State championships
New York
Saturday, June 9
at Faller Field, Middletown High School (pictured above)
Class C
Shoreham-Wading River vs. Penn Yan winner, 11 a.m.
Class A
West Islip vs. Ithaca, 1:30 p.m.
Class B
Garden City vs. Irondequoit, 4 p.m.
* Click here for the complete New York state boys and girls brackets
Connecticut
Saturday, June 9 at Brien McMahon High School, Norwalk
Class S
No. 1 Joel Barlow vs. No. 6 Somers, 11 a.m.
Class L
No. 5 Fairfield Prep vs. No. 3 Ridgefield, 1:30 p.m.
Class M
No. 1 Darien vs. No. 3 New Canaan, 4 p.m.
* Click here for the complete Connecticut state boys and girls brackets
New Jersey
Tournament of Champions final
Saturday, June 9 at Kean University
Delbarton vs. Bridgewater-Raritan, 7:30 p.m.
* Click here for the complete New Jersey Tournament of Championships semifinals, finals schedule
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Posted In: fciac, SCC lacrosse, Section 1, Section 11, Section 2, Section 8, Section 9, SWC lacrosse
I have to say I’m a bit shocked by Bronxville’s loss
what happened?
did Bronxville come out flat or was SWR just that much better?
why would they have tapered off like that…I certainly hope they were not fooling around in practice because they seemed very focused and I know they were going into this game really hard.
Bviile will be back for sure. They’re a very young team w/ only 4 seniors. That’s their lowest goal output since 2008. But to answer your question, YES SWR was that good. They played an incredible defensive game. Obviously Coach Rotanz had them ready to smother bville’s powerful offense & SWR’s Goalie & D were magnificent. They should be a LOCK to win States. Bville’s underclassmen MUST NEVER FORGET THE STING of yesterday’s BEATDOWN & they’ll have their DAY in the next couple years. Bville’s goalie kept this game from being MUCH WORSE
I’d be surprised if the Bville goalie doesn’t get alot of college interest after that terrific performance.
Great for them knowing that they will very likely have another shot at LI next season.
I have a question for everyone….What has happened to lacrosse in the Hudson Valley??? It seems like every other area in the tri-state has gotten more competitive and the HV has taken a step backwards. The state semis were a perfect example of that. Now I’m not saying section 1 has been dominate since the late 1990′s through mid-2000′s (I mean what has 3 HV teams gotten past state semis since then?), but the games used to be very competitive. Ytown and the Wantaugh match-ups, Mahopac vs those great Northport teams, John Jay vs Huntington….I’ll even throw in Somers vs SWR. During the regular season over that period Section 1 teams wld beat powerhouse LI teams. Year in and year out there were always around 3 section 1 teams nationally ranked and the HV empire teams were LEGIT. Now it seems that what are considered the best HV programs can’t beat slightly above average LI teams and are barely even competitive against the top LI teams. What’s going on??? Every other year it seems like a new LI school has a nationally ranked team, whereas in Sect 1 no one new is stepping up (perhaps maybe Bville BUT I wldn’t put them in a national conversation)and HV’s teams aren’t even competitive outside the region. Does anyone have any idea what’s going on with Section 1 lax? Honestly…
Honestly, two things have changed over the past 15 years or so. One, parents have driven out some of the best and most successful coaches that the area has had, or at the very least given these guys such a headache that they decided to hang it up or go coach somewhere else. It’s only a matter of time before we see another successful coach at a big time program either get forced out because little Johnny didn’t get All Section, or they decided that the $4,000 they get for all that time and effort isn’t worth the family time they’re missing.
Secondly, I don’t see the kids putting in the time on their own like they used to. Growing up you would see guys wanting to go out to Murph’s house to shoot around, go to the front field of Van Cort to shoot on the old metal cage with the fencing around it for netting, or just head to a wall for a few hours to play catch. I’m shocked by how few kids know how to string/adjust a stick these days, and how poor the skill set had become at things like shooting on the run, and making a hard pass on the line to a guy across the crease 15 yards away. Don’t get me wrong, the top 10-15 guys we have in this section don’t fall into that category, it’s the other guys on the rosters around them that has really brought the level of play and the ability to compete down.
