Connecticut 2024

[pcowlax]

As a small defense of hometown Hand, that recent stretch of losing in state finals multiple times were almost all to New Canaan in generally competitive (though not close) games. The top 3-4 FCIAC teams these days are top 10 nationally public schools, NY is down across the board. With that as the standard, it is pretty hard to break through for a title in L or LL (though easier now with option for them to opt up). In the past 10 years, Hand enrollment has dropped from 1300 to 750. Literally. All sports are not what they were and can’t be with losing half of the student body.

[connecticutlaxfan]

It's been a great regular season but now it's time for the conference playoffs. New Canaan is definitely the favorite as of now but it is anyone's title to take in the FCIAC. Even Greenwich, who most wouldn't even consider a contender, was up 8-6 on Darien in the 4th quarter last night.

FCIAC playoffs start next Saturday with matchups that are almost definitely as follows (higher seeds host the first round, semifinals and finals at Wilton HS):

#1 New Canaan vs #8 Fairfield Ludlowe
#2 Darien vs #7 St. Joseph
#3 Ridgefield vs #6 Greenwich
#4 Wilton vs #5 Staples

Any thoughts or predictions?

[Kismet]

As a small defense of hometown Hand, that recent stretch of losing in state finals multiple times were almost all to New Canaan in generally competitive (though not close) games. The top 3-4 FCIAC teams these days are top 10 nationally public schools, NY is down across the board. With that as the standard, it is pretty hard to break through for a title in L or LL (though easier now with option for them to opt up). In the past 10 years, Hand enrollment has dropped from 1300 to 750. Literally. All sports are not what they were and can’t be with losing half of the student body.

Quite correct but as in Football where they can no longer compete with the big boys,they won another state title in M division last fall against marginal competition. They can do the same in lacrosse for their first ever state title - it won't mean much to us old timers but the current crowd will be excited.

They are a very young team this year and very tentative offensively but if they beat Sheehan this week they will qualify for M playoffs at 7-9 likely as the 2 seed to Barlow.

The will likely get another shot at Guilford in the SCC tournament then a ceremonial sacrifice to the Evil Empire of Fairfield Prep in the semis.
That all said, they will certainly take a M championship no matter how cheap it may be.

[pcowlax]

As a small defense of hometown Hand, that recent stretch of losing in state finals multiple times were almost all to New Canaan in generally competitive (though not close) games. The top 3-4 FCIAC teams these days are top 10 nationally public schools, NY is down across the board. With that as the standard, it is pretty hard to break through for a title in L or LL (though easier now with option for them to opt up). In the past 10 years, Hand enrollment has dropped from 1300 to 750. Literally. All sports are not what they were and can’t be with losing half of the student body.

Quite correct but as in Football where they can no longer compete with the big boys,they won another state title in M division last fall against marginal competition. They can do the same in lacrosse for their first ever state title - it won't mean much to us old timers but the current crowd will be excited.

They are a very young team this year and very tentative offensively but if they beat Sheehan this week they will qualify for M playoffs at 7-9 likely as the 2 seed to Barlow.

The will likely get another shot at Guilford in the SCC tournament then a ceremonial sacrifice to the Evil Empire of Fairfield Prep in the semis.
That all said, they will certainly take a M championship no matter how cheap it may be.

Uh oh. Careful with Hand football! That will get people FIRED up in Madison. It wasn’t too long ago (and I mean 3 or 4 years) when they were probably the top dog in all of CT. They are still tremendous for their size and would thrash all but the top 3 or 4 in L or LL. But yes, they would struggle now with New Canaan or Greenwich or West Haven. We will have to see if the school population rebounds.

[Kismet]

As a small defense of hometown Hand, that recent stretch of losing in state finals multiple times were almost all to New Canaan in generally competitive (though not close) games. The top 3-4 FCIAC teams these days are top 10 nationally public schools, NY is down across the board. With that as the standard, it is pretty hard to break through for a title in L or LL (though easier now with option for them to opt up). In the past 10 years, Hand enrollment has dropped from 1300 to 750. Literally. All sports are not what they were and can’t be with losing half of the student body.

Quite correct but as in Football where they can no longer compete with the big boys,they won another state title in M division last fall against marginal competition. They can do the same in lacrosse for their first ever state title - it won't mean much to us old timers but the current crowd will be excited.

They are a very young team this year and very tentative offensively but if they beat Sheehan this week they will qualify for M playoffs at 7-9 likely as the 2 seed to Barlow.

