Maryland 2022

[njbill]

Surely - my observation had to do with pretty much everything except quality of play/attendees/the on-field product. I thought that was fine. There have definitely been closer games. This may seem counterintuitive, because there is always discussion about how much more skilled younger players are now than in the past, but I actually feel that the lacrosse played in the Senior AA games was better in the mid-early 2010s, but I'm probably just being biased. I did think yesterday's game was perhaps a bit sloppier than some other years, though I noticed a number of stellar individual plays which was fun.That's not what made me think the Senior AA game isn't what it used to be.

Thinking about this some more, I didn't have any players to really root for in this year's game which I am sure impacted my interest level. Last year there was a player from the HS I follow plus a number of other Jersey girls I'd seen play quite a bit and was fans of, including the girl named MVP (who is in your pic). (One of my all-time favs is in your 2017 pic. . No, not she who shall not be named.) In 2019 my HS had three girls in the game.

Outside of the actual lacrosse being played, it seemed to me like the tournament directors (whether that is CSE or UA) cut some corners cost-wise and it showed. The biggest thing that jumped out to me were the uniforms. They were generic, base-model, stock uniforms with no customization or names on the back. I know that seems like a weak thing to point out but when you look at the uniforms from 2012-2021 there's a huge difference. I see what you mean, but didn't really notice that as I watched the game. By far the most important thing to me is being able to read the numbers. Sometimes you can't read the jersey nos. in this game, particularly if you are in the stands. That is infuriating to me. I know in the grand scheme of things it's not a big deal, but I feel like that is a sizable part of the experience for the senior athletes. The event set the bar for itself for years, and I felt this 2022 version was way below it. From talking to kids and parents, it seems the kids love, I mean LOVE, the swag. Don't know how the swag was this year. They also love getting to meet, practice, and play with their peers who are the cream of the crop of their class.

Secondly, this new logo that the tournament has been running with, that oval:


I think from a graphic design standpoint it's awful. It looks like something I'd get at It's a Breeze/Breezin Up/any other iteration of that store from the Jersey Shore or OBX. Cute for beach town names, but not for the UA Senior All-American game. "Property of Ocean City Beach Patrol." I don't know if the logo changed because CSE has taken on a larger role or taken it over completely (even though I thought I saw it still being called the UA Senior AA Game?). I thought UA was getting out of lacrosse, but maybe I've understood that incorrectly.

It may just be because of personal experience. I helped run a travel sports program for 6+ years. We grew from 1 team to 8, and one of my responsibilities was designing and ordering jerseys. Funnily enough we used Under Armour. Each kid got 2-3 jerseys and we ordered both custom and stock ones. The difference jumped out to me almost immediately.

I get that these are all very surface-level and shallow things to point out, and there is probably an explanation for it - inflation, supply chain, possibly new tournament directors, etc., but they stood out to me.

JFF here are just some examples of past uniforms (sorry for the shoddy quality):

2013:


2014:


2015:


2017:


2021:


And it's actually funny you mention black-balling/whiffing/etc. - I was watching the girl's Highlight Division championship today and most of the broadcast was just Booker giving a sales pitch for the Under Armour All-America Underclass games and he specifically said one of the fastest ways to ensure you don't get selected as an Senior All-American is skipping out on the underclass games. Wow. When Booker gets to work tomorrow, the first thing he'll hear is, "Lee wants to see you." For many years, that is pre-American Select, it didn't seem that playing underclass was critical to being named to the senior game. As the years have gone by, though, I've come to wonder about that more and more. At least last year, after the underclass games were over, the underclass coaches were supposed to submit names of players to be put on the Senior Game Watch List (a ridiculous thing to have IMHO) for the following year. If the UA senior game continues, I really hope they can objectively select deserving seniors whether or not they played UA or AS underclass. To get into the Senior Game it is very helpful to get on the Watch List. Plus you are advised to get as many recommendations as you can from HS coaches and (I think) club directors. I know someone on the selection committee. She's fair and objective, but I do wonder if the powers that be will favor UA underclass kids. I'm too lazy to check to see how many of this year's UA seniors played UA underclass last year, though I have the raw data to do so. He also mentioned a specific upcoming tournament players should play in in order to get "seen" for the Senior AA game. I think it was a tournament sponsored by New Balance/Brine, I'm not sure.