It’s ironic that since the advent of these blogs, and the mainstreaming of the sport through MSG and other news mediums, that everyone has become an expert on what’s wrong and how to fix it, yet the only consistent fact of the situation is that Section I has fallen behind the rest of the state, and it doesn’t look like it’s catching up anytime soon. Look at the Mamaroneck v Nisky game, that game used to be a cakewalk for Section I teams, now Section II has flipped the script.
Lax: you make excellent points & dedication to the sport by the athlete coupled with a good program will produce a team that will be in the State Finals in the next couple years. That team will be Bronxville. They are very young & deep for a C. These kids have tasted the AGONY & they need to WANT to never taste it again. I look for them to beat a LI team in 2013 or ’14. At times this year both ‘town & JJ played with Powerhouses. HV Lax is not DEAD but it’s a step behind & needs to address the issues you raised. Look at Mt Vernon BBall if you want to see the model for excellence in Sect.1 Elite Athletics! Ben Gordon will be at a fundraiser I’m going to in 2hrs. EVERYONE involved in the Program supports the “NEED TO MAINTAIN GREATNESS” their is no I in Team & Tradition Never Graduates! We make sure all involved Know This!!
With all due respect, Bronxville just got smoked in what was a non-competitive game. Its great to see a down county team up and coming with some top talent, but they’re a LONG ways away from being a state and/or national powerhouse. On top of what was mentioned, I think Section 1 players are happy to be the best in the Hudson Valley, read about themselves online and in newspapers, talk on blogs (like this one) and earn all-section honors….they’re very content. It used to be that the GOAL of top HV teams were to be state contenders and national powerhouses. I don’t know, its just very sad to see what has happened. I hope Sect 1 can turn it around.
With All Due Respect: you’re wrong. Last yr bvlle lost 9-8 to the LI champions BBP Phantoms. They almost made it to the state finals w/ Jack Near Notre Dame, who scored vs Yale in ND’s 1st round victory. They also had Charlie McCormack who’s now at Georgetown. The ville’s nucleus is intact. I believe they will get past the LI class C champion in ’13, ’14 or ’15. They have major D1 talent maturing. Forget about yesterday. SWR, CSH BBP or Friends better reload BIGTIME. Remember those LI teams will cancel ea other out til there’s just 1.The ville doesn’t have any tough C match-ups in Sect.1. This yr Byram played them tough, but the ville will be in the downstate semi’s for a bunch more times & WILL strike Gold eventually. The best chance to be in a state final for sect.1 in 2013, ’14 & ’15 is bvlle & they’re below 287. Forget about yesterday. It’s SWR’s yr. The ville WILL have theirs!
Agree that Bville is a very long way from ever being considered a national powerhouse. What Class C team other then Manhassat has?? Even if they had numbers of great players they dont play an “elite” schedule like Yorktown or Jay with wins needed against other elite teams (getting to a NYS final) to get national attention.
But disagree that they’re necessarily a LONG way from winning a state championship or at least getting to the finals as they almost did last season. Without Manhassat,LI Class C is not nearly as deep as Class A/B. Last season a usually very strong Cold spring Harbor was an average team (beaten by Lakeland Panas–I saw the game). BPBP was LESS then average and Bville should have beaten them having given away a 4 goal lead–a team that had McCormick AND Near????! I can’t believe that BPBP beat SWR to win Suffolk that yr! OK this season CSH and SWR are vastly improved. Point is that LI Class C is actually “human” and can have its up and downs. A team as strong as Bville was last season or an equally strong Bville team in the future could have another chance to win at least vs LI. CAVEAT: Bville must continue to ramp up their schedule and travel to whichever really strong teams will play them. If they dont they’ll suffer the same fate they did vs BPBP last season in not bringing a competitive edge to a LI game resulting from not facing enough top competition throughout the season.
I don’t know what evidence or observations you have to feel that HV players have lowered their sights to win championships. I don’t think I see it?
