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Jim Brown

"Mom, I want to quit football and focus on lacrosse..."

By Coach Blamey, 09/04/13, 1:30PM PDT

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Many players and parents often ask me whether or not their son should quit other sports to "focus" on lacrosse. My answer is always the same, an emphatic "No way!" Throughout my coaching career the best lacrosse players I've witnessed also excel in other sports. Perhaps the most well known example of a multi-sport lacrosse player who excelled is the legendary Jim Brown. He is a member of both the NFL and US Lacrosse Hall of Fame and arguably the greatest athlete to ever pick up a lacrosse stick. Playing multiple sports will increase your ability across the entire athletic spectrum.  Unless you've completely fallen out of love with a certain sport, please do not give it up.

We have carefully crafted the Madlax-California program with multi-sport athletes in mind. We realize that there are a great number of student-athletes who play football, soccer, basketball, wrestling and more... This is why our fall/winter program has a minimum time commitment. During the sports-heavy fall season, other than tryouts, we have very few practices. The bulk of our development is targeted between November and January. And times that we do hold practice are scheduled for Sunday's in order to have minimal impact on other sports. We do not want you to have to choose!

That being said, if you aspire to play lacrosse in college, we must stress the importance continuing to participate in lacrosse during the fall and winter months. There are a great many college prospects fighting for a limited number of roster spots. The winter (November / January) are still important recruiting months.  In November, Division I coaches are scouring for last minute adds to their 2015 classes and Division II, III, and MCLA are still looking to finalize their rosters for 2014 graduates.  This is an exceptionally important time for juniors and seniors.  For freshman and sophomores, this is a great time to be put on college coaches watch list for the upcoming summer.

We know that balancing your son's schedule can be complicated. We strive to ease this process for each and every Madlax family. If your son is telling you that he wants to quit another sport so that he can focus his efforts on lacrosse, we highly recommend urging him to reconsider. You don't have to just take our word for it; Please consider the following quote from the University of Virginia Head Coach, Dom Starsia...    

"It’s not a requirement to play multiple sports but way more often than not our guys are multi-sport athletes and the best athletes at their school. They are competitive kids who do not want to sit around while other sports are being played. I am always saying, ‘You learn to play lacrosse team defense and team offense on a football field, a soccer field, a basketball court,’ etc... I wince when a young athlete tells me that he is giving up football to concentrate on lacrosse. There is nothing you can do on your own that would be of greater advantage to your athletic development as a lacrosse player than going to football practice everyday."