U-19 tryouts

[Laxter]

I understand that people are upset about 4 OSU players being selected to the top 32, but if you look at who those players are you'll see that they are Christian Tomei (goalie) who was a UA all American, the Mitchell twins (midfield) one was a UA all american and the other battled injuries this spring. Both the Mitchell twins were very impressive in the scrimmage that was live-streamed. They both could definitely play two way which is ideal for international play. The fourth play is Jake Synder (defense) from Calvert Hall, I didn’t note anything on him, but it can be a good thing for a pole to go unnoticed.

People really shouldn’t have an issue with the players selected. I can almost guarantee that at least 3/4 the four OSU players would have made the cut no matter the coach.

Not to pick apart your entire argument telling me that I “shouldn’t have an issue” with this unethical mess, but for one, there were several defenseman who were noted as standing out by journalists that were there that lost out in favor of your unnoticed guys. Also, I’d be happy to list the names of some players who were left off in 2016 in favor of “his guys.” Spoiler alert: it’s multiple college all Americans. There is no excuse for what Myers is doing. None. Get a D3 coach in there.

[wgdsr]

I understand that people are upset about 4 OSU players being selected to the top 32, but if you look at who those players are you'll see that they are Christian Tomei (goalie) who was a UA all American, the Mitchell twins (midfield) one was a UA all american and the other battled injuries this spring. Both the Mitchell twins were very impressive in the scrimmage that was live-streamed. They both could definitely play two way which is ideal for international play. The fourth play is Jake Synder (defense) from Calvert Hall, I didn’t note anything on him, but it can be a good thing for a pole to go unnoticed.

People really shouldn’t have an issue with the players selected. I can almost guarantee that at least 3/4 the four OSU players would have made the cut no matter the coach.

last go 'round, 2 players from the squad (of 27 including injuries) failed to make so much as even a bump on the college scene. care to guess where they were headed?
this has been going on for decades.

in contrast to your stated opinion, imo if you hypothetically had 3 different sets of impartial folks select a team from tryouts, they would all look more similar to each other than the team that gets selected from a situation like this.

from invites to their process, this deal is a mess. always has been. and this is the one team (meaning all U.S. teams, that is) where objectivity should NEVER be questioned. it's a chance to represent your country. it's different.

[viper]

Well, I can't speak for the OSU bound goalie (though I would have taken the Salisbury kid bound for UMD after watching the UA game where he was awesome and the OSU kid was eh). Having said that, I wouldn't frown upon Snyder and the Mitchell twins being on the team, it's well deserved for all three and there are few players who can match their skills and intelligence on the field.

I don't disagree with the criticism of the process though, even the appearance of conflict of interest is not a good thing (as we can see by the forum here) and should be avoided wherever possible. Doesn't seem like that would be too difficult to do in this situation.

[SkipPass]

As someone who had their son tryout in 2015 (made the 50/cut at 30). He was lucky to make the 50 and it was a good experience for him. No complaints. However, that team clearly missed the mark on a number of players and almost lost to Canada.

I paid very close attention to this selection process. First and foremost, any type of these teams have a significant amount of politics involved in the selection process. Virtually any combination of the 50 kids left would beat Canada so it’s really just a matter of picking the team that the coaches want OR their coaching colleagues or US Lacrosse are pushing. Roughly 1/3 of the roster is from OSU and Yale. Myers (OSU) & Stimmel (Yale/Marquette) are the U19 coaches. Does this surprise anyone? They picked their guys. 5 kids from one high school (Calvert Hall) whose head coach has his name on the US Lacrosse scoreboard and sends a ton of kids to OSU. His son made the cut. Coincidence?

Whatever the result next year in Ireland - US Lacrosse should do itself a favor and revamp this process. It’s unseemly, reeks of nepotism and is a blot on team USA.

[Typical Lax Dad]

As someone who had their son tryout in 2015 (made the 50/cut at 30). He was lucky to make the 50 and it was a good experience for him. No complaints. However, that team clearly missed the mark on a number of players and almost lost to Canada.