This is what I’m talking about….people commenting about how bville will win section and have another shot at the li team. First off, winning sect 1 class c these days is not sayin much….no offense. Bville’s sched is extremely soft which a. Means they’ll never be considered a legit state or national program (which used to be the standard for the top sect 1 teams back in the day) and b. Means they won’t be prepared to play the li team when they get a shot at them. I don’t want to hear about the li teams canceling each other out….I want to know why bville (and all the other sect 1 teams) can’t even compete with them, especially since they have all that d1 talent? Personally, I won’t give bville credit until they get a songature win vs non-section 1 opponent. Hopefully it’s just a matter of time.
Maybe some need to lighten up a bit on Bxville. Yes, they have developed in the last couple of seasons into a quality Section 1 program that looks like it will be top 5 section 1 program for the immediate future, which is great. Their big wins in Section 1, however, were against an average Pac team that lost to Mamo and a Somers team that was disappopinting down the stretch. Still give Bx a lot of credit, but let’s keep in perspective as most decent teams in Section 1 would have had a lot of success against the rest of the Bxv schedule. Also, what happened against SWR should have come as no surprise to anyone who saw the Byram sect 1 semifinal. Bxv was fortunate to get out of that game alive in which they were outplayed for much of it and did not put it away until the final whistle. Barely getting out of C in Section 1 just does not usually bode well on LI. Bxville will have its chances to challenge on LI again I am sure and it helps that they will always be a C size school, but some of these state expectations are I think unrealistic (and not coming from Bxville).
Actually, I’d say the stick skills in Section 1 have vastly improved over the past decade. I’d chalk Broxville’s sloppy play up to nerves more than anything else. They usually have no problem throwing and catching.
Section 1 going 0-2 yesterday was more about a lack of overall athleticism, speed and size. The LI kids were just better conditioned athletes, which always wins out in today’s game of lacrosse. Section 1 teams usually have a five or six of these types of players, but most LI teams have around 15-17. That was your difference yesterday.
Is it fixable? Yes, to a degree. Still, some of it comes down to simple genetics. The most logical solution is to try and make sure the best athletes in each respective school have a lax stick in their hands by 6th grade the latest. In most districts, this is easier said than done.
Check out any of the early 90’s Murph cup games, and you will see stick skills (mind you with no offset heads) that would rival anything you’d see today. Not to mention the takeaway defenseman all over the field (another lost art of today’s players)
I was talking more in terms of section-wide stick skills — not just w/the traditional powers. And the game of lax has changed so mucn due to advancements in stick technology that the 90s seem like a distant memory.
Just a different game these days. And prob not for the better, either.
There’s a correlation to parent involvement as opposed to professional involvement and the public perception of educators and coaches.
Some parents do a great job of organizing and coaching at the youth level, but we really need our youth coaches to be adults who do not have children on their respective youth teams. Former alumni players, former players from neighboring schools, or other knowledgeable adults could ensure that true objectivity is in place. Objectivity needs to be part of the evaluation process in youth leagues from the very beginning. The “clique” process in which a group of, or a particular parent has a monopoly on lacrosse for an age group in a perspective district or youth program no longer works. Those are not the only kids in town with the potential to be great. Car pool. Have a cocktail party, but don’t own the rights to lacrosse in your town. Your presence, no matter how objective you are, is subjectivity.
On a per capita basis, do the other regions fire coaches at the same rate as Westchester ? I remember posters in LI being convinced that a certain Westchester coach must have done something terrible to be let go. This is because in LI logic, a coach of that kind of success would not be let go like that. There’s more of an understanding of what is supposed to be happening. Westchester no longer trains to win ( which means kill), it trains to play. Coaches who are fired are instantly rehired at neighboring schools. This is because they were fired not for losing records (very rare) but because an over sensitive parent had infiltrated the administration. Through unfounded exaggerations, buzz words, and hearsay, they get them canned. All for retribution because they felt embarrassed or slighted about their baby’s disappointing experience. It happens in LI, Fairfield County, and Jersey too, but not at the same rate. The higher the rate, the softer the entire region is overall because there’s a sense of paranoia and it effects every aspect of coaching, or promotes the non-assertive, laid back, “try your best if you can” style of coaching from youth league on up.