When I first started going down to the UA, the underclass games were small. Ten regional teams for all underclass players. All games were played on those two adjacent grass fields at Towson. Easy to walk back and forth between the two fields. Walk across the street for the senior game at Johnny U. You could see all teams play at least once if you wanted to. You could watch the good Balto and LI teams more. I could watch all the NJ games. The event and the venue were small and informal. Easy to chat with just about anyone.

You'd get a chance to see a big name player from another part of the country you'd heard about. Olivia Ferrucci (back then) had committed very early to UNC (as a frosh as I recall). This was big news. I'd never seen her play. When I did at the UA, I saw immediately what all the fuss was about.

In the early years, Balto and LI always met in the final, and the game was invariably very exciting. In one of them, I saw Syd Pirreca sprint down the right alley and fire a laser past Megan Taylor. Then she did it again. Wow, was she fast. Tried it a third time, and Taylor had figured her out.

Then UA added a younger class division to the underclass games so there were then an older and a younger girls division of the underclass games. The main purpose was to put more money in the organizers' pockets. Oops, I mean it was to give the younger kids a chance to play. But now there were too many teams to see everyone at least once. And they added fields, still at Towson, but a half mile or so away so that it was tough to go back and forth between them.

Then UA added what they called the "uncommitted" games for kids who tried out for, but didn't make, regional teams. In truth, it was just another money grab for the organizers. I remember once talking to the grandfather of a kid from Syracuse area who said his grandson touched the ball once in his one uncommitted game. After a few years, the organizers realized the pejorative connotation of calling them "uncommitted" games and changed the name to "spotlight." Different name, same money grab.

And now the underclass talent is split between AS and UA. Can both survive? Don't know.

I know Booker has signed up as a FanLax member so perhaps he'll read this, but I don't care for his color commentary. As you say, he shills for the UA event. Plus he comes from the men's side and has all the shortcomings men's side commentators usually have (always talking about the boy's/men's game and comparing girls/women's to boys/men's). But at least he ain't Stugotz.

[njbill]

I agree with wlaxphan that uniforms and branding are not the same quality. The event is now the All-American Games, not UA All-American, since UA got out of the lax equipment business for financial reasons. UA still makes lacrosse uniforms but my understanding is UA is no longer a sponsor, thus not part of the event name or logo. The 2 or 3 games prior to Covid I remember as being competitive throughout. If I recall all three went to OT. The 2 games since Covid pretty lopsided and I did not think the level of play top to bottom matched pre-Covid. It's also underwhelming at this stage having so many players representing the same college programs. Almost half the players are headed to four schools. No doubt those programs attract better players, but there are schools that are consistently top 15 lately with little to no representation this year. For example, Loyola, Florida, JMU, Denver, Stony Brook, and Princeton had a grand total of 3 players in this year's senior game. There should not be quotas, but come on. I find it hard to believe 3/4 of UNC and UMD's 2022 classes and 1/2 of BC and Stanford's 2022 classes are better than all but 3 players headed to those 6 schools.

Interesting. Thanks for this. I'd heard UA was out, but thought they had some involvement last year. Or maybe that was 2020 (underclass only as there was no senior game that year). So who provides the swag now? Same quality and quantity?

Just checked my program from last year. You are right. The 2017, 2018, and 2019 games all went to OT. Since the inception of the event in 2006, there have only been three games prior to COVID with margins greater than three goals: 2011 (15-10); 2012 (25-13); and 2014 (18-11).

Some years I know (or at least think I know) the underclass talent pretty well, but I've lost a fair amount of touch post-COVID. In the past, I think they have done a very good job of getting the top players into the senior game. I've mentioned two kids who definitely should have been in the game this year. Don't know if there were other whiffs and, if so, why that happened.

If they are simply going with recruits from the top programs, that suggests they are getting lazy.