The will likely get another shot at Guilford in the SCC tournament then a ceremonial sacrifice to the Evil Empire of Fairfield Prep in the semis.
That all said, they will certainly take a M championship no matter how cheap it may be.

Uh oh. Careful with Hand football! That will get people FIRED up in Madison. It wasn’t too long ago (and I mean 3 or 4 years) when they were probably the top dog in all of CT. They are still tremendous for their size and would thrash all but the top 3 or 4 in L or LL. But yes, they would struggle now with New Canaan or Greenwich or West Haven. We will have to see if the school population rebounds.

Times have changed in football. Enrollment decline. Top skill players heading to Prep schools. So drop two classes and win titles again to help support the monument they built to themselves at the beach.

Like in Cheshire I imagine, the parents and school officials LOVE those championship plaques in the trophy case as well as rings for the kids and staff. Nobody ever asks if they beat any FCIAC competition.

From experience - there are MANY, MANY things that will get you fired in athletics in Madison and not necessarily fired up.

[Mike75]

Would have thought with the growth of the game that the playing field would become more level. And I guess that is true to some extent within Fairfield county. Staples and Ridgefield have joined traditional FCIAC powers Darien, New Canaan and Wilton as legit contenders year in and year out. Greenwich says hi every once in a while, but gets raided by the privates. Prep is still Prep. Weston, Barlow, New Fairfield, and St. Joe's routinely win in M and S, but aren't beating the big boys in LL. And the rest of the state is an afterthought. Used to be that the Hartford area could challenge the FCIAC, but no more. G'bury, Simsbury, Conard, Hall all have tradition but have not been consistently good for awhile. Cheshire makes noise from time to time, but refuses to play a strong OOC. Guilford and Hand are a step below Cheshire. Its no wonder that the FCIAC teams value winning that title over a state title.

It's even worse with the girls. Darien, New Canaan on tier one, Wilton (maybe Greenwich) on tier two, and tier three is everyone else. Tier three has no chance of beating tiers one and two, and will more likely than not lose by double digits.

[pcowlax]

As a small defense of hometown Hand, that recent stretch of losing in state finals multiple times were almost all to New Canaan in generally competitive (though not close) games. The top 3-4 FCIAC teams these days are top 10 nationally public schools, NY is down across the board. With that as the standard, it is pretty hard to break through for a title in L or LL (though easier now with option for them to opt up). In the past 10 years, Hand enrollment has dropped from 1300 to 750. Literally. All sports are not what they were and can’t be with losing half of the student body.

Quite correct but as in Football where they can no longer compete with the big boys,they won another state title in M division last fall against marginal competition. They can do the same in lacrosse for their first ever state title - it won't mean much to us old timers but the current crowd will be excited.

They are a very young team this year and very tentative offensively but if they beat Sheehan this week they will qualify for M playoffs at 7-9 likely as the 2 seed to Barlow.

The will likely get another shot at Guilford in the SCC tournament then a ceremonial sacrifice to the Evil Empire of Fairfield Prep in the semis.
That all said, they will certainly take a M championship no matter how cheap it may be.

Uh oh. Careful with Hand football! That will get people FIRED up in Madison. It wasn’t too long ago (and I mean 3 or 4 years) when they were probably the top dog in all of CT. They are still tremendous for their size and would thrash all but the top 3 or 4 in L or LL. But yes, they would struggle now with New Canaan or Greenwich or West Haven. We will have to see if the school population rebounds.

Times have changed in football. Enrollment decline. Top skill players heading to Prep schools. So drop two classes and win titles again to help support the monument they built to themselves at the beach.

Like in Cheshire I imagine, the parents and school officials LOVE those championship plaques in the trophy case as well as rings for the kids and staff. Nobody ever asks if they beat any FCIAC competition.

From experience - there are MANY, MANY things that will get you fired in athletics in Madison and not necessarily fired up.

You seem a bit out of date on the football my friend. It is very much a two horse state these days, the SCC is very much the equal (more so this last year) of the FCIAC. Obviously nowhere near the case in lacrosse. Also, in football, there is no voluntary moving up in class that I am aware of (certainly it has never been done). If they had the chance, Madison would have gladly played up this year, the class M field was a joke indeed. Playoffs were the first games of the year where they were not playing a bigger school. Whatever you feelings for Madison, please don’t compare them to the Cheshire lax decision, that is low! I know less about and would be curious to hear what has happens to Simsbury, who never was the equal of the very top FCiAC teams but could give most a very good game and now has totally fallen off. There is the draw if preps but….Westminster didn’t just move there. Loomis and Taft didn’t just start up lacrosse. Has their youth program fallen off? Any insight?

