August 27, 2025 • 38 mins
From high school practices to college recruiting, the demands on our boys (and us moms!) ramp up fast. In our latest episode of the Mothers of Boys Survival Guide, Coach Matt Hogan shares what every parent needs to know about: ✔️ The real time commitment in high school sports ✔️ When recruiting actually starts (hint: later than you think) ✔️ Highlight reels, prospect camps & how not to waste money ✔️ Balancing academics and athletics for the long game
Matt’s a former college and high school coach, sports dad of two, and the leader of the Annapolis Hawks Club Lacrosse Program.
💬 Drop a comment if your son is navigating high school sports—we’d love to hear your experience!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Preparing Boys for High School and College SportsFrom high school to college sports, a coach's
(00:05):
advice for moms. Welcome to the Mothers of Boys Survival Guide. I'm Suzy Shaw,
author of the companion book, and here to represent the MOB—Mothers of Boys—as we discuss
today's topic (00:16):
high school and college sports. I'm Cheryl Bohn, and our guest today is Matt
Hogan—coach, mentor, and sports dad of two. He’s led teams from high school to
powerhouse college programs. He’s been named the MIAA Coach of the Year and now runs the
Annapolis Hawks Club Lacrosse program and Hogan Lax, home to some of the biggest boys’
(00:40):
lacrosse tournaments in the Mid-Atlantic.Matt joined us earlier in a podcast about
youth sports, coaches, and parents. Today, we’re continuing the conversation—this time focusing
on the high school years and what it really takes to prepare our boys to play at the college level.
Welcome back, Matt. Great to see you.Thank you, Cheryl. Thank you, Suzy. Great
(01:02):
to see you guys. I hope you had a great summer. School year is around the corner. Let’s go.
Yes, it is around the corner. I’m sure you had a busy summer with all the lacrosse
camps. I know for sports of all ages, summer can be a very, very busy time.
It was a very busy time. It’s good to be busy. Our events ended almost a month ago, and the tryouts
(01:28):
were about three weeks ago. That’s all done and good, but it was a good summer and a busy summer.
Fabulous. Matt, how does the intensity and commitment evolve as athletes move
into high school programs? Recognizing that each sport is a little different,
what do you think the typical weekly time commitment for playing a sport in high school?
(01:53):
I think, one, it depends upon the competitiveness of your high school/your high school sport is in.
You know, some schools have great reputations for football schools. Some schools are great
basketball schools or lacrosse schools, so I think it depends upon where you go
and what you do, but I think if you're a competitive athlete, that the time
(02:19):
commitment is going to go way through the roof.What changes is in youth, for the most part,
your season is seasonal (02:25):
fall, winter, spring. High school, because if you're not playing more
than one sport, then in the off season, you're going to be asked to train. I did a podcast Monday
with Jen Levy, the head coach at North Carolina, and the question they asked both of us was,
(02:48):
what's the difference jumping from high school to college? I think it's the same thing from 8th
grade to 9th grade, is the biggest difference is you have to train more by getting in the weight
room, more conditioning, eat well, and sleep. It's not so much practice times, it's the other
(03:09):
stuff that you need to pay more attention to and be more tuned into, because the numbers are going
like a funnel. There's all these youth kids trying to play on a very small roster for high school.
Well, you have to stand out some way and not always just being the best athlete
will work for you. You've got to get in the weight room. It's going to be more
(03:31):
strenuous. Some of the weight room is to get bigger, stronger, faster, so you play more,
but also get in the weight room and train so that you reduce the likelihood of you being injured.
I think the time commitment is going to go through the roof, and parents need to be prepared for that
may mean holidays. Spring break is over for the spring sport. That depends on your level.
(03:56):
Spring sports over- I mean spring break is over.When I got to St. Mary's, my first year at St.
Mary's, kids are coming up to me the week before our first spring break going, I won't be here for
the spring break. I'm like, what are you talking about? You're in season. Everyone in my family
always goes away. So I learned I had to tell parents in August, here's our calendar for the
(04:17):
year, and spring break, you're here. You practice. This is lacrosse season. You're in. And basketball
is the same thing. You're going to practice almost every day, maybe not Christmas Day,
but Christmas Day and maybe New Year’s you're not going to practice, but every other day,
during that break, you're practicing.So that's a big adjustment,
(04:38):
not so much for the player always, but for mom or dad who like that downtime
or vacation time, it's a little different.Yeah. I mean, that's really what it takes to
stand out and to be competitive at the high school level then, you're saying.
Correct. When you're in season, you're in season, that's the—after
(04:59):
your schoolwork—that's the next priority.Right. This is kind of a big question,
but is there one thing that you would say to a freshman parent or mom of an athlete?
Let this be driven—this experience be driven—by your son. You can do all the drills you want to
(05:19):
for your son. You can drive them through all the practices and extra sessions. But if they're going
to be great, it's got to be self-driven. That's the way it's going to be. It's up to them. And if
they choose not to do it, then they choose not to do it. If they choose to be all in and want
you to do all the extra stuff, then choose that. But let this be driven by your child, not by you.
(05:47):
Yeah, that's great advice.Wow, and that goes for a lot of things.
Yes—piano, anything, academics, anything. It's got to be driven by them. And my advice would be then
find some way to motivate them that keeps them doing what you want them to do if it's important
to them. But if it's not important to them, let it go. I think let this be their experience,
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let this be their ride. And just be a parent, not their coach or their agent.
I'll tell you a quick story—how I handled, not that I do everything right—but again, I was a
college coach. Both my kids played sports. Both of them played across the sport that I coached.
My deal with my wife and I was that I'd never ask them about practice or a game unless they
(06:38):
asked me. So I never, when they were youth kids I asked, “did you have fun?” In high school,
“How’d it go?” I never talked to them about their game or their practice without them asking me.
And I can remember once my son saying, “What did you think about this?” And I said,
(07:01):
“Are you sure you want to hear my answer?” And he said, “No.” And about an hour later, he goes,
“Okay, I'm ready. What did you think of this?”So I think I purposely did not coach him. I did
not go in the backyard and work with my kids.But I'm sure you taught him work ethic,
(07:24):
which has made him coachable.I think being around the sport
and around practices, it also is amazing how much he used to—when I did recruiting phone
calls when I was at the Naval Academy—he would often take his blanket and pillow and sleep in
the office at home when I made those calls.I think he heard a lot of those conversations
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and it made a huge impact on him academically. The number of times I told a player, “I'm sorry,
you can't come to the Naval Academy because you've got a C in math in 9th grade. I'm sorry,
your absentee rate’s too high. Hey, you were tardy to school 27 times. Why?”
