OT: UConn Mens Lacrosse Program

[Jimmy Serrano]

On what grounds? Lacrosse is the fastest growing sport on the planet. I'm not sure you did any research regarding the demographics of lacrosse families but they tend to be higher level income families. In addition of getting some new donors and utilizing our beautiful facilities UConn should be able to quickly climb to the top of the men's lacrosse world.

All it takes is 1 donor. I challenge you to look into how Richmond lacrosse was started.

My top 3 reasons (in no particular order):

We have no money.
We are broke.
We can’t afford it.

Those reasons aside:

Lacrosse is terrible. Slightly more exciting than soccer.

It’s a niche sport played predominantly by rich white kids.

There are probably 20 people who would care and half of them already posted in this thread.

Have I mentioned that we don’t have the money?

 

[UofCT]

My top 3 reasons (in no particular order):

We have no money.
We are broke.
We can’t afford it.

Those reasons aside:

Lacrosse is terrible. Slightly more exciting than soccer.

It’s a niche sport played predominantly by rich white kids.

There are probably 20 people who would care and half of them already posted in this thread.

Have I mentioned that we don’t have the money?

With that attitude nothing will get done.

 

[Northbound]

Division 1 Men's lacrosse teams don't have 40 full scholarships as your suggesting. They only get 13.1 to distribute amounts 45+ players.

This is true, I remember it was 12 full rides per team, but that was a few years ago when I kept current on that stuff.

It's how SUNY Albany built a program - go to hopkins, SU, etc. and come out with X debt, go to Albany, play good comp and come out with something significantly less than X as a debt. Scott Marr is very transparent about how he started to build the Albany program and that was the way - then he got some transformational players and they play a fun style and they've now been a part of any recruits conversation.

Lacrosse is growing, but it is growing in similar places to where it's already popular - meaning upper income suburbs - still very little diversity in the game. One the surface lacrosse is very inexpensive (helmet, gloves, stick, cleats), but in reality parents have been sold a bill of goods and routinely shell out $2000-$3000 or more for club teams and showcases. So much so that HS coaches in some area are seeing kids care more about those than their varsity teams. It's a racket in fact I recall reading somewhere that a guy left Goldman-Sachs to run some lacrosse organization and is now banking over $1mm a year - true or not, I don't know, although seems unlikely, but more than a few guys are making very good livings running clubs and showcases.

I say a bill of goods because VERY VERY few college lacrosse players are on full rides (see the scholarship limits) - you're better off being a smart kid, you'll get more money to go to school - but parents and kids want to feed their own egos.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

With that attitude nothing will get done.

Let’s hope!

 

[whaler11]

When someone endows 50 million to start a lacrosse program let me know: Because that probably isn’t even enough.

 

[Austin316]

How many athletic scholarships are used by those 2 sports? I would guess very few. To do lacrosse right, UConn would have to give out a number of full rides, and then match them on the women's side.

I think in the article Benedict said there would be 12 scholarships required for

How many athletic scholarships are used by those 2 sports? I would guess very few. To do lacrosse right, UConn would have to give out a number of full rides, and then match them on the women's side.

Jeff Jacobs: Lacrosse at UConn makes sense, but don’t hold your breath

lacrosse allows 12.6 scholarships I’m not sure how many are in those sports but I’m might be close.
Will it happen? Doubt it. But I think it would be a championship caliber program.

 

[Austin316]

The stupidity on this board knows no bounds. Adding lacrosse given our dire economic reality is one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen posted here.

It’s not stupid to say our region breeds lacrosse players and UConn would benefit from having a program. Will it happen now? Nope. 5 years? I doubt it.

Stupid is as stupid does. Would it be stupid to replace programs with lacrosse? Right now it would be, you are correct. I don’t believe the costs would weight out the athletic budget... unless big time doners come marching through with their sticks in hand

 

[huskyblooz]

Can we please get a women's gymnastics team instead? There are millions of girls that are very good gymnasts with parents that have spent a lot of money on gymnastics with no college to get a scholarship from because so few Universities offer the sport. Asking for a friend.

