High School Coaches Survey Results, College Recaps
High School Coaches Survey Results, College Recaps
Issue 16
A couple weeks ago I sent out a survey to boys and girls high school head coaches that asked 14 questions. I received 45 anonymous responses, 23 from boys coaches and 22 from girls coaches. Only 3 of the coaches who responded come from the IMLax non-sanctioned league and all 3 were boys coaches. I’m not a statistician but I do find these types of stories interesting and there are some clear trends from the data.
Just over half of teams practice at the school on a turf field. Almost a third of the teams are practicing off campus. Some people put a mix of grass/turf or on/off campus which evened out when I swayed them one way or another meaning that if I put one as turf and another as grass, they evened out. This data didn’t vary between boys/girls programs.
When it comes to home games, the majority of teams are playing on campus on a turf field. It’s probably safe to assume the turf field is the football stadium. Only one of the 3 non-sanctioned teams is playing off campus at a grass field. The other two are on turf at the school. Once again the boys/girls don’t vary in data.
The data varies a little here so I choose to show it this way. The difference here is the teams who have access to the weight room but don’t use it. They didn’t respond that they life weights off campus so it’s safe to assume they don’t lift. I’ll let you come to your own conclusions about the merits of lifting. I would highly suggest it if possible.
A pretty straightforward question. I get that there is a cost involved with this one and it can vary greatly! However, I also know that you can get a great video camera and tripod for under $300 on Amazon that will easily get the job done. If you aren’t filming games because you don’t feel comfortable ‘breaking them down’, please reach out to me and I’ll find you someone who will help guide you through this process. Even filming a game or two can be very beneficial in the long run.
This data isn’t surprising to me considering the number of boys teams compared to number of girls teams in the past. If you take into account that girls rosters are typically smaller anyway, this data supports the claim that there are less girl players in the state. The interesting thing to keep tabs on will be if the increased number of girls teams (due to sanctioning) will also increase the number of girls per team over time. Right now, a girls team has an average of 31 players while a boys team has 44. Again, this is players 9th through 12th grade. The lowest response was 17 with the highest being 85. Boys teams account for the highest 11 responses. The highest girls response was 45. Some new teams were a little unsure what numbers they’ll draw until after tryouts.
As expected, most teams begin practice in the late afternoon.
Most teams fall between the 90-120 minute mark.
This one surprised me a little bit. On one hand, I feel coaches should be semi-involved in the youth program but on the other hand I get that there just isn’t enough time in the day, especially during the Spring! 28 out of 45 have no youth involvement.
One of the reasons I did this survey was to get a better gauge of support for girls programs. This data suggests that girls programs are getting more money contributed to them from their schools which is great! Hopefully this will result in more players and more teams!
I’d be curious to see how this compared to past years. I’ve talked to a few coaches in the community who feel the club/travel scene has weakened over the years. In the next survey I plan on asking the relationship between those playing club and if they also play other high school sports.
This graph surprised me at first but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. High School lacrosse in Utah is going through an important growth phase where we are seeing past players becoming coaches and coaches who were part of the early days are now retiring or turning over the reigns. The important thing for me would be to make sure a young coach has all the resources they need and a support system. So if you’re a coach of any age and need help, please reach out to me or other coaches.
As you’ve looked over this and have thoughts, please share them with me or comment below! Ideally we could do this every year which could help identify trends in the game. You can view the raw results here if you’d like.
College Recap
Friday, Feb 7
M: Westminster 12, No. 13 Rockhurst 17 - RECAP
Saturday, Feb 8
M: Utah 11, No. 19 Lehigh 16 - RECAP
M: UVU 20, Utah State 6 - MCLA.us did a great preview of the game now dubbed ‘The Battle of the Brothers’
W: Utah 20, Weber State 1
Sunday, Feb 9
M: Westminster 14, No. 8 Indianapolis 15 - RECAP
Looking Ahead
While the high schools enter the ‘2 weeks prior’ period, the action for colleges continues to heat up!
Women’s
BYU, Utah, and Utah State head to the Santa Barbara Shootout this weekend.
BYU: Connecticut, Texas, Michigan State
Utah: Texas A&M, Western Washington, Washington, Miami (Ohio)
Utah State: Baylor, Virginia, Air Force, Duke
Men’s
Friday, Feb 14
Westminster @ No. 17 Lenoir-Rhyne - 5:00pm
UVU v. Nevada - 7:00pm
Saturday, Feb 15
Utah v. No. 17 Air Force - Noon
BYU v. Nevada - 7:00pm
Sunday, Feb 16
Westminster @ No. 13 Wingate - 11:00am
If you have any other news, let me know: tim@timhaslam.com
Thanks again for reading. Please forward to a friend.
- Tim Haslam