The bottom line is: are they including the best talent? We may not be able to say until a few years down the road.

As to games that aren't close, they evidently try to balance out the talent. Generally some north players are assigned to the south team. I'm sure this is an inexact science, but certainly competitive games are preferable.

[njbill]

I agree with wlaxphan that uniforms and branding are not the same quality. The event is now the All-American Games, not UA All-American, since UA got out of the lax equipment business for financial reasons. UA still makes lacrosse uniforms but my understanding is UA is no longer a sponsor, thus not part of the event name or logo. The 2 or 3 games prior to Covid I remember as being competitive throughout. If I recall all three went to OT. The 2 games since Covid pretty lopsided and I did not think the level of play top to bottom matched pre-Covid. It's also underwhelming at this stage having so many players representing the same college programs. Almost half the players are headed to four schools. No doubt those programs attract better players, but there are schools that are consistently top 15 lately with little to no representation this year. For example, Loyola, Florida, JMU, Denver, Stony Brook, and Princeton had a grand total of 3 players in this year's senior game. There should not be quotas, but come on. I find it hard to believe 3/4 of UNC and UMD's 2022 classes and 1/2 of BC and Stanford's 2022 classes are better than all but 3 players headed to those 6 schools.

Thanks for confirming that. I had a feeling the tournament directors had changed, but I think I just kept seeing it referenced as UA All-American on social media from other people saying it out of habit. That would explain a lot of what I saw.

CSE has always run it, that part has not changed. I'm not sure if UA provided financial support beyond unis, sticks, goggles, etc. but I'm guessing they covered all the (very nice) gear. The watch list is something new because there are now other events competing for players. There was also the fallout between CSE and IWLCA about cancelling tournaments that CSE ran when Covid hit. IWLCA and CSE parted ways and CSE now uses the watch list to entice players to go to their tournaments and events.

UA name and logo is all over the 2021 program. I've understood UA provided a lot of $$, beyond swag, at least earlier on.

The watch list is total BS.

Ah, Corrigan. They had grass police at the grass fields at Towson and security guards at the Towson turf fields to prevent you from bringing in coffee. Grrr. They claimed that was a Towson rule, but I hunted down a Towson official and was told that wasn't true. At least at the venues post-Towson you could bring in coffee.

I dislike Corrigan as much as the next person, but I have to say they did a good job with the underclass event in 2020 with tryout dates bouncing around, and the need for regional sites and the finals down in Va. Beach. I didn't think they were going to be able to pull it off, but they did. Of course if they hadn't, that most dreaded word to organizers in the English language would have kicked in. R E F U N D.

[laxfan22]

There were definitely girls that played in AS that weee chosen by UA. Frankly I think any concern is unfairly leveled and should be placed directly at the feet of AS - apparently running a club AND tourneys - where entire clubs were blackballed btw - wasn’t enough and they had to grab more money by starting AS. So spare me that some kids were blackballed from a game when hundreds of girls weren’t even allowed access into entire tourneys.

[Mrs@inthe8m]

njbill - true, last year the logo was still the traditional one similar to the well known football game. That changed this year and I'm assuming it was necessary or Under Armour would still be part of the official name and logo even if UA scaled back sponsorship money. I'm only speaking of what I remember when UA was in the news for getting out of the lax equipment business and scaling back on sponsorships, not from having inside information. Maybe something else happened between the 2021 and 2022 games. The CSE-IWLCA thing was ugly with a lawsuit. IWLCA made the decision to cancel and issue you know whats and CSE tried to take over the tournaments and not cancel. Google to learn more.

laxfan22 - my daughter's friend who just played in the senior game did UA underclass a year or two, but also participated in AS last summer. She was not blackballed, but what will happen in a year or two with top ranked players who never participated in UA? The Watch List makes it "pay to play" and less prestigious in my opinion, and that gets worse the more known top players aren't included. There is money to be made running all these events, and I don't doubt there are shenanigans with evaluators/clubs/coaches just like with UA. The UA Senior game has been a cool event and an honor to play in, but it's still high school and doesn't really matter once college begins.

