Whats better: Club or High School lacrosse for you personally?

[justanotherperson]

AS high school season comes to an end and Club lacrosse begins to dominate, this was a discussion amongst friends in our neck of the woods but I am guessing the answers will vary depending on who you play for and where you live. But we were wondering: which is more fun for your kid (or you), Club or High School lacrosse?

Most favored high school citing factors such as:

-Games meaning more to them especially wins and losses. They didn't care as much about W-L's in club
-More team camaraderie with high school. These are kids they (obviously) go to school with and know better. Club sometimes feels like hired mercenaries
-If you are the better player, then you play more whereas with Club, since everyone is (presumably) paying the same, playing time is split more evenly
-Spring lacrosse after a barren Winter season feels more refreshing where summer club can be a slog sometimes
-High school coaches care more than club coaches about the kids?
-Cheaper than club (unless you pay for private school)
-Less traveling
-Playing against a team of holdbacks may be less prevalent in high school (except Prep schools)
-More emotional investment in the town you live in or (the school you are paying for for Prep). True rivalries seem to mean more in high school and thus,there is more emotional investment

Those who favored Club cited factors such as:

-the level of competition is better and teammates are usually better, at least at the higher levels of Club lacrosse
-traveling around the country with your kid is a (sometimes) rewarding experience
-some like the national exposure of some of the high level Club lacrosse
-even playing time as some players may get buried on a high school bench

Recruiting-wise, it was a wash but I feel that High School recruiting is better than Club recruiting. I have heard stories of Club making a million promises but never delivering when it comes to recruiting, unless you are the superstar of the club. I have been told (but could be mistaken) is that colleges value the high school coach opinion much more than the club coach.

There seems to be a temporal nature to it. Youth club was much more rewarding than youth town lacrosse but as the kids get older, high school becomes more important to kids. I would even venture to say that club has much less meaning to 22's, 23's and maybe 24's.

It also seemed that this logic does not apply to the outliers such as the top national high school teams in the country or the bottom lower clubs. In addition, most of this logic may not apply to the superstars (top 0.5% of players in the country).

Just curious to everyone's thoughts. There truly are no right answers as it is only an opinion that can be formed wholly dependent on your own experience.

[Jumbo]

Maryland lax dad. Both were rewarding.

HS pros……
playing with best friends. Playing against rivals. Get to play the entire game. Playing for states. Fans in stands. Friday night lights. Entire HS cost us less than $200 for entry tickets and getting to games. Club might have spent $1500-$2000 year on dues, travel, and ice/Gatorade.

Club pros. Much better competition. Much better players on team. Traveling and memories with son.

Club coach had better college connections. But HS coach helped with reality. Club coach goal was to get as many D1kids recruited. HS coach goal was to get kids going to the best fit school

[justanotherperson]

Totally agree with your answers Jumbo as I can't really disagree with anything you said. I totally forgot "Fans" and "Friday night lax" - totally true as the friends are more rowdy at a high school game. I have definitely seen more "fights" during a high school game than club lax sidelines where parents are sometimes trying to just simply survive in the sweltering heat. I am happy that Club coaches went to bat for your kid which from what I have heard does not always happen.

[kramerica.inc]

I think it depends on where you play hs.

If you’re talking a public school or Miaa B-C, in MD, you are spot-on.

If your kid is playing in the MIAA A, those answers are different. You’re not getting better competition or players in club. But often in the A league, you’re playing club to get more game experience and exposure, if you aren’t a starter.

[OSVAlacrosse]

From what I see it is the same kids playing both. Really hard to say which is better as I do not know of any top players who only play HS (obviously except seniors who do play club anymore.) It is the same kids on both for my son's HS and club teams. I think it would be tough to get recruited through HS alone. When can a college coach really watch a HS game? Even at a top MIAA school or the even stronger IAC/WCAC schools, most of the kids also play club so the recruiting has already taken place before they play their Junior HS season.

As far as better connections definitely at the club level but it seems these days even that is not all that kids need as of course there are showcases, Under Armor, Nike, NLF teams and it seems like most of the same kids are attending all of it. However, I do know of kids that can get recruited even on a public school program that is not as strong if they have a good club team.

Also from what I have seen (it is a lot of games) the level of play at club is equal to or greater than most HS games. The off ball movement, the stick skills, the lax IQ much higher. I have seen more hero ball in HS with the exception of the best HS programs who look like a top club team.

I guess in my opinion my point is that one is not necessarily better than the other as a whole but it is possible to have a good club and bad HS but if you have a bad club try to find a new one. Kids these days seem to travel far and wide on some clubs.

[Jumbo]

I think it depends on where you play hs.

If you’re talking a public school or Miaa B-C, in MD, you are spot-on.

If your kid is playing in the MIAA A, those answers are different. You’re not getting better competition or players in club. But often in the A league, you’re playing club to get more game experience and exposure, if you aren’t a starter.

True. But miaa-a is an anomaly. 99% of high school conferences have 2-3 good teams. Some average teams. And several really bad teams. And in my opinion, it’s recruiting. But just my opinion.

[justanotherperson]

I think a good way to look at this is what is the norm for "your kid". If your child is a high performing lacrosse player who is the star in high school and plays for MIAA-A or a top prep school or a top club, then many of the "norms" probably do not apply to them. I would imagine they like club and high school equally.

If you are good player who plays for a bad high school, you will likely enjoy club more but I agree with the assessment that if you are a good player on a bad club team, they usually switch though later in high school it is exceedingly difficult to switch club teams

But I would also imagine that the above probably applies to maybe only the top 10% of lacrosse athletes because they are so good, it doesnt matter what they do. So for the remaining 90%, what is preferred? Some probably enjoy the high school intensity but there are others that may be riding the bench and their only chance to play is with a club, even if it is a B/C club team, they may enjoy that more.