This is exacerbated because educators and coaches currently hold a very low public opinion. “We need to crush unions, revoke pensions so we can lower taxes because the economy etc.” So sympathy for any educator or coach is harder to come by.
Those who are from these other regions are welcome to disagree or add insight to this. Some years you are not as good as your competition, but it seems that as the game expands, HV is infact, half a step slow. How should we mobilize our armies to get back ?
Agreed, but there’s still one problem. Seems that the generals of our armies are now the admin. and parents of their respective districts, not the actual coaches. Reality is that we live in a very litigious age where the mere threat of a lawsuit leads to immediate action by a district. Coaches have no rights or protection, so the easy road to avoid controversy or court dates is to just fire them. Sad truth that has become the norm of our section.
Good points.
Would luv to sit down with the heads of youth lax at Manhassat, Garden City, etc and ask them how they are structured. I suspect that Section 1 could learn a few things.
YORKTOWN HAD A VERY GOOD SEASON AGAIN AND WILL CONTINUE TO PLAY TOP TEAMS EVERY YEAR AND COMPETE ADMIRALLY. CONGRATS TO THE PLAYERS AND STAFF FOR THEIR HARD WORK AND THEIR PERFORMACES ON AND OFF THE FIELD. HOWEVER, THE HUSKERS ARE NOT A TOP 20 NATIONAL TEAM. THEY WOULD NOT CRACK A TOP 10 RANKING IF YTOWN WAS IN LONG ISLAND.
Relax,
Your quote below supporting your point that Bville will easily get to the state semis again where as the top Class C teams on Li will beat themselves up to get there:
“The ville doesn’t have any tough C match-ups in Sect.1”
It’s BAD–not good at all for Bville’s prospect vs LI when they get there by again beating up lots of easy teams in Section 1 Class C–again as I said above Bville must play as many TOP teams as possible if they want to increase their chances of success vs LI .
Slacrosse: I was responding to Lihvlax’s comment. Your comment after mine was right on target. Hey bvlle gets 2 games w/ M-Neck the Sect.1 A Champs. They will hopefully get L/P, Pac & or Somers again although Somers & PAC might want to avoid the C school Fr below 287 that beat them. What bvlle needs is a game with a decent LI team. Not a C, because a LI C might not want to play a potential playoff team. The ville needs to play a Long Beach, Baldwin type team. It would be great if they could get a C team like Locust Valley or Mt Sinai. Someone who contends in LI C. Just like GC doesn’t play town, I wouldn’t expect SWR or CSH or BBP to play them but who knows. They need to play at least one LI team during the regular season. CT or NJ teams aren’t what they need. They’re gonna need to see a tough defensive minded LI team as well as the decent Sect.1’s they will play. Finally, all you had to hear was Brewster Warble’s comments on MSGV after their loss to SWR to know they WILL BE BACK. Last point: at NO time did I call Bville a national or regional powerhouse. They haven’t earned that. They’re a Sect.1 C school & I believe they will get to the state finals in the next few years. I also never said they would WIN. That is completely up to the kids. They need to prove all those who say they won’t wrong. And they need to prove those who say they don’t belong WRONG
Do LI lacrosse teams have more football players and fewer 1 sport specialists than Sec 1?
I believe Devin Dwyer, who many believe to be the “Best all-around” lax player on LI, plays receiver on the football team & point guard on the basketball team. I might be wrong but I could of sworn I saw that in an interview. I think he was a QB but switched to receiver. Quint Kessinich tweeted recently that “Lax players need to play 3 sports” he’s considered to be “an expert” so all you youngsters need to “listen-up”
Hey Lihvlax I missed your latest comment but: who cares if you won’t give the ville respect. They easily could of had that signature win you require in the downstste semi’s in 2011 when they should of beaten BBP. In crunchtime they didn’t feed two BlueChip middies, one Jack Near who started at D-Mid for Notre Dame as a freshman this yr & the other C McCormick who has a rifle of a shot & can beat anyone especially on the run. Sorry they weren’t in states last yr Pal, but mark my words they will beat a LI team in the next 3 yrs hopefully next yr. And one last thing, when they do & they play for a state championship, they won’t care what you think
Yeah now I remember Bville screwed up near the end with BBP. Instead of having Near/McCormick run the ball into the offensive zone they had a pole try and do it.Had trouble , took time and Near/McCormick was stuck at midfield to avoid too many men–standing there watching the game end! Kind of like the coaching error by Cornell in the famous play-off game vs Syracuse
Once again ur wrong! In the state semi game bville came out of the time out with McCormack starting with the ball. On te clear he got double teamed and passed to another short stick middie! No pole carried it over and McCormick did start with it! Please get the facts correct!
