March 2, 2010
How college coaches perceive N.E. lacrosse
In New England, kids grow up knowing lacrosse. There are scores of youth leagues, prep schools, and colleges, and the region has produced legends of the game like Dick Garber — who built the UMass program — to the new standard-bearers, like Kristen Kjellman who led Northwestern and the U.S.A. women’s team to titles.
Lacrosse players and fans in New England have thought of their collection of states as one of the game’s hotbeds, on par with areas like Long Island, Upstate New York, and the Baltimore area, the pre-eminent areas for producing top talent.
But is that perception still true? Do these regions — and specifically New England — still carry the same prestige and weight in the game that they had a decade ago?
Yes. And no.
Top college lacrosse coaches are loathe to discuss the subject, because they don’t want to alienate any potential players or burn bridges with any high school coaches who might someday feed them a recruit. The coaches who will talk, however, make it clear that the game — and the perceptions of various regions — are changing.
“Fifteen years ago, almost all recruiting was done in the east coast hotbeds,” said John Paul, head coach for the nation’s top-ranked club team, the University of Michigan, since 1997. Over time, Paul has learned to take any regional bias out of his evaluations. “Now you have to look at kids from the rest of the country. There are too many great players coming out of Colorado, California, Ohio and many other states to ignore.”
Paul has built a program that most experts agree could compete and win on the NCAA varsity level, and that could quickly become a contender if the school ever decides to take the next step. He recruits nationally, but the core of his team does not come from what most would consider the hotbeds. That said, there is no denying that some of his New England recruits — like junior defenseman Harry Freid of Needham, Mass., a starter and All-American his first two seasons — can come in and make a huge impact.
Likewise, one of the Wolverines goaltenders, Andrew Fowler, left Michigan to attend prep school at Hotchkiss in Connecticut, only to return to his home state for college ball, where he has been a big contributor on two title teams.
Still, Paul believes that is more about the player than the region they come from. He’s not alone.
Noah Fink has lacrosse experience across the country. He grew up in Bethesda, Md., went to Bucknell University in rural Pennsylvania, and attended graduate school at the University of California in San Diego. He saw lacrosse on both coasts, and now coaches the club team at the University of Texas.
When Fink recruits for his team, he considers a player’s grade-point average (GPA) first and foremost. He’s seen amazing players come from everywhere around the country — not just the hotbeds — and he’s also seen some bad players come from the east coast. He doesn’t completely discount the region a player comes from, but it’s not one of his top criteria for judging candidates, either.
Where regional strength does come into play is once you get past the top players to the guys who aren’t headliners, but who have the ability to contribute at the next level. Just as there are typically more All-Americans from the hotbed areas than the upstart regions, there are more second-level players capable of making the jump.
If everything else were equal, Fink acknowledged that a player’s regional roots may become a factor. “Let’s say they’re the exact same player,” he said. “They both have great speed, they both have great stick skills, they’re both really good players, they both have great GPAs. In that case, I think you’d give the nod to the kid on the east coast because he’s playing against better competition.”
That level of competition is still strong in the Northeast. New England and other east coast regions have a long tradition of lacrosse starting at the youth level, which helps to feed the high schools and, subsequently, college-level teams. That also means a larger pool to draw from for coaches at all levels, which means more quality instruction.
“Here [in New England], you’ve got kids that are being coached by individuals that understand the sport and grew up with the sport for the last twenty or thirty years,” says Connecticut native and Wilton High School graduate Matt Schneck, now head coach at Brigham Young University.
Jake Sullivan, head coach of the University of New Hampshire Wildcats, another collegiate club team, sees a typical New England recruit as steeped in that tradition. Some of his best players, including Zach Taylor, PCLL Defensive Player of the Year in 2005, and Evan Flowers, PCLL Rookie of the Year in 2009, were New England recruits. And, he notes, humorously, he has a bit of a bias toward having New England recruits around.
“To start, they all have a basic understanding of the game, and they love and respect it,” he said. “After that these kids are tough, hard working, and humble. What they may lack in lacrosse IQ, they make up for in blood, sweat and tears; taking a chance on these players will pay out in the long run. As a bonus, they all have a wicked pissah accent, which is a plus on long bus rides.”
Schneck sees that tradition as breeding respect for the sport, something that has yet to take hold in some of the more developing areas. It’s more than an abstract concept, it translates to performance. “That respect for the game really makes a huge difference,” he said. “They grow up with a stick in their hands, everything from little league all the way up through high school and, now, here they are playing college lacrosse, something that they’ve always dreamed of doing.”
Schneck also sees some of these New England and east coast players moving west with their families to take jobs, and getting involved in lacrosse wherever they go, which is bringing up the level of competition across the country. “As they move to these parts of the country,” he said, “they’re the ones that are stepping in and helping lacrosse develop in the area.”
The west coast and warm-weather regions are still developing, but they do have some advantages. Fink said he has had the best luck recruiting from nearby Texas locales like Dallas or from California. “What you’re seeing,” he said, “is the Colorado kids, the Texas kids, the California kids, because they’re playing year round, and it’s growing so fast out there, that they’re being sought after probably just as much. I think New England’s probably a few steps ahead of other emerging areas,” he added, “but what I’m saying is, the rest of the country’s catching up.”
Sullivan admits when he was younger, he had a definite New England bias, and jokes that he thought Lebanon, New Hampshire was going to be the hotbed. Now he’s gotten to coach against teams from all around the country, and has experienced the high level of play in college.
He says he’d love to have players on his team from Cherry Creek, Colorado or Winter Springs, Florida.
“I am now starting to feel my stereotypes are not holding up,” he said. “I think that as our sport has grown in the last 10 years the coaching is getting better and more consistent. Then with all the summer camp/showcase interaction I think that young players are getting more exposure to different styles of play, and then emulating it when they get back home.”
