NCAA VS. CLUB LACROSSE

Lacrosse is the fastest-growing sport in the nation as more schools are adding programs every year. Some schools can establish an NCAA team while others are limited to playing club lacrosse in the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA).

While these two types of programs are very different, they are both built on the same foundation of playing lacrosse at the college level and both play a role in the growing popularity of the sport.

NCAA

The NCAA is an organization that provides services for student-athletes such as scholarships, tutors, a career center, insurance and more. They also create and promote championship games, award money to championship-winning teams and give money to schools to improve academic and athletic programs.

Wouldn’t it be crazy for an athlete to turn down a division one school offering all these amazing perks? Well, it happens pretty frequently.

Former division one commit, Keaton Mohs, originally planned on taking advantage of all the perks the NCAA has to offer while attending Marquette University. He changed his mind last minute and now the all-state lacrosse player is enjoying his time at Liberty University playing club ball.

“It was the most difficult decision of my life to turn down the offer to play for them (Marquette). Free college tuition would have been amazing,” Mohs said, “but playing for a team like that is a full-time job and that’s not what I am looking for.”

Mohs is not exaggerating when he said it is like a full-time job. Former NCAA division one lacrosse player, Kyle Korwan, experienced this during his time playing for Furman University.

“From the start of Fall ball to the end of Spring, it was an exhausting experience. When the sun was coming up, the team was conditioning, and when the sun was going down, we were practicing. We were even expected to watch film (on upcoming opponents) during our short amount of free time.”

While that might sound like a ridiculous amount of time to spend on a sport, that is what it takes to play lacrosse at the highest collegiate level. Teams in the NCAA are all about being competitive and winning.

After all, if the school is paying millions of dollars to run a team, they expect high-performing athletes who are going to win games.

At the end of the day, students do not go to college to play sports, they go to get an education. Liberty men’s lacrosse coach, Kyle McQuillan, sees the value in NCAA caliber athletes playing club ball instead.

“I think that a lot of players that could play at the division one level within the NCAA sometimes choose to play club lacrosse because of the better balance of school and social activities. There are some kids who are fine with that (lacrosse) dominating their life,” McQuillan said, “however, I think there’s more and more kids that recognize the value in the full college experience.”

Playing lacrosse at such a high level is no easy task, and as McQuillan mentioned, that is why a lot of players opt to play in the MCLA.

MCLA

The MCLA is the club lacrosse league that is made up of over 200 teams across the nation. While the NCAA provides many services and perks to both schools and players, the MCLA does not offer much other than organizing the national tournament.

There are no scholarships, prizes for winning a championship or anything else like NCAA.

Teams in the MCLA are not allowed to offer athletic scholarships to players whatsoever. In fact, a large majority of teams charge players upwards of $3,000 to be on the team. Equipment, traveling and even the coach’s salary (if the team has coaches) all come out of the players’ pockets.

Albany University Club Lacrosse player, Nick Parathyras, has been playing on the team for the last four years. He says the program is completely student-run and is very laid back. The university is not involved with their team other than having the school's name printed on their jerseys.

“Our team is all about having fun. I am far from being able to play division one lacrosse,” Parathyras said, “but I still love the sport. Once a week we practice and every once in a while, we schedule a game, so it’s not much of a commitment. Just good fun and a little bit of competition.”

The team that Parathyras describes is the ideal team for someone looking for a casual experience, but a nightmare for someone looking to be a part of a structured competitive team. Well, the MCLA has competitive teams too.

Teams like Liberty University, Georgia Tech, BYU and many others have a more traditional lacrosse program. They have a coaching staff, a full schedule, they have organized practices and compete in playoffs. Some of these schools even foot the bill for a large majority of the costs.

It is strange how big of a difference there is between teams in the MCLA. On one end of the spectrum, you have student-run teams who are all about having a good time. The level of commitment and competitiveness could be comparable to a pickup football game at recess.

On the other end of the spectrum, you have teams that are fully funded by the school that compete for national championships and even play and win games against NCAA schools.

This gap between the different types of club teams can be viewed in two different ways. Massapequa high school boy’s lacrosse coach, Tim Radomski, sees this divide as a beautiful thing.

“Any kid coming out of high school has the opportunity to keep playing no matter their ability. That’s what it’s all about.”

While some competitive MCLA teams like the University of Utah were able to advance to the NCAA, others are struggling because of Title XI.

Title XI

Title XI is a federal civil rights law that protects students against discrimination based on gender. This means the school must provide equal opportunities and benefits for both males and females. All schools that receive federal financial assistance (which is pretty much all of them) must follow these rules.

This limits some schools from adding another men’s NCAA team as there must be a female sport added that evens out the scholarship opportunities. Unfortunately, it is not as simple as adding NCAA woman’s lacrosse at the same time.

Take Liberty University for example. They have had an NCAA woman’s lacrosse team since 2010, while their men’s team is still competing at the club level. This is a common situation for schools that have a football team.

The number of scholarships football provides is by far the largest out of any other sport. This comes down to a lot of factors, but mainly it is because of the size of the team. The UNL athletic department director, Jeff Griesch, recognizes this problem.

“We’re obviously still moving forward toward the ultimate goal of having equal opportunities,” Griesch said, “but football definitely causes some issues there because there’s not a similar sport on the women’s side (with as many players).”

Many male sports have a female counterpart to even things out. Basketball, soccer, tennis and even baseball and softball. The only female counterpart for football is cheerleading which is a significantly smaller team and is made up of both men and women.

For a school in this situation to add an NCAA men’s lacrosse team, the school would have to find a different woman’s sport that is prepared to join the NCAA. This is a long process that includes a lot to do with the school’s budget, building new facilities and recruiting new players and coaches.

Programs experiencing this issue are aware of these restrictions and do not expect any changes to be made for a while. Liberty men’s lacrosse player, Garrett Cooper, had his hopes up for a while but has come to terms with it.

“When I decided on playing here, I fully expected the team to join the NCAA within my four years. Now that I know all the hoops the school has to jump through, I know I will be long gone by the time we go division one.”

Even though it is a tough threshold for a team to pass through, there is bound to be more female sports joining the NCAA soon, especially at these booming universities like Liberty.

Bottom Line

There are some obvious differences between NCAA and MCLA lacrosse teams. The NCAA offers a lot of benefits, but the commitment is not for everyone despite their athletic ability. The MCLA offers athletes a wide range of different types of programs to meet whatever needs a player has, besides a scholarship.

Although the MCLA is considered inferior to the NCAA, there are several talented and competitive club teams that can go head-to-head with division one programs. A lot of these schools are just restricted from becoming a part of the NCAA due to Title XI.

While these two organizations are very different, they both provide student-athletes the opportunity to play the sport they love, and they both play a big part in lacrosse being the fastest-growing sport in the country.