[laxfan22]

It is a cool event and I’d like to see it remain that way. Yes, there are always going to be politics involved but Having my daughters club team blackballed from all events run by the AS owners, well that’s next level BS.

[wlaxphan20]

I agree with wlaxphan that uniforms and branding are not the same quality. The event is now the All-American Games, not UA All-American, since UA got out of the lax equipment business for financial reasons. UA still makes lacrosse uniforms but my understanding is UA is no longer a sponsor, thus not part of the event name or logo. The 2 or 3 games prior to Covid I remember as being competitive throughout. If I recall all three went to OT. The 2 games since Covid pretty lopsided and I did not think the level of play top to bottom matched pre-Covid. It's also underwhelming at this stage having so many players representing the same college programs. Almost half the players are headed to four schools. No doubt those programs attract better players, but there are schools that are consistently top 15 lately with little to no representation this year. For example, Loyola, Florida, JMU, Denver, Stony Brook, and Princeton had a grand total of 3 players in this year's senior game. There should not be quotas, but come on. I find it hard to believe 3/4 of UNC and UMD's 2022 classes and 1/2 of BC and Stanford's 2022 classes are better than all but 3 players headed to those 6 schools.

Thanks for confirming that. I had a feeling the tournament directors had changed, but I think I just kept seeing it referenced as UA All-American on social media from other people saying it out of habit. That would explain a lot of what I saw.

CSE has always run it, that part has not changed. I'm not sure if UA provided financial support beyond unis, sticks, goggles, etc. but I'm guessing they covered all the (very nice) gear. The watch list is something new because there are now other events competing for players. There was also the fallout between CSE and IWLCA about cancelling tournaments that CSE ran when Covid hit. IWLCA and CSE parted ways and CSE now uses the watch list to entice players to go to their tournaments and events.

UA name and logo is all over the 2021 program. I've understood UA provided a lot of $$, beyond swag, at least earlier on.

The watch list is total BS.

Ah, Corrigan. They had grass police at the grass fields at Towson and security guards at the Towson turf fields to prevent you from bringing in coffee. Grrr. They claimed that was a Towson rule, but I hunted down a Towson official and was told that wasn't true. At least at the venues post-Towson you could bring in coffee.

I dislike Corrigan as much as the next person, but I have to say they did a good job with the underclass event in 2020 with tryout dates bouncing around, and the need for regional sites and the finals down in Va. Beach. I didn't think they were going to be able to pull it off, but they did. Of course if they hadn't, that most dreaded word to organizers in the English language would have kicked in. R E F U N D.

Refund is generous, usually the fine print only offers a
C R E D I T

[hmmm]

njbill - true, last year the logo was still the traditional one similar to the well known football game. That changed this year and I'm assuming it was necessary or Under Armour would still be part of the official name and logo even if UA scaled back sponsorship money. I'm only speaking of what I remember when UA was in the news for getting out of the lax equipment business and scaling back on sponsorships, not from having inside information. Maybe something else happened between the 2021 and 2022 games. The CSE-IWLCA thing was ugly with a lawsuit. IWLCA made the decision to cancel and issue you know whats and CSE tried to take over the tournaments and not cancel. Google to learn more.

laxfan22 - my daughter's friend who just played in the senior game did UA underclass a year or two, but also participated in AS last summer. She was not blackballed, but what will happen in a year or two with top ranked players who never participated in UA? The Watch List makes it "pay to play" and less prestigious in my opinion, and that gets worse the more known top players aren't included. There is money to be made running all these events, and I don't doubt there are shenanigans with evaluators/clubs/coaches just like with UA. The UA Senior game has been a cool event and an honor to play in, but it's still high school and doesn't really matter once college begins.