(08:08):
That's 27 times too many in our opinion. Those are things I think
him being around—and my daughter being around it and seeing it—really absorbed a lot of that.
Well, sort of following up on that sentiment—the work ethic and the expectations beginning freshman
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year for a student athlete—when do they need to feel like they have to commit to the sport
and to possibly a college or a university?I knew a child that was recruited, and I use
(08:57):
the word recruited loosely, but right out of 8th grade. And obviously they're incredibly talented,
but I was surprised that college coaches were looking at 8th grade players. So when
(09:17):
does all this begin to gel?That.. a very good thing,
that has changed in the NCAA now. They shouldn't be recruiting 8th graders.
Legally, they can't recruit 8th graders anymore.There was a time, again when I was at St. Mary's,
we had a bunch of 9th graders that committed and no one liked it. The coaches didn't like it. I
(09:42):
think the parents liked it. I think the college coaches liked it. I don't think anyone liked that.
And now the college coaches cannot talk to players until September 1 of their junior
year in high school. The military academies can start July 1. Everybody else starts September 1.
(10:03):
So that whole process has been delayed, and there's even a movement right now to
maybe delay it some more.So I think the recruiting process has changed.
When do you start focusing on one sport? When you want to. I think you're seeing more
(10:25):
one-sport athletes coming out of high school. Most lacrosse coaches would love
to see multi-sport athletes. It doesn't mean you have to. If you don't love the other sport,
then don't do it. But I think it's hard to play 3 just because both academically and time-wise.
But I think it's all different. I don't think there's a one pat answer here for that,
(10:54):
Suzy. I think everybody grows and matures at different speeds and different times,
whether it's athletically, academically, whatever it is. So the guy who may be a
big strong guy at 9th grade can start playing college right away, but there may be players
(11:16):
who don't become that big and strong until maybe their junior year to start thinking about it.
I think if it's something you want to do, I think there's a level of sport
for almost anyone to play in college now.All the training we talk about is fine,
but what's going to open the most doors for you is being a really good student. And the most
(11:40):
money is for good students, not good athletes. I think there's six times or seven times as much
money available for academic aid than there is for athletic aid. So if you really want help
financially and you want to open as many doors as you can, do your homework and do well in school.
(12:00):
So if your child wants to pursue sports in college, where are some of the best places
to showcase their talents? Do you have some advice about that? Travel teams or camps or...?
I think all of the above. We counsel our parents that unless you have a lot of disposable income,
(12:30):
be careful. Be careful on how much of these are the outside things you do.
Now we're very unique with our club. We're one of the best clubs in the
country. If you're playing high school for us, you're going to get a tremendous
amount of exposure to college coaches. The tournaments we go to have 100 to 300 college
coaches attending. So that's outstanding.But even then we tell them, we recommend 1,
(12:54):
maybe 2 prospect camps. And so these prospect camps are different ones. There's showcases
and there's—I will divide this with—there's showcases that are run by non-college coaches
that they recruit you and say, “hey, we think you're one of the best players in the country,
why don't you come to our showcase for 3 days and train and play with us and college coaches
(13:16):
will watch you play.” And we think there are good ones and we think there are some not so good ones.
And then there's more prospect camps, which are on campus, on a college campus run by
college coaches. So we recommend our guys choose 1 or 2 of those of schools you're
(13:36):
most interested in to go there. One, you'll live on campus. You'll probably meet a lot
of players because the players typically work the camp. The entire staff is working the camp
or the showcase. So you get to know them and they get to know you and you may form a real
strong opinion right away. “Hey, I really want to go here.” “I don't want to go here.”
(14:02):
We had a guy who wanted to go to a certain school, he did a prospect camp and he
came home and said, I don't like the coaches.Right. Well, it also gives them the experience
of being away and being on a campus. And so, you know, that's good for motivation too,
to do better, you know, across the board.What year would you recommend that then?
(14:23):
I would do one after your sophomore year to know how to do them so you experience one. And the
ones with a college coach to be watching will be after your junior year or during your junior year.
The college coaches really don't watch freshmen and sophomores play anymore. They used to. They
don't anymore. So they don't have the time to go watch. They don't have time to go watch the
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freshmen and sophomores. They're watching the seniors who've already committed to
them and maybe looking for a few who have not committed. There may be diamonds in the rough.
And then they're watching the juniors who have not committed yet and they're trying to get to commit.
So to go watch freshmen and sophomores really is rare. But go to one so that you know what it's
like when the college coaches are there. You have the experience, as Suzy said, being away,
(15:11):
being your own, what the 3 day, three practices a day look like and how you have to really take
care of yourself. So we tell them to do one after the sophomore year, one or two your junior year.
That's great. And so one of the other things that I have noticed, you know, somewhat because
(15:32):
my background was in video production, I was asked to create a bunch of highlight
videos for student athletes over the years.So how important is the game footage and
accumulating that? And then also, it seems to me like everything's gotten more sophisticated.
(15:54):
So now there's—there's like portals or it's almost like a dating website for athletes.
Matt (16:02):
You're 100% right. Right. And you've got to have
the picture and the game footage and this is what else they're doing and this is their grades. So,
you know, there's also coach, you know, other coaches and—and there's a lot of extra expenses,
I think, that parents could get tied into. What do you think is worth it? And when should
(16:26):
a parent even start thinking about it?Matt: Good question. Highlight videos
are a way in, right? The—taking game footage, shorten it up over a summer or a season. And
you're right, it's more sophisticated.You have the halo around them now or a
circle or something else. And the music can be really good. And they're getting much better,
(16:52):
much better video. It's not somebody standing on top of bleachers and the players about
this big. They've got videographers coming and getting close, close-up
action shots. And there's a lot more to it.So the college coaches love the video. There
are good ones and there are bad ones. They—you know, 8 to 10 minutes maximum.
