agree 100% that how you describe it SHOULD be the way things work and I think a fair number of coaches do work that way. That is how all my sons coaches have operated. However, every club fielding top tier teams has coaches operating outside these guidelines. I wouldn't mind seeing a club put in writing what roster building rules/restrictions they follow. I think top of the list for most parents would be a restriction on guest players as that seems to be the biggest recurring complaint. I'm not holding my breathe though.

As a parent on one of the teams that you mentioned, I can assure you that your post is utter horse @ChillLaxin. My son is a starter on FCA. He also has received offers to play for Crabs and 91. No one from FCA has promised my son anything in regards to High School. Frankly, they are probably the only true agnostic club when it comes to high school play. Tons of FCA kids go to BL, LB, STP, MCD etc... Also, outside of a small handful of CHCHS kids that might be living with host families, FCA isn't flying kids in like Crabs and 91.

Moreover, in looking at the composition of the 25-27 rosters, the majority of the players were homegrown and have played for FCA for years.

In regards to your accusations about unethical behavior, I can only speak to my experience over the past few years and what I've heard from other parents. Outside of the normal, "my kid should get more time" stuff that goes on with any youth sports organization, I have never observed or heard of anything unethical whatsoever. I would actually say that the coaches and administration with FCA have proven to be FAR more compassionate and caring than any of my children's previous youth teams. Coaches and the Director go WAAAAY out of their way to help families in need, organize assistance and build a community.

We have a mix of religious and non-religious families on the team. FCA doesn't shove religion down anyone's throat. Yes, they will pray at every event and that may not be for everyone. My family is religious but not devout and personally, I appreciate the additional life perspective that the coaches give my son.

I'm sorry your experience was not as positive.