RMLC & WCLL compete for championship

[Ty Webb]

When will another conference be able to step up and hold the trophy.
The RMLC and WCLL have dominated the tournament since it's inception in 10 championship games only one team outside of these two leagues had broken into the big game. My guess is not for at least another 5 years, any thoughts?

2006 (Dallas, T X ) - Colorado State 8, Colorado 7
2005 (Minneapolis, MN ) - UCSB 8, Sonoma State 7
2004 (St. Louis, MO ) - UCSB 8, Colorado State 7
2003 (St. Louis, MO ) - Colorado State 6, UCSB 4
2002 (St. Louis, MO ) - Sonoma State 13, Colorado State 10
2001 (St. Louis, MO ) - Colorado State 16, Stanford 7
2000 (St. Louis, MO ) - Brigham Young 17, Colorado State 13
1999 (St. Louis, MO ) - Colorado State 15, Simon Fraser 11
1998 (St. Louis, MO ) - California 16, Brigham Young 15 (OT)
1997 (St. Louis, MO ) - Brigham Young 15, UCSB 11

[Zamboni_Driver]

Yes. Why is this important?

[Ty Webb]

It involves the championship and chatting thus the championship chat room.

[OAKS]

You made a good argument as to why it belongs in the Championship Chat forum, but you didn't answer the question.

And the thing is, everybody already knows what you posted because people like to bring it up on a frequent basis.

In my general opinion, it will always be the WCLL & RMLC fighting for the championships. MCLA lacrosse around the country will always be inferior and will never catch up.

[PSLguy]

In my general opinion, it will always be the WCLL & RMLC fighting for the championships. MCLA lacrosse around the country will always be inferior and will never catch up.

Any parcitular reason(s)? Just curious

[Ben Clark]

In my general opinion, it will always be the WCLL & RMLC fighting for the championships. MCLA lacrosse around the country will always be inferior and will never catch up.

I disagree. I think in 3-5 years you'll see teams from the CCLA and PCLL at the top of the standings. Quite simply, there's a bigger talent pool out East, and these club teams are starting to get their names out there. I'm not saying they're going to start pulling kids away from D1 schools, but D2 and D3 for sure.

[OAKS]

I wasn't being serious guys.

[Ty Webb]

OAKS you sound a little upset. The point of the post was to see what people think about the progres of the other leagues not simply to point out the past. We all support the growth of the MDIA

[bste_lax]

That never gets old.

[Zamboni_Driver]

So I guess I interpret these post to suggest that the leagues, not the individual programs, are doing something to generate more talent.

The leagues are man made designations on a map based on location. I do not think the leagues are the reason BYU, CSU, UCSB, and Sonoma have controlled the national championships. For example, if the trustees of BYU moved it to Palmyra, NY - they would still be winning national championships because of their program and not their league. There are just as many teams within these leagues (WCLL in particular) that can not compete effectively with these programs as there are teams outside their respective leagues. Thus it is not a league driven success.

I think when we talk about national champion caliber play we should talk about BYU, CSU, UCSB, and Sonoma as NCAA discussions focus on Syracuse, Princeton, Virginia, and Hopkins. It is important to celebrate these programs as an example that others should strive to emulate (full time coach, coach is an employee of college, facilities, budget, sponsorhips, etc).

Now you have an interesting question - can schools that lack a "virtual varsity" status compete with those that do?

[StrykerFSU]

The rest of the country is going to catch up sooner rather than later. Lacrosse has had quite a head start in regions such as Colorado and California over places like Texas and Florida but that gap narrows every year. At the high school level, I point to schools like Boca Raton's St. Andrews as an example of a Florida team that now can compete on the national stage. As the MCLA programs in the region become more organized, they will become attractive playing options for these talented high schoolers.