What I always say to my players is you want it so the coach finishes watching it, he wants to
(17:17):
watch more, not he’s saying, when is this going to end? Give him enough. Give him enough that it's a
little teaser. Don't stand in front of the camera: “Hi, my name is Matt Hogan. I go to University of (17:25):
undefined
Alaska. I'm a midfielder.” No—action. Go.You can maybe have the contact information
scroll over at the end or the beginning is really important. I would—the first one I
would do would be after your sophomore year as a teaser to get coaches watching you as a junior.
(17:51):
I would get game footage. We're beginning to see that coaches are now asking for game footage
because they want to see you make a mistake and how you respond to it. Right. The highlight
video is all you doing good things. You're having success. Everything you do is successful. Well,
the college coach doesn't want to watch game footage and say, okay, what's the competitive
level he's playing against and how does he react when things don't go right for him?
(18:16):
He makes a mistake—how does he respond to that?You know, Suzy, kids nowadays are so savvy that
they're making their own. They're making their own videos. They're not hiring someone to do it.
They're making their own. And they're pretty good.Well, I'm very happy they don't need me anymore.
Matt Hogan (18:34):
It's—it's—it's—I—and I tell them, if you're not good, find somebody who is or hire
someone to do it, because this is most likely the first impression that you're going to get to make,
is by sending your highlight video after your sophomore year. So it needs to be good.
What about the portals? What do you think?Matt: Yeah, I think—we’ve had a lot of them come
(19:06):
through our club, and I've never found one that was really helpful to us. And in the last year,
for lacrosse, the college coaches, the IMLCA, have had their own profile recruiting website
for the last, I think, four or five years.And I have been convinced in the last year
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that we actually are buying for all of our rising juniors and rising sophomores. We are
buying them the profile for the IMLC, the basic profile of the IMLCA, because it's the one that
college coaches are visiting.And we encourage them to:
Put up a post, a highlight video on it.Get your transcript on it.
(19:54):
And put those two things on. And to be honest, the motivation for putting a transcript on it is 1,
so the college coach can see. But 2, it’s for the players—the younger players—to know, we’re going
to put your transcript up. And I'm hoping that motivates them, that, “I want a good one. If this
is going to be posted and every college coach can see it, maybe I need to do my homework so that I
(20:16):
have a good transcript later on.”Now, do they do more than just
lacrosse or that’s just lacrosse?Just lacrosse. It's the Intercollegiate
Men's Lacrosse Coaches Association that does it. I'm sure the other College Coaches Associations
have it, but I would do your homework on which one you do, and I would be careful how much
money you spend. So we buy the basic package.I mean, it does all sound very expensive by
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the time you're doing these camps and you're doing, you know, if you hire somebody to do
your highlight reel. I mean, is there a ballpark amount that you think parents should sort of,
you know, save for if their child’s interested in playing in college? Or that there are some
(21:04):
affordable alternatives for some of these things?Matt: Yeah, I guess it all depends, again,
what level you want to play in college, right? You can—you can not play club and
do other things and not do all the stuff and probably play at a certain level.
(21:25):
The higher level you wish to play, the more you're probably going to spend on some of those things.
Playing club, being trained, joining a gym and having someone train you, creating a highlight
video, and going to prospect camps. I don't—I don't know what—I don't know what a dollar value
(21:48):
that is, but I think you've got to be careful and make sure what you spend is what you can.
And if your son is good enough, he's going to be recruited.
Suzy (22:00):
Right. The star athletes, the really high-quality athletes are going
to be noticed. That makes a lot of sense.Are there clubs that give out scholarships to
athletes if they can't afford to be in a club in general, across the board with different sports?
(22:20):
Yes, they do. And that all depends upon a number of different things. But yes,
we—we do at our club and I know other clubs help families with our tuition that we charge.
Now again, do your homework, right?Overall, I don't—I don't know of a
(22:41):
club that doesn't offer some financial assistance to some of their players.
So, Matt, helping—helping our Mothers of Boys who—who might not be familiar with all the
different divisions of college sports, you know, NCAA has Division I, II, and III. And, you know, I
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presume when it comes to the level of competition and the scholarship, that there is somewhat
difference between what their expectations are, how much money is available. And I've read that
only 7% of high school athletes go on to play in college. So does—does that sound right to you?
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And what are the differences in the divisions?Matt: That's a low number. I'm not—I'm not—I'm
probably not surprised by that. I'm thinking about that. I think that, again, that funnel
from youth league to high school to college, I guess even tighter than when you go to college.
There's a—there's a huge overhaul going on right now with the NCAA. And a lot is going to come out
(23:57):
in the next hopefully month or two. They've been saying that for about 6 months. There
are significant changes going on with the number of scholarships, roster sizes, transfer—all that
kind of stuff. And it could—it could really change the landscape of college athletics.
(24:21):
I think—I think it's going to significantly change the landscape of college athletics.
But the difference in Division I, Division II, and Division III—let's talk about scholarships
first. If you're playing the sport in high school and doing all these things for a scholarship,
(24:43):
I think that's a mistake. If you're playing a sport in college and high school and you do
other things because you love it, because it's really important to you and you enjoy doing it,
keep doing it. Because earning the scholarship is the beginning, not the end.
And I think a lot of players focus on earning a scholarship. They get it and they've reached
(25:10):
a carrot and they don't know what to do. And they flounder and fail in college. The
ones that are successful in college are those that love playing and enjoy playing. And they
want—and they keep enjoying that in college.And there's not many scholarships. Everyone
(25:33):
thinks there's all this scholarship money—athletic scholarship money.
So, Matt, following up with what you were saying about the changes that are coming
in college sport, how does that affect the NIL, the name, image and likeness?
And is that all part of this shakeup?I don't know all of it. I don't think it
(25:56):
changes the NIL much. What they're talking about doing is increasing the number of
scholarships significantly, and—but reducing roster sizes. And the name, image, likeness is
not going away. The only change there is that the institutions want to provide the money to
(26:24):
the student athlete versus these outside co-ops.Years ago, the alumni were not allowed to interact
and sponsors and boosters were not allowed to interact with student athletes. Now it's
like complete opposite. The boosters and the sponsors and the—and the—and the—are running
(26:45):
the show and determining who gets how much money above and beyond scholarship.