I paid very close attention to this selection process. First and foremost, any type of these teams have a significant amount of politics involved in the selection process. Virtually any combination of the 50 kids left would beat Canada so it’s really just a matter of picking the team that the coaches want OR their coaching colleagues or US Lacrosse are pushing. Roughly 1/3 of the roster is from OSU and Yale. Myers (OSU) & Stimmel (Yale/Marquette) are the U19 coaches. Does this surprise anyone? They picked their guys. 5 kids from one high school (Calvert Hall) whose head coach has his name on the US Lacrosse scoreboard and sends a ton of kids to OSU. His son made the cut. Coincidence?

Whatever the result next year in Ireland - US Lacrosse should do itself a favor and revamp this process. It’s unseemly, reeks of nepotism and is a blot on team USA.

That's a good post and it pretty much sums it up. US Lacrosse has teamed up with PLL to run regional programs to develop some sort of feeder system into the U19 program. So long as it is not an excuse to make money and if it leads to more transparency, I am all for it. US national program events should be affordable. There are definitely politics at all levels. Hope your son enjoyed his collegiate experience.

[OCanada]

As noted going from 50 to 30 can be very subjective with the usual handful of givens no matter who is coaching.

There have been selections made because they were good enough and the coach they were going to play for wanted the opportunity to jump start coaching them

[Pork42]

Well, I can't speak for the OSU bound goalie (though I would have taken the Salisbury kid bound for UMD after watching the UA game where he was awesome and the OSU kid was eh). Having said that, I wouldn't frown upon Snyder and the Mitchell twins being on the team, it's well deserved for all three and there are few players who can match their skills and intelligence on the field.

I don't disagree with the criticism of the process though, even the appearance of conflict of interest is not a good thing (as we can see by the forum here) and should be avoided wherever possible. Doesn't seem like that would be too difficult to do in this situation.

Salisbury goalie missed the age requirement by 2 months.

[SkipPass]

Players need to be under 19 by Sept 1 of 2019. My guess is based on the number of private school kids (pre-first/re-class) you will have a smattering if 20 year old college freshman on the team.

[viper]

Well, I can't speak for the OSU bound goalie (though I would have taken the Salisbury kid bound for UMD after watching the UA game where he was awesome and the OSU kid was eh). Having said that, I wouldn't frown upon Snyder and the Mitchell twins being on the team, it's well deserved for all three and there are few players who can match their skills and intelligence on the field.

I don't disagree with the criticism of the process though, even the appearance of conflict of interest is not a good thing (as we can see by the forum here) and should be avoided wherever possible. Doesn't seem like that would be too difficult to do in this situation.

Salisbury goalie missed the age requirement by 2 months.

Thanks for the clarification.

One thing to note, the goalie position is one that can win or lose a championship, so if the "best" person trying out was not taken, shame on the selection folks.

[SkipPass]

https://www.uslaxmagazine.com/usa-insid ... hing-staff.

Nary a mention of the Ohio State, Yale or Calvert Hall kids by Myers. In fact, he goes out of his way to highlight kids that weren’t his coach’s “guys” and one that de-committed from OSU.

USL needs to revamp this process in 2024.

[Matnum PI]

25% MIAA?! Wow.

[pcowlax]

Would have been very interesting and instructive if McNaney was 2 months younger. I think he is the pretty clear number 1 keeper in this class, forget UA game MVP, his game vs Deerfield this year was astonishing to watch (actually between the 2 keepers the best high school goalie game I have ever seen played). If he was eligible and left off for another CH/OSU player that would have been egregious. But we can’t say that, because he wasn’t eligible.
And that is important. I agree with the unseemly nature of the CH-OSU connection and an awful lot from Yale. But when pushing who should be in and who off, there have been so many instances of people pushing players who are too old, this is a not insignificant chunk of graduating seniors, look at the age before touting a specific player, it’s not a travesty the Shellenberger isn’t in the team!

[wgdsr]

Would have been very interesting and instructive if McNaney was 2 months younger. I think he is the pretty clear number 1 keeper in this class, forget UA game MVP, his game vs Deerfield this year was astonishing to watch (actually between the 2 keepers the best high school goalie game I have ever seen played). If he was eligible and left off for another CH/OSU player that would have been egregious. But we can’t say that, because he wasn’t eligible.
And that is important. I agree with the unseemly nature of the CH-OSU connection and an awful lot from Yale. But when pushing who should be in and who off, there have been so many instances of people pushing players who are too old, this is a not insignificant chunk of graduating seniors, look at the age before touting a specific player, it’s not a travesty the Shellenberger isn’t in the team!

where is this happening? is there another blog for old farts about the u19 team?