I don’t remember it that way, Wrong. I think I could be Right, Wrong?
By the way where else do you think I was wrong, Wrong?
Sounds like you have a great recollection. At what point did the ball go behind to the attack. I clearly remember the attack trying to come around Fr behind with the ball on BBP’s goalies right side. My memory is clear that I said at the time you need to feed the middies. Near & Charlie were great options. When Gately fed Verycruse to beat JJ it was so perfect. Feeding shooters from behind or from the side beats defenses best. Trying to smoke good D-men on come from behind moves especially in crunchtime is tough. 1st the D is keying on an attack especially J Grass or Gately. Moving the ball to a Verycruse or a Near/McCormick is a better option. Bville had 2 Great middies. They would & probably should have gone to states last yr. If they would of what would Lihvlax say? It sounds like he believes another Sect.1 team isn’t sniffin states for sometime
Mike Kelly,
Yorktown got there head handed to them yesterday no doubt, and even if they had won 50% of FO they still would been on the losing end to a truly great team but it would have been more of a game. The fact on one hand you congratulate them and on the other you say they would not even be a top ten team on LI, are you talking about this yr only or the last 10? I have the tremendous respect for LI but yr in and yr out Town faces LI best during the reg season and is successful many times, but in the State semi Final has won one time in the last 9yrs and many of the loses were by 1 or 2 goal just like last yr against GC which Town lead most of the game. In the case of Yorktown they have to do a few things better to get in the win column in that game, let’s not forget Town in the State semi game was 11-3 againts the LI champion.
Hope some guidance on where the New York and Connecticut championships can be seen live on television or streamed live online will be forthcoming shortly.
http://www.msgvarsity.com/tv-shows/msgvarsity-com-live-game-schedule-1.650690?qr=1
Assume most will be on MSG Varsity. Good luck tomorrow, hopefully we’ll get an epic Darien/NC game.
Hope that’s correct about the Connecticut games, I’ll be looking for Joe to post the link here on LaxLessons, probably tomorrow I’d guess. NYS is a different matter, I recall that Time Warner upstate has held the broadcast rights in prior years; interesting to see what they do for our LI friends.
And I’ll settle for a nice, quiet solid win tomorrow thanks :). I recall too well how my heart was pounding in the 2010 semifinal at Ludlowe, Andrew West stopping a guy point blank in the crease in the 2nd OT, then leading the fastbreak himself to Brian Gleason to Bobby Nolan, who stuck one low to Tom Carey’s left to end it, 5-4 final. At my age, that kind of excitement I don’t need, win or lose. Good luck to everybody playing tomorrow.
Relax,
I’m not saying Bville or anyone else should care what I think, but I can bet that no one outside of Sect 1 is giving Bville any credit until they get some decent wins outside of HV. Beating top teams in sect 1 like LP, mahopac, somers, mamaroneck (you referenced them, but i wouldnt put them in the convo) WILL NOT earn you any respect outside of sect 1. My point here is that I want to know why Sect 1 can’t compete with LI (or other hotbed lax regions)anymore. I really hope Bville wins a state title…I’m pulling for them. But, I don’t care about their D1 talent…the fact is other teams (class c teams included) have that caliber of players as well. “Should of beaten BBP” is not getting it done, pal. Maybe that’s whats wrong with Sect1, kids are too hung up on what could’ve happened. Bottom line is they lost last year and got blown away this year…considering all the talent, why was this year’s game not competitive? That goes for the Ytown game as well.
