By: Cody Hart

Cody Hart — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 16:42:00 +0000

While I agree with most of your post and like the emphasis on getting the most “bang for your buck” in order to grow as a lacrosse player I was not sure about the following “Time spent driving in a car, flying at 30,000 feet, sitting in traffic, or posted up in hotel rooms and airport waiting areas is time wasted IF you have a nearby summer league.” Growing up playing lacrosse in Idaho, there was a summer league, but the best part of the summer was playing for Team Idaho, practicing for a month with the best players in Boise, and traveling by bus (13 hours) to Vail. Some of the best times on these trips were had on these long bus rides and times in the hotels. It was during these times that the players and coaches were able to bond and come together as a team and community. This bond also extended into the following seasons. As a player, you knew the best players on all the other teams, which in turn created better games and competition, which was absolutely crucial for a growing lacrosse community.

By: Adam Edg

Adam Edg — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 16:19:00 +0000

Excellent post! The lack of diversity training is destroying many sports in this country. It’s an epidemic that is under-reported, misunderstood, and bigger than most people realize. We always encourage our players to do something different in the fall and winter; we have a lot of hockey players
But even more damaging to lax and every other game are the non-stop tournaments. While camps and clinics at least emphasize education, skill building, and improvement, tournaments exist only as competitions. Players don’t get better by playing in ANY tournament, but they can by attending a well-run camp or clinic. Practice beats competition EVERY time when you are talking about GETTING BETTER and INCREASING COLLEGE OPPORTUNITIES. Sure a showcase game may put you on some recruiters’ radar, but demonstrating that you are willing to improve and willing to listen to coaches at a camp will go much farther (provided you have some talent to begin with).
Soccer has been plagued by this for at least two decades. Before MLS existed, I remember watching a special about the “dangers” of such a practice which focused on kids playing year round soccer on multiple travel teams in the summer, the local league in the fall, and the high school team in the spring (or vice versa). The practice to game ratio between all 4+ teams came out around 3/1. In what universe is that enough skill building? Professional athletes in EVERY SPORT (except MLL) practice DAILY, and have film sessions and conditioning on top of those practices. Current US youth development head and former US player Claudio Reyna is working hard to discontinue this practice. He is working with MLS academies (which are free) to have at least 5 practices per game. He is also encouraging breaks for players not in MLS academies to participate in other sports. Reyna understands the value of practice and diversifying your training.
Baseball is also falling victim to this practice. The amount of burnout is increasing constantly, which has been great for the rise of lax, but realistically this is not something we should be encouraging. With players on school teams, in little league, and in AAU, and all at increasingly younger ages, we are destroying the passion in so many players. Essentially we are turning sports into work.
Lax is at a point where we can stop this nonsense before we damage our long term prospects and the game itself – especially in areas that are more established at the younger levels. In fact, players not in high school should not be playing in highly competitive tournaments. Like Wilson said, these kids should limit their travel schedule to camps and clinics. Even at the high school, travel tournaments should be limited to a marquee event (Vail, etc) and regional championships/national championships.

Comments on: Hot Pot Of Lax: Just Play Lacrosse

By: Cody Hart

By: Adam Edg