What area is improving the most?

[Eclipse]

Who do you guys think is improving the most as far as regions. Although everyone the east coast skill level is amazing, i dont think they are improving the most. Areas like Texas, Colorado, California, Illinois, and Missouri are starting to hold there own all over the country, and even against top ranked east coast schools. Looking back 20 years ago you probably couldnt even find a lacrosse stick in places like missouri, or texas, but nowadays they seem to be taking over. What do you guys think...where is the next hotbed going to be?

[GBaschski]

Well, I don't know much about the rest of the country when it comes to their growth in the sport...but I'd personally like to see some eskimos up in Alaska pick up some sticks and bring it. :agree:

But on the east coast, I think North Carolina is growing pretty fast. We might be behind the big shots like NY and Maryland, but we're getting there.

[NastyLax]

Rhode Island has a fast growing LAX population both boys and girls

[Mavido]

But the population of RI is only 35 people so if 10 of you pick up sticks and that 30% of your population, that really doenst count..

[stegmakk]

I'd say CO has got to be the next big thing...
Then toss up between TX and CA areas...
FLA after TX and or CA...a friend coaches at a private school in FLA and he said the competition is better than he expected (comming from LI), but still has more to go...

[bm2589]

I agree with Colorado.

[kryptic]

Colorado is...
California has its good and bad teams,
but so do we..acording to laxpower we're 22nd in the West

[jmplax31]

i dont think they are improving the most. Areas like Texas, Colorado, California, Illinois, and Missouri are starting to hold there own all over the country, and even against top ranked east coast schools.

Colorado IS the next big thing. However, Missouri is a place that no one talks about that is really getting very big and growing very fast. They are underrated as far as the next big areas of lacrosse.

[Foe20]

Its hard not to agree with you all on Colorado, but I would like to point out something from my home state of Georgia.

I think Georgia is one of the top up and coming states, and I think it, along with Texas, Florida, and California have the biggest potiental for growth. These states have huge cities which haven't even reached half of their potiental, where as in NC, Colorado, etc. it seems like they're reaching the extent of the growth. Not that they won't grow, but just not as fast.

Atlanta is the center for Georgia lacrosse and it is one of the largest metro areas in the US, with great weather for sports -- ie. see any of the major sports and GA high school talent ranks up there with CA, FL, and TX. There's 32 schools with lacrosse in Atlanta and thats only the beginning, because there's HUNDREDS of schools located around Atlanta all capable of carrying lacrosse. Although Atlanta and Georgia have just recently developed lacrosse, Georgia teams are beating the other states.

This season already two teams, Westminster and Lovett, have both defeated top teams from NC and TN. McCallie was beaten by Westminster and Charlotte County Day and Durham Academy were both beaten by Lovett, which isn't even the best school in the state. I don't think any GA teams play teams from anywhere notable, but I also don't think the GA teams get credit for the quality of play down here.

I would say before GA could be taken seriously though the quality of the entire league would have to improve.

[serbocroat]

California lax is too overrated they have a couple good teams but really as a whole the state is not strong. Colorado is pretty good Ohio is sick. Just take a look at Western Reserve Acadamies schedule. Don't forget Washington they got a couple good teams.

[serbocroat]

Foe20 maybe I didn't see everything Georgia lax had to offer but I played a Georgia all-star team during champ camp at Johns Hopkins and it didn't really impress me. What Georgia teams this year are playing oher competetive teams outside of Georgia.

[Foe20]

Foe20 maybe I didn't see everything Georgia lax had to offer but I played a Georgia all-star team during champ camp at Johns Hopkins and it didn't really impress me. What Georgia teams this year are playing oher competetive teams outside of Georgia.
Foe20 maybe I didn't see everything Georgia lax had to offer but I played a Georgia all-star team during champ camp at Johns Hopkins and it didn't really impress me. What Georgia teams this year are playing oher competetive teams outside of Georgia.

Like I mentioned in the post before lacrosse in Georgia is still young and the overall talent is not on par with states like Ohio and Colorado, but the top few teams are as competitive as anyone else in the south. Two teams, neither one ranked the highest in GA, defeated top teams in NC and TN. While no GA teams play any notable other out of state opponents, which makes it hard to tell, the teams in which they beat (I know its hard to compare, but its all that there really is) compete fairly well against northern and midwest opponents.