[Kismet]

As a small defense of hometown Hand, that recent stretch of losing in state finals multiple times were almost all to New Canaan in generally competitive (though not close) games. The top 3-4 FCIAC teams these days are top 10 nationally public schools, NY is down across the board. With that as the standard, it is pretty hard to break through for a title in L or LL (though easier now with option for them to opt up). In the past 10 years, Hand enrollment has dropped from 1300 to 750. Literally. All sports are not what they were and can’t be with losing half of the student body.

Quite correct but as in Football where they can no longer compete with the big boys,they won another state title in M division last fall against marginal competition. They can do the same in lacrosse for their first ever state title - it won't mean much to us old timers but the current crowd will be excited.

They are a very young team this year and very tentative offensively but if they beat Sheehan this week they will qualify for M playoffs at 7-9 likely as the 2 seed to Barlow.

The will likely get another shot at Guilford in the SCC tournament then a ceremonial sacrifice to the Evil Empire of Fairfield Prep in the semis.
That all said, they will certainly take a M championship no matter how cheap it may be.

Uh oh. Careful with Hand football! That will get people FIRED up in Madison. It wasn’t too long ago (and I mean 3 or 4 years) when they were probably the top dog in all of CT. They are still tremendous for their size and would thrash all but the top 3 or 4 in L or LL. But yes, they would struggle now with New Canaan or Greenwich or West Haven. We will have to see if the school population rebounds.

Times have changed in football. Enrollment decline. Top skill players heading to Prep schools. So drop two classes and win titles again to help support the monument they built to themselves at the beach.

Like in Cheshire I imagine, the parents and school officials LOVE those championship plaques in the trophy case as well as rings for the kids and staff. Nobody ever asks if they beat any FCIAC competition.

From experience - there are MANY, MANY things that will get you fired in athletics in Madison and not necessarily fired up.

You seem a bit out of date on the football my friend. It is very much a two horse state these days, the SCC is very much the equal (more so this last year) of the FCIAC. Obviously nowhere near the case in lacrosse. Also, in football, there is no voluntary moving up in class that I am aware of (certainly it has never been done). If they had the chance, Madison would have gladly played up this year, the class M field was a joke indeed. Playoffs were the first games of the year where they were not playing a bigger school. Whatever you feelings for Madison, please don’t compare them to the Cheshire lax decision, that is low! I know less about and would be curious to hear what has happens to Simsbury, who never was the equal of the very top FCiAC teams but could give most a very good game and now has totally fallen off. There is the draw if preps but….Westminster didn’t just move there. Loomis and Taft didn’t just start up lacrosse. Has their youth program fallen off? Any insight?

Perhaps but the football program, while still a religion in town is nowhere near what it has been historically performance-wise. They just cannot compete with the big boys like they used to. In some ways they are content to be in M right now and are also in the second division SCC as well.
No intel on Simsbury but I think you overrate them historically.

UPDATE: Hand Tigers make the M tournament at 7-9 - they may end up as the #1 seed.

[connecticutlaxfan]

After another big loss this weekend, I am wondering what has happened to Greenwich. Back in the late 2000's/early2010's they were a perennial contender, winning 2 FCIAC and 1 state championship. Since then things have just seemed to go downhill. I know there has been coaching turnover (although I hold Bobby Lutz in high regard), and private schools (especially Brunswick) take most of the talent, but Greenwich is 2-22 in tier 1 of the FCIAC post-COVID, and 0-12 in the past two years. A town with such incredible resources and facilities along with a robust youth program should surely be better than that. What is going on and will the cardinals ever get back to what they were?

[justanotherperson]

I dont have intel but just looking at trends of the general landscape moving towards Prep, you have Brunswick which has always been there and maybe been poaching since 2014, but you have the rise of GCDS in the last few years which may be poaching players as they offer an alternative to the public school education. Greenwich hasnt won since 2014

I dont have rosters to either GCDS or Brunswick that lists their hometown though

[jmct]

Even with some students going to Brunswick or elsewhere, Greenwich HS still has about twice the enrollment of Ridgefield or New Canaan or Darien. Staples is a little bigger than those three but still has 1000 less students than GHS.