My understanding from someone that helps run the event is that UA is still the main sponsor of the senior game and the Underclass tournament. The website for all of it is still www.underarmourlacrosse.com. UA signed a contract extension to the event a couple years back. From what I understand the reason it is no longer promoted as heavily as the "Under Armour All-American Senior Game" is that UA is not the sole provider of swag any longer. As mentioned UA dropped out of the lax equipment business a couple years back. ECD and Cascade have picked up the equipment side of things while UA still provides all soft goods(uniforms, shoes, cleats, practice gear, etc). UA doesn't actually provide any money to Corrigan to put on the event, they only provide the gear. UA has an overarching contract with ESPN for all sports which includes broadcasting these games. There is not a specific deal in place for UA Lacrosse games. I know last year the players received a ton of swag from UA.(although I was surprised that they only provided the girls cleats and sneakers and not turf shoes considering the game is played at Homewood)

[njbill]

laxfan22, I agree 2021 AS girls played the Corrigan (I guess I have to stop calling it UA) senior game this year. That was discussed at some length a month or two ago on this board.

Not surprising that your daughter or her club may have had issues with the tourneys run by the AS directors. When they first started G8, a lot of other clubs raised Holy Hell that they were excluded. In fact, one club shoehorned their way in the very first year. It became the "G9" before the first parent complained to a ref about a call. Just did a quick count and came up with 23 clubs at the G8 this year.

Clubs have been unable to get into some tourneys since all the way back to when Adam and Eve's daughter was playing glax. Sometimes it's simply deadlines or numbers. Sometimes it may be something more nefarious as you seen to be suggesting.

But the issue you raise (to the extent accurate and I think there is some "there" there) is materially different from the CSE senior game.

My beef this year is that two players who 100% should have been in the game weren't. And they weren't kids who lived under a rock in Arkansas. One is NJ POY. Haven't taken the time to check but I highly doubt the NJ POY has ever been excluded from the UA senior game. CSE would surely deny any funny business, but I can tell you we here in Jersey smell a rat.

And I think you are ignoring Booker's little comment. A pretty big oopsy if you ask me.

I have wondered since the inception of AS whether they will have a senior game. I'll bet they are lying in the weeds continually assessing that. With UA and UA's big bucks out, I'll bet AS sees blood in the water. If the Corrigan swag deteriorates, that word will get around as quickly as teenage girls can type on their phones. The CSE event has the ESPN TV contract. For now. The UA senior game thrived for many years without TV. Could it continue to do so? Don't know. Also Homewood (even JU) are better locations than the wilds of Delaware so I'd think AS would try to find another venue for any senior game. Shouldn't be hard as venues are empty in the summer.

For years I have been saying the UA should move around to different places: LI, New England, Jersey, Pa. But getting Corrigan out of Maryland would require an Act of Congress.

[wlaxphan20]

njbill - true, last year the logo was still the traditional one similar to the well known football game. That changed this year and I'm assuming it was necessary or Under Armour would still be part of the official name and logo even if UA scaled back sponsorship money. I'm only speaking of what I remember when UA was in the news for getting out of the lax equipment business and scaling back on sponsorships, not from having inside information. Maybe something else happened between the 2021 and 2022 games. The CSE-IWLCA thing was ugly with a lawsuit. IWLCA made the decision to cancel and issue you know whats and CSE tried to take over the tournaments and not cancel. Google to learn more.

laxfan22 - my daughter's friend who just played in the senior game did UA underclass a year or two, but also participated in AS last summer. She was not blackballed, but what will happen in a year or two with top ranked players who never participated in UA? The Watch List makes it "pay to play" and less prestigious in my opinion, and that gets worse the more known top players aren't included. There is money to be made running all these events, and I don't doubt there are shenanigans with evaluators/clubs/coaches just like with UA. The UA Senior game has been a cool event and an honor to play in, but it's still high school and doesn't really matter once college begins.