I don't know who was at your camp so I can't vouch for them, it could've been a team that wasn't one of the top ones in the state so would give a bad impression? Like I said, the overall talent is not there yet.

[laxkeepermem]

lax in texas is growing soo much...when i started playing in eighth grade, that was the usual grade for girls to start picking up sticks. but now we have teams starting in the 4th grade, and for guys starting in 2nd! football is no longer the big sport at our school...its lax. as with many other schools in our area. its def. picking up speed and we seem to have new followers every day. our guys team went to baltimore over spring break, played st pauls (i think they're like 1 or 2 in the nation), and only lost by two. they were up for most of the 3rd and 4th quaters. we love the game down here, and the longer we play, the more stick skills we'll get...so watch out all you east-coasters! haha..

[cbhslacrossemid]

Memphis,Tennesse!

[faceitoff]

Colorado. And then the Midwest.

[SoCalCoach]

California lax is too overrated they have a couple good teams but really as a whole the state is not strong. Colorado is pretty good Ohio is sick. Just take a look at Western Reserve Acadamies schedule. Don't forget Washington they got a couple good teams.

Yes, CO is good, but I don't know where you get the "California lax is too overrated." And I definitely think that the best 5 teams in CA could take the best 5 schools in CO in a theoretical round-robin. I'm only basing this on the 6-7 CO schools that have come out here on spring break to play us... we win most of the games.

In CA there are more than a "couple" good teams. There are about 15-20 teams in California (out of ~140) that are good teams capable of holding their own against some of the east coast teams. Yes, after that there is a bit of a drop-off, but There are 2-3 schools (especially La Costa Canyon, but also Monte Vista-Danville and Poway) that could run with (and occasionally beat) the top schools back east, in my opinion anyways (Garden City found that out in last year).

And just for references sake, I grew up in MD and No. VA, so I do know what quality lacrosse is like ;) I came out to Cali in 1991 and there were about 14 HS teams in the San Diego area and none in L.A.. There are now ~80, and we add about 2-5 teams every year... recently from BIG schools with enrollment of 1700-4000 students that are in more of a lower socio-economic bracket (so in the beginning it's mostly a bunch of football players running around hitting and beating each other with sticks).

And as a side note, some of the college club teams in CA and CO are REAL good. The top ones like Colorado State, Sonoma State, Cal, UC-Santa Barbara and UC-San Diego can win against mid to bottom level NCAA Div I teams (they actually have in recent years). Once some of these club level teams start fielding varsity Div I teams, I think the level of interest in HS lacrosse will greatly increase.

[itstherock04]

I live in Kansas City and Missouri lacrosse is growing like crazy and teams like Rockhurst (my team) and Desmet in Saint Louis are competing well in east and west coast tournaments

[shtbrkd00]

I think California just because of the sheer number of schools getting into it... quality improves with time - they will rock it for a while

[CornerPicker22]

Allright, obviously if you look below my avatar, you know I'm going to be a little bit biased. But here goes:

Colorado lacrosse has grown 20% throughout the past 5 years based on the number of High School programs in the state. Contrary to popular belief, there are a number of schools outside of the Denver metro area: including Fort Collins, Colorado Springs and even ski resort towns such as Steamboat and Telluride.

Like the boom California is experiencing, the quality of play for beginning programs is football players whacking eachother with sticks. However, looking on laxpower, I could argue that the top 10 schools are playing some quality lacrosse. Looking on E-Lacrosse, our talent is being showcased the Strake Jesuit tournament (where local powerhouse Regis kept up with nationally ranked Loyola-Blakefield until a 6-12 loss) and the Cherry Creek vs. a WCAC school (beating them).

I would argue that the biggest influence for our spurt is the fact we have Denver, CSU, CC and the Mammoth to go watch. In the three years that the mammoth has been in town, lacrosse programs' rosters have boomed with new players urging to try the game.

So what? A lot of new players doesn't neccesarily mean quality play, right? I could refer to the recrut board on laxpower, but you can look at that for yourself. However, to be honest, unlike california, we don't have too much of a socio-economic diversity in our players. The top 10 teams to which I refered earlier are all private schools, or the richest public schools in the state. In other words, our kids have the money to go out east in the summer and go to camp(s).

