Green Jacket, Gold Jacket.

We talk all the time about the difference between being a series of club lacrosse teams and a club lacrosse Program. We take pride in calling ourselves a Program for a variety of reasons. Now, the same goes for a High School team vs a High School program OR  a college team vs. a college program. From FLG’s perspective of what it takes to be ‘successful’, I’ve listed some necessities that make for a successful HS & College Program.   Successful High School Programs 

• Have a Youth and Middle School program built around the same philosophies as the High School Program.
• Have lots of coaches who know the game
• Have lots of enthusiastic and positive people involved in the Program
• Varsity coach who is involved in all age levels
• Varsity coach who is willing to educate other coaches and players within the lacrosse community
• Strong sense of community
• Varsity players who want to help the youth and serve as good role models
• Opportunities for players to give back to the sport or their community
• A focus on development of character, athleticism, skills, and knowledge for the game, not winning or losing
• Help players in the program with the college recruiting process

Successful College Programs

• Recruit from High School Programs that have the same philosophies as the college program
• Have lots of coaches who know the game
• Have lots of enthusiastic and positive people involved in the program
• Have a Head Coach that is involved in every class on his team, from freshmen to seniors
• Have coaches who are willing to educate other coaches and players within the lacrosse community
• Strong sense of school pride
• Have Varsity players who want to help the youth and serve as good role models
• Opportunities for players to give back to the sport, their college, or are surround their colleg.
• Primary focus on development of character, athleticism, skills, and knowledge for the game, not winning or losing
• Help players in the program with the job recruitment process

What are some similarities you see between these two lists?