Jacksonville

[TexanMark]

Interesting school and team. The University is very similar to LeMoyne in size. The team is coached by a Syracuse Alumnus (Galloway) and it a pretty solid club.

They lost to Hopkins by 5 last weekend and are hosting Duke this weekend.

There is actually a lot of talent developing in Florida. I wonder if Syracuse would be interested in a series with them? It probably wouldn't hurt them to play in Florida early in the season or around Spring Break.

 

[MD Cuse Fan]

Interesting school and team. The University is very similar to LeMoyne in size. The team is coached by a Syracuse Alumnus (Galloway) and it a pretty solid club.

They lost to Hopkins by 5 last weekend and are hosting Duke this weekend.

There is actually a lot of talent developing in Florida. I wonder if Syracuse would be interested in a series with them? It probably wouldn't hurt them to play in Florida early in the season or around Spring Break.

I agree and I may have said something to this when discussing what the opponents were going to be this season. I wonder if it was discussed at all when Desko was still HC since Galloway played for him, and if anything would have changed with Gait at the helm now? I'm with you, go play down in Florida every few years it can only help recruiting.

 

[swish7]

Interesting school and team. The University is very similar to LeMoyne in size. The team is coached by a Syracuse Alumnus (Galloway) and it a pretty solid club.

They lost to Hopkins by 5 last weekend and are hosting Duke this weekend.

There is actually a lot of talent developing in Florida. I wonder if Syracuse would be interested in a series with them? It probably wouldn't hurt them to play in Florida early in the season or around Spring Break.

My oldest did a prospect day there this past summer. It was an open signup thing, not something he received a private invite to...

There were a couple hundred kids there. They did lacrosse things for a few hours. I sat with a group of parents to hear a spiel from Galloway.

He is obviously an excellent coach and communicator and someone you wish found his way to SU before ending up at JU.

He was very frank about everything as some parents are absolutely clueless at what it means to play lax in college. Some think its like football or basketball where there are scholarships available for everyone on the team, etc.

Florida lax has some talent, but so does everywhere else. A problem is the # of schools playing lax in college is not growing consistent with the number of kids who play. So, the funnel is growing, but the drip is the same.

I coached against a kid who is going to SU, Kolby White.

I coached a kid who has D1 talent, IMO, Mitch Campbell. But honestly, who knows?

Last I checked, like 4 kids make it to DI out of FL. Most of the good kids realize there is more money, playing time, and still a quality education in DII and elsewhere and are going there.

 

[DoctahLexus]

My oldest did a prospect day there this past summer. It was an open signup thing, not something he received a private invite to...

There were a couple hundred kids there. They did lacrosse things for a few hours. I sat with a group of parents to hear a spiel from Galloway.

He is obviously an excellent coach and communicator and someone you wish found his way to SU before ending up at JU.

He was very frank about everything as some parents are absolutely clueless at what it means to play lax in college. Some think its like football or basketball where there are scholarships available for everyone on the team, etc.

Florida lax has some talent, but so does everywhere else. A problem is the # of schools playing lax in college is not growing consistent with the number of kids who play. So, the funnel is growing, but the drip is the same.

I coached against a kid who is going to SU, Kolby White.

I coached a kid who has D1 talent, IMO, Mitch Campbell. But honestly, who knows?

Last I checked, like 4 kids make it to DI out of FL. Most of the good kids realize there is more money, playing time, and still a quality education in DII and elsewhere and are going there.

Florida has been hit and miss for us, granted on a very small sample size. The all time leading scorer in florida history ended up being a bit of a dud for us (Mikey Berkman) but he also had some injury troubles. Then a total unknown guy who barely saw the field in his first two years ended up being our best middie this past decade (Sergio Salcido). Probably to much of a generalization, but it may be the type of market where you want to recruit the high level athletes and hope their best days are ahead of them. Very cool that you coached Kolby White!

 

[swish7]

Florida has been hit and miss for us, granted on a very small sample size. The all time leading scorer in florida history ended up being a bit of a dud for us (Mikey Berkman) but he also had some injury troubles. Then a total unknown guy who barely saw the field in his first two years ended up being our best middie this past decade (Sergio Salcido). Probably to much of a generalization, but it may be the type of market where you want to recruit the high level athletes and hope their best days are ahead of them. Very cool that you coached Kolby White!

