From the Editor: 'Rec' is Not a Dirty Word

This article appears in the April edition of USA Lacrosse Magazine. Join our momentum.

Here we go again. I can already hear the murmurs. This kid’s leaving for that club and this team’s recruiting that player for tournament season.

I remain a staunch advocate of community-based youth sports. Well-run organizations like the one in which my family participates — the Lutherville-Timonium Recreation Council in suburban Baltimore — offer travel teams with volunteer coaches that admirably hold their own against private clubs. This, in addition to the entry-level playing opportunities they offer at every age.

And yet for some reason, some families see the word “recreation” and devalue the experience.

Say it with me now. Rec is not a dirty word.

We’ve had in-house coaches who played collegiately and professionally and poured their souls into the team pro bono because they had real skin in the game: their own son or daughter and their friends from the neighborhood. Those kids will become middle school or high school teammates, though I suppose the lure of private schools in this area will at some point create a degree of separation.

Call me naïve, but I am entirely content to have my children play sports for LTRC given its wide spectrum of offerings and dedication of these coaches. Lacrosse-wise, they have served this community since 1967 and produced a plethora of future All-Americans over the last half-century.

But this isn’t so much about pedigree as it is pride.

And fun. Also not a dirty word.

We’ve had kids come to us from brand-name clubs who did so because they saw how much our players enjoy each other and the experience.

I do not mean to disparage private club teams nor diminish their integral role in the lacrosse ecosystem. But I do wish to debunk the notion that a community-based program is somehow the lesser choice. Both my sons have been blessed with coaches who are certified or licensed in multiple sports and take seriously their role in our young athletes’ development. They come to practice prepared, communicate well, manage myriad schedules and model positive reinforcement.

And yeah, they want to win too. That’s OK. Win isn’t a dirty word either.

But if it’s to win at all costs, that’s a different discussion — one we are eager to have in this edition with our cover story on the growing sportsmanship crisis in youth sports generally and lacrosse, in particular (“Changing the Culture,” page 22). Writer Justin Feil interviewed the leaders of community-based programs in Indiana, New Jersey, Ohio and Washington who are doing the yeoman’s work to buck this troubling trend.

Because they have skin the game. It might not be their livelihood, but it’s very much a vocation. And for them, we are thankful.