And there's some that—I think there's a school, Division I football school, I think they have
46 different co-ops raising money and providing NIL money to their football players. It's a lot.
So the challenge is controlling that and knowing what's going on and who gets it and why are they
(27:11):
getting it. The institutions want to take that on.The challenge is—I may be getting too deep
here—the challenge is that there's a concern that they may then be—that then the athletes may see
themselves as employees of the university. Because they're—because they're paying them above and
(27:32):
beyond books and tuition and that kind of stuff. And I don't think the institutions want that.
So there's a lot. There's a lot to undig. But I think the NIL is not going away. The transfer
portal is not going away. Players' rights are at the forefront of the NCAA right now.
So I think to answer your question, Division I, Division II, Division III—I think there's
(27:53):
a right place for everybody. That's why there's three different divisions. Because not everyone
wants the same competitive level. One, maybe athletically, but two is mentally—they don't
want that much. They don't want as much.The Division II is the unique one. They
have all kinds of different rules. They have scholarships. Not as many as Division I,
but they have all kinds of different rules than Division I and Division III have.
(28:18):
Don't think this Division I thing is the end-all, be-all. There's a lot of people who go Division
I and are miserable, because it's—it's a lot. Choose the right fit for you. And that's what's
the most important thing, is finding your fit in the place you want to be that works for you.
So, Matt, what is the best way then to align expectations of that child? So you said,
(28:44):
you know, if your child says, oh, my dream is to play Division I sports,
what's the best way to align what that commitment is going to look like for them?
Matt (28:56):
You're going to play Division I? Yeah. So you're going to—you're going to train year-round.
You're going to start practice almost as soon as you get there. Maybe they wait a week if it's a
spring sport. You're going to have practice in the fall, weightlifting in the fall. You're going
to have individual sessions in the winter, weightlifting, conditioning in the winter.
(29:17):
Then you're going to start going 5/6 days a week come January. Come January, you're going
to watch film. You're going to go and meet with the coaches. You're probably going to see the
trainer at certain times. You're going to—it's a huge commitment to play Division I sports.
(29:38):
And again, if you look, I hear kids say, it's like a job. It's not like a job to those that
love it. It's not. I don't think my son ever felt it was a job. He was 100% all in to lacrosse 24
hours a day. And he's still a Dean's List student in an Ivy League school. But his
(29:59):
priority was lacrosse. And I think he enjoyed it.If—just—just be prepared that if you're going to
play Division I, you're going to—it's going to occupy, it's going to be a part of your life
almost every day, the entire academic year.And then they're going to give you—they're
going to—coach is going to hand you at the end of school a training packet that he's
(30:20):
expecting you to do all summer long. Monday, Wednesday, Friday, lift. Tuesday, Thursday,
you're going to run. We're going to give you Saturday, Sunday off. But we expect you to play
in summer league, so your stick’s in your hands.So you're doing something all the time. And part
of that is because the competition—and you're going to want to if you're competitive—because
(30:42):
all the people that you're competing against for playing time are going to be doing it.
What happens if you are recruited and then you get injured?
Almost everyone's going to honor a scholarship if you're injured, either prior to coming in or
(31:02):
when you're there. It would be—it would be a poor display of your commitment as a college
coach if you drop someone because they get hurt. It's going to have other players in the
future be less reluctant to come to your place.Most scholarships—and this is one of the changes
(31:28):
that's going on, that's a potential change may be going on—scholarships in the past have
been—have always been a one-year agreement. The school has always honored it for 4 years,
unless you're a real knucklehead. You do something academically, those kinds of things.
(31:53):
But typically those scholarships are honored for 4 years. I think that's going to change.
So, Matt, one of the members of the MOB—Mother of Boys—has a football player,
and she wanted to know, do you think it's worth it to hire a sports consultant? I mean,
(32:18):
that's where it gets back into the portal. I mean, there's all these—these sort of things,
you know, who claim that they can get a kid into a college team. Do you think it's marketing?
I—I think the sports consultant or sports agent, as what I understand, is prevalent in basketball
(32:40):
and football. It's not in lacrosse right now.I think you need to evaluate how much—how good
you are, how much can your club or your high school coach—how connected, how good
are they? And then if they aren’t—you don't feel comfortable—that may be something you do.
(33:05):
I just—again, I don't know the football and basketball guys, the guys that have done that
kind of thing. In lacrosse, I would not have my son or daughter sign up for them. I don't see
the value in it, and I haven't seen many of them be guys that I would want representing my family.
(33:30):
Well, and I think your point of, if they're going to a school that already is respected in that
sport and on people's radar, then it's not as a valid reason to pay extra money for somebody else.
Now, I think some of where—I think because why the basketball and football is more prevalent is,
(33:52):
I think the NIL money is real money at those sports for the really good players, they're paying
them a lot of money. And that may be part of the reason why negotiating those kinds of agreements
that they have could be significant dollars. And maybe that's why they're doing it more.
So, Matt, in our first podcast (In Their Corner: Youth Sports, Coaches and Parents), you talked (34:12):
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about being their greatest champion. And so what is the advice for moms and parents as
the intensity ramps up in their son's sports? Do you have a motto for that?
(34:33):
You know, if I have a motto, I would—I used—I think there's—this is the time in high school…
I was a Dean of Students at St. Mary's also, and I used to do a back-to-school thing, and I probably
should find it somewhere, about the degrees of separation. This is the beginning, in 9th grade,
(34:54):
where they begin to separate from mom and dad.And I remember being a part of their tailgate,
and one of the freshmen got in a car with seniors. It was a friend of my son. My son
was in the year behind him. And the mother was about crying because he was—one, he was
getting in a car with seniors, which she wasn't really comfortable with. But he didn't need her.
(35:17):
So—and then the separation sis they get their own license. They need you less. And then they
go. And then they go to college. There's degrees of separation right now. You're going to be going
through—and embrace that. Because I know you don't feel that way when your kid's 15. But
(35:38):
you're going to want it when they're 30. Right.So allow the degrees of separation to slowly
morph themselves. Embrace those things and understand they're happening. And enjoy that
so that when they are an adult, they're not reliant on you, they're reliant on themselves.
(36:00):
And that's really, really important, I think.And sports are going to bring up more of those
degrees of separation from you. They're going to start going out socially more,
maybe spending longer days out, maybe sleep—if they have got to travel to an away game,
maybe they sleep over somebody else's house. You're going to see less of them a little bit.