Slacrosse,
In a previous post you asked what class c teams have been considered national powerhouses. Here are some class c teams that have been ranked nationally since 2000…manhasset, cazenovia, SWR, BBP, Somers (they were class c at the time), CSHS, Lafayette, Lynbrook, Corning East, Penn Yan, Skaneateles…that’s all i can think of off the top of my head. There’s prob more. Considering the size of class c schools, id say the number is impressive.
My main point is that Sect 1 teams have taken a step back. They’ve gone from consistently having 3 sometime 4-5 teams a year either nationally ranked or considered some of the top teams in the state. HV teams would consistently beat top LI teams during the regular season (no one can argue LI’s post season dominance) all of the time. Over the past few yrs, the games are barely even competitive. I’d go as far as saying HV is no longer a national hotbed for top teams. I mean, HV still produces top D1 talent, but why arent the teams doing well? I’ll keep Ytown out of it bc they’ve had some pretty good years as of late and they play top competition no matter the strength of their team… but even they used to garner top 10 national rankings and they haven’t done that in a while.
I don’t believe its the HV’s youth programs bc those are in place throughout more schools in sect 1 than ever before. Coaching def has something to do with it, but some of these LI teams that come out of no where to win states don’t have legendary coaches. Other regions have their consistent programs that are solid year in and year out, but they also have teams that come out of nowhere to be legit. Obviously LI is a great example… That just doesn’t happen in Sect 1 and even the top teams in sect 1 have take a step back. Could it be the type of kids in section1? I’ve never seen a region as a whole taken such a step back in a sport. Its baffling.
I think you are stretching this idea a bit. Only two Section 1 teams — Yorktown and Mahopac — have won state titles. Traditionally, Section 1 has always lagged behind Long Island. It was just more apparent yesterday based on the blowout-nature of the games.
But we aren’t really seeing anything new here.
And when were teams not named Yorktown consistently beating TOP — and I mean Top 5 — Long Island teams during the regular season
Go through the laxpower archives since around ’01-02 and please try to find more than a half-dozen of these wins by teams not named Yorktown.
In the last decade, I can’t remember there EVER being 3-4 or even 5 nationally-ranked teams from the HV. Forget nationally, I can’t remember 4-5 being in the conversation as the best in the state.
RoarLax,
I’m referring to mid to late 1990’s through early to mid 2000’s when that was EXACTLY the case..when HV teams were consistently beating LI teams, up-state powerhouses and top CT team. Many HV teams wld be considered some of the best teams in NYS and sometimes nationally ranked. I’m not even referring to state titles, but rather just great competitive teams that wld make the region considered a “hotbed”….Now, when HV top teams go and play top out of region teams, its almost embarrassing.
LP, Mahopac, Ytown, JJ, Somers all garnered national rankings during that time…and teams like Hen Hud, Brewster, suffern and even greely had yrs were they were some of the top teams in NYS…not the best, but VERY competitive.
As far as signature wins vs top LI teams (at the time of the W’s) and other top programs…here are some: Mahopac had wins against Baldwin, northport, west islip, SWR, Bethpage (not to mention that the almost upset that Ward Melville in state semis the yr they were ranked #1 in the nation — prob one of the ALL time best HS lax teams ever)…John Jay had wins against Ridgefield, Garden City, Nisky, Huntington (ranked #1 in nation at the time), Comeswogue, Syosett…Somers had 2 wins against Manhasset, Ridgfield…they were nationally ranked in early 2000’s…LP had some GREAT yrs…Yorktown had beaten everyone over that time, not to mention being ranked top 10 nationally…I mean then there were other Sect 1 teams that made noise big W’s and whose programs were legit back then…Hen Hud had W’s against Nisky, Rocky Point…Brewster beat SWR and had some great teams…Suffern (W against Wantaugh)– these teams were playing and beating top upstate teams back then.
Not only has Sect 1 top programs taken a steps back, but so have the secondary ones. Whereas in LI, Ct and upstate…new teams and programs are emerging. I mean there’s clearly something going one here.
