MASS HS Lax

[WaffleTwineFaceoff]

Hey, McMonkey here. I saw Duxbury’s frosh play today, and I am impressed with the fact that they have a system.

I will be back coaching next spring, so I am eager to see what programs are teaching from the frosh all the way up.

Thanks

Always a good sign when patience meets a plan!

[MA Lax Fan]

I’ve been a fan of Mass Lax for 25 years and I’ve seen the ebbs and flows of the sports growth in the State. The landscape has definitely changed.

What are others thoughts about the direction of HS lax in Mass.?

I see many many towns that still struggle to put together a Varsity team. I see a handful of towns like Reading that have built a powerhouse in a short period but Reading seems to be the exception.

The explosion of club lacrosse has also changed the game. Now the majority of “players” choose to reclass and go private and leaves many towns with no building blocks.

I personally think the MIAA is not thinking out of the box on how to make HS sports exciting. Even the MIAA website looks dated and old and they do nothing with social media.

The fastest growing game seems to have come to a crawl and I would like to hear others thoughts.

Apologies for the rambling question / post but hopefully it’s understood.

[sjplax]

as soon as SJP got rid of their clown coach John Roy and replaced him with Pynchon, they've been an elite program. They are raising the bar for the rest of Massachusetts lacrosse.

[MA Lax Fan]

Pynchon is an incredible coach and SJP is lucky to have him but being an all boys school with over 1,000 handpicked students and being able to pull kids from over 30 towns gives SJP, and the other Catholics, a huge advantage over a Billerica or Duxbury.

And now that all the Catholics have invested in their middle schools, they are playing the re-class game. They just reclass them in 7th & 8th instead of HS to avoid the MIAA rules.

There is a reason why the Catholics make up 5% of D1 but are always in the final four, in most sports, for the MIAA playoffs.

But agreed - Roy was not a good coach.

[NNELax]

That's what happens when you're buddies with the AD....

[onemore18!]

I hope I am wrong but I think we are done with the days that an LS Dux or AB can handle the two-headed powers of BCH and SJP (maybe even add in X if they can ever figure it out). Feels like it will be impossible for a TOWN to compete against them moving forward but things do and can change but its going to take more than an LS like system at this point.

[Gorilla Fan]

SJP under Coach Roy was the first Catholic School to breakthrough and win a D1 Championship.

This was a time before the Catholic Schools were really thought of as a destination for lacrosse, and a time when Duxbury was dominating all others.

[Laxboy78]

SJP has now beaten the defending CT, NH and RI state champs.

[sjplax]

Good to see Massachusetts teams in general taking care of business outside of the state. BC High with a win over CT power Fairfield Prep as well.

[MA Lax Fan]

In my opinion - town lacrosse is dead in Mass. I have a nephew who lives in a “lax town”. I watched his 8th grade team last year and they were loaded. I just got back from his JV game this year and they absolutely sucked.

All the “good kids” went private or catholic.

I blame much of the death of public school lacrosse on 3D and Laxach. They pillage the towns and feed the ISL.

[Laxxal22]

The Catholics are a big issue for competition sake in the MIAA, and the ISL and other privates (Dexter, Pingree, etc.) are an issue for talent drain. Obviously every part of the country has parochial and private schools, but I'd be surprised if any other area has the per capita concentration of them on the same level as Greater Boston/MA (which is crazy given MA has strong public education). And now all of those schools have decided that they want strong lacrosse teams.

It's tough to keep kids from leaving when you see others reaping the benefits of repeating and going private and there's no longer the stigma that being held back = you're stupid. Somebody made a good point earlier that towns that are nice but not necessarily affluent could really rise, but it will be an uphill battle against Catholics that are starting to employ prep school tactics while having quadruple the enrollment of ISL schools.

[McMonkey]

In my opinion - town lacrosse is dead in Mass. I have a nephew who lives in a “lax town”. I watched his 8th grade team last year and they were loaded. I just got back from his JV game this year and they absolutely sucked.

All the “good kids” went private or catholic.

I blame much of the death of school lacrosse on 3D and Laxach. They pillage the towns and feed the ISL.

Keep the faith: lax is Massachusetts is transitioning, but trust me, in ten years, this state will be the state that dominates.

In terms of clubs, first, thank goodness for 3D and Laxachusetts. This monkey is the son of a WWII vet, so trust me, I used to see those clubs as spoilers, but no: those clubs are schools, and they have competition and coaches who push boys to excel. As well, other clubs are working hard, too -- saw a Coyotes' game last night and those boys did a great job -- running plays, etc.

What I do know is that there is, well, a TEACHER shortage in lax. Many great young men who have played and know the game want to coach for clubs or want to coach kids who have a jump -- who would blame them? However, there is a real growing movement through MYL to start training coaches to understand how to run practices. After all, if you can get your town to build a wall-ball program, and if you can run clinics throughout the year for free, you are in. No magic there.

So, my friend, I think we are once again seeing the infancy of the game. My hs won the first Massachusetts State Secondary Championship way back, even before the first state championship, so . . . we are just beginning, again.

Proof?

I often look at all of the championships that Harvard won in football in the day. Times change, and with the number of tough athletes in this state, the future is bright.

Finally, if interested in the initiative to teach coaches -- for free -- send me a PM.

Simianly,

McMonkey

[McMonkey]

Addendum

If you take a good look at this document, which hangs in my office, it will inspire all to see how there is no surprises about who is good or why. Yet, Grow the Game will continue to be the mantra that brings out the best athletes in … Leyden, Uxbridge, and Marlborough.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of ... _and_Towns

[runrussellrun]

Addendum

If you take a good look at this document, which hangs in my office, it will inspire all to see how there is no surprises about who is good or why. Yet, Grow the Game will continue to be the mantra that brings out the best athletes in … Leyden, Uxbridge, and Marlborough.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of ... _and_Towns

Speaking of "lists", it IS beyond bizarre that one can NOT find the MIAA lacrosse playoff brackets.........anywhere.

The MIAA remains inept at even the most basic stuff.

[Laxboy78]

What playoff brackets are you looking for?

[runrussellrun]

The bracket that has Grafton in it.

Easy....and lazy, to claim "not MIAA". Although, still, "playoffs".

[Laxboy78]

Do you mean this years playoff bracket? The season hasn’t ended yet and is not out yet. They post it on the Miaa website once out.

[onemore18!]

MIAA brackets come out tomorrow Tuesday...

[Laxboy78]

The bracket that has Grafton in it.

Easy....and lazy, to claim "not MIAA". Although, still, "playoffs".

Grafton is ranked 4 in the MIAA power rankings so that will likely be there seed. Might play Medfield in the quarters and a really tough Norwell team in the semis.

[MA Lax Fan]

Random thoughts on tournament:

D3 - Grafton at 17— 1 should play a better schedule. They really only “played up” for one game in the season and that is SJS.

They should test themselves against a Longmeadow, ‘Rica, Dux, etc…..

They did play (and beat DS) but that is a D4 team that is having an off year.

When they go up against a Norwell, they are not going to have any clue how to manage a sophisticated offense or a defense with multiple slide packages.

Norwell is the team to beat but they have some weaknesses that they hide very well.

Regarding D2 - this is the Division that I find most fun. Lots of really good teams in the mix and there are going to be some absolute battles starting early in the tournament.

D1 - Yawn fest. Give the trophy to one of the massive private, heavily recruited, re—classed, catholic schools and let everyone start their summer. I hope I’m proven wrong but I doubt it.

D4 - haven’t seen Coho play but that win over Norwell has me intrigued.