My understanding from someone that helps run the event is that UA is still the main sponsor of the senior game and the Underclass tournament. The website for all of it is still www.underarmourlacrosse.com. UA signed a contract extension to the event a couple years back. From what I understand the reason it is no longer promoted as heavily as the "Under Armour All-American Senior Game" is that UA is not the sole provider of swag any longer. As mentioned UA dropped out of the lax equipment business a couple years back. ECD and Cascade have picked up the equipment side of things while UA still provides all soft goods(uniforms, shoes, cleats, practice gear, etc). UA doesn't actually provide any money to Corrigan to put on the event, they only provide the gear. UA has an overarching contract with ESPN for all sports which includes broadcasting these games. There is not a specific deal in place for UA Lacrosse games. I know last year the players received a ton of swag from UA.(although I was surprised that they only provided the girls cleats and sneakers and not turf shoes considering the game is played at Homewood)

And even prior to UA getting into lax equipment, deBeer (RIP) provided the equipment from 2009-2011 and STX from 2006-2008, but UA also wasn’t struggling financially then

[njbill]

Refund is generous, usually the fine print only offers a
C R E D I T

Truer words were never spoke.

With the topsy turvy club world in 2020, many parents asked for partial refunds. Of course, "credit for next year" were the first words out of the clubs' mouths. "But my daughter is a rising senior. There is no 'next year' for her" fell on deaf ears. I know some parents of affected girls who are still waiting for their refund.

[wlaxphan20]

Refund is generous, usually the fine print only offers a
C R E D I T

Truer words were never spoke.

With the topsy turvy club world in 2020, many parents asked for partial refunds. Of course, "credit for next year" were the first words out of the clubs' mouths. "But my daughter is a rising senior. There is no 'next year' for her" fell on deaf ears. I know some parents of affected girls who are still waiting for their refund.

It's shameless and it's across all travel sports, a $6 billion industry

[AreaLax]

[AreaLax]

[AreaLax]

[Booker]

And now the underclass talent is split between AS and UA. Can both survive? Don't know.

I know Booker has signed up as a FanLax member so perhaps he'll read this, but I don't care for his color commentary. As you say, he shills for the UA event. Plus he comes from the men's side and has all the shortcomings men's side commentators usually have (always talking about the boy's/men's game and comparing girls/women's to boys/men's). But at least he ain't Stugotz.[/color]
[/quote]



Happy August 16th my friends -- Celebrating my Sister Kelly's Bday today (fyi- Kelly Corrigan is "worth a Google").

Thanks for the feedback in all areas. (Yes, I post under my own name and question why more people don't use their own name ???)

As far as the All-American event goes -

Value - There are many events out there for the Lacrosse players AND Parents to choose from, and the All-American Event is an incredible value. Our competitors charge a similar tryout fee, PLUS another $600 ++ to play if they are "lucky" enough to make the team -- we charge nothing for the Highlight and Command players. We have heard dozens horror stories from parents about how some club directors, who are on the "money receiving end" of the competitor's event, and the club director forbids their players from even trying out for All American ????? So, which one is the Money Grab ???? And these Club Directors have packed the rosters with their own players - so if you play for that club you get dinged for $600.
(please, correct me if I'm wrong here ??)

Tradition - Our event has been in existence for 17+ years and has "done right by so many" . Yes, we had many players selected for the Sr game this year that played in our competitor's events, and that is fine by us. We know of some club teams who go so far as to tell their players that they will be blackballed by their own club if they so much as even tryout for our All-American underclass. Mind you that these club directors are making money off their own players when the money to play comes in - Fleecing their own parents out of more and more money.
We get dozens of calls every year from parents who appreciate the length we go to in order to make the Underclass Tourney as awesome as possible - AS Awesome as the Sr Games !!! Players from the Spotlight event made the Sr All-American teams this year....... FYI -- There are 2 clubs that schedule a scrimmage against each other on the date of our tryouts and they tell their players if they miss the scrimmage they are "off the team" ??

Change - True that New Balance (Warrior/Brine) are IN as sponsors of this incredible event. UA is no longer making lacrosse equipment and they are stepping away as title sponsor of the event. What a great run we all had !!! A truly mutually beneficial business relationship for both sides. New Balance is fully aware of the impact they can have on the future of the event, and that by being involved with the All American it can genuinely benefit their companies.