That would work out perfect with Title IX. Both men's lacrosse & women's gymnastics are about 12 schollies. ... Adding sports would have to be all donors.

 

[superjohn]

Lacrosse does tend to have more well-off douchy kids playing the sport, which is too bad considering it's beginnings and how much fun the sport actually is to play. I didn't grow up with the game but played a little on the junior level before playing a couple years in high school. I was good enough where the game helped me get into better schools than I would have gotten into without it but you basically aren't getting a full 4 year ride for Lacrosse unless you're an All-American type player.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Who on here would buy season tickets or donate meaningful money to a lacrosse program?

 

[TRest]

Does anyone think building an elite-level lacrosse program makes us any more attractive to a P5 conference?

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Who on here would buy season tickets or donate meaningful money to a lacrosse program?

This is the best part of this whole folly.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

It’s not stupid to say our region breeds lacrosse players and UConn would benefit from having a program. Will it happen now? Nope. 5 years? I doubt it.

Stupid is as stupid does. Would it be stupid to replace programs with lacrosse? Right now it would be, you are correct. I don’t believe the costs would weight out the athletic budget... unless big time doners come marching through with their sticks in hand

You are the one who said it would be a good investment. Not me.

 

[HooperScooper]

When someone endows 50 million to start a lacrosse program let me know: Because that probably isn’t even enough.

Would it really cost that much? If so then you can forgetaboutit!

 

[whaler11]

Would it really cost that much? If so then you can forgetaboutit!

Well if you need 2 million a year to operate it’s at least that much. It’s 26 scholarships + everything else that goes into running a program.

 

[UofCT]

It’s not stupid to say our region breeds lacrosse players and UConn would benefit from having a program. Will it happen now? Nope. 5 years? I doubt it.

Stupid is as stupid does. Would it be stupid to replace programs with lacrosse? Right now it would be, you are correct. I don’t believe the costs would weight out the athletic budget... unless big time doners come marching through with their sticks in hand

You are the one who said it would be a good investment. Not me.

It would be a great investment. Similar to Utah or Richmond the cost can be taken care of by a generous donor. Do we have a donor that is interested? Perhaps.

In the year 2030 where will lacrosse be? The past 7 years lax has been the fastest growing sport among participation for HS athletics. It continues to grow. New D1 teams are popping up every year. Utah, Bonnies, Akron, Kent State, etc.

 

[superjohn]

It would be a great investment. Similar to Utah or Richmond the cost can be taken care of by a generous donor. Do we have a donor that is interested? Perhaps.

In the year 2030 where will lacrosse be? The past 7 years lax has been the fastest growing sport among participation for HS athletics. It continues to grow. New D1 teams are popping up every year. Utah, Bonnies, Akron, Kent State, etc.

Everyone was saying it's the the fastest growing sport when I was in high school 20 years ago. I haven't followed it closely but from what I've seen it really hasn't changed all that much.

 

[Austin316]

You are the one who said it would be a good investment. Not me.

It would be. Not tomorrow.

 

[Chuck]

Everyone was saying it's the the fastest growing sport when I was in high school 20 years ago. I haven't followed it closely but from what I've seen it really hasn't changed all that much.

I can only speak from my personal experience, but it is definitely a growing sport. I say that because of what I've seen with my kids, but also just what I've seen with clubs in the last few years (which I don't think is a positive trend). The sport has exploded in the suburbs. Lax has done a pretty good job of making it a lifestyle. Are some of the kids douchy as referenced above? Sure, but that's just a term because they are wealthy. My son's soccer team gets into it with lower socioeconomic teams in soccer in every game. You just don't call those kids douchy. Boys in competitive sports can be d!*%$ at any wealth level.

