Well, some pretty dug in Crabs dads out on the 'ole internet today. My son played at an Ivy and didn't play club lacrosse save for summers, and not for Crabs, and played on a Maryland public school high school team. He was a very good student and quite honestly was likely the last recruit in his class, and that he was such a great student and had a high AI which brought the AI average for the recruiting class up, he was most welcomed by the coaches as a junior...which was "too late". You don't need to do the list of must do's pounded into stone and carried down the mountain from your club lacrosse coach. I pick on Ryan McClernan for selling this lunacy to parents, and the only place where that is unfair is he is in a herd of all the same guy doing it to club lacrosse parents all over now.
But don't listen to me. I am not an expert. My son was not an early recruit. My son was not IL or RR ranked as a recruit. We didn't go or get invited to Jake Reed. But he did play a lot and had a great time in his college academic and athletic career, and now he is in a very good graduate school program
At least you admit you're not an expert. I'd call your situation a one-off at best - your son had grades to make Ivy and was lucky enough to squeak in as a lacrosse player also, which is great for him. I'm not a Crabs dad, but I am a club parent, and what I will say, I think everyone else is saying is, you CAN do it without club, but why would you unless your son simply doesn't like playing club? Whether it be Crabs, Hawks, VLC, Breakers, 91, Madlax, etc. - if your kid likes playing a lot and at a high level, and you can afford it, why NOT get better coaching, recruiting help, etc.? I don't think McLearnan is selling any BS, and neither are the others. The FACT is that the process begins earlier now - the "real" top lacrosse schools (UNC, Duke, Maryland, Hopkins, Syracuse) begin their recruiting process much earlier now - in 8th grade. There would not be a spot for your son to play lax at one of those schools, but of course there would be at a Dartmouth - it's simply just not the same level of lacrosse play. I just can't understand why you and others knock clubs and parents and kids who want to play club - if we can afford it and the boys want to play, what business is it of anyone's?
