Moe JV woes
From what I've heard there are several factors impacting Moellers JV program this year. Last year they were solid despite several players being brought up to the varsity program as the season progressed (e.g. Corey Bauer).
Elimination of freshman program is certainly one. Probably scares some kids off who are afraid they may not see the field or make the cut on the JV squad. Also no way to get new athletes into the sport who haven't played in middle school and let them cut their teeth (it's hard to be the guy who drops every pass on a decent JV squad...)
Moeller youth program also had some soft years so underclassmen as a whole are not quite as strong as when the current varsity squad was entering HS. They dropped from Div 1 to Div 3 for 2006 MS tournament. I understand their youth program is improving.
Poor support of multi-sport athletes is another factor. In particular, Moe footballers are not supported in training/ off-season work for other sports despite the conditioning and other benefits. There are several strong athletes who played in Moe's youth program who committed themselves to football instead of lacrosse. LAX is also expensive with almost no support from the school (I've heard $500-$1000/ yr for players).
Finally, there has been alot of coaching turnover in the Moeller LAX program over past 3-5 years. Without continuity and coaches who can get to know and grow young players and support their development, it can be hard to keep them in the program.
Moeller will need to address several of these concerns if they want to maintain a top level lacrosse program over next several years until sport is sanctioned. Hopefully the success of program last year and this year will rekindle some enthusiasm.
From what I've heard there are several factors impacting Moellers JV program this year. Last year they were solid despite several players being brought up to the varsity program as the season progressed (e.g. Corey Bauer).
Elimination of freshman program is certainly one. Probably scares some kids off who are afraid they may not see the field or make the cut on the JV squad. Also no way to get new athletes into the sport who haven't played in middle school and let them cut their teeth (it's hard to be the guy who drops every pass on a decent JV squad...)
Moeller youth program also had some soft years so underclassmen as a whole are not quite as strong as when the current varsity squad was entering HS. They dropped from Div 1 to Div 3 for 2006 MS tournament. I understand their youth program is improving.
Poor support of multi-sport athletes is another factor. In particular, Moe footballers are not supported in training/ off-season work for other sports despite the conditioning and other benefits. There are several strong athletes who played in Moe's youth program who committed themselves to football instead of lacrosse. LAX is also expensive with almost no support from the school (I've heard $500-$1000/ yr for players).
Finally, there has been alot of coaching turnover in the Moeller LAX program over past 3-5 years. Without continuity and coaches who can get to know and grow young players and support their development, it can be hard to keep them in the program.
Moeller will need to address several of these concerns if they want to maintain a top level lacrosse program over next several years until sport is sanctioned. Hopefully the success of program last year and this year will rekindle some enthusiasm.