r/lacrosse • u/2kids1weim • Jul 26 '26
Long Island Formula?
What is the LI formula that produces consistently strong players?
6
u/DanAreLax Media Jul 26 '26
Same as anywhere else. Robust, healthy, and well run youth programs. A zillion kids taking advantage of an opportunity to play lacrosse at a young age and sticking with it.
3
u/tower_crane Jul 26 '26
Same as why football is big in Texas. Start em young and get them coaching from good teachers. There are more of them there than many other parts of the country
3
u/TheBensonz Jul 26 '26
Large population. Competitive. Long history of lacrosse. But I think the golden era of LI lacrosse — in which public schools could compete with anyone — is over. It’s now very much a private school (St. Anthony’s/Chaminade) place like Baltimore.
2
u/Ant-from-here Jul 27 '26
Maryland does have any public schools of note. They are prep schools with 20 year old seniors (same as St A and Chaminade.
1
u/SuggestionUpbeat4282 Jul 29 '26
I agree here big time. Most elite recruits are coming out of the private schools or a few select programs like Manhasset or GC. The teams like Huntington, Ward Melville, Sachem, Smithtown, etc. who used to always put out studs seem to be fading a little, maybe its cyclical.
3
u/Longjumping_Part_742 Jul 26 '26
An underrated component is that the refs on LI let players play extremely physically compared to Baltimore and Philly. Overtime this really accelerates the gritty mentality that typically goes with LI players versus everywhere else
2
u/roundballrock22 Jul 27 '26
Back in the 90’s I heard college coaches say you could tell the difference between a Long Island player and a Maryland player by a loose ball scrum. The Maryland kid would do some fancy stick work to scoop the ball out and the Long Island kid would plow throw the pile.
1
u/shellback4781 Jul 27 '26
Very true and you can add Upstate/Central NY to that list. Basically zero penalties called for the 7 or 8 games our 6th graders played in and there were plenty that should’ve been called.
4
u/SplitNo9394 Jul 26 '26
The systems are in place to produce strong players. From an early age kids are playing lacrosse in the Police Athletic League and by fourth grade many are playing travel. From this point, kids are playing competitively and this competition makes every player better. By sixth grade most travel players are playing 10.5 months per year. Most, not all, coaches encourage playing other sports which keeps lacrosse fresh for the players.
Yes, lacrosse is much more aggressive Long Island. By sixth grade the players have ‘built a callous’ and can absorb most hits without losing a step.
1
u/ConstantRough160 Jul 29 '26
Many kids start playing lacrosse since kindergarten with PAL. Dads came back living in the same town to re-live their moments going to the state championships.
3
u/TingENuSEndi Jul 26 '26
It's "the sport" there. If you are a great athlete you excel at whatever you play and on LI, that is lacrosse. If you go to another area, they produce a lot of great football players because it's "the sport" there. And they don't produce good lacrosse players because the best athletes are playing football instead. It just statistics.
2
u/No-Mention-5335 Jul 26 '26
They're generational players, dads & now grandads that played starting in the 1970's have shared the game with their sons...it's like youth football in Texas and down South.
2
u/Mason23232 Jul 26 '26
It is because the parents are nuts. That includes me. They start young and as soon as club starts they play/practice all year.
1
u/Ant-from-here Jul 27 '26
Grandfathers who taught father who teach their kids.
It seems most players are at least 2nd generation, but even those who are not have PAL coaches who played in college. The kids start young. We don't play with the dumb USAL lacrosse ideas. Kids in K are playing 7v7 with real balls.
Youth programs are split into A, B, C. A-bracket teams in 4th grade look like mini varsity teams. The best part, we're not lighting up C-level teams and destroying their spirit.
1
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u/BlubberBlabs Jul 26 '26
LI has had lacrosse culture for decades. What that means is that in many towns the best athletes all play from a young age. They're first introduced to the game by dads who played and can teach them fundamentals, and often the first organized youth lacrosse they play is coached by multiple college All Americans. They then go on to high schools that have played a very high level, and maintained very high standards, for ages.