For clarity, I did not coach Kolby White, I 'coached' against him.

He was at Lake Mary and I am an assistant at Oviedo. I basically just coach the goalies and JV.

So, I was on a staff that coached against him in a 10 point drubbing or whatever it was!

The other player I mentioned, Mitch, started with me in youth, and has since exploded. Best kid ever. I hope he 'makes it'.

I met Mikey Berkman and did a demo day and some SpeedLax clinics / fundraisers with his dad. Super guy, and all in with Casey Powell.

Sergio was just down the street in Winter Park. Always wanted to do his clinics for my son, but paying someone $80 or $100 or whatever for an hour of training gets old after a while. I don't have the kind of money required to be all in on club lax. Tried it for a couple years but eventually said 'nahhh, not for me'.

 

[DoctahLexus]

For clarity, I did not coach Kolby White, I 'coached' against him.

He was at Lake Mary and I am an assistant at Oviedo. I basically just coach the goalies and JV.

So, I was on a staff that coached against him in a 10 point drubbing or whatever it was!

The other player I mentioned, Mitch, started with me in youth, and has since exploded. Best kid ever. I hope he 'makes it'.

I met Mikey Berkman and did a demo day and some SpeedLax clinics / fundraisers with his dad. Super guy, and all in with Casey Powell.

Sergio was just down the street in Winter Park. Always wanted to do his clinics for my son, but paying someone $80 or $100 or whatever for an hour of training gets old after a while. I don't have the kind of money required to be all in on club lax. Tried it for a couple years but eventually said 'nahhh, not for me'.

Ah my fault read that too fast. Club scene certainly no cake walk financially up north either. We have powells in all corners of the country scouting out guys. Ryan Powell was a big part of bringing Dordevic in from Oregon. Hopefully Casey can put a good word in for Mitch Cambell

 

[swish7]

Ah my fault read that too fast. Club scene certainly no cake walk financially up north either. We have powells in all corners of the country scouting out guys. Ryan Powell was a big part of bringing Dordevic in from Oregon. Hopefully Casey can put a good word in for Mitch Cambell

That is awesome. Yeah, I met Casey a number of times at various tournaments and clinics over the years. He is the absolute best. We chatted it up every time. He is always good with a story or two about something from back in the day.

 

[TexanMark]

The whole travel sports thing is a huge money and time suck. Too many parents with D-3 at best kids get lured into spending thousands. I did one season of it back in the late 90s and saw it was a huge waste for my son.

 

[Scooch]

Apparently Jacksonville's biggest booster (the guy who built their practice facility) is a former player who lives in my town. I told my HS lacrosse-playing son to track him down and make friends with him, but he has yet to follow my advice.

 

[swish7]

The whole travel sports thing is a huge money and time suck. Too many parents with D-3 at best kids get lured into spending thousands. I did one season of it back in the late 90s and saw it was a huge waste for my son.

Agree. For the last couple years I have been watching where these kids go, the kids whose parents dumped it all into SweetLax, True, and whatever else, and by and large they are just going to small, private schools in FL, and I kid you not, reaching out back to me for fundraisers. Literally, imagine Naz or Hobart asking their players to raise $300-$500 each from their friends / family. Its nuts.

Now, a select few do well. A friend's kid ended up at Embry Riddle on scholarship (academic and athletic), but 85% or just end up at schools they could walk on at anyway.

 

[Bayside44]

Agree. For the last couple years I have been watching where these kids go, the kids whose parents dumped it all into SweetLax, True, and whatever else, and by and large they are just going to small, private schools in FL, and I kid you not, reaching out back to me for fundraisers. Literally, imagine Naz or Hobart asking their players to raise $300-$500 each from their friends / family. Its nuts.

Now, a select few do well. A friend's kid ended up at Embry Riddle on scholarship (academic and athletic), but 85% or just end up at schools they could walk on at anyway.

Yep.

This will be my last year on the club thing for my son. It's a massive vortex, kids traveling and paying to be cannon fodder for the select few that are going big time.