My understanding of lacrosse (not growing up with it as an option in the late 80's in my town) is that it used to attract a lot of football players for a spring sport. Now (in my town) kids are skipping football altogether or some wait to pick it up in high school. It has really hurt our small town football program, and rec baseball (travel baseball is still doing well). We are a soccer family and I didn't want my son to be a one sport kid. He didn't take to basketball or baseball and chose lacrosse. He likes it, and I like that it's a different set of kids from soccer. But it is an expensive sport and getting much worse with the proliferation of clubs. A new club pops up every few months in our area. They charge a lot, plus they sell all of their extra gear (including $400 helmets). A couple of them are taking kids that have no business playing at a high level, and then they cut them the next year if they find someone better. What was a primarily spring sport for most players is extending through the summer and casually in fall and winter. I'm glad my son decided to quit his club even though I think it means he'll stagnate a bit. He wouldn't be playing in college anyway (soccer or lacrosse).

I'm not sure why UConn having a D1 team would be all that great. It wouldn't be a bad thing, but the sport doesn't pay for itself and I can't imagine that UConn could fund a D1 lacrosse team without harming football or men's basketball. Some would probably have no problem hurting football, but I don't believe that would be desirable for realignment attractiveness.

 

[freescooter]

It would be a great investment. Similar to Utah or Richmond the cost can be taken care of by a generous donor. Do we have a donor that is interested? Perhaps.

In the year 2030 where will lacrosse be? The past 7 years lax has been the fastest growing sport among participation for HS athletics. It continues to grow. New D1 teams are popping up every year. Utah, Bonnies, Akron, Kent State, etc.

If you look at the schools adding it, it’s mostly d1aa or lost level D1 schools. Utah being the exception. And if you look at attendance it is laughable to even think it will somehow help offset costs. Might someone give a few million to start a program? Sure they might. After the first game will anyone care? Players friends and family will but that’s it.

As far as the fastest growing youth sport stuff goes I guess that makes it the soccer of the 2010s. Remember when that was going to replace football/baseball/name it as America’s game of choice? How’d that work of?

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Everyone was saying it's the the fastest growing sport when I was in high school 20 years ago. I haven't followed it closely but from what I've seen it really hasn't changed all that much.

Participation rates among kids nationwide are up about 300 percent in the last 15 years.

I love the sport, grew up playing in an area where it's not remotely a rich kids sport, and I played at a high level until my early 20s - all that being said I can't see any particular reason why a D1 program would be a good idea for UConn.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

It would be a great investment. Similar to Utah or Richmond the cost can be taken care of by a generous donor. Do we have a donor that is interested? Perhaps.

In the year 2030 where will lacrosse be? The past 7 years lax has been the fastest growing sport among participation for HS athletics. It continues to grow. New D1 teams are popping up every year. Utah, Bonnies, Akron, Kent State, etc.

Lol. When I was in high school over 30 years ago the soccer cult morans said soccer would be more popular than basketball and baseball by the turn of the century.

If you are talking to a lacrosse parent or big time suppporter you can bank on 2 things.

Their son isn’t a quarter good as they think he is and that lacrosse is the NEXT BIG THING.

It’s really a cult. My son plays in high school. Parents are completely delusional. They are worse than dance moms.

UConn Lacrosse. Hard pass.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

It would be. Not tomorrow.

Um. How?

 

[superjohn]

Participation rates among kids nationwide are up about 300 percent in the last 15 years.

I love the sport, grew up playing in an area where it's not remotely a rich kids sport, and I played at a high level until my early 20s - all that being said I can't see any particular reason why a D1 program would be a good idea for UConn.

Lacrosse has always touted it's growth rate but it doesn't translate to people caring about it at the college and pro level. Like the other sports which have grown a lot over the years it's still a niche sport. There are way more youth programs across the US but it's the same as it always was, the top athletes still all gravitate to those sports which haven't grown but offer you free rides to college and where you can make actual money playing the sport.