Telecast - we are honored to have ESPN as a partner, and we do all we can to bring a great telecast to the lacrosse viewers. To the anonymous poster who addressed my "color commentary" -- The above feedback is genuinely appreciated - I definitely need to limit the mentions of the boy's game when calling a girl's game. True, I do come from the Boys side, but I need to call the girls games with few or zero mention of boy's lacrosse.
I will confess that I'll never stop having fun while doing the games. Hit the mute button or change the channel. I am who I am - and I do what I do. My 2 kids love me, and I have a great family that supports me. So -- If you need to vent at me PLEASE do - just take it easy on all the incredible players of our sport, please.
We are lucky to have such a wealth of talented kids who love it !!


You only get one shot at Today
Booker -

[Brownlax]

And now the underclass talent is split between AS and UA. Can both survive? Don't know.

I know Booker has signed up as a FanLax member so perhaps he'll read this, but I don't care for his color commentary. As you say, he shills for the UA event. Plus he comes from the men's side and has all the shortcomings men's side commentators usually have (always talking about the boy's/men's game and comparing girls/women's to boys/men's). But at least he ain't Stugotz.[/color]

Happy August 16th my friends -- Celebrating my Sister Kelly's Bday today (fyi- Kelly Corrigan is "worth a Google").

Thanks for the feedback in all areas. (Yes, I post under my own name and question why more people don't use their own name ???)

As far as the All-American event goes -

Value - There are many events out there for the Lacrosse players AND Parents to choose from, and the All-American Event is an incredible value. Our competitors charge a similar tryout fee, PLUS another $600 ++ to play if they are "lucky" enough to make the team -- we charge nothing for the Highlight and Command players. We have heard dozens horror stories from parents about how some club directors, who are on the "money receiving end" of the competitor's event, and the club director forbids their players from even trying out for All American ????? So, which one is the Money Grab ???? And these Club Directors have packed the rosters with their own players - so if you play for that club you get dinged for $600.
(please, correct me if I'm wrong here ??)

Tradition - Our event has been in existence for 17+ years and has "done right by so many" . Yes, we had many players selected for the Sr game this year that played in our competitor's events, and that is fine by us. We know of some club teams who go so far as to tell their players that they will be blackballed by their own club if they so much as even tryout for our All-American underclass. Mind you that these club directors are making money off their own players when the money to play comes in - Fleecing their own parents out of more and more money.
We get dozens of calls every year from parents who appreciate the length we go to in order to make the Underclass Tourney as awesome as possible - AS Awesome as the Sr Games !!! Players from the Spotlight event made the Sr All-American teams this year....... FYI -- There are 2 clubs that schedule a scrimmage against each other on the date of our tryouts and they tell their players if they miss the scrimmage they are "off the team" ??

Change - True that New Balance (Warrior/Brine) are IN as sponsors of this incredible event. UA is no longer making lacrosse equipment and they are stepping away as title sponsor of the event. What a great run we all had !!! A truly mutually beneficial business relationship for both sides. New Balance is fully aware of the impact they can have on the future of the event, and that by being involved with the All American it can genuinely benefit their companies.

Telecast - we are honored to have ESPN as a partner, and we do all we can to bring a great telecast to the lacrosse viewers. To the anonymous poster who addressed my "color commentary" -- The above feedback is genuinely appreciated - I definitely need to limit the mentions of the boy's game when calling a girl's game. True, I do come from the Boys side, but I need to call the girls games with few or zero mention of boy's lacrosse.
I will confess that I'll never stop having fun while doing the games. Hit the mute button or change the channel. I am who I am - and I do what I do. My 2 kids love me, and I have a great family that supports me. So -- If you need to vent at me PLEASE do - just take it easy on all the incredible players of our sport, please.
We are lucky to have such a wealth of talented kids who love it !!


You only get one shot at Today
Booker -
[/quote]
Thanks Booker! This is a great!

[DMac]

Yes sir, only one shot at today and one never knows what the day might bring.
This puts me in pain, the dog's pizzin'!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN3Msg5DpEQ

[jff97]

Changes are happening
https://twitter.com/MarylandWLax/status ... 7536061441

[jff97]

She's coming back
https://twitter.com/MarylandWLax/status ... 2875947008