The East Coast schools have a built in disadvantage because so many of the local universities have varsity programs and thus, no MCLA. Many of the talented players from Maryland, Virginia, Jersey, Connecticut, etc. who may not want or aren't good enough to play varsity are shut out of the MCLA world and either end up in the backwater of the NCLL or out of lacrosse all together. It's a shame really. And please no one take this the wrong way, but having grown up in Virginia I can honestly say that the MCLA is but a blip on the lacrosse radar screen in that region (at least that's the way it was 10 years ago). When you are surrounded by the absolute best varsity programs in the country, club lacrosse just doesn't seem like an option. Even if you aren't good enough to play for a UVA, you are going to set your sights on Middlebury, Roanoke, Salisbury, etc and not a club team because, in my experience, playing club is not nearly as prestigious as playing varsity regardless of division. Now if the MCLA changed their rules and allowed schools to have both varsity and a MCLA club team I think you would see the dynamics chance quickly. Anyone ever seen Maryland's NCLL team play? I'd like their chances against BYU or CSU anyday.

The MCLA is a great league and is outstanding for the growth of the sport in general and I think very soon we will that growth reflected come championship time.

Now we return you to your regularly scheduled programming about WCLL/RMLC dominance (yawn).

[`MM9]

As the MCLA programs in the region become more organized, they will become attractive playing options for these talented high schoolers.

I agree here. Texas has a couple high school programs that could compete against some East Coast schools.... (St. Marks, St. Johns, Highland Park, ESD)

However, many of the kids that graduate from these schools disappear after high school.

[OldRamAlum83]

As the MCLA programs in the region become more organized, they will become attractive playing options for these talented high schoolers.

I agree here. Texas has a couple high school programs that could compete against some East Coast schools.... (St. Marks, St. Johns, Highland Park, ESD)

However, many of the kids that graduate from these schools disappear after high school.

I see both sides to this debate. Texas has gone through an incredible growth period here & just like Denver Kent Country Day their best players are playing for NCAA schools. However, that is where Colorado and Texas differ Colorado has two NCAA Division I schools (DU & Air Force) and one Division III school (CC). DU has several premier Colorado H.S. players and is a perennial top 10 team and can play with anyone. One of the differences is the high school players in Colorado, Calif., AZ, Utah and Oregon who are good but not superstars jump at the chance to play at CSU, CU, BYU, Oregon etc. while back East they are just beginning to realize it's not an embarrassment to play for a club team. I am sure there are thousands of kids at many colleges that could play out there but their pride won't let them. Hopefully that will continue to change and we will see much more parody everywhere and then there will be no reason for discussions about teams playing weak schedules.

[AuggieLaxCoach]

I agree with Stryker, I grew up in Maryland and did not even know club lacrosse existed on the organizational level it does until I came to school at UST in Minnesota. I did not even know there was a team at UST, or any other school in the mid west. Now, that was 4 years ago, and club lacrosse west of the Appalachians has grown a lot. But, like Stryker stated earlier, in the grand scheme of things, MCLA is pretty much an unknown to the regions that have very competitive varsity lax. I think as our respective leagues grow, and nationals become larger year by year, this will change a bit.

[TheBearcatHimself]

I completely agree with this as well as far as the MCLA being fairly unknown or misunderstood. Out of all the players that end up going to these WCLL and RMLC schools I wonder how many have a full grasp of the difference between club and varsity and really care? I mean for a lot of these kids its just lacrosse thats close to home, and for the kids that come from the East Coast its a school they want to go to with lacrosse. I mean we are not really getting blue chip talent that would otherwise be going DI varsity that often so its more an issue of the kids who are in that "MCLA" category knowing about the MCLA and the schools that have teams, which luckily is a lot more now.

I think other leagues will start to be represented, Oregon and Simon Fraser are both two programs in the PNCLL that are solid and are gaining a tradition now, and there are also schools like Florida State and Florida and Georgia and and Georgia Tech and Texas and Texas Tech and Lindenwood and Michigan and Northeastern that are all NOT in the RMLC or WCLL. The fact that more teams haven't been in the title game is a little bit of luck, a little bit not because the WCLL and RMLC are traditionally the deepest and strongest leagues which is what you would expect from your national championship teams. I think it will just even out, the coin will flip in years in the future and the SELC and the LSA will have teams in the championship for 5 years and people will be groaning over the absence of the RMLC and the WCLL. Once the talent spreads as the game grows it will just become random and be like in college football where the conference's represented represent the best teams and not necessarily the best conferences that season. I hardly think anyone would argue that the Big Ten was the best league in college football this season yet Ohio State was right there. Much like in our MCLA it is because Ohio State is a great program that is also a member of a strong and organized league.