BUT, this doesn't mean that the rich are the ones getting better and representing our talent pool. For some odd reason, we seem to be a popular destination to live. In otherwords, it seems a lot of the development is coming to us. Frequently I see Powell brothers on names of coaches at local camps, John Zulberti as a local coach, several mammoth players taking the helm of local high school teams and talk of blue chip/top 205 camps headed out here.

So, are we the next hotbed? Probably. But I think you gotta consider Texas (Dallas Episcopal) and California. I'm not too confident in naming Missouri, yet. However, my vote is for Colorado.

[go bells]

growth wise, tyring not to be biased, but imagine if even 50% of cali public schools fielded teams... thats a lotta schools for a state that could be the 5th biggest nation econonmically and if it was its own independant nation. skill wise tho... yes there is still a lot of room for improvement

[roswelllax85]

it the south and some west

[serbocroat]

I don't think you can sight club teams to support your arguement about lacrosse growth. Until schools start going D1 like Denver and succeeding the college ball out west doens't really matter. I am just curious to know what club teams from out west have played and beaten mid-level D1 programs. Props to La Costa canyon obviously they are a good cali team. However, there schedule would be much stronger if they had more out of state games. Coronado also beat Wantagh which is impressive but they lost to Torrey Pines who is garbage this year. I acknowledge cali has good teams I just think through my own experiance of playing teams from cali they weren't that impressive. Monte Vista-Dainville already has 3 losses how can they be one of Californias best. I think the Colorado schedules might also be a little harder. Clearly Ohio is the best state that isn't on the east coast though. I would be interested to know which team you coach for.

[mustangslax2]

I live in Kansas City and Missouri lacrosse is growing like crazy and teams like Rockhurst (my team) and Desmet in Saint Louis are competing well in east and west coast tournaments
You (Rockhurst) are a really good team. We were lucky beating you guys. That was a hard fought game. BTW, I go to Mullen. :thumbsup:

I think, of course, that CO is the next big thing. Regis keeping up with Loyola, Creek being the powerhouse that it is, and Fort Collins has really made an impact. There are lots of quality players that come from this state. Now, my school isnt the best of the best out there, but we're up there. We've had one player go on to Villanova, and a few others go to DIII schools. But you get players like Dusty Palmer that go on to Syracuse (full ride) and Brett Koll, who starts attack as a freshman for Denver, and we have some high quality guys. Oh, and I forgot to mention Dave Law, the former starting Princeton goalie.

CA is also rising quickly. My jaw dropped when I heard that Torrey Pines beat Garden City. La Costa Canyon is a great team as well. These two states are the future of lacrosse. Hands down.

[SoCalCoach]

Forgive me for the misinformation. I was under the incorrect assumption that Michigan and Boston College were both Div I schools (they are USL-MDIA schools in the same division with UCSB, CSU, etc). They are both regular visitors to the west coast and usually are around the .500 mark with regards to wins and losses. Regardless of that, I still think that UCSB, CO State, and Sonoma State could run with the Vermont's and Lehighs of the world. But that is up for debate.

As for Coronado, I'm watching them play La Jolla tonight (who they should beat, but probably not by a blow out. I watched Monte Vista-Danville at the First Four tourney earlier in the year (they beat Torrey). They are a good team. Not the best in CA by a long shot, but good. My opinion of Torrey and others are based on my watching them play in person. They are disciplined, athletic, and have some real good players. They just aren't on the same level as an LCC or a Poway... this year anyways. I think Coronado is a bit overrated, but I've only seen them play for about a quarter and a half against St. Ignatius (again at the First 4 tourney). Their game tonight might change my mind.

Torrey is hardly garbage. I've seen them play 3 times this year. Not trying to instigate anything here, I'm genuinely curious: How many times have you seen them play? While definitely not as good as the previous two years, they are NOT garbage. Save that description for Fallbrook, USDHS and Serra, et. al. And judging by the quality of the Torrey JV (spanked my LCC JV 13-1 the other night), they should be back in the mix next year.

