I have some questions about this......?

[Karl Lynch]

Maybe I am the eternal optimist about the future of the LSA, but I don't see a talent drain.

1) For the first time in a long time, almost every Div. A team has at least one player that played high school ball enter school this year. That is a significant difference from the past. UNT has the most number of new players (8 ) ever that have played at least a season of high school ball.

2) This year is also the first year that almost every Div. A team has an OCC schedule to allow us to compare ourselves nationally. In years past, we could only use the results of A&M and Texas to see how the LSA stood up to the rest of the world. We have almost half the Division A playing a national schedule. That has never happened.

This is also the first year, that the average buget for a Div. A team is over $10,000.00.

3) Now, are we winning those games? Not enough of them yet, but it will come. A lot of times, a team needs to see a higher level of competition, desire, athleticism, organization, skill, etc. before they will take the necessary steps to compete against them the next time.

The LSA will be fine. Our teams will make the adjustments to a national schedule.

[Anderson]

Just to clarify Tech is made up of roughly equal numbers of players from DFW, Austin and Houston. However, I think a few years ago it was a lot easier to see a "standout player" because the people around him were not as good and no one was good enough to cover him. Now we tend to see a lot more players come out of HS with a good hold on the game. Its not just the players who were allstars back in their hometown that decide to continue playing in college. I got a good crop of freshmen this year at Middie, D and attack. One thing I have seen is that our defensive players that come out of HS are improving too, perhaps they are now good enough to covers those "standout players" that everyone seems to miss.

[LaxTastic]

I think you're pretty crazy if you really believe that kids from Texas, choosing a college out of high school, who aren't highly recruited actually care if the college they go to has a good lacrosse team. I have NEVER heard a story where a kid, who was somewhat decent at lacrosse in h.s., choosing to go to an out of state school just because their college lacdrosse team does better in the USLIA.

I do agree UT and aTm are having a down year as opposed to in years past, but i believe the whole league is improving as a whole. I'd like to see the percentages for the number of kids who go out of texas to play lacrosse who end up coming home a year later. It would be nice if the colleges in Texas and the LSA did more to appeal or entice high school kids to "stay at home" and play lacrosse, but our league does nothing of the sort. I do recall seeing some high school lacrosse players from Austin ready to watch the UT Texas Tech game on Sunday, only to see them look around and wonder why no game was being played when it only rained 1/10 of an inch, and they played later that day when it rained more.

We need to fix whats wrong with our league first before we try and persuade more kids to join it.

[Danny Hogan]

I'd like to see the percentages for the number of kids who go out of texas to play lacrosse who end up coming home a year later. It would be nice if the colleges in Texas and the LSA did more to appeal or entice high school kids to "stay at home" and play lacrosse, but our league does nothing of the sort.

that is a sticky situation that we run into a lot here in FL as well. FL and TX hs lax are in identical places talent-wise, growth and organiztionally too. What seems to be the case here, is that a vast majority of the HS coaches are from upper east coast/ncaa levels that do not think very much of the USLIA at all. Combine that with the colleges all being in small townes with little lax. The HS kids rarely get to see how legit the club teams are and they have their coaches barking in their ear how they should play for Pfiefer instead of FSU.

The conferences as a whole are run by volunteers and a grass roots advertising campaign would be the last thing they have time for. The individual schools need to step up, A&M has a great thing going with their tourney, i know FSU and UF do quite a bit of recruiting. If every school picks it up, the whole will eventually get better.

And just like TX a ton of the FL HS standouts end up at a state school after 1 or 2 years of D1/d3 ball and wish they went USLIA the whole time.

[Karl Lynch]

This year, the LSA is providing a high school showcase. Both Division A North and South first round playoff games will be played at neutral sites in Dallas and Houston so that the High School kids can come and watch.

LaxTastic, you are welcome to join our high school recruitment and retention committee. With your help, we can ensure that we fix what is wrong with our league.

I'm easy to get ahold of at karllynch@aol.com.