So the degrees of separation—embrace those. But more than anything else, enjoy watching them play
(36:25):
because it's coming to a close.Right. Independence.
Celebrate the independence.100%. Go, go….
One of the—I'm going to switch—but I remember I dropped my daughter off at college. You know,
she was very, she's very quiet. And we went to meet the coaches with the other—we had a meeting
(36:46):
outside somewhere and we're walking over. And my daughter just left us. Just walked in front of us,
went over, shook the coach's hand, went over to meet the other girls, other parents.
We weren't—we weren't involved. We were both like, wait, you need us. You've got to want us.
(37:08):
And we were like—we were very happy. We were very happy and very sad all at the same time. Like,
holy crap, she doesn't need us at all.Well, go you and your wife.
Yeah, yeah.Matt, thanks again for coming
back and being with us here today and sharing all this great information about our boys who
(37:32):
are in high school sports, interested in college sports. You gave us a lot of great insights,
so we really appreciate your time today.It's ever—it's ever changing. So what I
said today may not be good in 6 months from now, but I enjoyed it. I thank you.
I really appreciate you guys having me. Good luck to all those mothers and boys.
To learn more about Matt's programs, visit Annapolis Hawks Lacrosse Club at
(37:56):
AnnapolisHawks.com or for lacrosse tournaments, visit HoganLax.com.
And thank you all for joining us today. Follow The MOB on Facebook, Instagram,
YouTube, and your favorite podcast platform. Be kind to yourselves, moms, and have a great week.
Preparing Boys for High School and College SportsFrom high school to college sports, a coach's
(00:05):
advice for moms. Welcome to the Mothers of Boys Survival Guide. I'm Suzy Shaw,
author of the companion book, and here to represent the MOB—Mothers of Boys—as we discuss
today's topic (00:16):
high school and college sports. I'm Cheryl Bohn, and our guest today is Matt
Hogan—coach, mentor, and sports dad of two. He’s led teams from high school to
powerhouse college programs. He’s been named the MIAA Coach of the Year and now runs the
Annapolis Hawks Club Lacrosse program and Hogan Lax, home to some of the biggest boys’
(00:40):
lacrosse tournaments in the Mid-Atlantic.Matt joined us earlier in a podcast about
youth sports, coaches, and parents. Today, we’re continuing the conversation—this time focusing
on the high school years and what it really takes to prepare our boys to play at the college level.
Welcome back, Matt. Great to see you.Thank you, Cheryl. Thank you, Suzy. Great
(01:02):
to see you guys. I hope you had a great summer. School year is around the corner. Let’s go.
Yes, it is around the corner. I’m sure you had a busy summer with all the lacrosse
camps. I know for sports of all ages, summer can be a very, very busy time.
It was a very busy time. It’s good to be busy. Our events ended almost a month ago, and the tryouts
(01:28):
were about three weeks ago. That’s all done and good, but it was a good summer and a busy summer.
Fabulous. Matt, how does the intensity and commitment evolve as athletes move
into high school programs? Recognizing that each sport is a little different,
what do you think the typical weekly time commitment for playing a sport in high school?
(01:53):
I think, one, it depends upon the competitiveness of your high school/your high school sport is in.
You know, some schools have great reputations for football schools. Some schools are great
basketball schools or lacrosse schools, so I think it depends upon where you go
and what you do, but I think if you're a competitive athlete, that the time
(02:19):
commitment is going to go way through the roof.What changes is in youth, for the most part,
your season is seasonal (02:25):
fall, winter, spring. High school, because if you're not playing more
than one sport, then in the off season, you're going to be asked to train. I did a podcast Monday
with Jen Levy, the head coach at North Carolina, and the question they asked both of us was,
(02:48):
what's the difference jumping from high school to college? I think it's the same thing from 8th
grade to 9th grade, is the biggest difference is you have to train more by getting in the weight
room, more conditioning, eat well, and sleep. It's not so much practice times, it's the other
(03:09):
stuff that you need to pay more attention to and be more tuned into, because the numbers are going
like a funnel. There's all these youth kids trying to play on a very small roster for high school.
Well, you have to stand out some way and not always just being the best athlete
will work for you. You've got to get in the weight room. It's going to be more
(03:31):
strenuous. Some of the weight room is to get bigger, stronger, faster, so you play more,
but also get in the weight room and train so that you reduce the likelihood of you being injured.
I think the time commitment is going to go through the roof, and parents need to be prepared for that
may mean holidays. Spring break is over for the spring sport. That depends on your level.
(03:56):
Spring sports over- I mean spring break is over.When I got to St. Mary's, my first year at St.
Mary's, kids are coming up to me the week before our first spring break going, I won't be here for
the spring break. I'm like, what are you talking about? You're in season. Everyone in my family
always goes away. So I learned I had to tell parents in August, here's our calendar for the
(04:17):
year, and spring break, you're here. You practice. This is lacrosse season. You're in. And basketball
is the same thing. You're going to practice almost every day, maybe not Christmas Day,
but Christmas Day and maybe New Year’s you're not going to practice, but every other day,
during that break, you're practicing.So that's a big adjustment,
(04:38):
not so much for the player always, but for mom or dad who like that downtime
or vacation time, it's a little different.Yeah. I mean, that's really what it takes to
stand out and to be competitive at the high school level then, you're saying.
Correct. When you're in season, you're in season, that's the—after
(04:59):
your schoolwork—that's the next priority.Right. This is kind of a big question,
but is there one thing that you would say to a freshman parent or mom of an athlete?
Let this be driven—this experience be driven—by your son. You can do all the drills you want to
(05:19):
for your son. You can drive them through all the practices and extra sessions. But if they're going
to be great, it's got to be self-driven. That's the way it's going to be. It's up to them. And if
they choose not to do it, then they choose not to do it. If they choose to be all in and want
you to do all the extra stuff, then choose that. But let this be driven by your child, not by you.
(05:47):
Yeah, that's great advice.Wow, and that goes for a lot of things.
Yes—piano, anything, academics, anything. It's got to be driven by them. And my advice would be then
find some way to motivate them that keeps them doing what you want them to do if it's important
to them. But if it's not important to them, let it go. I think let this be their experience,
(06:11):
let this be their ride. And just be a parent, not their coach or their agent.
