The Men's Division Coaches Council (MDCC) of US Lacrosse, the national governing body for men's and women's lacrosse, issues the following statement concerning the National Development Program (NDP), a newly formed recruiting initiative for elite high school lacrosse players.

The MDCC and its national High School Committee do not endorse or support the NDP for the following reasons:

1) The NDP over-emphasizes specialization at the high school level.

2) The NDP appears to loosely follow the model of Olympic Development Programs in other sports, which conflicts with the spirit of overall sports participation at the high school level.

3) The proposed NDP schedule of player commitment requires participation in the fall, which could directly conflict with student/athlete commitments to fall sports.

4) The NDP appears to provide opportunities only to select, elite, financially-resourceful players. This is contrary to the vision of US Lacrosse, which offers "people everywhere the opportunity to discover, learn, participate in, enjoy and ultimately embrace the shared passion of the lacrosse experience."

It is the conviction of the US Lacrosse Men's Division Coaches Council, which is comprised of thousands of men's coaches at every level of play, that interscholastic lacrosse players benefit most significantly from participating in programs that emphasize overall technique, team play and the balanced academic and athletic development of the student. The Council believes that it is in the best interest of interscholastic student-athletes to participate in a variety of sports, and that college counseling programs best serve high school student-athletes in their quest for a positive college experience.

It appears that the NDP will add the burden of another level of sport specialization onto high school student-athletes. Specialization has occurred in other sports as a result of Olympic Development Programs, and it has decreased students' commitment to the traditional interscholastic sports experience and has not improved the overall athleticism of most participants. Moreover, there is no significant evidence that participating in an elite recruiting program has or will increase the number of scholarship opportunities available to the individual.

"More recruiting opportunities may not always be better for the high school athlete or the college coach," said Steve Koudelka (Lynchburg, VA), President of the US Lacrosse Men's Division Coaches Council.

"There is a growing national concern among high school coaches about elite recruiting entities that require lacrosse competition during the fall and winter sports seasons," added Charlie Burch (Kennebunk, ME), President of the High School Committee of the US Lacrosse Men's Division Coaches Council. "At the US Lacrosse National Convention in January 2004, our regional Area Representatives voted unanimously not to endorse or support the NDP. It was their feeling that over-specialization for a young player is not consistent with the traditional high school athletic experience. There is a sense among high school coaches that the current system of maximizing a player's recruiting opportunities and visibility works well without the NDP."

Additionally, the NDP mailed an informational letter, dated January 21, 2004, to all men's high school coaches in the country. The letter referenced the US Lacrosse Mission Statement and compared it to that of the NDP. This reference suggested that there is a relationship between US Lacrosse and the NDP, and that the two organizations share similar goals. This is not the case; US Lacrosse has no involvement with the NDP initiative, and as set forth above, US Lacrosse does not support or endorse the NDP. The reference to the US Lacrosse Mission Statement in the NDP letter was done without the knowledge or approval of US Lacrosse.