New England West 2021

[ctlaxfan99]

Canceled school or canceled athletics?

They canceled everything. No school, sports, or graduation this year...

[pcowlax]

Voice of doom here again. Everyone is cancelling everything. Pelicans are just a day or a week ahead of the crowd. As awful as it is, for those of you with kids in school (I am talking definitively about the CT/NYC/Jersey area but very likely will be national), they are almost certainly not going back to school this year. 3 months of online class or, much more likely for younger ones, homeschooling. Truly we have lived to see interesting times. 200 years from now this spring and summer will be remembered. There will very soon be tens of thousands of cases (pro tip, there already are but testing is now rapidly coming online). At this point most hospitals are sending patients home who don’t warrant admission without testing, once that changes the numbers will explode. Schools are NOT reopening in this environment.

[Laxxal22]

https://twitter.com/TaftBVLax/status/12 ... 4391836672

Interesting. "Founders League" playoffs in 2021.

[pcowlax]

https://twitter.com/TaftBVLax/status/12 ... 4391836672

Interesting. "Founders League" playoffs in 2021.

If true, YESSSSS! But the “Founders” qualification is problematic, that leaves out many of the top West-1 teams

[Laxxal22]

Taft posted it so must be true. Would love to know how it settled on FL only and what that means for West 1 going forward. I'll be an optimist and say it largely remains the same but now Wick, Salisbury, and Deerfield have end of season openings that are a perfect fit for three-game New England tours by Hill and Culver.

[b1w7o9y7h]

My take on the Founder's only playoff is that it somewhat eviscerates the whole West I league "theme". Leaving perennial top dogs "out of the loop" at the end of Spring - and effectively blocking out those precious last weekend or two dates for any kind of West I playoff - dilutes the whole purpose of West I. No enmity toward Founder's League doing their thing, but if I was DA, Wick, Salisbury it might be tempting to go into a much more "freelance" mode in scheduling - with less of a nod toward tradition, or bothering to play the weaker programs at all. And the Founder's league schools kids might also be thinking right now "Okay, a playoff, but, wait, it's not the same without three traditional powers involved, and having the opportunity to be king of the hill. It's like we now have the NFL, and the AFL. This could be a seismic shift - and not necessarily desirable - for either the FL or West I. If there was ever a time for Wick to go rogue and schedule all over the place while dropping about 5 "required games" and create one of the coolest and gnarliest schedules in all of the land, this might be it.

[3rdPersonPlural]

It has crossed my mind that one or more of the West I schools that are not FL may have been a holdout, so an FL chip was the best that anyone could do?
'bury and 'wick both play schedules that orient them more toward a national reputation, so they might have looked askance at playing a couple of league teams twice at the expense of some OOC opportunities? I don't know the backstory as to why DA is not part of the founders league but I can guess that they're not inclined to oblige themselves to league (read: external) requirements. Independence is a laudable trait among Independent Schools, after all......

[Superlite2]

A NE West Final four has been proposed for a few years and has not been implemented because of a holdout...I believe that holdout will have an opportunity to play in the FL Championship if they make it...

It has crossed my mind that one or more of the West I schools that are not FL may have been a holdout, so an FL chip was the best that anyone could do?
'bury and 'wick both play schedules that orient them more toward a national reputation, so they might have looked askance at playing a couple of league teams twice at the expense of some OOC opportunities? I don't know the backstory as to why DA is not part of the founders league but I can guess that they're not inclined to oblige themselves to league (read: external) requirements. Independence is a laudable trait among Independent Schools, after all......

[Laxxal22]

I think it ends up a bit of Field of Dreams "If you build it, they will come" for the Founders League. The tourney loses a little panache without Wick, Salisbury, Deerfield, but it's a nice little recruiting showcase at the end of May when most colleges are done playing. A lot of coaches will flock to a two-day event with Avon, Taft, Choate, and TP. That recruiting event then becomes a recruiting tool for bringing in kids considering a multi-year prep experience (perhaps not as much of draw for PGs). Certainly won't hurt these schools and I think it becomes a pretty big event pretty quick.

I could see an untethered Wick get quite aggressive and really lean into being a select team for Fairfield and Westchester counties. Maintain top West 1 opponents mostly as midweek games, and then go big game hunting on weekends (MIAA, Culver, Hill, St. Anthony's, Delbarton, etc.). Potentially a couple of two-game weekends where they host, travel, or meet in the middle.

Tougher geographically for Deerfield or Salisbury to do this - and Deerfield seem like they'd have zero appetite for it - but I don't think much will change for either school. The teams they've played for decades will still want them on the schedule, and both are pretty unparalleled in college development and placement of lacrosse players over the past 20 years. No longer being able to raise a West 1 Co or Tri-champs banner is going to change that.

[3rdPersonPlural]

I think it ends up a bit of Field of Dreams "If you build it, they will come" for the Founders League. The tourney loses a little panache without Wick, Salisbury, Deerfield, but it's a nice little recruiting showcase at the end of May when most colleges are done playing. A lot of coaches will flock to a two-day event with Avon, Taft, Choate, and TP. That recruiting event then becomes a recruiting tool for bringing in kids considering a multi-year prep experience (perhaps not as much of draw for PGs). Certainly won't hurt these schools and I think it becomes a pretty big event pretty quick.

