BOTC - US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums NORTHEAST LACROSSE BOTC MAIN FORUM (LI, CT, WC) What's Your View? IMLCA Says "No" To Mid-Week Collegiate Recruiting

TO: IMLCA Membership

Members of the IMLCA Division I Legislative Committee have asked me to push hard for coaches to adhere to the IMLCA policy prohibiting coaches from attending mid-week recruiting events, including the below event. A reminder of the policy was distributed again this morning.

The policy states: “During the recruiting segment of the 2012 IMLCA Convention, the IMLCA Division I and Division II membership voted to state that it does not support any non-institutional or non-scholastic events conducted Monday thru Friday from September 1 thru May 1.

The IMLCA membership understands that school coaching staffs are permitted to conduct events Monday thru Friday on their campus provided they do not hire coaches not employed by their school.

This IMLCA position takes effect September 1, 2013.”

The Intercollegiate Men’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IMLCA) has issued a letter on Friday, November 1st encouraging all NCAA Division I and Division II coaches to NOT attend any midweek College Showcases despite these midweek dates being valid on the NCAA Recruiting Calendar.

While this does NOT impact any events being carried here on BOTC, this recommendation does impact our Youth Lacrosse community as evidenced in our Boys 2017 discussion thread where many in that age group had registered for the National Elite 175 recruiting event scheduled for Tuesday, November 26th. To their credit, the showcase organizers have opened a 48-hour window for refunds according to information we have received here at BOTC.

Now, it is completely unclear how tight the IMLCA's grip might be on the Division I and II coaches that were planning to attend this (or any) November midweek events.

Interesting to BOTC is that Division III institutions are NOT covered by this move and they continue to be free to attend the midweek recruiting events.

So, we are forced to ask what the difference is between a Division I coach attending a Tuesday afternoon event and a Division III coach? At first, we thought the IMLCA was making this move to self-police the recruiting cycles and avoid pressure to be seen on school days (despite this event being just before the Thanksgiving break). However, once we saw that Division III coaches were exempted, BOTC was forced to question the basis of the IMLCA's position.

What is your view?

The points that some posters have made about a showcase being scheduled on a school date are completely valid. BOTC agrees.

However, what about recruiting events that start on a Friday before a long weekend where student-athletes are pulled to do the drive with family? How about students that leave class early during the NYSPHSAA Lacrosse Playoffs in the Spring season?

These points are, however, smoke covering the main issues. Here are our questions.

[1] Why has the IMLCA chosen now, November, a heavy recruiting month, to reemphasize their policy regarding no mid-week activity?

[2] If the IMLCA is passionate regarding enforcement of a more restrictive recruiting calendar than that provided by the NCAA, why did the IMLCA not take their desires directly to the NCAA Compliance committee?

[3] Let's suppose that the IMLCA came forward now simply in response to the mid-week November 26th date for a showcase event because they were thinking about keeping the players in class. If that were the motivation, why is it fine with the IMLCA to have NCAA Division III coaches attend the event but not Division I or II coaches?

BOTC thinks that this announcement's motivation is still questionable.

Why did the organizers schedule this showcase during school? Why did they think it was okay for kids to miss school so they could fatten up their wallets?
Maybe someone should call them and ask them that.
I have no sympathy for them or the parents who planned on taking their kids out of school for this.

The next question is-
Could the organizers of this showcase have scheduled it on a date that did not make these kids miss a day of school?
Yes, they absolutely could have, but they chose not to, because in their arrogance , they did not care if the kids missed school. It didn't matter to them as long as they got paid.
Don't put the blame on the IMCLA. It sounds like you are trying to find fault with anyone BUT the tournament organizers.

Since the schedule was never published, suppose this recruiting event was running from 3:00pm until 10:00pm? Remember, this was being held at Mitchel Field and the turf field and surrounding areas are well lit for evening action. Everyone has assumed that IMCLA was being altruistic (SAT Word of the Day) in their concern for student-athlete classroom time. Were they really?

Why would the IMLCA say that Division III coaches can attend a midweek recruiting event overlapping with school yet Division I and Division II coaches can not attend?

If there was no market for a Tuesday event, parents would not register their student-athletes and the showcase would not have occurred. What we are seeing is that there IS a market for a lower cost, local option and parents voted with their wallets to attend.

So, what does the IMLCA do? They prohibit scholarship awarding programs from attending (Division I and II schools) yet they allow schools without scholarships (Division III) to attend. Clearly, this is NOT about keeping the players in class during a midweek session and has everything to do with parents paying for recruiting access with an event organizer from which the IMLCA is going to withhold recruiting dollars.

The 3d Bluechip event in Florida and Arizona this coming January will begin on Fridays and involves extensive travel for nearly all participants. Most boys will miss a day of school and many will miss two.

This event is part 1 of the Jake Reed Summer event for anyone who does not get a direct invite to Jake Reed. If the IMLCA wishes to be even handed in its approach, and REALLY look out for the kids they need to instruct coaches to NOT attend 3d blue chip AND NOT attend Jake Reed!!!!!!

