and “B” teams across the country: “In other parts of the country where lacrosse has long been established, there are towns and areas where the boys in elementary school have to choose between playing for a year-round club team and playing with their friends on a town team.”
When the community aspect of lacrosse is not present for a young athlete, it may cause problems later on in his athletic career. Chitkara says that although club teams may help bolster skills and place athletes with similar performing peers, many lose “field chemistry” in high school because the athlete missed formative years with his local peers.
“There is the argument out there that it is better to separate the more experienced players so they can play with like-minded kids in their area,” said Spangenberg. “Our point is we actually think it’s better that they play with their classmates and get their classmates that may have never tried the sport to come out. The selling point is that they're going to be playing with their buddies.”
Not only do club teams discourage community ties for young athletes, but they are also
expensive and create a culture of inequality for athletes who may not have advanced skills but simply want to play lacrosse.
Greg Klim, MBYLL Director of Coaching Education, echoes this notion, "If you go into the ‘A,’ ‘B,’ and ‘C’ squad, ‘A’ players will get better, the ‘B’ squad will stay where they are, and the ‘C’ players will lose interest and leave,” he said. “And I tell the parents, ‘Listen, I can take two “A” players and put a fairly brand new kid between them and by the end of the season I will guarantee you the kid is extremely good,’ while if he was on a ‘C’ team he would probably quit.”
Chitkara has experienced this first-hand while coaching: “I’ve had kids that I’ve coached that took a couple of years to get the basic skills down and they weren't the most athletic and they weren’t the most skilled. And now they're turning into some of the more skilled and the leaders among the teams in the youth program. It gives all boys and girls [the ability] to build confidence in their skills set and be a leader if they put the hard work and effort into it.”
The Psychological Perspective
While anecdotally the MBYLL’s philosophy has been successful, doctors have also seen the benefits of having an equal, inclusive league format. Doctor Richard Ginsburg, a sports psychologist from Massachusetts General Hospital’s psychiatry department, agrees with the league’s ideology.
“The risk of playing [on a higher level team] is that it can alienate a kid from his peer group, which can be socially risky for a young person. It can also create a false sense of confidence as development can be very unpredictable,” said Ginsburg. As Moorshead and Spangenberg have seen in their careers with MBYLL, Ginsberg also concludes that players’ developments vary; those best at 9 and 10 may not be the best at 15 and 16.
Stress can also be curbed when young athletes play in a community and an environment free from competitive pressure. Ginsburg said that athletes in competitive leagues can feel pressure to compete at a certain level. “We have seen some players that get pushed into too much, too soon, and either get hurt or quit because it is no longer fun or the pressure is too great."
Klim has seen the same. “What’s great about the whole MBYLL philosophy is that it’s not win-at-all-costs,” he said. When working with coaches, he ensures coaches understand that having fun should be a part of their coaching philosophy so athletes don’t get burned out. “If it’s not fun for the kids, they’re not going to play.”
It’s also important to remember who these athletes are. “Their feelings do get hurt,” said Moorshead. “They're just kids for so long. They have the rest of their lives to get their hearts broken.”
Ginsburg agrees, “We have seen some players feel relieved as they drop levels. The game can be fun again—not a job like the way it was becoming when they ‘played up.’”
It Starts with the Coaches
While community learning, psychological bene-
fits, and "having fun" are wonderful outcomes
from having the balanced teams format, the
education of the coaches is a crucial fou-
ndation. MBYLL is the only lacrosse le-
ague in Massachusetts and one of
The Scoop / Winter '15 17
Continued on 27