I'll tell you a quick story—how I handled, not that I do everything right—but again, I was a
college coach. Both my kids played sports. Both of them played across the sport that I coached.
My deal with my wife and I was that I'd never ask them about practice or a game unless they
(06:38):
asked me. So I never, when they were youth kids I asked, “did you have fun?” In high school,
“How’d it go?” I never talked to them about their game or their practice without them asking me.
And I can remember once my son saying, “What did you think about this?” And I said,
(07:01):
“Are you sure you want to hear my answer?” And he said, “No.” And about an hour later, he goes,
“Okay, I'm ready. What did you think of this?”So I think I purposely did not coach him. I did
not go in the backyard and work with my kids.But I'm sure you taught him work ethic,
(07:24):
which has made him coachable.I think being around the sport
and around practices, it also is amazing how much he used to—when I did recruiting phone
calls when I was at the Naval Academy—he would often take his blanket and pillow and sleep in
the office at home when I made those calls.I think he heard a lot of those conversations
(07:47):
and it made a huge impact on him academically. The number of times I told a player, “I'm sorry,
you can't come to the Naval Academy because you've got a C in math in 9th grade. I'm sorry,
your absentee rate’s too high. Hey, you were tardy to school 27 times. Why?”
(08:08):
That's 27 times too many in our opinion. Those are things I think
him being around—and my daughter being around it and seeing it—really absorbed a lot of that.
Well, sort of following up on that sentiment—the work ethic and the expectations beginning freshman
(08:33):
year for a student athlete—when do they need to feel like they have to commit to the sport
and to possibly a college or a university?I knew a child that was recruited, and I use
(08:57):
the word recruited loosely, but right out of 8th grade. And obviously they're incredibly talented,
but I was surprised that college coaches were looking at 8th grade players. So when
(09:17):
does all this begin to gel?That.. a very good thing,
that has changed in the NCAA now. They shouldn't be recruiting 8th graders.
Legally, they can't recruit 8th graders anymore.There was a time, again when I was at St. Mary's,
we had a bunch of 9th graders that committed and no one liked it. The coaches didn't like it. I
(09:42):
think the parents liked it. I think the college coaches liked it. I don't think anyone liked that.
And now the college coaches cannot talk to players until September 1 of their junior
year in high school. The military academies can start July 1. Everybody else starts September 1.
(10:03):
So that whole process has been delayed, and there's even a movement right now to
maybe delay it some more.So I think the recruiting process has changed.
When do you start focusing on one sport? When you want to. I think you're seeing more
(10:25):
one-sport athletes coming out of high school. Most lacrosse coaches would love
to see multi-sport athletes. It doesn't mean you have to. If you don't love the other sport,
then don't do it. But I think it's hard to play 3 just because both academically and time-wise.
But I think it's all different. I don't think there's a one pat answer here for that,
(10:54):
Suzy. I think everybody grows and matures at different speeds and different times,
whether it's athletically, academically, whatever it is. So the guy who may be a
big strong guy at 9th grade can start playing college right away, but there may be players
(11:16):
who don't become that big and strong until maybe their junior year to start thinking about it.
I think if it's something you want to do, I think there's a level of sport
for almost anyone to play in college now.All the training we talk about is fine,
but what's going to open the most doors for you is being a really good student. And the most
(11:40):
money is for good students, not good athletes. I think there's six times or seven times as much
money available for academic aid than there is for athletic aid. So if you really want help
financially and you want to open as many doors as you can, do your homework and do well in school.
(12:00):
So if your child wants to pursue sports in college, where are some of the best places
to showcase their talents? Do you have some advice about that? Travel teams or camps or...?
I think all of the above. We counsel our parents that unless you have a lot of disposable income,
(12:30):
be careful. Be careful on how much of these are the outside things you do.
Now we're very unique with our club. We're one of the best clubs in the
country. If you're playing high school for us, you're going to get a tremendous
amount of exposure to college coaches. The tournaments we go to have 100 to 300 college
coaches attending. So that's outstanding.But even then we tell them, we recommend 1,
(12:54):
maybe 2 prospect camps. And so these prospect camps are different ones. There's showcases
and there's—I will divide this with—there's showcases that are run by non-college coaches
that they recruit you and say, “hey, we think you're one of the best players in the country,
why don't you come to our showcase for 3 days and train and play with us and college coaches
(13:16):
will watch you play.” And we think there are good ones and we think there are some not so good ones.
And then there's more prospect camps, which are on campus, on a college campus run by
college coaches. So we recommend our guys choose 1 or 2 of those of schools you're
(13:36):
most interested in to go there. One, you'll live on campus. You'll probably meet a lot
of players because the players typically work the camp. The entire staff is working the camp
or the showcase. So you get to know them and they get to know you and you may form a real
strong opinion right away. “Hey, I really want to go here.” “I don't want to go here.”
(14:02):
We had a guy who wanted to go to a certain school, he did a prospect camp and he
came home and said, I don't like the coaches.Right. Well, it also gives them the experience
of being away and being on a campus. And so, you know, that's good for motivation too,
to do better, you know, across the board.What year would you recommend that then?
(14:23):
I would do one after your sophomore year to know how to do them so you experience one. And the
ones with a college coach to be watching will be after your junior year or during your junior year.
The college coaches really don't watch freshmen and sophomores play anymore. They used to. They
don't anymore. So they don't have the time to go watch. They don't have time to go watch the
(14:47):
freshmen and sophomores. They're watching the seniors who've already committed to
them and maybe looking for a few who have not committed. There may be diamonds in the rough.
And then they're watching the juniors who have not committed yet and they're trying to get to commit.
So to go watch freshmen and sophomores really is rare. But go to one so that you know what it's
like when the college coaches are there. You have the experience, as Suzy said, being away,
(15:11):
being your own, what the 3 day, three practices a day look like and how you have to really take
care of yourself. So we tell them to do one after the sophomore year, one or two your junior year.
That's great. And so one of the other things that I have noticed, you know, somewhat because
(15:32):
my background was in video production, I was asked to create a bunch of highlight
videos for student athletes over the years.So how important is the game footage and
accumulating that? And then also, it seems to me like everything's gotten more sophisticated.
