taking your game to the next level with club lax

By now you have probably heard about club lacrosse from your athlete, coaches or other parents.  But why is club lacrosse gaining so much popularity and is it something that you should be considering for your athlete? 

Club lacrosse is a supplemental option to township/recreation lacrosse. Many players turn to club as a way to continue to compete in their offseason other than just doing clinics.  The competitive level in club is much higher compared to rec lacrosse, or even high school lacrosse. Tryouts or evaluations are required in order to play and playing time is  usually based on skill and ability.  

Playing for a club lacrosse team offers many benefits for athletes who are looking to develop as a lacrosse player than just playing recreational lacrosse. 

• Level of Competition: Clubs teams are playing against higher level teams where athletes are challenged by facing stronger opponents.
• Professional Coaching: Many club teams hire coaches who are coming from local high schools or even colleges to coach these teams.  In many instances they will have position specific coaches working with their athletes.  
• Tournament Play: Club lacrosse is focused primarily around tournaments. You will not have a single game schedule like in spring lacrosse, but instead you may have 3-5 tournaments to attend.  Some of these tournaments do require a bit of travel, even some overnight stays depending on the location.  These tournaments usually bring in athletes from across the Northeast so you may be playing against teams across MA, CT, NY, PA, RI and many more!
• Team Bonding: Your club team will be made up of athletes from different parts of the region.  Your athlete won't just be playing with kids from Ringwood or Wanaque but could be playing on a team with kids from across North Jersey or even New York!
• College Recruiting Support: This isn't for every athlete, but if any athlete has a desire to play in college these programs can support that in many ways.  Club tournaments are a huge draw for college coaches from D1-D3.  As your athlete gets into high school, playing in these tournaments may make it easier to get seen by a college recruiter.  These programs usually have a College Recruiting Coordinator who can help with making game highlight reels, reach out to college coaches and give recommendations as well. 

While there are many benefits to athletes playing club lacrosse in addition to their spring season but it's not for every athlete.

You should do your research when looking for the right program for your athlete.  Most of these programs have websites and social media links that you can look into to determine if this is the right fit.  Sometimes its as simple as connect with other families who are in the program and learning about their experiences but before making a commitment you should ask yourself:

• What will I get out of this club program? 
• Do I agree with their coaching philosophies?
• What is the training commitment?
• Can I get feedback from coaches on my athletes performance? 
• Do we know anyone else who is in the program?

Most programs will host clinics or camps as a way for athletes to get to know the other players and coaches in the program.  If you have a program in mind that you would like to join with its best you get your athlete the chance to play there.

We have seen an increase in the number of the Lakeland Jr Lacrosse athlete who are playing club lacrosse year over year.  There are many programs in our area who we would highly recommend you look into if you think this is something that your athlete would be interested in.  

Boys 

• Brotherhood Lacrosse, Waldwick, NJ
• Riot Orangetown, NY
• Mad Dogs Mahwah, NJ
• Heatwave Paramus, NJ
• Building Blocks Lacrosse Waldwick, NJ
• Jersey Thunder Montvale, NJ

Girls

• Jersey Thunder Montvale, NJ
• Building Blocks Lacrosse Waldwick, NJ
• Mad Dogs North NJ Waldwick, NJ
• Metro Magic Lacrosse, Sloatsburg, NY
• YellowJackets Girls Lacrosse Sloatsburg, NY
• Xtreme Lacrosse Fairlawn, NJ

​Lacrosse is experiencing phenomenal growth. It is quickly becoming one of the most popular sports at the high school level. Over the past five years:​

• Male participants grew from 41,822 to 59,993—a 43.5% increase
• Female participants grew from 32,403 to 48,086—a 48.4% increase
• Total participants grew from 74,225 to 108,079—a 45.6% increase
• The number of schools with men’s teams grew from 938 to 1,334—a 42.2% increase
• The number of schools with women’s teams grew from 783 to 1,270—a 62.2% increase, and
• The total number of schools with a lacrosse team grew from 1,721 to 2,604—a 51.3% increase.

If you are interested in joining a club program and have questions please reach out to one of the coaches or contact lakelandjrlax@gmail.com to speak with someone