UTLAX

Tnlaxer369, The key to getting any summer league going is the high school players. There just aren't enough college and post-college players around to fill out the teams. The last few years it's been a struggle to get the high school players to come out to our weekly pick up games. The high school coaches in Knoxville tell me they're tired of dealing with the kids by the end of the season, and are ready for a break. If we could get about 15 players commited from each high school, and 15 college and post-college players that would be close to what we would need for a 4 team league. We usually get about 5-6 players from Farragut, 3-4 from West Knox, and 0 from Webb. We have always held it at Farragut since they were the largest high school team around, but maybe we need to look at other venues.

Patrick, I checked your teams schedule on Laxpower, and unfortunately I don't think you guys are playing anywhere close enough for us to come and see any of your games. I have heard a lot about you from other high school coaches, and think you would be a great asset to the University of Tennessee team. We are graduating 2 starting attackman this year that are currently our leaders in points. There will be a lot of competition for the 3 attack spots between the incoming players, returning starter Jack Cleary, current freshman John Wilson and Kevin Coll. Although next year we should return plenty of experience on the defensive end, we are losing quite a bit of offensive firepower.

Faith, the NAIA is like the NCAA for small schools, they are an athletic governing body. The NAIA does not sanction lacrosse, so teams like TWC, and Lindenwood in Missouri, play in the MCLA. I had read on Laxpower that TWC was going to play a NCAA DII schedule next year, so I'm assuming that they are moving from the NAIA to the NCAA. The MCLA does not accept teams at schools that have varsity lacrosse teams, so if TWC is going varsity in the NCAA they will not be allowed to compete in the SELC.

One thing to consider is that if the TSSAA adopts lacrosse as a varsity sport, they may use the same system that Georgia employs. The GHSAA sanctions lacrosse as a varsity sport, but it's up to the individual counties to decide if they want to fund it. If this is the case there would probably be a slight increase in teams in the larger cities, but not much growth, if any, in the rural counties. After all, the TSSAA sanctions swimming and wrestling, but not every school has those sports. I know that most all of the coaches down in Georgia are not teachers, so I don't think things will change at the grass roots level in Tennessee if the TSSAA sanctions lacrosse. One significant change will be in the game officials. They will all have to join the various Referee Associations around the state. This means they will most likely be paid by the TSSAA instead of coming from individual teams. This would increase the amount of referees available to the schools. I also coach football at a local high school so I see both sides of the field use issue. In a perfect world we would all share and share alike, but there is such competition for field space, and the amount of money the football team spends each year on the field and stadium maintenance, I can see where they are very protective of it's use. This would change if the TSSAA sanctioned lacrosse.

USLacrosse puts out a list of All-Americans from every state that has lacrosse, regardless of whether the sport is recognized as a varsity sport by the state's governing athletic body. There is a vast difference in ability between a Tennessee All-American and a Maryland, or New York All-American. This gap is narrowing each year as Tennessee high school lacrosse grows and expands. I'm not sure how it's tabulated, or what system they use to determine how many each state gets, but I assume it has to do with how many teams each state has. This is a bit different than football's Parade All-Americans, or basketball's McDonald's All-Americans, where not every state is guaranteed a spot on those rosters.

Daniel, we have games that weekend at home vs. So. Carolina and Georgia. I don't know what our practice schedule will be for that Friday, but hopefully we will be able to come out and watch you and your team.

Redtwin is right on with his info about MCLA teams. The sport of lacrosse is seeing it's fastest growth at the club level. Varsity lacrosse is not seeing much growth at all right now, particularly at the DI level. MCLA teams offer students the opportunity to play lacrosse at a realitively high level of competition, without the heavy structure and demands of a varsity team. However, this does vary greatly depending on which university your playing for. The funding these club teams get from their prospective universities also varies greatly. Most schools give their club teams enough money to cover their league dues and uniforms. Team equipment, travel, etc. are paid out of the student's pocket in the form of team dues. Tennessee charged it's players $800.00 this year (I think), where Michigan's players pay $3,500 in dues. In regards to admission, no club team has any pull at all with the administration. Tennesse Wesleyan College is a NAIA school which is why they offer scholorships, but play at a club level. If I understand their situation correctly they will be playing a NCAA DII schedule in 2009. MocsLax, I'm not sure about the UT roster being all Centennial (SP?) players. To my knowledge there have been 7 or 8 players from that high school on UT's roster in the history of the program. I know many TN high school players are interested in playing varsity ball after they graduate. Tennessee has had many transfers from varsity programs, including: Greensboro College, Hampton-Sydney, Maryland, Washington College, Wesleyan College, and Limestone. The common thread I gathered from these players is that while playing in-season was great, the rest of their time there was not what they wanted their college experience to be. So if your dream is to play varsity lacrosse somewhere, by all means follow your dream. But, don't rule out playing competitive club ball at a school that has everything else your looking for to help you achieve your life goals. Remember, less that 1% of high school players will be playing lacrosse for a living.