[LaxC21]

I think Danny has it. The schools in Texas have to take another step forward in how their organizations are run. If we want to continue to compete on a national level in the LSA we have to run our programs like the rest of the top tier teams run them (i.e. - recruiting, scholarships, paid coaches, facilities, etc.) We all need to be working toward the "virtual varsity" model. Unfortunately, I believe there are still to many people in the LSA who laugh at this idea...of course people thought some of the stuff we do today was crazy and not even possible 6-8 years ago.

With regards to talent...I think regardless of how many more kids are leaving out of Texas to play NCAA, there is still plenty in the talent pool to keep the LSA at a competitive level and even get much better. If you look at the best in the USLIA, there aren’t 25 studs on each team. There is probably 5 great players and 20 good, very fundamentally sound, well coached, well disciplined TEAM players, which makes them successful.

I believe discipline has been the deciding factor throughout this season for LSA teams. LSA teams seem always to have plenty of athletes but most of the team lacks the fundamentals to play with the top teams. You can't win a game against a top team if you can't catch, throw and clear the ball.

With regards to past teams in the LSA and their success...A&M for example was successful not because of Dunn, Lamb, Pike, etc. A&M was successful because they played the best TEAM game in the LSA and was able to do it better than MOST teams in the USLIA in 2003. What's even funnier about the A&M team 1999 - 2003 is that maybe 10 guys on the team each year had even played lacrosse in high school. It was a group of guys with good athleticism; a couple of studs and the rest had good discipline and played well as a team. People like J-Twizzy, Park, Poorman and Willie-D were more important to the success of those A&M teams than any of the AA that A&M had.

[green tea]

What seems to be the case here, is that a vast majority of the HS coaches are from upper east coast/ncaa levels that do not think very much of the USLIA at all.

Bingo, Danny. Cali has done a great job of keeping many of their top players in state because many of the HS coaches are home grown and know the benefits the USLIA has to offer.

The LSA isn't there, yet. It seems that most HS coaches would rather see their kids go back east and play for a terrible DII school with average (at best, in many cases) academics than to a USLIA school.

[Rice University Coach]

Some of the private school coaches push the NCAA schools. I know for a fact in the Houston area Episcopal, and St. Johns push the NCAA. Episcopal hosts the "Texas top 99" camp, and brings in NCAA coaches to see the boys go through drills and scrimmages. The LSA coaches are invited (I have attended as has Karl Lynch and others), but the premise of the camp is to promote Texas lacrosse players for the NCAA. When I coached at Lake, I myself promoted the LSA. I know for a fact that the majority of the other public school lax coaches felt the same way.

[lax]

it starts which the coaching. i have been exposed to alot of lacrosse in the northeast and alot of lacrosse in texas. people play and coach lacrosse differently down here than they do up in Maryland, NY, VA, CT, PA and so on. its also a classic case of people from Texas thinking they are better than they really are. clearly, the LSA is not a top conference in the USLIA and Texas/Louisiana lacrosse has a looong way to go before competing in the USLIA and ultimately, producing kids that goto Hopkins, UVA, Maryland, Syracuse etc... i know that sounds harsh, but its the truth and its never been more apparent than this year.

[mikeg123]

I assume that you mean the LSA when you say that your league has improved from top to bottom

Actually i was referring to the highschool league, case in point check out the Southlake program, lots of money, lots of kids, in a few years this program will have successfully gone from the bottom to the top

I think most people in the LSA know the kind of play makers that teams like ESD, St. Marks, Jesuit, or even Plano have been churning out lately. & I think that it's safe to say that almost none of these players are playing, at Tech, UT, or A&M, much less any other LSA team

I played for Jesuit, had my choice of DII/DII schools and made my decision not even knowing the USLIA existed. We got all of our best players from people who made a similar decision to mine, the season is halfway over, not everyone should jump the boat just yet

[Rice University Coach]

Back east, you have the opportunity to start competitive lacrosse in the third grade. The overall youth programs have been established for a while, where here in Texas, there are many Intermediate school programs, but no where near the extent of the Northeast. In addition, lacrosse in the Northeast is a varsity sport. I grew up in N.Y. and in High School, if you played football, you played Lacrosse in the spring. In Texas, we are attracting more and more athletes, but no where near the caliber that a varsity sport would attract over a club sport. The private High Schools have that advantage offering lacrosse with little or no outlay on the students part to play the sport. The club teams (public schools) charge a child anywhere from $200 - $400 in fees, not to mention equipment. Generally all the club will cover for the individual is the uniform. The sport itself has to be promoted and the younger we start a child playing lacrosse, the better our overall "product" at the high school level will be. Again, coaching is key to the "product" also.