(15:54):
So now there's—there's like portals or it's almost like a dating website for athletes.
Matt (16:02):
You're 100% right. Right. And you've got to have
the picture and the game footage and this is what else they're doing and this is their grades. So,
you know, there's also coach, you know, other coaches and—and there's a lot of extra expenses,
I think, that parents could get tied into. What do you think is worth it? And when should
(16:26):
a parent even start thinking about it?Matt: Good question. Highlight videos
are a way in, right? The—taking game footage, shorten it up over a summer or a season. And
you're right, it's more sophisticated.You have the halo around them now or a
circle or something else. And the music can be really good. And they're getting much better,
(16:52):
much better video. It's not somebody standing on top of bleachers and the players about
this big. They've got videographers coming and getting close, close-up
action shots. And there's a lot more to it.So the college coaches love the video. There
are good ones and there are bad ones. They—you know, 8 to 10 minutes maximum.
What I always say to my players is you want it so the coach finishes watching it, he wants to
(17:17):
watch more, not he’s saying, when is this going to end? Give him enough. Give him enough that it's a
little teaser. Don't stand in front of the camera: “Hi, my name is Matt Hogan. I go to University of (17:25):
undefined
Alaska. I'm a midfielder.” No—action. Go.You can maybe have the contact information
scroll over at the end or the beginning is really important. I would—the first one I
would do would be after your sophomore year as a teaser to get coaches watching you as a junior.
(17:51):
I would get game footage. We're beginning to see that coaches are now asking for game footage
because they want to see you make a mistake and how you respond to it. Right. The highlight
video is all you doing good things. You're having success. Everything you do is successful. Well,
the college coach doesn't want to watch game footage and say, okay, what's the competitive
level he's playing against and how does he react when things don't go right for him?
(18:16):
He makes a mistake—how does he respond to that?You know, Suzy, kids nowadays are so savvy that
they're making their own. They're making their own videos. They're not hiring someone to do it.
They're making their own. And they're pretty good.Well, I'm very happy they don't need me anymore.
Matt Hogan (18:34):
It's—it's—it's—I—and I tell them, if you're not good, find somebody who is or hire
someone to do it, because this is most likely the first impression that you're going to get to make,
is by sending your highlight video after your sophomore year. So it needs to be good.
What about the portals? What do you think?Matt: Yeah, I think—we’ve had a lot of them come
(19:06):
through our club, and I've never found one that was really helpful to us. And in the last year,
for lacrosse, the college coaches, the IMLCA, have had their own profile recruiting website
for the last, I think, four or five years.And I have been convinced in the last year
(19:28):
that we actually are buying for all of our rising juniors and rising sophomores. We are
buying them the profile for the IMLC, the basic profile of the IMLCA, because it's the one that
college coaches are visiting.And we encourage them to:
Put up a post, a highlight video on it.Get your transcript on it.
(19:54):
And put those two things on. And to be honest, the motivation for putting a transcript on it is 1,
so the college coach can see. But 2, it’s for the players—the younger players—to know, we’re going
to put your transcript up. And I'm hoping that motivates them, that, “I want a good one. If this
is going to be posted and every college coach can see it, maybe I need to do my homework so that I
(20:16):
have a good transcript later on.”Now, do they do more than just
lacrosse or that’s just lacrosse?Just lacrosse. It's the Intercollegiate
Men's Lacrosse Coaches Association that does it. I'm sure the other College Coaches Associations
have it, but I would do your homework on which one you do, and I would be careful how much
money you spend. So we buy the basic package.I mean, it does all sound very expensive by
(20:41):
the time you're doing these camps and you're doing, you know, if you hire somebody to do
your highlight reel. I mean, is there a ballpark amount that you think parents should sort of,
you know, save for if their child’s interested in playing in college? Or that there are some
(21:04):
affordable alternatives for some of these things?Matt: Yeah, I guess it all depends, again,
what level you want to play in college, right? You can—you can not play club and
do other things and not do all the stuff and probably play at a certain level.
(21:25):
The higher level you wish to play, the more you're probably going to spend on some of those things.
Playing club, being trained, joining a gym and having someone train you, creating a highlight
video, and going to prospect camps. I don't—I don't know what—I don't know what a dollar value
(21:48):
that is, but I think you've got to be careful and make sure what you spend is what you can.
And if your son is good enough, he's going to be recruited.
Suzy (22:00):
Right. The star athletes, the really high-quality athletes are going
to be noticed. That makes a lot of sense.Are there clubs that give out scholarships to
athletes if they can't afford to be in a club in general, across the board with different sports?
(22:20):
Yes, they do. And that all depends upon a number of different things. But yes,
we—we do at our club and I know other clubs help families with our tuition that we charge.
Now again, do your homework, right?Overall, I don't—I don't know of a
(22:41):
club that doesn't offer some financial assistance to some of their players.
So, Matt, helping—helping our Mothers of Boys who—who might not be familiar with all the
different divisions of college sports, you know, NCAA has Division I, II, and III. And, you know, I
(23:06):
presume when it comes to the level of competition and the scholarship, that there is somewhat
difference between what their expectations are, how much money is available. And I've read that
only 7% of high school athletes go on to play in college. So does—does that sound right to you?
(23:27):
And what are the differences in the divisions?Matt: That's a low number. I'm not—I'm not—I'm
probably not surprised by that. I'm thinking about that. I think that, again, that funnel
from youth league to high school to college, I guess even tighter than when you go to college.
There's a—there's a huge overhaul going on right now with the NCAA. And a lot is going to come out
(23:57):
in the next hopefully month or two. They've been saying that for about 6 months. There
are significant changes going on with the number of scholarships, roster sizes, transfer—all that
kind of stuff. And it could—it could really change the landscape of college athletics.
(24:21):
I think—I think it's going to significantly change the landscape of college athletics.
But the difference in Division I, Division II, and Division III—let's talk about scholarships
first. If you're playing the sport in high school and doing all these things for a scholarship,
(24:43):
I think that's a mistake. If you're playing a sport in college and high school and you do
other things because you love it, because it's really important to you and you enjoy doing it,
keep doing it. Because earning the scholarship is the beginning, not the end.
