+1PulpExposure wrote: ↑Wed Aug 28, 2019 11:05 am The discussion about travel is interesting. My oldest (hes 13, so he plays on a 2024 club) plays for a team based in NJ that is a good B team/low A level team. It's a good team, but what that really means is that we all know there are a lot of teams out there that are better, even in New Jersey (let alone Maryland or Long Island). He's one of the two best defense men on the team, but...playing travel quickly makes you realize that as good as you think your kid may be, there are a lot of better players out there. And he knows it, and it makes him work harder, because he loves lacrosse.
We have zero misconceptions that this will lead him to a division 1 team, let alone scholarship to play lacrosse. His number one responsibility is grades, not lacrosse as grades will get him into college after all. We invest this money in him to play travel lacrosse because it allows him to do something he really likes doing, that he has fun while doing, is getting coaching he can't get in town/rec ball. He's essentially using the travel experience to become the best player (and coachable kid) that he can be.
Nearly everyone on the team has the same view, parent and kid. Most of us on this team have been together in the travel scene for the past 4 years or so, so we know each other quite well. Our kids are good...but we all know there are better, and those kids are pretty notable. For example in the last tournament we were playing some team from Southern Maryland that was stacked with some really good players. One scored from about 8 yards out with a backhand shot that was frankly ridiculous. We all know our kids aren't like that.
So painting all travel parents and kids with this brush that we're all laboring under these misconceptions that it's hypercompetitive and only for division 1 or scholarships, or whatever, is a bit ridiculous. That may be the case when you're talking about some of the top AA teams, but that's by far not the bulk of the travel lacrosse world.
I'd add that because the club scene has change the developmental curve that kids progress through, rec/town/CYO is now fundamentally different. In many towns in SE PA that have A-B-C levels in rec, A teams exclusively are comprised by kids that play on club teams, B teams probably have 12-15 kids that play club and are waiting for the next year to be the older kids on the A team, and the C team is kids who have never played the sport. At the U14 level, there are only A and B teams. Those B teams are mostly 7th graders who play for club teams. So what are kids and parents supposed to do with all of this? If your kid likes the sport and wants to play, he/she at this point needs year-round training of some kind or needs to be an elite athlete who might not even make the A team because stick skills aren't developed enough. Look at what these kids have to do to even play in their town league. If they don't get year-round development, what will their rec/town/CYO experience even be? My town caps U14 at 40 players across 2 teams (A and B), and maybe 3 or 4 of the kids on the B team don't play year round. Hell, even Pat Spencer had to play on a club team despite it not being his top sport. This happens now in every sport. The rec/town/CYO leagues are no longer the places where a multi-sport kid can develop skills at a different rate. I feel bad for parents who have to pay for club teams across multiple sports just so their kid can even play.
So I'm with Pulp here. I just want my son to be able to play through high school to get the benefits of playing a team sport. He'll never play in college unless he's playing at the club level. For him to even be able to play in the town's rec program at his age, though, he needs year-round development. So the club scene is where he goes to be one of the better players on a *meh* team that is solid but not great.
Specialization is killing all of these sports.