I do think more and more kids are foregoing club as the club scene is difficult to navigate with some clubs becoming purely money grabs or making empty promises of recruiting help and I think kids get frustrated with that. My son had done summer camps with kids from all over the country who were club-less and decent players and they are hitting the Prospect Day / Showcase circuit. I would agree that connections may be better at club but will the Coach go to bat for everyone or only the top players (See my comment above for the Top 10% of players where rules may not apply)

In the New England region, most of the best high school teams are concentrated in Prep. Westchester County, spots on Long Island, Fairfield County-CT and around Boston. If you are not playing for any of those teams, your visibility is much less.

The only thing I will maybe not agree with is I feel like the hero ball is much worse at showcases / prospect days > club team > high school. DGod luck if you are dpole, LSM, SSDM because showcases / prospect days are hard for them to stand out by merely "just doing their job". I can see hero ball for high school if there is one good player and the rest are average but most high school ball; I feel like that is the best team ball even if the talent is not as good as club.

Great comments so far.

[Jumbo]

I think a good way to look at this is what is the norm for "your kid". If your child is a high performing lacrosse player who is the star in high school and plays for MIAA-A or a top prep school or a top club, then many of the "norms" probably do not apply to them. I would imagine they like club and high school equally.

If you are good player who plays for a bad high school, you will likely enjoy club more but I agree with the assessment that if you are a good player on a bad club team, they usually switch though later in high school it is exceedingly difficult to switch club teams

But I would also imagine that the above probably applies to maybe only the top 10% of lacrosse athletes because they are so good, it doesnt matter what they do. So for the remaining 90%, what is preferred? Some probably enjoy the high school intensity but there are others that may be riding the bench and their only chance to play is with a club, even if it is a B/C club team, they may enjoy that more.

I do think more and more kids are foregoing club as the club scene is difficult to navigate with some clubs becoming purely money grabs or making empty promises of recruiting help and I think kids get frustrated with that. My son had done summer camps with kids from all over the country who were club-less and decent players and they are hitting the Prospect Day / Showcase circuit. I would agree that connections may be better at club but will the Coach go to bat for everyone or only the top players (See my comment above for the Top 10% of players where rules may not apply)

In the New England region, most of the best high school teams are concentrated in Prep. Westchester County, spots on Long Island, Fairfield County-CT and around Boston. If you are not playing for any of those teams, your visibility is much less.

The only thing I will maybe not agree with is I feel like the hero ball is much worse at showcases / prospect days > club team > high school. DGod luck if you are dpole, LSM, SSDM because showcases / prospect days are hard for them to stand out by merely "just doing their job". I can see hero ball for high school if there is one good player and the rest are average but most high school ball; I feel like that is the best team ball even if the talent is not as good as club.

Great comments so far.

100% on the showcase. If you are not a ball hog, or the elite of the elite, most showcases are not for you. Most show cases are money grabs. They send emails that look like personal emails, but they are firm letters. JHU send one to my son last summer. I know they were finished with 22 recruits, but the email said, “we are still looking for some talented 22’s”. They just wanted money. One college kept sending my kid emails saying they want him at the showcase because they had been watching him play. I didn’t believe it, so I replied and asked what tourney did you see him, and what is his number. I got a reply from the coaches email saying “if you don’t want our emails, opt out”. We found two different showcases that are perfect for the other 99%. Try to find a showcase were multiple coaches do it together. We did one called EDGE. With Jacksonville, CNU, Lynchburg and York. All day event with drills in the am, and 6 quarters of scrimmages in the afternoon. Coaches got to see both sides.

But I digress, you are right, it depends on where you are and who you play for. We are in a hotbed of lax. A few of the top teams in the country are centered her (private HS and Clubs). But he is as the public school. We have college coaches attend his games because of the location and he plays.

[justanotherperson]

Jumbo - it sounds like you have a had a great time with your kid and I hope the experiences have been great. As a northeast guy, I will quickly admit that the Mid-Atlantic is becoming the center of the lacrosse universe though many of the non-traditional areas are doing really well such as Texas, Midwest, Pacific regions.

Dont get me started on prospect days and showcases. Showcases send so many emails making it seem like it is the greatest things since sliced bread and then you get there and there are 150 kids per grade with coaches unlikely to be watching (Apex for example). And anything with an All Star team is an automatic no (and yes my kid has made some of those "all star teams") But I do agree, there are small intimate showcases that are limited to 50-60 kids that can be very productive and that is where he has gotten more bites on the recruiting front. Lacrosse Masters is a good example but there are regional showcases that multiple colleges will put together as you alluded to. Then there are the big guns like Showtime, UA, National All Stars which if you get on the team, it looks real good but is full of politics in their selection.

Prospect Days are clearly becoming money grabs as well as it is well known it is a source of funding for some programs (but not all programs as I think some of those Prospect Days are legit). I can't tell what to look for in a prospect day but it helps if you are actually personally invited (not a form email) or your Coach has told you to go. Also go to prospect days where there are maybe only 1-2 a year. There are some colleges which have 4-8 prospect days throughout the year. My kid went to a D1 prospect day where no one was filming and literally not one person had a piece of paper in their hand or a clipboard or wrote anything down. I can honestly say my kid was one of the better ones there (and it take a lot for me to say that) and there was nary a thank you, follow up email, not even a T-shirt. Quickly removed that college from the list.