How is Laxachusetts different from other Clubs?

With tryouts approaching for club programs in the region, we are receiving many emails from parents inquiring how Laxachusetts is different from other clubs in the area. So let’s take a look!

Laxachusetts is now entering our 9th year! We were formed because there was no offering out there for Massachusetts student athletes that focused correctly on lacrosse development and the proper NCAA exposure while emphasizing character based growth. There was a lot of “lax bro” going around and not much lacrosse instruction and there was ZERO focus on personal accountability. A lot has changed in the past 9 years on the Massachusetts lacrosse landscape. We are encouraged by some of the efforts by other groups to better instruct their athletes and even mandate SOME better behavior. But Laxachusetts has refined our methods and madness in that time and we are more relevant and more effective than we were when we started out. Off season skill development was first introduced by us, but the content we provide now is more important than ever before. We continue to tweak our model to make sure it evolves with the game. And those tweaks keep us at the top in terms of skill development and lax IQ. It is great that so many kids have sticks in their hands year round now in Massachusetts, but training amongst the best while being drilled by the most knowledgeable truly makes a difference.

And that difference shows up in the level of play our players are achieving, the level of coaching we provide and the networking and knowledge we have with the college recruiting process. 

Level of Play: Our winter training skill sessions are fast paced with high level of repetitions. These sessions are always examined and tweaked by our coaching staff to insure we maximize player development and get our kids prepared for their next level. The brick wall will always be the first and foremost lacrosse development tool, but our skill sessions are more important than ever before.

We take our summer teams out of state because that is the only way our players will know where they stand on a national level. We LOVE to compete on a national level. We are very proud of our success in those events. But we compete in them to insure that we are developing our players at the correct pace. We use them as a gauge to insure we are applying our instruction and development correctly.

We understand the benefit of staying in state. We would LOVE to do it more often! There is less travel and travel costs, more time to be with family and no challenges to play against clubs like Long Island Express, 91 Lacrosse, Dukes, West Coast Starz, Baltimore Crabs, Leading Edge, Patriot, etc. But those are the best in the country and that is who our players will be competing against for spots on NCAA rosters in a few short years. Sometimes we will hang banners and sometimes we won’t, but we will ALWAYS know where we stand as players, coaches and teams. We don’t think there is a better way to insure that we are teaching and leading correctly throughout the year. And we don’t think there is a better way for our players to discover how they stack up!

Another way we raise the level of play and lax iq is through our indoor box lacrosse league that is offered only to our Laxachusetts players. Box lacrosse has quickly turned into a training tool for the top collegiate and professional players because of the tight spaces and fast style of play. We apply our own twist to it with our netless (except for the corners) goals where the play is forced to be even faster and the goals are only scored from precise shooting. Playing amidst the best with the best coaching and best procedures are what makes a player the best he can be.

Which is why we have created the Laxachusetts youth spring lacrosse league. Kids now have the opportunity to play at a speed higher than town lacrosse. And when they are done playing, they can go home and watch tape of their efforts in order to grow their laxIQ and actually see what they are doing right and wrong. Our cutting edge game tapes drive the high school coaches on our staff CRAZY! Because they would love to provide that for their team! We can’t think of any better way to grow your knowledge and understanding of the game! 

It is true that our Spring League has caused some conflicts with our athletes town teams, which is why we do not make it mandatory. But the fact is that the development of the game is at a breakneck pace right now- Nike Lacrosse’s “Fast Or Last” campaign says it the best- and our players will not keep up to that pace unless they are drilling and competing at a fast and elite level more and more and more. The top club programs and their players in the country (MD, PA, NY, VA, DC) are now playing club lacrosse year round and we decided to create the Laxachusetts Spring Program so we could make sure that our players did not fall behind the players from these regions. If it is instruction, competition and development that a Massachusetts athlete requires to be his best and one of the best in the country, he is going to find it at Laxachusetts. Now more than ever before.

Level Of Coaching: Our Coaching staff is made up of former world team players, former college coaches, former and current professional players, former college All Americans, high school coaches, and youth coaches. Although our entire staff all have full time jobs outside of lacrosse, we all share the same passion, commitment and love for the game and our sole mission is to offer the best program possible for our players. There are many great coaches who coach in other clubs but you will not find a club with a staff that equals what we are so fortunate to have here at Laxachusetts. We proudly have 50+ coaches in our program. Many or most of our coaches would never coach anywhere else. Because our kids go HARD. And that is what they want to coach.

Each year we also hire back for the summer our former players that are now playing at the collegiate level. These college players act as assistant coaches with our Laxachusetts youth teams during the summer tournament season and they play a huge role with our youth teams. They are amazing role models for our young players since it was only a few yrs prior, they were wearing the BOSTON jersey. We are very proud to have these players return each year and give back to the program and the game that means so much to them. 

Knowledge of the Recruiting Process: Maybe one of the toughest area's in all sports for parents, players and coaches to navigate is the ever evolving recruiting process. This is an area that we at Laxachusetts put a great deal of time and effort in for our players. We have 8 coaches dedicated to assist in the college recruiting process who all work with our Director of Recruiting. Dave Evans is our Director of College Recruiting. Dave was the Brown University Asst Coach before he joined forces with us. Before that he was considered one of the 5 or 6 best offensive players to ever play the game while an attackman at Brown (and had the hardest shot in the world while with the MLL!) When he coached at Brown he ran their recruiting efforts while developing an offense that scored enough goals to get Brown to their last NCAA game (where they lost to Hopkins in OT). Dave was deciding what kids Brown would take then and showing them what they had to do in order to gain admittance. Now he runs our efforts in educating our student-athletes about the process and guiding them through it!!

And he has great help! Because SO many of our partners and coaches have relationships with former team mates who are now asst and head coaches across the NCAA landscape. And we use every contact we have to make sure our athletes are properly evaluated by all of our former team mates and friends! I can’t emphasize this enough- there is not one or two people who use their relationships at the NCAA level to get our kids college opportunities. It is probably 15 of us who make calls, send emails or have conversations with their friends running NCAA programs. That is not unique to just Massachusetts lacrosse. It is not like that anywhere in any club in the country.

Our recruiting blueprint is to dominate the classroom, act with high character and then crush it on the lacrosse field. We show our athletes how to use this great sport to gain admittance to a great academic college that your transcript alone would not support. And no one shows them better than we do.

Our recruiting classes are not only the deepest and most extensive in the region, they are the best in the country. Which is why we so wildly celebrate our outgoing class every year in March! Because 60+ young men are moving on to an incredible opportunity that will help them for the rest of their lives!!

There is only one Laxachusetts. We use the skills and strengths of many in order to put forth the best we possibly can. We will never be about just what Sean Morris or just what Dave Evans or just what any other one individual can do for our program. Sean and Dave and Mike Connelly and myself will always do what we ALL can do for everyone. And we will fight with one another and push one another in order to make sure we put forth the best. And the greatest group of coaches in the club game will do it the same way. And that collective will always put forth the best and most productive program that drives kids to be their best players, people and college students that they could possibly be.

We look forward to seeing you all at our tryouts !

Dan Chouinard