Comments on: US Lacrosse Issues Statement About Collegiate Recruiting

By: Derek Blasutti

Derek Blasutti — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 19:49:00 +0000

Isn’t this just the equivalent of the unarmed mall cop yelling “Stop… or I’ll yell stop again!”

Until restrictions actually get put in place (with punishments) no one is going to stop doing what they fell they have to do (coaches getting the best recruits to keep their jobs and the kids doing what they can to get recruited).

As much as it’s nice they are seeing the problem, they aren’t doing anything to fix it.

By: notaBro

notaBro — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 18:23:00 +0000

Devil’s Advocate here. The programs that are generally leading the charge with early recruiting are Virginia, Hopkins and UNC. I can’t see a lot of downside to securing an opportunity early to attend one of those schools. They each provide an incredible educational opportunity, great lacrosse, and a pretty consistent culture of achievement. Even as you expand it to all of the teams that are recruiting early, it still encompasses a very small slice of college lacrosse. Most programs, and even most D1 programs, are not committing sophomores. If the programs recruiting early now start to see a negative return on that practice, they will stop on their own. A statement like this is great. But it won’t change anything. College coaches will glance at it, say “yup, same stuff we’ve been saying” and carry on doing what they do.

By: Damian Hall

Damian Hall — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 12:29:00 +0000

I am very much on board with US Lacrosse and think this kind of statement may even be overdue. The recruiting landscape is such that you are asking teenagers to make a life-altering decision like which college am I going to attend in 3 years.

The number of variables involved are just ridiculous. Let’s look at just a few:

1) As a Sophomore the only people that will be on the team when you arrive on campus for your freshmen fall are FRESHMAN! How in the world are you supposed to understand what that team’s dynamic is going to be when the people who will be leading the team are literally still trying to find the weight room?

2) At 15 most kids don’t even know what they want for lunch, let alone what career path they want to choose. If you don’t know what you want to do with your life, how can you POSSIBLY choose a school that is a good academic fit? That’s not even touching on does the kid understand what kind of student he is.

3) Injury, and/or the fear of it, causing multi-sport athletes to step away from other sports which is just a detriment to their further development as an athlete, as opposed to just a lacrosse player.

And that’s just building the soap box!