I agree with your overall point, but you’re overlooking John Jay, who is in the same tier as Yorktown over the last decade, and without a doubt scored the non-conference win of the decade for section 1 over that legendary ’07 Huntington team. They beat Manhasset that same year and lost to GC in OT. The year before that they beat GC and lost to ‘Set in OT.
Yeah, a great team of high national caliber.
Thx. Manhassat for sure but didn’t realize as many others.Agree also that the small size makes it impressive.
This boils down to finding a problem with any one or acombination of the following. Scheduling seems to be the main culprit.
1. Coaching. Don’t think this is a main issue from a quality standpoint. However maybe the LI teams have larger coaching staffs that puts Section One at a disadvantage.
2. Kid’s dedication. Maybe. Fewer athletes playing lacrosse? I don’t see baseball dramatically improving so what other activities would they be doing?
3. Scheduling. An area to be explored in more depth. The league set up forces many teams to play opponents they probably would not ordinarily schedule and reduces the number of games that could be played against good competition.
4. Parents. Don’t see how this is a problem area. They foot the bill for camps, clinics, etc. that should be good investments where kids learn and are exposed to the game.
5. Media. Kids, coaches, fans have more access to more information than ever before. Can’t see how that is a detriment.
6. Fields. There are more turf fields than ever so this should translate into better games, teams.
7. Playoffs. Except for Class A the teams in B and C from sections 2 and 9 aren’t the same caliber as teams from Long Island. Maybe Section 1 teams suffer a slight let down playing these games and then having to gear up for playing the LI Champion in the semi final round.
8. School budgets. More Section One teams are playing, although some don’t have JVs and Freshman teams that the LI teams may have. Maybe LI teams have more money for larger coaching staffs.
9. Youth programs. Maybe the LI communities have stronger youth programs.
10. Other?
How about money & Prep Schools. I was born in bvlle but grew up in Yonkers. I call it Bronkers because although my address said bvlle my school district was the Y O. Although my Mom & Uncles all were Roosevelt products & I wanted desperately to go play football for Tony DeMattteo my parents didn’t like the school system & John Burroughs middle school Now Yonkers HS previously Saunders had problems. After my older brother accepted the Prep School route I still wanted to play w/ my friends & compete for a state football title. Roosevelt lax was just starting but they played Byram Hills in the playoffs in there 2nd yr of varsity play. Eventually I followed my Bro to Trinity-Pawling although the Bvlle football coach/AD said he would get me in to Bvlle where Bronkers kids went for a fee. He said they would help with the cost as well but my Dad wanted me with my Bro at T-P. T-P gave me a scholarship & I played football & Lax. My Sr yr our best RB & Middie was Curt O’Donnell a PG fr Syosset. He said I was the only T-P kid who would of played on LI. We had a core of 6 PG’s all paid for by W Pt to get their grades up so they could play at Army. In westchester & throughout talented underclassmen still take the Prep School route. Some Public Schools aren’t as good academically & the kids stand a better chance at college. I’m sure my 4yrs at T-P got me a scholarship to college & helped me to play the likes of Princeton, Bucknell, Lehigh, Penn St, Drexel, Delaware while I was at a D3 school. The only teams we didn’t beat out of these D1 schools in my college career was Princeton & Bucknell. I’m glad I took the Prep School route but Roosevelt or Bville didn’t get a player. Sect.1 still has players taking the route I took. Of course I’m sure it happens regularly in CT, but LI probably keeps more athletes especially w/ St A’s & Chaminade as options. The HV has never been as good as LI or the Finger Lakes but ‘town & JJ are respectable & now Bville joins the list because of all the great underclassmen they have for the nest few yrs. SWR is Great this yr. They have the top Father & Son Coach/Player combo on LI & after I watched their game vs CSH on MSGV today I know they’ll win states. Maybe they’ll move-up to B which will really open the door for Bville. SWR had an enrollment that fluctuates between B & C. If SWR & Manhasset are B teams the door’s wide open for the powerful underclassmen fr the Ville
Jack Grass actually returned to Bronxville from Salisbury School, a prep school.
Echo you on 3 and 7 and 9 and have a feeling that 9 definitely is an issue in certain Section 1 communities.