One last thing about teams winning against a real good team and then turning around and losing to a bad team... stuff happens. Injuries, taking opponents lightly, poor discipline, bad bounces, bad refs, can all affect teams... especially when that opponent has a bunch of positives happen to them. Was it Wantagh who was fatigued from the long trip to the West Coast, or was Coronado just that good? Was Coronado thinking they were unbeatable and failed to prepare for Torrey, or was it Torrey failing to prepare against those other 3 opponents? Things happen.

[SoCalCoach]

I don't think you can sight club teams to support your arguement about lacrosse growth. Until schools start going D1 like Denver and succeeding the college ball out west doens't really matter.

And you're basically supporting my argument... that once those club teams do go Div I, there will be a lot more growth, because the recruiting out here will increase.

[Eclipse]

I agree with colorado, texas as well. I used to play in Missouri(lafayette) and i think that down there its insane how lax is growing. i lived there when the middle school team basically just started and now kids are starting out in elementary school easy. It seems like as soon as high school teams start showing up the sport just takes off. Right now i live in Wisconsin, 5 years ago lax was virtually nothing here. now we have youth teams all over and almost 30 teams, yeah yeah i know 30 doesnt seem like that much but considering we have only been at this 5 years, its a pretty good jump since areas like colorado have around 40. I think as a whole this nation is finally catching on to how great this sport is. It will take some time before we ever see a number one high school team off the east coast, but i for now, what we have is awesome. Our sport is so unique being that we can take a team from cali, and put them in new york and the teams can play eachother like there a couple miles away. I dont think my high school football baseball hockey or basketball team has ever left the state to play a game. So ill take what we got.

[HooRahWisc]

Lacrosse in Wisconsin is definitely growing fast. I started playing three years ago on my high school team and there only seemed to be around 10 or so teams in Wisconsin. To have such growth through the years is simply astonishing. I'm glad to see that it is growing in more areas than just one metropolitan area in the state. The Green Bay and Milwaukee area is really growing fast, the madison area needs to catch up now!

I hope it becomes a WIAA (sanctioned high school league) sport in 10 years, that would be incredible to see happen.

[serbocroat]

Yes there WILL be a lot more growth but its not there yet. I know the west coast is coming up fast. I play for a pretty good west coast team and it is frustrating not to get the recognition I feel we deserve. As for torrey possibly not prepraring that is a ligitmate excuse for one game but not three. Even if they have the skills and the talent if they can't mentally prepare for games then that still can make them a bad team despite there talent. You are right though there are many variables that effect teams records for the better or for the worse and this can be an incorrect gauge for a teams ability

[SoCalCoach]

Serbocroat,

Watched the Coronado vs. La Jolla game last night. It was a decent game for the 1st quarter, where La Jolla took a 1-0 lead. Coronado woke up in the 2nd quarter and ran away with a 9-2 victory. Talking to some of the parents, I found out that Coronado had a really late game against Serra the night before Torrey, and on top of that, Coronado's head coach wasn't able to make the Torrey game. That could definitely affect a team's ability to win.

That said, Coronado is a small team (in stature), but really fast--and speed usually trumps size in lacrosse. They have two good attackmen and a good goalie. They use their speed to ride well and play defense in transition. And in my own opinion, while I think Coronado is a good team, it's reinforced my previous opinion that they should not be on the honorable mention list for the top 25 teams in the nation.

Their game this friday vs. Poway should be a good one. I think Poway has a good chance.

[LibertyRose]

I lived in California most of my life and LAX is growing hugely i agree but i think everyone is counting out the NW schools. We have kids starting at 4th grade, and high school teams all over are picking up the sport we may not have the talent or the growth rate right now but in a couple years we will be huge if we continue at the rate we are going.

[LHS LAX PARENT]

I agree that Illinois is improving fast. Adding 5-10 schools a year. Libertyville has sent players to Syracuse (Brooks, starting middie), Denver, Mercyhurst, Robert Morris, Butler in last 3 years. New Trier and Loyola sending just as many. Huge jump from 5 or 6 years ago.

[camthraxFHK]

Frequently I see Powell brothers on names of coaches at local camps, John Zulberti as a local coach, several mammoth players taking the helm of local high school teams and talk of blue chip/top 205 camps headed out here.



Wow I miss coach Z. The two years he spent in Oregon helped the game oh so much. I only wish I could have played under him at West Linn.