A lot of parents at this stuff seemed to have discovered lacrosse later in life and think that since they have a decent athletic white kid the world should be theres in this sport.

I do notice the club Insta feed boasting on sending kids to all these colleges no one has ever heard of and could likely play at anyways.

 

[BomberOrange]

Agree. For the last couple years I have been watching where these kids go, the kids whose parents dumped it all into SweetLax, True, and whatever else, and by and large they are just going to small, private schools in FL, and I kid you not, reaching out back to me for fundraisers. Literally, imagine Naz or Hobart asking their players to raise $300-$500 each from their friends / family. Its nuts.

Now, a select few do well. A friend's kid ended up at Embry Riddle on scholarship (academic and athletic), but 85% or just end up at schools they could walk on at anyway.

Looking at sweetlax FL commits for 2023, there are 14 DI kids:

Class of 2023 — Sweetlax Lacrosse

sweetlaxlacrosse.com

 

[Cuse All-In]

Yep.

This will be my last year on the club thing for my son. It's a massive vortex, kids traveling and paying to be cannon fodder for the select few that are going big time.

A lot of parents at this stuff seemed to have discovered lacrosse later in life and think that since they have a decent athletic white kid the world should be theres in this sport.

I do notice the club Insta feed boasting on sending kids to all these colleges no one has ever heard of and could likely play at anyways.

When I was going through the recruiting grind with my son, I always asked myself and people I trusted if my kid was a player or not. I think there are a number of parents who are not realistic about their kid's abilities or potential. I had no desire to waste tons of my time and money unless my son was legit. Also, parents sometimes underestimate how important it is for the player to tell the coaches (over and over) how important their school is to them. Coaches want to commit to kids who want their school - coaches don't want to waste commitments.

 

[swish7]

Looking at sweetlax FL commits for 2023, there are 14 DI kids:

Class of 2023 — Sweetlax Lacrosse

sweetlaxlacrosse.com

That is great. Again, last I checked, and I stopped checking some years ago, it was only 4ish.

Also need to look at the percentage of those whom are going to academies, and some even out of state academies. IMG Academy is as expensive as university. These kids are paying $10K+ for SweetLax & $40ish K on the low end for academy to end up on a 1/16th scholarship struggling for a spot on a college roster. I do not get it.

My friend's kid was on the Sweetlax FL state team, in this age group. I think he was like the 4th defenseman. He was set to go to St Andrews, like I think many of them are encouraged to do. His parents had the money for it, and he had all the paperwork done, but he decided to stay home and not pursue his dream of UNC any more. I think he went to UNC and the coach was fairly discouraging about the prospects of kids making it there.

Only a small percentage are coming from a public school background. Bronson Dowdell is one. His dad is a pretty good guy. I used to see him a bit when my kid played for his club in 1st grade.

My kid made that team (2025 age group) when he was in like 4th or 5th grade. I couldn't afford it. Sometimes I regret not pursuing it, but most of the time I don't.

He has played on other club teams with kids whom have always been on it, and it definitely helped them, but you have to really question when they end up at Tampa or St Leos or whatever, was it really worth the $30-$50K in club fees?

 

[swish7]

Yep.

This will be my last year on the club thing for my son. It's a massive vortex, kids traveling and paying to be cannon fodder for the select few that are going big time.

A lot of parents at this stuff seemed to have discovered lacrosse later in life and think that since they have a decent athletic white kid the world should be theres in this sport.

I do notice the club Insta feed boasting on sending kids to all these colleges no one has ever heard of and could likely play at anyways.

I read somewhere that if you spent half as much (as club sports fees) on academic tutoring, your kid could probably realize twice as much in scholarships. I am sort of making up the numbers, but it was along those lines.

 

[BomberOrange]

Yeah it looks like all of them (FL) are private school kids. Whereas sweetlax upstate has west genny and Victor kids…..and preps too

 

[swish7]

Yeah it looks like all of them (FL) are private school kids. Whereas sweetlax upstate has west genny and Victor kids…..and preps too

I think some are encouraged down that path. The kid from Lake Mary FL that is going to SU eventually went off to some prep school. My friend's kid was going to go to St Andrews, but decided at the last minute not to.

