Teams Folding

[PNWLaxer]

Is there anything that can be done to prevent or stop teams from folding so late. That is two teams now in the last couple of weeks.

[Chris Larson]

Josh solicited and recieved suggestions from the MDIA Board of Directors at our meeting a couple of weeks ago.

CL

[BearcatLax]

Down here at Willamette I know I am very shocked that Evergreen folded. To me it made no sense, largely because they were clearly the best team we saw at the fall tournament we played in at Lewis and Clark.

They had plenty of guys it seemed, here in Salem we are lucky to get 10 guys out to a practice. But we are still committed to the games and we will be here all season. Our club has seen hard times and is in even harder times currently, we lost our top two point men and our goalie, but we will play every game as hard as we can because we love the game.

I feel very sad for the players that I talked to at the tournament for Evergreen, they are great guys and loved the game as well, I'm sorry they will not be playing this year.

[primetime21]

dedication. that is what stops a team from folding...players dedicated to succeeding. there have been plenty of teams that have not had coaches that are dedicated survived the rough times and are now prospering on the hard work that was put in to the team. players that are dedicated make it work. and the work speaks for itself. just look at UPS they at one point had no coach then had a coach and he quit... however dedicated players brought a strong smart coach to them and now they are a league favorite. they won the league B title last year and were asked to nationals. that is team on the rise. and that is how you stop teams from folding......DEDICATION

[Sonny]

dedication. that is what stops a team from folding...players dedicated to succeeding. there have been plenty of teams that have not had coaches that are dedicated survived the rough times and are now prospering on the hard work that was put in to the team. players that are dedicated make it work. and the work speaks for itself. just look at UPS they at one point had no coach then had a coach and he quit... however dedicated players brought a strong smart coach to them and now they are a league favorite. they won the league B title last year and were asked to nationals. that is team on the rise. and that is how you stop teams from folding......DEDICATION

If it is that easy - Maybe you should bottle that "dedication" primetime and sell it to some other teams around the country. I'm sure you could make millions.

As as wise sage once said on the old message board many years ago - You cannot instill focus into a program. That has to come from within.

[Kyle Berggren]

I wouldn't call the UPS coaches 'strong or smart,' with our limited experience, we recylce what we can and apply it too our teams. I'm sorry teams are folding, I would love to have 1 problem free season in the PNCLL. Maybe that's too much to ask, but everyone views lacrosse as something different. At many smaller schools, Evergreen, they already have a limited number of kids to choose from, now getting them to dedicate anywhere from 2-5 afternoons a week, plus weekends is going to be tough (I didn't mention the money, fundraising, and missing of some social life).

As a league, I don't see many courses of action to prevent this from happening in the future. I'm very thankful UPS gets kids from all over the country, many that have played lacrosse before, so we should go on for quite some time, but what if I only had 8 guys... We'd have to fold also, even if those 8 guys were All-American players with straight A's. Without 11, there's simply no team.

[Sonny]

As a league, I don't see many courses of action to prevent this from happening in the future.

Kyle,

There are some checks & balances to help prevent this from happening. It all starts in the offseason (summer) when the conference leadership meets to discuss the upcoming season and potential new members.

When applications are completed in the previous spring by applicant members and then reviewed throughly in the late spring & summer by the conference leadership, you can easily determine which teams are serious about making the committment to play our our level. The conference that are proactive about the application process and conduct interviews with adult coaches, sports club directors, etc. usually can quickly determine if a team is ready or not.

If conferences allow teams to just show up at the Fall Meeting, make a 5 min. presentation for admittance, and then vote them in --- You know right of the bat you will have problems with them down the road. The conference executive boards should do a much more in-depth review process prior to the Fall meeting and only invite those candidates that are truly ready.

Another big step is to inform the sports club directors of the requirements (money, game day issues, uniforms, eligibility, etc.) for playing at the MDIA level -- early in the process (i.e. not after they are admitted). If the sports club director raises a red flag, despite what a team president may claim otherwise, it is a huge warning sign. Many time conferences rely on the "good word" of a team president when they should frankly be going over his head to a campus sports club director and/or adult (non-playing) coach.

Sorry if I got on the soapbox, but this ain't rocket science. It takes some effort by the various conference adminstrators each off season to make the following conference season on the field a success.