[Sonny]

I think you're pretty crazy if you really believe that kids from Texas, choosing a college out of high school, who aren't highly recruited actually care if the college they go to has a good lacrosse team. I have NEVER heard a story where a kid, who was somewhat decent at lacrosse in h.s., choosing to go to an out of state school just because their college lacdrosse team does better in the USLIA.

Just because you've never heard of it, doesn't equate to it not happening. Many kids are choosing to go to MDIA programs for academics, lacrosse opportunities, and geography. It's happened in the past and it is happening more and more as the MDIA grows in size, structure, and visability.

Does this mean that the next Mike Powell is going to Montana State over Syracuse? No. Does it mean that kids (who won't get a full ride due to lacrosse) have plenty of opportunities for academics and athletics in college? Absolutely.

[LaxC21]

lax - apparently you haven't been keeping up with Texas High School lacrosse. There are plenty of kids making the trips out to the east coast. There are not a lot going to Div. 1 schools, but I would say that you could probably find at least a handful that have recently been on or going to be on top div. 1 rosters. Also, refer to the recent article regarding Texas High School lacrosse.

Texas schools are not that far off from top USLIA schools either...despite this season. This year has been a down year and I would some what agree with your statement that maybe this year Texas schools thought that they were better than they actually were, but I would blame that on the fact that they have been consistently improving over the last five years and they had no reason to believe this year would be any different...maybe they took some things for granted.

The fact is, the talent is hear in Texas and Texas college coaches, current players and alumni have to do a better job of going out and getting the kids to play. Someone mentioned the Top 99 which is primarily to push kids to go NCAA and yet LSA coaches show up to recruit these kids that have legitimate shots at going D1, D2 or D3. How do you think these kids feel when you show-up introduce yourself and you have nothing to offer them? Can you give me a scholarship? NO. Can you get me into school? NO. Where is your team ranked? Uhhh...we aren't. Why should I go to your school?

The fact is that you have to sell to the kids that aren't going NCAA first, and then go after a few of your big guns from Texas. You also have to have something to offer them. Can Texas schools in the USLIA offer scholarships? Sure why not? Can you offer them a better education than most will get going NCAA? Yes, absolutely. And lastly, you have to do it professionally. Where are these kids’ letters when they are sophomores or juniors when they are deciding where to go to school? Where are the pamphlets about your programs? You can't show up one day in May and expect to build a program. If Texas colleges want to be taken serious, they have to act serious in building their programs. So far nobody has been serious enough to do anything. I have hear some noise lately, I just hope everyone follows through with it.

[Rice University Coach]

Amen Lax 21! I go to all the camps and try to promote UH and the LSA whenever possible. We have a "promotional pamphlet" made up and we distribute this to kids at the camps. It lists the merits of attending UH, both academically, and the Lacrosse experience. We tout our facilities which are NCAA division 1: The Carl Lewis Stadium (where we play our home games) and the Alumni Athletic Center (the indoor football field where we practice). We all have to be ambassadors for the sport first and our Universities second.

[Karl Lynch]

Texas/Louisiana lacrosse has a looong way to go before competing in the USLIA and ultimately, producing kids that goto Hopkins, UVA, Maryland, Syracuse etc... i know that sounds harsh, but its the truth and its never been more apparent than this year.

Texas is producing kids that are making a serious impact in Div. I, II, and II lacrosse. In the last five years, Texas has produced:

One of the starting attackmen for the U19 world team.
Bice was a two time all-American from OSU.
Reaves was an all-American goalie at Goucher.

At the Texas Top 99, there were over twenty coaches looking at players - OSU, Notre Dame, Limestone, etc. were all there. Lots of coaches expressed interest in having these players come to their schools.

Yet, I spent the entire weekend talking with lots of kids that wanted to stay in Texas, were going to stay in Texas, and wanted to play in the LSA. I would say that a majority of the kids at the Texas Top 99 will play in the LSA.