It was a fun sport to play but it's not much of a sport to watch unfortunately. As far as a spectator sport Box is more fun, also more fun to play IMO.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Lacrosse has always touted it's growth rate but it doesn't translate to people caring about it at the college and pro level. Like the other sports which have grown a lot over the years it's still a niche sport. There are way more youth programs across the US but it's the same as it always was, the top athletes still all gravitate to those sports which haven't grown but offer you free rides to college and where you can make actual money playing the sport.

It was a fun sport to play but it's not much of a sport to watch unfortunately. As far as a spectator sport Box is more fun, also more fun to play IMO.

I was just responding to your statement that nothing has changed. I don't think anyone is seriously waiting on lacrosse to replace any of the revenue-generating sports. That being said, I know more than a handful of D1 players who passed on scholarship opportunities in revenue sports at major programs, and that was true when I played in the late 90s.

Box is awful to watch, by the way, so we're just coming at it from different perspectives.

 

[Austin316]

Um. How?

Do people guy tickets to watch golf? Or maybe swimming? No probly not. Would they for lacrosse in a state where the popularity might be the highest out of any state? Maybe.

Let’s take our finances for golf and swimming (A) as a hypothetical test scenario to be replaced by lacrosse. I am using solid programs Albany (B), Johns Hopkins (C), Denver (D), & Virginia (E) as test samples to see if it would actually work

Total finances (A): 464,378
269,919 (golf) + 194,459 (s&d)

Total finances:
(B) 185,486
(C) 215,904
(D) 679,129
(E) 220,021

Would it work? Yeah. Do I think it would be a good program? Yeah. Will we do it? Probly not.

 

[superjohn]

I was just responding to your statement that nothing has changed. I don't think anyone is seriously waiting on lacrosse to replace any of the revenue-generating sports. That being said, I know more than a handful of D1 players who passed on scholarship opportunities in revenue sports at major programs, and that was true when I played in the late 90s.

Box is awful to watch, by the way, so we're just coming at it from different perspectives.

Yes, it hasn't really changed. People were saying it's the fastest growing sport when I was in school and it's continued to grow. People still don't care about it at the college level and professionally and the best athletes leave lacrosse just like they do soccer to focus on the big sports.

You knew more than a handful of guys who were offered scholarships at major programs in hoops or football and turned it down to play lacrosse? I find that really hard to believe but I'll take your word for it.

 

[UofCT]

Yes, it hasn't really changed. People were saying it's the fastest growing sport when I was in school and it's continued to grow. People still don't care about it at the college level and professionally and the best athletes leave lacrosse just like they do soccer to focus on the big sports.

You knew more than a handful of guys who were offered scholarships at major programs in hoops or football and turned it down to play lacrosse? I find that really hard to believe but I'll take your word for it.

Just because you don't like lacrosse and you don't watch lacrosse does not make your take true.

Club teams did not exist in 2009 and now there are thousands. There used to be 1 camp and 1 showcase college coaches cared about and now from early June to late July there are hundreds of tournaments, showcases, camps, skills clinics, etc for lacrosse. D1 & D3 assistant coaches make more than half their money/salary/compensation working these events while recruiting is live. Lacrosse is blowing up right now. Over the past 8-10 years lacrosse has grown tremendously and it's not stopping.

 

[whaler11]

Do people guy tickets to watch golf? Or maybe swimming? No probly not. Would they for lacrosse in a state where the popularity might be the highest out of any state? Maybe.

Let’s take our finances for golf and swimming (A) as a hypothetical test scenario to be replaced by lacrosse. I am using solid programs Albany (B), Johns Hopkins (C), Denver (D), & Virginia (E) as test samples to see if it would actually work

Total finances (A): 464,378
269,919 (golf) + 194,459 (s&d)

Total finances:
(B) 185,486
(C) 215,904
(D) 679,129
(E) 220,021

Would it work? Yeah. Do I think it would be a good program? Yeah. Will we do it? Probly not.

What in the world? You can’t even pay the coaches for 200k.

You think Virginia spends 220k on lacrosse?

 

[John]

This is like struggling to pay the mortgage and going out and buying a Masserati. Pass.