Not sure what the problem is with GHS lacrosse, but even with losing some players to Brunswick, the program should be better than it has been recently

[random observer]

Even with some students going to Brunswick or elsewhere, Greenwich HS still has about twice the enrollment of Ridgefield or New Canaan or Darien. Staples is a little bigger than those three but still has 1000 less students than GHS.

Not sure what the problem is with GHS lacrosse, but even with losing some players to Brunswick, the program should be better than it has been recently

"Some" students from Darien and New Canaan (increasingly more with each year) go to Brunswick and the other NEW-1 schools. For Greenwich it's not "some"; I'd wager the vast vast majority of the A team from any given grade of GYL does not end up at Greenwich High School. Almost all of the D1 talent in the town ends up elsewhere, and now that pandoras box has been opened, even some of the kids who stay end up leaving for better competition (this is not unique to Greenwich anymore now either).

In conjunction with this, some of the other towns have caught up to the Greenwich Youth program lately. A decade or two ago, Greenwich was winning CONNYs most of the time in every age bracket, with New Canaan typically being their main challenger. Greenwich is still good today, but Darien, New Canaan, and Fairfield are on their level and often times better.

The Darien and New Canaan youth programs are good or better than they've ever been and are counteracting the population advantage of Greenwich and Fairfield -- the only reason it's not translating into historic seasons for the high school is because there has been an uptick in poaching by the prep schools, particularly of top players. Darien's 2026 class is one of its deepest in ages, and that's even having lost 5-6 high level D1 caliber prospects to Brunswick/Lawrenceville/Loomis/Westminster. Jamie Hanford's son is one of the best players in the class of 2028 and is headed to Brunswick (Wilton may have *the* best player in the class of 2028 and he's going to Brunswick too). The 2027 New Canaan youth squad went undefeated throughout their youth career and were rarely challenged -- but a number of those kids are at prep schools now. In the case of Greenwich, it's not just a few top tier players, or a good chunk of a great class -- every D1 caliber kid is getting recruited by the prep schools now, and the program doesn't have the steady foundations nor the culture to hold them off very often the way Darien and NC still can do at times.

[BlueWarrior]

I dont have intel but just looking at trends of the general landscape moving towards Prep, you have Brunswick which has always been there and maybe been poaching since 2014, but you have the rise of GCDS in the last few years which may be poaching players as they offer an alternative to the public school education. Greenwich hasnt won since 2014

I don't have rosters to either GCDS or Brunswick that lists their hometown though

Add in King. And obviously boarding schools. Every wealthy town in CT loses players to private schools but my guess is none more than Greenwich.

[random observer]

I dont have intel but just looking at trends of the general landscape moving towards Prep, you have Brunswick which has always been there and maybe been poaching since 2014, but you have the rise of GCDS in the last few years which may be poaching players as they offer an alternative to the public school education. Greenwich hasnt won since 2014

I don't have rosters to either GCDS or Brunswick that lists their hometown though

Add in King. And obviously boarding schools. Every wealthy town in CT loses players to private schools but my guess is none more than Greenwich.

King is still more of a temporary stop for high level lax players than a destination from my understanding. You'll see kids go there to repeat a year when they plan to reclass and then go somewhere else for their high school ball.

[justanotherperson]

Agreed. Both King and Greens Farms Academy are producing decent D3 / D2 players but not necessarily high level D1 players. King has done a good job and won the FAA this year and GFA has been a perennial contender, GCDS literally just established their lacrosse in the last few years and has done so with good coaching, a lot of money and beautiful facilities so I think there is always the inital gravitation towards the new shiny thing in town, I suspect they will continue to be good like GFA and King but without constant production of sending players to high level programs, they will come back to the norm and be a good decent day school program, like a 'WIck-lite, type program. Of note, they have 2 commits listed (Wesleyan 24, ND 25) with no commits prior to that except a 23 Kenyon player.

[pcowlax]

Agreed. Both King and Greens Farms Academy are producing decent D3 / D2 players but not necessarily high level D1 players. King has done a good job and won the FAA this year and GFA has been a perennial contender, GCDS literally just established their lacrosse in the last few years and has done so with good coaching, a lot of money and beautiful facilities so I think there is always the inital gravitation towards the new shiny thing in town, I suspect they will continue to be good like GFA and King but without constant production of sending players to high level programs, they will come back to the norm and be a good decent day school program, like a 'WIck-lite, type program. Of note, they have 2 commits listed (Wesleyan 24, ND 25) with no commits prior to that except a 23 Kenyon player.