The 600 boys per grade attending 3d are only doing so for a shot to attend Jake Reed

If the IMLCA is serious about putting academics and student athletes first they should issue a statement to coaches to stay away from Jake Reed

Checkin is at 1pm
Field play begins at 3:30pm

Midwest region Friday 1/3
West region Friday 1/10
South region Friday 1/17
Mid Atlantic region Friday 1/24
Northeast region Friday 1/31

Multiple wrongs don't make it right. Lets not continue to encourage bad behavior by allowing the 175 to accelerate a downward spiral in common sense. At some point the madness needs to be held in check and the IMLCA has taken this issue on because the NCAA has no enforcement backbone. Somebody has to put the money grabbers in check and I'm glad the IMLCA "Crippled" the 175 for the good of the student athlete. There are plenty of Saturdays and Sundays (which used to be a Church day) for them to hold their event. Enough is enough.

There are never any college coaches at the 3D blue chip event in Florida - It's not a recruiting opportunity in and of itself so it's not comparable to the deplorable behavior of the 175.

You are missing the point!!! The timing of the statement is irresponsible like I said, kids are being hurt by this. I still suspect that there is a personal motive somewhere here, or else this would not have happened weeks before a major showcase. Remember also that nobody was being forced to attend this event. Parents and their children evaluate the different options and then decide which is best for their situation. Not everyone can afford to travel to Florida and take even more days off from school.

Nobody has offered up a good reason why the 175 couldn't confine their event to a Saturday/Sunday. Hmmmm..

There are never any college coaches at the 3D blue chip event in Florida - It's not a recruiting opportunity in and of itself so it's not comparable to the deplorable behavior of the 175.

No, you're missing the point. Why not confine this to Saturaday/Sunday? Answer, because there are other recruiting tournaments on the weekends that would minimize the money grab. That's what this is all about and the IMCLA has enough sense to see through that and stop the madness. Let the 175 jump into the same snake pit on the weekends as the other events and fight for the dollars.

Nobody has offered up a good reason why the 175 couldn't confine their event to a Saturday/Sunday. Hmmmm..

That's fine, but don't tell us this weeks before the event when there are no options left for fall. We turned down JR for this (which also would have resulted in missing school due to a 10 hr drive) THAT'S THE POINT!!!! IMLCA hurt kids!!!! And you can decide who you want to give your money to, and I will decide where mine is spent.

That's fine, but don't tell us this weeks before the event when there are no options left for fall. We turned down JR for this (which also would have resulted in missing school due to a 10 hr drive) THAT'S THE POINT!!!! IMLCA hurt kids!!!! And you can decide who you want to give your money to, and I will decide where mine is spent.

That's fine, but don't tell us this weeks before the event when there are no options left for fall. We turned down JR for this (which also would have resulted in missing school due to a 10 hr drive) THAT'S THE POINT!!!! IMLCA hurt kids!!!! And you can decide who you want to give your money to, and I will decide where mine is spent.

Just keep everything to the weekends and IMLCA would not have a problem with 175. Pretty simple.

You are 100% correct that the timing of the IMLCA intervention is causing its actions to be hurtful to the very same student athletes they are trying to help.

If IMLCA does not request coaches to abstain from all events which interfere with academic pursuits then their actions seem insincere. I agree that coaches should be told to stay away from Jake Reed and probably similar cases can be made for nearly all events.

You purposely avoid the question : Why does the IMLCA allow Division III coaches to attend on a Tuesday, but not Division I and II coaches? You have skipped answering my question three times now which is clear evidence that you cannot defend their position.

I don't have an anser to that. So, do you have an answer as to why this event was not scheduled for a Saturday/Sunday? You seem to be dancing around this multiple times too - clear evidence you cannot defend 175's position. While you are thinking about this answer, please also answer for us whether the 175 organizers have paid you to advertise on your site either this showcase or other club related advertising. your answer to this second point may help us understand your non-answer about the Saturday/Sunday question. Thanks.

Potential reasons why this was set for a Tuesday:

• Mitchel Field permits were already taken out for both Saturday and Sunday during November through the Thanksgiving week.
• Centrally located, Mitchel affords lighted fields which allows for the event to extend beyond 4:00pm-4:15pm when it will be dusk.
• In order to adequately handle 200 players or more, you need at least two fields and with game play, you need closer to four fields which are colocated.
• The NCAA Calendar clearly establishes Tuesday, November 26th as an open recruiting date. Starting Wednesday, November 27th, the NCAA established a Thanksgiving Dark Period. This made the Tuesday date as the only viable Thanksgiving week recruiting event.

The bottom line is that Long Islanders have requested - and deserve - more showcase events located here on the Island as opposed to enhancing the tourism economy of other areas. In order to host the volume of demand, the locations are limited. While the IMLCA established this policy earlier this year, apparently this event was already in process.

Please remember that BOTC really has no interest in this particular event since they were not sponsoring with us. However, the IMLCA is screwing with our lacrosse constituency here on the Island and BOTC believes that they are wrong. Effectively, they are trying to control their member coaches as a block, outside of the domain of the NCAA.

Let us go one step further. If the IMLCA can exhibit control over this recruiting situation, how long before they introduce other rules which name "specific" weekends on which their member coaches can attend events? Would those specific weekends be tied to specific recruiting events that are somehow sponsored with the IMLCA? Think about the resulting position for consumers.

All of this is already happening on the Women's Side under the IWCLA. They tell coaches what 4 "mandated" tournaments they need to be at each year. Those tournqments are now run by Corrigan Sports. It's all about the coaches taking back control of the money flow from the tournament organizers.

Speaking of money flow, when you go to the IMCLA website you are urged to joing their recruit listing service. Can part of this be an effort to control/grab some of the recruiting dollars on the boys side?? It's usually all about the money