We were fortunate to catch up with Ryan McClernan, Founder and Executive Director of the BLC Crabs.
A 25-year coaching vet, McClernan has also served as a two-time selector for the U19 Team USA and was the 2003 World Games Chairman for US Lacrosse. He is the Founder and Executive Director of the BLC Crabs, which began in 1990.
Below is our Q & A with Ryan, who discusses the evolution of the Crabs, what recent changes may affect recruiting and what players should try to work on to improve their games.
Take a look at the video see highlights from the BLC Crabfeast this past Summer.
On the origins of Crabs lacrosse:
We really kind of got going the first Summer of Champ Camp, which I believe was 1990. We weren’t the “Crabs” for the first 10 years or so – it was just one Summer team that got together to compete in Champ Camp that first year at Goucher College. There were only eight teams. Back then, a couple of the coaches from MSA [now MIAA] schools were approached about coaching an All-Star team from the MSA, the very first of its kind.
So I – along with Drew Bowden – coached the first MSA All-Star team at Champ Camp. It was a huge hit getting all of these kids from the different schools to come together after what is a very short season in lacrosse. So the idea was to continue this team, and the next Summer we got the guys together again. But there were hardly any events to play in. We went up to Montvale High School in New Jersey to play the Long Island Empire team as kind of preparation for Champ Camp. So that was kind of the start of it.
On when the club began to resemble what we know today:
For the first 10 years or so, we played as one All-Star travel team in the Summer. There weren’t a ton of events – we kind of made our own. We started out as MSA All-Stars; then were called USA All-Stars. We then became the Baltimore Lacrosse Club (BLC). It was around 2002 that things became more formal. More events started up, and things got going.
I then had the idea to brand it and expand it a bit more – we wanted to set ourselves apart. So I came up with the Crabs, and designed that logo in 2002 – a logo which as of last year is trademarked. We went to the Vail Tournament in either 2002 or 2003 as the Crabs, and that was kind of the ‘modern’ start.
On how players can join the Crabs :
We have open tryouts every year no matter what. That has been a good thing for us. We usually hold tryouts near the beginning of the school year. We go down to fifth grade teams. Our biggest thing is that we have one team per age group. We want to provide the resources, coaching and attention needed – so we keep it to one team per group. We don’t have multiple teams per class, because we feel to keep our program elite we don’t want to have six teams per class.
Our retention is huge – we rarely lose kids. In the last 10 years, we have maybe had three or four kids who didn’t come back. But we do have new faces. It can be intimidating on some level, because we have been around so much longer than anyone else and we have a good reputation. So tryouts can be a bit intimidating just with the amount of skilled players that are present. But it says something about the kids who come to tryout, especially in this current age of club lacrosse where you have programs with no open tryouts and things like that.
On what separates the Crabs from other clubs:
I think having just one team per age group is big.
In addition, typically, 95% of our coaches have been coaching in a school environment for five or more years. Many of our coaches have 20-plus years of experience. We have little-to-no former great players trying to figure out coaching on the run. Since we have been around for a long time, we have an established philosophy that permeates from the oldest team to the youngest team.
Many clubs like to claim they are the reason a player got recruited. Here, we do not. We are just part of their process. We are part of the parent-school-club triumvirate that helps players on their journey. Our focus is on helping these kids become better lacrosse players that are both more tactically, technically proficient and mentally stronger. Those are our goals, and that will never change. We want to be on the front-end of teaching these kids and giving them the best options to learn.
On what Crabs coaches try to instill in players :
We want the kids to make the right play. Not ‘the’ play, but the right play. Sometimes it can be passing the ball instead of taking the shot. You can be a valuable member of a Crabs team just by picking up five or six ground balls a game. You don’t have to score to be effective.
On how the recruiting process has changed:
I think the accelerated timeline is the biggest thing. The buzz topic right now is people discussing younger players having to decide between schools early in high school.
Having said that, I think coaches are still recruiting the same way – just earlier. They have their philosophies. It is still about making contacts with coaches and creating relationships.
On other factors in the recruiting space that deserve attention:
One interesting thing I have noticed is how the game has evolved. The rule of the day is trying to find Canadian attackman. I think that has marginalized the Baltimore attackman in some ways. The days of the second-line middie at an MIAA school getting a ton of looks are disappearing, because coaches are now instead interested in a 6’2’’ athlete from Texas or California.
I think the hotbeds are getting marginalized a bit by the growing lacrosse markets. From what I am seeing, that is going to continue. While the IQ and stick skills in developing markets are a bit behind, the athleticism is there. I think that is something to keep an eye on, because I think it will change the face of the game in the near future.
Another big topic is that concussion awareness in football is driving some football-type athletes to lacrosse. The thinking there is that while lacrosse is still a physical sport, it does not have as much of the inherent violence football does. So that is something to keep an eye on, especially in markets like California and Texas.
On the effects of the “early recruiting”:
This whole big experiment with early recruiting is going to really play out over the next couple of years. The accelerated timeline has really been in place for the past three years. There are always going to be those “can’t miss” guys like Shack Stanwick as a ninth grader. But that next wave of kids, it will be interesting to see how they do in college and how that affects evaluation going forward.
On what advice he gives players on how to improve their games:
We generally discuss the ‘three pillars’ players need to work on:
One would be the physical component. Even as a younger guy you can do that with push-ups and sit-ups and some running. It doesn’t need to be a huge weight room or running with parachutes.
Two would be the technical component. Catching and throwing, right handed/left handed. Catching everything: That is one of our philosophies at the Crabs. Catch everything and bail out your teammates. We spend a ton of time on stick skills and things you can do to improve in that area – backhanded catching, cross-handed catching, catching 30-yard passes on the run. We do drills incorporating those skills starting in fifth grade.
Third would be the mental component. We believe in mental training. I think that is an important thing. How to deal with failures and setbacks; visualization, breathing exercises and things like that can greatly assist a player.
Basically, you can always work on your skills. Any house is only as strong as its foundation – and you can always improve that.
On the future for the Crabs:
We have always been a leader in the Maryland Club scene. We teamed up with Jordan Hall, Drew Westervelt and Kyle Hartzell and are adding a Canadian Box cross training to our program in the Fall. No one around has done that. It is all developmental – we aren’t just going to start playing Canadian Box lacrosse. We are going to teach the kids the drills, sets and things like that. We are a charter member of the new US Box Lacrosse Association, and we realize the importance of this cross training.
But we are still committed to our philosophies. It’s more than just lacrosse. We want to help boys become good young men. We have a famous saying “it’s cool to care.” The genesis of it is that it is cool to be a good student – even when there is pressure out there to not study. It’s cool to care about being a good son, listening to your parents and doing the right things. It’s cool to care to be a good sibling, a good teammate, caring about other people.
That is a big thing for us, and that will never change.
Thanks so much to Ryan for his time and thoughtful answers!
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