Happy 4th of July weekend!

Today’s note is a quick piece of reflection as we wrap up a busy month of June on the field for Best in Class events, summer camps and High School Nationals.

We love what we do, but like many of you, our team is looking forward to celebrating July 4th weekend far away from a turf field.

Each year, the overall skill level of players continues to rise. We have the opportunity to evaluate hundreds of athletes every summer and watch many of them develop from one year to the next. One trend has become increasingly clear: the average player is simply more skilled than ever before.

Players are more comfortable using both hands, process the game at a higher level, make better decisions with the ball, rotate more effectively on defense, and are technically sound across every position.

Competition in today's landscape is strong.

That's exactly why the weight room has become even more important. As the average player's skill level continues to rise, athleticism becomes one of the biggest differentiators.

When nearly everyone can throw, catch, shoot, and make the right read — speed, strength, power, and endurance are often what separate one player from another.

Throughout the summer, one trend kept coming up in conversations with players: many were playing five or more consecutive days of lacrosse between showcases, club tournaments, and high school events. They often admitted they hadn't looked at their full summer schedule before committing.

We saw injuries occur later in these stretches. While injuries are never caused by one factor alone, accumulated fatigue can increase the risk and make it harder to perform at your best.

It's difficult to turn down an event you've earned an invitation to, but if your summer schedule is already full, taking time to recover may be the smarter decision. The goal isn't to play the most lacrosse, it is to play your best lacrosse.

A tip we gave at one of our BIC parent panels was to have players write down how they felt this summer after each event and going into each event. We often forget how we feel when looking at a calendar, but we recommend using this summer as data to make better decisions for next summer.

One of the biggest mistakes we see is treating every stage of a player's development the same. The reality is that what helps a younger player improve isn't always what an older player needs.

For younger athletes, we prioritize building a love for the game and showing fun ways to compete and get better. Not that this isn’t important for all athletes, but older players closer to their recruiting process are in a different place physically, mentally and emotionally than a middle school player.

Development isn't one-size-fits-all. The best coaches and parents adjust the environment as the player grows. We’ve learned many lessons here over our past ten years of training groups of all ages. We continue to learn and develop new ways and ideas each year, which is one reason we love what we do so much.

This is for everyone, not just players. We understand that if you’re invested in lacrosse (or really any other sport) deeply, it can feel like running non-stop. Even when you love the game, you still need empty space on your calendar.

Whether this is a vacation or just a time period with a few open days on your calendar, we think it’s important to have some open days on the calendar.

For players, this might be time to just hang with friends, get some work done, hit the gym or go to the pool and hang out.

In order to succeed in the current high school lacrosse landscape, you need to really love it. You have to love the process of getting better.

It takes so much these days to separate from the pack. Going to events and tournaments, and going through the motions is not going to cut it.

In truth, it has to remain fun for you in order for you to really stick with it. When you cross that line of enjoying the time you put in toward starting to resent or dislike it, that is a sign to take a step back.

However on the flip side, if you are gradually increasing your workload and it remains fun and enjoyable, that is a great indicator that this sport is for you.

Not everyone gets the same level of enjoyment from the sport, and that is ok, but often the players that are the best really genuinely do love it.

A tip here is to actively work at finding the joy in what you do. Sometimes we forget why we do things and they can wear us down. As a player, why do you put so much time into lacrosse. Do you love being on a team? Do you love competing and trying to be the best version of yourself? Do you have fun and feel free playing the game?

There are reasons you do it. Try to keep anchoring back to those reasons.

Happy 4th everyone! We hope you enjoy some downtime this weekend.

Coach Class and Coach Dunn

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