I could see an untethered Wick get quite aggressive and really lean into being a select team for Fairfield and Westchester counties. Maintain top West 1 opponents mostly as midweek games, and then go big game hunting on weekends (MIAA, Culver, Hill, St. Anthony's, Delbarton, etc.). Potentially a couple of two-game weekends where they host, travel, or meet in the middle.

Tougher geographically for Deerfield or Salisbury to do this - and Deerfield seem like they'd have zero appetite for it - but I don't think much will change for either school. The teams they've played for decades will still want them on the schedule, and both are pretty unparalleled in college development and placement of lacrosse players over the past 20 years. No longer being able to raise a West 1 Co or Tri-champs banner is going to change that.

Excellent piece of forum journalism, Laxxal!

Question: Are you assuming that the West I will fade away as the Founders League forms itself? I think this makes sense, looking forward, but what do you know, or what have you thought through, that I don't/haven't?

Could TFL dump Kent and Kingswood and add 'bury and DA? That wouldn't be cool, in an old-school-tie sense, but it would make sense for the sports teams (except isn't Kent a killer hockey school?)

[Laxxal22]

Thanks.

As to your question, I have no insights of information. My point was simply that Deerfield's offerings to students and opponents are strong enough that the modus operandi can remain the same with or without league affiliation. I don't know enough about how those league's are structured in football, hockey, girl's sports, etc. to have thoughts on how swaps might work. Lacrosse and "West 1" seem like the outlier though, so ruffling a bunch of feathers to have boys lacrosse makes sense doesn't seem realistic.

[b1w7o9y7h]

A NE West Final four has been proposed for a few years and has not been implemented because of a holdout...I believe that holdout will have an opportunity to play in the FL Championship if they make it...

Goodness, could someone, anyone name or hint or speculate with purpose on who the holdout school was?

And the FL is not an entity that will kick anyone out due to lacking in lax.

And let's not forget the "Ivy League" of prep schools, the ESA.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight_Schools_Association Or is it?

[pcowlax]

A NE West Final four has been proposed for a few years and has not been implemented because of a holdout...I believe that holdout will have an opportunity to play in the FL Championship if they make it...

Goodness, could someone, anyone name or hint or speculate with purpose on who the holdout school was?

And the FL is not an entity that will kick anyone out due to lacking in lax.

And let's not forget the "Ivy League" of prep schools, the ESA.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight_Schools_Association Or is it?

One of those 8 is not like the others...

[3rdPersonPlural]

A NE West Final four has been proposed for a few years and has not been implemented because of a holdout...I believe that holdout will have an opportunity to play in the FL Championship if they make it...

Goodness, could someone, anyone name or hint or speculate with purpose on who the holdout school was?

And the FL is not an entity that will kick anyone out due to lacking in lax.

And let's not forget the "Ivy League" of prep schools, the ESA.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight_Schools_Association Or is it?

One of those 8 is not like the others...

Lose NMH and St Pauls and add Taft and AOF and that'd be a fine league. I'd replace Hotchkiss with TP, though, since I am a Lax guy.

Correct me, because my POV is outdated, but I thought NMH was all about arts and crafts and the gentle path to adulthood, and Saint Pauls wasn't keen on advancing athletics...........

[3rdPersonPlural]

posted twice.......sorry

[Sportin' Life]

The Eight School's Asso. is primarily an educational collective and has no significant bearing on sports. The member schools participate in various athletic conferences: NE West 1 (DA, Hotchkiss, CRH, NMH), NE East 1 (Andover, Exeter), NEPSAC Lakes Region (St. Paul's), and Mid-Atlantic Prep League (L'ville).

[pcowlax]

A NE West Final four has been proposed for a few years and has not been implemented because of a holdout...I believe that holdout will have an opportunity to play in the FL Championship if they make it...

Goodness, could someone, anyone name or hint or speculate with purpose on who the holdout school was?

And the FL is not an entity that will kick anyone out due to lacking in lax.

And let's not forget the "Ivy League" of prep schools, the ESA.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eight_Schools_Association Or is it?

One of those 8 is not like the others...

Lose NMH and St Pauls and add Taft and AOF and that'd be a fine league. I'd replace Hotchkiss with TP, though, since I am a Lax guy.

Correct me, because my POV is outdated, but I thought NMH was all about arts and crafts and the gentle path to adulthood, and Saint Pauls wasn't keen on advancing athletics...........

It is intended to be a grouping of elite academic peer institutions, nothing to do with lax or athletics. Which 7 of them are. Not to offend but no place for AOF or TP in such a grouping. Taft could indeed replace the curious outlier.

[ctbagataway]

Wow, lots of jumping to conclusions here. The FL playoff is a great step, for sure, but it does not preclude a NE West I title. There has always been a FL champ in addition to NW West I, it just matters less because it is a subset of the league. That remains the same. But it certainly puts pressure on the NW West I to adopt a playoff. That has been close to fruition in the past few years, but one holdout has prevented it from happening. School colors rhyme with green.

[3rdPersonPlural]

Wow, lots of jumping to conclusions here. The FL playoff is a great step, for sure, but it does not preclude a NE West I title. There has always been a FL champ in addition to NW West I, it just matters less because it is a subset of the league. That remains the same. But it certainly puts pressure on the NW West I to adopt a playoff. That has been close to fruition in the past few years, but one holdout has prevented it from happening. School colors rhyme with green.

Bagataway, we just talkin' here, right?

Just prognosticating.

You feel Deerfield has been the NEWestI holdout for a tournament?

[Superlite2]

Not true at all. The holdout for is not a school in MA....