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Coaching essays, program-building notes, and lacrosse teaching ideas.
We keep chasing prestige with cavernous NFL stadiums and leaving half the sport in the shadows. Maybe the real win is a unified, sold-out weekend that feels more like a festival and less like a spreadsheet.
This Memorial Day Final Four isn’t just a showdown of lacrosse powerhouses—it’s a nod to legacy, coaching culture, and the unexpected kindness that stays with you long after the final whistle. For any middle-aged coach who's walked the sideline, it's part memory lane, part masterclass.
Lacrosse isn’t just a sport—it’s a rite of passage. With deep roots in Native American tradition and a fast-paced, creative style of play, it builds kids who are not only fit and skilled, but thoughtful, tough, and team-minded. If you want your child to play a sport that actually means something, this is the one.
Youth lacrosse should balance development with competition, ensuring all players enjoy equal opportunities to play and grow in recreational leagues, while progressively introducing competitive elements as they approach high school to deepen the talent pool and strengthen the sport's foundation. This approach nurtures a lifelong love for the game and prepares players for higher levels of play, ensuring the sport continues to flourish in the community.
Streamlining lacrosse tryouts by reducing the number of stations and simplifying evaluation forms can make the process more efficient and focused. Assembling a diverse evaluation team and utilizing concise, targeted drills followed by scrimmages ensures a comprehensive assessment of each player's abilities.
Mickey-Miles Felton, with his distinctive style and unorthodox methods, epitomized the essence of a visionary coach. His unique approach not only shaped the game but also left a lasting impact on his players, turning lessons on the field into life-long insights.
Step back 30 years and dive into the world of lacrosse fashion, where beat-up gear, worn-out pinnies, and three-bar hats were badges of honor. Off the field, lacrosse players embraced a unique style that wasn’t just about clothing—it was a lifestyle built on grit, tradition, and swagger.
Are smartphones enhancing or hindering the focus and performance of lacrosse players during crucial games and practices? Click here to explore the insightful discussions among coaches and players about the impact of mobile devices on the traditional dynamics of lacrosse, and how teams across the nation are tackling this modern challenge to preserve the integrity of the game.
The gritty divide between preserving the unbridled joy of youth sports and the pressures of early specialization, where money and elite competition often overshadow pure passion. It calls on stakeholders to embrace a balanced approach that nurtures every child's development, ensuring the spirit of the game remains untainted by commercial interests.
A heartfelt toast to the spouses of lacrosse coaches—the unsung heroes who endure our thousand-yard stares into the abyss of man-up strategies, the sacred rituals of restringing sticks that don’t need restringing, and the all-consuming obsession that pulls us away, even when we’re right beside you. It’s not neglect, it’s love—love for a game that’s been in our bones since the first time we cradled a stick, and though we may disappear into it, we always come back to you… eventually, probably.
Lacrosse was once a seasonal obsession, balanced with other sports, summer jobs, and life experiences. Today, it’s an all-consuming pursuit, with year-round training, club teams, and elite showcases defining the path for young athletes. Are we producing better players, or just burning them out? Do kids still love the game, or has it become just another checkbox on the road to college recruitment? This reflection on lacrosse then and now asks the ultimate question: Have we lost something valuable in the relentless drive for specialization?
I remember when playing sports was all about grabbing my stick and heading out the door for a day of fun. No private lessons, no travel teams, just pure love for the game and the freedom to play however we wanted. My parents didn’t worry about every scrape or bump; they trusted us to figure things out on our own. Today, it feels like sports have become too structured and over-protected. Maybe it’s time to let kids experience the same freedom and learn from their own adventures. If you don't mind listing to an old guy kvetch for a moment, let me take you back!