[blue angels]

Would have been very interesting and instructive if McNaney was 2 months younger. I think he is the pretty clear number 1 keeper in this class, forget UA game MVP, his game vs Deerfield this year was astonishing to watch (actually between the 2 keepers the best high school goalie game I have ever seen played). If he was eligible and left off for another CH/OSU player that would have been egregious. But we can’t say that, because he wasn’t eligible.
And that is important. I agree with the unseemly nature of the CH-OSU connection and an awful lot from Yale. But when pushing who should be in and who off, there have been so many instances of people pushing players who are too old, this is a not insignificant chunk of graduating seniors, look at the age before touting a specific player, it’s not a travesty the Shellenberger isn’t in the team!

where is this happening? is there another blog for old farts about the u19 team?

Good one! You have to wonder about some of the attempts to legitimize/explain what is obvious to the majority of us. Pcowlax, are you involved at some level with the U19 team? No one has mentioned Shellenberger here to my knowledge till you did .

[Typical Lax Dad]

When you look at that 122 player tryout pool in 2011 for the 2012 team, there were some really good players left off.....I remember a lot of complaining back then....I don’t know why in 2012 there were 122 players in tryout pool and this year there was only 104. My bet is the higher rate of reclassifying and hold backs has impacted the player pool marginally.

https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/ ... team/14431



I am all for reducing nepotism in the sport. However, I am not sure the coaches are taking “lesser” players. This new regional training model that is being rolled out should help with player ID.

[SkipPass]

You really should have a coaching staff that has no skin in the game. The current arrangement is way too incestuous. Coaches picking their kids really isn’t what Team USA should be about.

[Typical Lax Dad]

You really should have a coaching staff that has no skin in the game. The current arrangement is way too incestuous. Coaches picking their kids really isn’t what Team USA should be about.

I don’t disagree. In 2011 there were complaints also. We will see what this regional training model being rolled out yields the next cycle. In the meantime, I am hoping for the best in 2020.

[pcowlax]

Would have been very interesting and instructive if McNaney was 2 months younger. I think he is the pretty clear number 1 keeper in this class, forget UA game MVP, his game vs Deerfield this year was astonishing to watch (actually between the 2 keepers the best high school goalie game I have ever seen played). If he was eligible and left off for another CH/OSU player that would have been egregious. But we can’t say that, because he wasn’t eligible.
And that is important. I agree with the unseemly nature of the CH-OSU connection and an awful lot from Yale. But when pushing who should be in and who off, there have been so many instances of people pushing players who are too old, this is a not insignificant chunk of graduating seniors, look at the age before touting a specific player, it’s not a travesty the Shellenberger isn’t in the team!

where is this happening? is there another blog for old farts about the u19 team?

Good one! You have to wonder about some of the attempts to legitimize/explain what is obvious to the majority of us. Pcowlax, are you involved at some level with the U19 team? No one has mentioned Shellenberger here to my knowledge till you did .

No involvement with the U19 team. If you look back through just this thread there are multiple players mentioned where people were questioning why they weren’t picked when it turns out they were too old. Last go around on LP it was much worse, people throwing out tons of names of players who turned out to be too old. I have never said I like this system and repeated said it doesnt look good. The coach should be D2/3 or even high school. I just don’t like all of the innuendo that some of these kids just got gifted into the team. I am not defending Meyer or the team selection structure, I am defending the players. Someone earlier said the team was pathetic. That’s just BS. These are all great players. This isn’t track where selecting someone who is objectively slower would be clear nepotism. Deciding between the 30th and 35th player is hopelessly subjective. So yes, eliminate the possibility of the appearance of impropriety. But any team that is subjectively selected is always, always going to have people complaining about who got left off.

[pcowlax]

And what is your goal with the selection anyway? Is it literally to select the best 25 players accounting for position or is it trying to put together the team that is most likely to win? Those are certainly not always concurrent. Plenty of straight all star teams across all sports have fallen short due to lack of glue guys or players who excel at the little things but don’t have dazzling skill.

[SkipPass]

I agree with the above statement. Another way of approaching this would be to prohibit coaches from picking kids who they recruited at their current or former school as well as be prohibited from picking the kids of USL employees, coaches, board members, etc 1/3 of this team would be different if this was the case.