[unholygoalie10]

texas man in houston alone we have atleast 10 new boys teams alone every year and were starting to play as young as the 4th grade so our stick skills r getting sharper as well and were hated cuz we've been stealing football soccer hocky guys

[LymanLax28]

I'd say CO has got to be the next big thing...
Then toss up between TX and CA areas...
FLA after TX and or CA...a friend coaches at a private school in FLA and he said the competition is better than he expected (comming from LI), but still has more to go...
What school does he coach at?

[laxfolife24]

because im in cali i would have to say cali. but its more of growing than inproving because the they are some pretty bad teams out here and some pretty good ones. i think colorado is improving the fastest.

[cheyennelax2]

COLO FU CK ING RADO

[roycegracie47]

^^ was that really necessary??

Anyways, I say CO, CA, TX, and OH are all showing great improvement, but from my experience I give the edge OH. I think CO, TX and CA should not be counted out at all and I have been impressed with the players from those areas I have played with.

[SDPirate]

just out of curiosty SoCalCoach, who is it that u coach?

[IrishDefender]

Virginina is growing rapidly, but it's kind of a given because of Maryland and D.C.

[mx255]

i know that ohio is good for lacrosse but i also think that they are no longer growing as much as other places as they have had teams longer and play the game like the east coast. California and Colorado are hands down the fastest growing places for lacrosse. They have good nationally ranked hs teams, professional teams and even the players from the college level that want to come out and help the expansion.

[TitanLax]

California lax is too overrated they have a couple good teams but really as a whole the state is not strong. Colorado is pretty good Ohio is sick. Just take a look at Western Reserve Acadamies schedule. Don't forget Washington they got a couple good teams.
though i play in ohio and think we r gettin very good u can't count western reserve cus they r boarding. i think ohio has some of the closest teams to east coast, but yes i agree that california and places like georgia with sheer numbers will continue growth more?

[Chaminademid]

I live in Kansas City and Missouri lacrosse is growing like crazy and teams like Rockhurst (my team) and Desmet in Saint Louis are competing well in east and west coast tournaments

St. Louis has a lot of quality teams (i know i got my *** kicked first hand by pretty much all of them)

DeSmet
Lafayette (went up to maryland and went 3-0)
Parkways South
and of course defending champions MICDS
Rockhurst is supposedly good too but i haven't seen them play, i know they're like the most athletic school like ever thought.

[go bells]

quoted from a friend
"
"How bad are we, really, compared to other states?" I decided, arbitrarily, to count the number of teams in each state that could finish the year in the LaxPower 90s range. I counted teams currently at 89.5 or better, just to make sure I had counted all the teams that had a shot to be in the 90s at season's end.

I was kinda surprised at how the states line up. Of course, this is right before LaxPower adjusts its Regional Offset Margin (ROM), Laughing but, what the heck! Here are the stats for the top 10:
1.) NY 90 teams above 89.5
2.) PA 39 teams
3.) MD 29 teams
4.) MA 28 teams
5.) CA 20 teams
6.) CO 16 teams
7.) OH 14 teams
8.) CT 13 teams
9.) VA 12 teams
10.) tie TX and NC 7 teams

I was struck by how dominant NY is, that PA was second, how much publicity MD gets and how little MA gets for essentially the same number of very solid teams, and, dare I say it, that we aren't so bad as we think we are. Interesting data, huh?"

[hazbeen]

Virginina is growing rapidly, but it's kind of a given because of Maryland and D.C.

That is true but also think about how much better va/nova (in particular) would be if the private schools didn't steal all of the top talent.

Also Go Bells using your rating of 89.5 to compare the states really doesnt show the true story along state lines I mean these rankings get skewed a little among intra-state, I will use VA as an example in that Northern Va owns the state in Lax and that if the other schools in the state played in NOVA their power ranking wouldn't be so high, maybe one or two private schools could run with the top schools in NOVA but the public schools in the rest of the state would be mid-level at best. I mean last year in the final rankings they had a loudon school which does not play the top teams in the state whose opp. pr was 77 ranked 11th in the state while langley a school in NOVA was ranked 16th with an opp pr of 88. So what I'm saying is that some teams have a higher PR than they should and I mean I don't know if this is the case in every state.