It’s funny because Wick used to be Wick-lite. They were an FAA/Fairchester program (certainly at the top of those leagues) that annually played a few West-1 teams and usually got smoked. About 15-20 years ago a very concerted change of focus at the school occurred and sports went crazy, with lax (and squash) being the biggest examples but football going to another level as well. Will be interesting to see if GCDS follows a similar path. St. Luke’s is another King/GFA type local school.

[pcowlax]

Very surprise to see Staples beat NC 11-5. Not shocked that they won but did not see that margin coming. Staples has taken a small step back this year, though have been dealing with injuries. Any color on this game? Did everyone just come back healthy?

[random observer]

New Canaan has been losing steam a bit lately. The defense has come back to the earth a bit, in part because their star FOGO has now been bested twice in quick succession against Staples and Don Bosco; how much of their success is predicated on possession dominance?

Staples is still without Burmeister, but they've still looked effective on offense spearheaded by Udell. They controlled possessions and capitalized on transition opportunities to build a stunning lead early against NC, before sort of riding the game out. Seem to be rounding somewhat into form after a mid-season lull, just like last year; their OOC performances against Bosco and SJP are notable, and they played Brunswick pretty competitively despite the 11-5 score. I think they have momentum and confidence of a defending champion, and I think they finally take home FCIACs this year.

Darien/Ridgefield was a very tight game that the Tigers honestly could have won despite never leading. Impressed with what Colsey has gotten out of that roster this year. They've been very much in the game in all four of their losses; Darien round 2 and NC were coin flips, and Darien round 1 and Brunswick they had terrible first quarters that dug them too deep of a hole but were equal or better from Q2-Q4. They will be a legitimate title contender in the state tournament.

Darien still looks very unconvincing to me for a team that returned so much from last year and has had a solid season all things considered. Pokorny has been in and out of the lineup all season with injuries; he's still good for a few highlights a game, but he doesn't seem to be able to take over games as an initiator at the moment. The defense has also lost some guys (#2 pole out for the year, McNamara came up gimpy at the buzzer last night) but I don't think injuries explain all of the inconsistencies; they buried Seton Hall Prep without Pokorny right after needing a big rally to squeak by Greenwich (who, granted, almost always causes Darien problems even in down years). Think they can beat anyone when they're on, but doubt they string enough good performances together to take states.

[fordmaddoxford]

As a small defense of hometown Hand, that recent stretch of losing in state finals multiple times were almost all to New Canaan in generally competitive (though not close) games. The top 3-4 FCIAC teams these days are top 10 nationally public schools, NY is down across the board. With that as the standard, it is pretty hard to break through for a title in L or LL (though easier now with option for them to opt up). In the past 10 years, Hand enrollment has dropped from 1300 to 750. Literally. All sports are not what they were and can’t be with losing half of the student body.

What is responsible for that plummet in enrollment?

[BlueWarrior]

As a small defense of hometown Hand, that recent stretch of losing in state finals multiple times were almost all to New Canaan in generally competitive (though not close) games. The top 3-4 FCIAC teams these days are top 10 nationally public schools, NY is down across the board. With that as the standard, it is pretty hard to break through for a title in L or LL (though easier now with option for them to opt up). In the past 10 years, Hand enrollment has dropped from 1300 to 750. Literally. All sports are not what they were and can’t be with losing half of the student body.

What is responsible for that plummet in enrollment?

From various sources:

CT student enrollment continued to decline for the 2023-2024 school year according to recently released data from the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE). In the past ten years, enrollment has dropped by 33,697 students.

Enrollment reflects the number of students who attend Connecticut schools and is reported at the district level. Attendance levels at private educational institutions are not included in the data.

In the 2014-2015 school year, enrollment for all students was 546,349. For the 2023-2024 school year, enrollment was 512,652. Over the past decade, overall enrollment has decreased each year, except for the 2021-2022 school year, which saw a slight increase over the previous year.

Experts noted some parents opted to home-school their kids while others moved away during the pandemic.

Students with disabilities have also increased as a portion of the student body each year, making up 13.32 percent of enrolled students in 2014-2015 and 17.92 percent in 2023-2024.

Granted, this isn't limited to High School per se, but the numbers are down. People have been having fewer kids for a while now. In 2009 the HS in my town was LL with an enrollment 0f 1,780 students 9-12 - at the time, one of the biggest in Fairfield County behind Danbury, Greenwich, the Stamford and B-Port schools. Now they are around 1,175 - but they only dropped to Class L. That's a massive drop in students for one town but clearly others have followed suit.