Similar shuffle happens in the public schools. My kids HS lost a couple kids who went to 'bigger / better' schools. Actually the Lake Mary school took in around 5 of the best kids from other schools in their district.

I think that stuff just sucks. Prefer watching the LaFayette or Genny kids whip up on these boys.

 

[TexanMark]

I read somewhere that if you spent half as much (as club sports fees) on academic tutoring, your kid could probably realize twice as much in scholarships. I am sort of making up the numbers, but it was along those lines.

Bingo...my boys played HS sports (XC, basketball and tennis) for fun. They realized by 10th grade that they weren't getting scholarships for sports. Dad gave them a dose of reality. They quit basketball at the JV level. XC and Tennis had a much lower level of dedication and much less travel so they stayed through 12th grade.

They turned out okay...fortunately their Mom passed on her smart genes.

 

[wgdsr]

Apparently Jacksonville's biggest booster (the guy who built their practice facility) is a former player who lives in my town. I told my HS lacrosse-playing son to track him down and make friends with him, but he has yet to follow my advice.

sounds like he's wise beyond his years. not a shot, it's all a game. he'll land where he should. hopefully.

 

[Scooch]

sounds like he's wise beyond his years. not a shot, it's all a game. he'll land where he should. hopefully.

I was joking. He wants to play lax in college, and he’s a sophomore, so it’s good for him to dream and stay motivated (as much academically as athletically).

We turn most of the club travel tourneys (there’s only 3 in the summer) into mini family vacations. It’s a lot of fun, and we don’t take it all too seriously.

Like with anything else in life, if you have the right priorities and expectations, it’s a good experience.

 

[Bayside44]

I think some are encouraged down that path. The kid from Lake Mary FL that is going to SU eventually went off to some prep school. My friend's kid was going to go to St Andrews, but decided at the last minute not to.

Similar shuffle happens in the public schools. My kids HS lost a couple kids who went to 'bigger / better' schools. Actually the Lake Mary school took in around 5 of the best kids from other schools in their district.

I think that stuff just sucks. Prefer watching the LaFayette or Genny kids whip up on these boys.

How many of these kids are "re-classing?" Talk about another suburban plague...

 

[swish7]

How many of these kids are "re-classing?" Talk about another suburban plague...

That I do not know, but I have read about it. I have not yet known a kid that has done it...

My kid is a late bloomer & really struggled to compete with kids in middle school & 9th, so the thought (very briefly) crossed my mind. But, he gets great grades and its just a game that you have to basically pay to play in college anyway, so what is the point?

 

[Bayside44]

That I do not know, but I have read about it. I have not yet known a kid that has done it...

My kid is a late bloomer & really struggled to compete with kids in middle school & 9th, so the thought (very briefly) crossed my mind. But, he gets great grades and its just a game that you have to basically pay to play in college anyway, so what is the point?

My son's club team is littered with it. The teams they play against - my kid was barely 13 and he's playing against kids with moustache's seemingly on the back side of puberty.

My understanding is that US Lacrosse will fix it but it future years where it won't matter to me.

 

[swish7]

My son's club team is littered with it. The teams they play against - my kid was barely 13 and he's playing against kids with moustache's seemingly on the back side of puberty.

My understanding is that US Lacrosse will fix it but it future years where it won't matter to me.

Oh wow.
People are nuts. That extra year in HS or where ever is an extra year of lost income.
I have some crazy pictures from lax tournaments of wild size discrepancies between kids. In at least one case, it was a parent who insisted their kid played up, and I only have to guess on the other team that perhaps it was an early bloomer or a kid who was 'reclassed'. I'm talking like a 4'er 80 lbs next to a 6'er 170 lbs.

 

[Jack_Ball]

I think you have to manage expectations. If your playing club expecting to get scholarship to top 20 program that's recipe for disappointment. Like someone stated above I enjoy going to these tournaments with my kids but it is somewhat costly. In upstate the most I have paid is about $2k. I'm assuming Florida Sweetlax is so much because of the travel to all the tournaments? Overall I think Club is good experience if you manage expectations.