[MWLaX]

to itstherock 04 -
We just got some lacrosse started in Omaha, Nebraska. It's pretty rough right now, seeing as we only have like a 4 team league, but our team is planning on coming up to your tournament. Is it hosted by your team, Rockhurst?

[itstherock04]

to itstherock 04 -
We just got some lacrosse started in Omaha, Nebraska. It's pretty rough right now, seeing as we only have like a 4 team league, but our team is planning on coming up to your tournament. Is it hosted by your team, Rockhurst?

ummm if it was at rockhurst then yea who do u play for

[MWLaX]

I play for Millard West, which is one of four teams in Omaha. I don't think that you guys are hosting, but it is in Overland Park.

[Moka10]

Who do you guys think is improving the most as far as regions. Although everyone the east coast skill level is amazing, i dont think they are improving the most. Areas like Texas, Colorado, California, Illinois, and Missouri are starting to hold there own all over the country, and even against top ranked east coast schools. Looking back 20 years ago you probably couldnt even find a lacrosse stick in places like missouri, or texas, but nowadays they seem to be taking over. What do you guys think...where is the next hotbed going to be?

Half true - yes, those states are improving rapidly, but they still get crushed by East Coast. I'm not bragging or anything, but the #1 team in Washington lost something like 15-4 to Orchard Park, and OP isn't what they have been in the last 5 years this year.

I'd like to say Western New York (more specific) is improving.

[Foe20]

quoted from a friend
"
"How bad are we, really, compared to other states?" I decided, arbitrarily, to count the number of teams in each state that could finish the year in the LaxPower 90s range. I counted teams currently at 89.5 or better, just to make sure I had counted all the teams that had a shot to be in the 90s at season's end.

I was kinda surprised at how the states line up. Of course, this is right before LaxPower adjusts its Regional Offset Margin (ROM), Laughing but, what the heck! Here are the stats for the top 10:
1.) NY 90 teams above 89.5
2.) PA 39 teams
3.) MD 29 teams
4.) MA 28 teams
5.) CA 20 teams
6.) CO 16 teams
7.) OH 14 teams
8.) CT 13 teams
9.) VA 12 teams
10.) tie TX and NC 7 teams

I was struck by how dominant NY is, that PA was second, how much publicity MD gets and how little MA gets for essentially the same number of very solid teams, and, dare I say it, that we aren't so bad as we think we are. Interesting data, huh?"

Someone mentioned that instate game skews the rankings, which they do. Keep in mind that some teams in certain states that aren't that good will pull down the power ranking of other teams they play.

[ploaref]

quoted from a friend
"
"How bad are we, really, compared to other states?" I decided, arbitrarily, to count the number of teams in each state that could finish the year in the LaxPower 90s range. I counted teams currently at 89.5 or better, just to make sure I had counted all the teams that had a shot to be in the 90s at season's end.

I was kinda surprised at how the states line up. Of course, this is right before LaxPower adjusts its Regional Offset Margin (ROM), Laughing but, what the heck! Here are the stats for the top 10:
1.) NY 90 teams above 89.5
2.) PA 39 teams
3.) MD 29 teams
4.) MA 28 teams
5.) CA 20 teams
6.) CO 16 teams
7.) OH 14 teams
8.) CT 13 teams
9.) VA 12 teams
10.) tie TX and NC 7 teams

I was struck by how dominant NY is, that PA was second, how much publicity MD gets and how little MA gets for essentially the same number of very solid teams, and, dare I say it, that we aren't so bad as we think we are. Interesting data, huh?"

Wouldn't it also matter to figure out how many total teams you are counting here? I mean, 90 NY teams out of how many? Looking at it THAT way, the Colorado's and Ohio's of the world may actually have more top teams proportinate to their total numbers. I mean, i don't know the totals, but it might be interesting to see...in light of the original question.

Remember also that the coaching is what makes teams great...at youth levels on up. Developing areas have fewer coaches per capita, and the best ones more'n likely aren;t going to be at the yotuh levels, like they are in areas of the east coast lax belt...

[laxattack1414]

I play in Missouri for the Springfield Falcons and this is just our second year as a team. The most experienced kid on the team has only played 3 years and its crazy how quickly more and more people are starting to come out for our team just since last year. i love how much its growing.