And I think a lot of players focus on earning a scholarship. They get it and they've reached
(25:10):
a carrot and they don't know what to do. And they flounder and fail in college. The
ones that are successful in college are those that love playing and enjoy playing. And they
want—and they keep enjoying that in college.And there's not many scholarships. Everyone
(25:33):
thinks there's all this scholarship money—athletic scholarship money.
So, Matt, following up with what you were saying about the changes that are coming
in college sport, how does that affect the NIL, the name, image and likeness?
And is that all part of this shakeup?I don't know all of it. I don't think it
(25:56):
changes the NIL much. What they're talking about doing is increasing the number of
scholarships significantly, and—but reducing roster sizes. And the name, image, likeness is
not going away. The only change there is that the institutions want to provide the money to
(26:24):
the student athlete versus these outside co-ops.Years ago, the alumni were not allowed to interact
and sponsors and boosters were not allowed to interact with student athletes. Now it's
like complete opposite. The boosters and the sponsors and the—and the—and the—are running
(26:45):
the show and determining who gets how much money above and beyond scholarship.
And there's some that—I think there's a school, Division I football school, I think they have
46 different co-ops raising money and providing NIL money to their football players. It's a lot.
So the challenge is controlling that and knowing what's going on and who gets it and why are they
(27:11):
getting it. The institutions want to take that on.The challenge is—I may be getting too deep
here—the challenge is that there's a concern that they may then be—that then the athletes may see
themselves as employees of the university. Because they're—because they're paying them above and
(27:32):
beyond books and tuition and that kind of stuff. And I don't think the institutions want that.
So there's a lot. There's a lot to undig. But I think the NIL is not going away. The transfer
portal is not going away. Players' rights are at the forefront of the NCAA right now.
So I think to answer your question, Division I, Division II, Division III—I think there's
(27:53):
a right place for everybody. That's why there's three different divisions. Because not everyone
wants the same competitive level. One, maybe athletically, but two is mentally—they don't
want that much. They don't want as much.The Division II is the unique one. They
have all kinds of different rules. They have scholarships. Not as many as Division I,
but they have all kinds of different rules than Division I and Division III have.
(28:18):
Don't think this Division I thing is the end-all, be-all. There's a lot of people who go Division
I and are miserable, because it's—it's a lot. Choose the right fit for you. And that's what's
the most important thing, is finding your fit in the place you want to be that works for you.
So, Matt, what is the best way then to align expectations of that child? So you said,
(28:44):
you know, if your child says, oh, my dream is to play Division I sports,
what's the best way to align what that commitment is going to look like for them?
Matt (28:56):
You're going to play Division I? Yeah. So you're going to—you're going to train year-round.
You're going to start practice almost as soon as you get there. Maybe they wait a week if it's a
spring sport. You're going to have practice in the fall, weightlifting in the fall. You're going
to have individual sessions in the winter, weightlifting, conditioning in the winter.
(29:17):
Then you're going to start going 5/6 days a week come January. Come January, you're going
to watch film. You're going to go and meet with the coaches. You're probably going to see the
trainer at certain times. You're going to—it's a huge commitment to play Division I sports.
(29:38):
And again, if you look, I hear kids say, it's like a job. It's not like a job to those that
love it. It's not. I don't think my son ever felt it was a job. He was 100% all in to lacrosse 24
hours a day. And he's still a Dean's List student in an Ivy League school. But his
(29:59):
priority was lacrosse. And I think he enjoyed it.If—just—just be prepared that if you're going to
play Division I, you're going to—it's going to occupy, it's going to be a part of your life
almost every day, the entire academic year.And then they're going to give you—they're
going to—coach is going to hand you at the end of school a training packet that he's
(30:20):
expecting you to do all summer long. Monday, Wednesday, Friday, lift. Tuesday, Thursday,
you're going to run. We're going to give you Saturday, Sunday off. But we expect you to play
in summer league, so your stick’s in your hands.So you're doing something all the time. And part
of that is because the competition—and you're going to want to if you're competitive—because
(30:42):
all the people that you're competing against for playing time are going to be doing it.
What happens if you are recruited and then you get injured?
Almost everyone's going to honor a scholarship if you're injured, either prior to coming in or
(31:02):
when you're there. It would be—it would be a poor display of your commitment as a college
coach if you drop someone because they get hurt. It's going to have other players in the
future be less reluctant to come to your place.Most scholarships—and this is one of the changes
(31:28):
that's going on, that's a potential change may be going on—scholarships in the past have
been—have always been a one-year agreement. The school has always honored it for 4 years,
unless you're a real knucklehead. You do something academically, those kinds of things.
(31:53):
But typically those scholarships are honored for 4 years. I think that's going to change.
So, Matt, one of the members of the MOB—Mother of Boys—has a football player,
and she wanted to know, do you think it's worth it to hire a sports consultant? I mean,
(32:18):
that's where it gets back into the portal. I mean, there's all these—these sort of things,
you know, who claim that they can get a kid into a college team. Do you think it's marketing?
I—I think the sports consultant or sports agent, as what I understand, is prevalent in basketball
(32:40):
and football. It's not in lacrosse right now.I think you need to evaluate how much—how good
you are, how much can your club or your high school coach—how connected, how good
are they? And then if they aren’t—you don't feel comfortable—that may be something you do.
(33:05):
I just—again, I don't know the football and basketball guys, the guys that have done that
kind of thing. In lacrosse, I would not have my son or daughter sign up for them. I don't see
the value in it, and I haven't seen many of them be guys that I would want representing my family.
(33:30):
Well, and I think your point of, if they're going to a school that already is respected in that
sport and on people's radar, then it's not as a valid reason to pay extra money for somebody else.
Now, I think some of where—I think because why the basketball and football is more prevalent is,
(33:52):
I think the NIL money is real money at those sports for the really good players, they're paying
them a lot of money. And that may be part of the reason why negotiating those kinds of agreements
that they have could be significant dollars. And maybe that's why they're doing it more.
So, Matt, in our first podcast (In Their Corner: Youth Sports, Coaches and Parents), you talked (34:12):
undefined
about being their greatest champion. And so what is the advice for moms and parents as
the intensity ramps up in their son's sports? Do you have a motto for that?
(34:33):
You know, if I have a motto, I would—I used—I think there's—this is the time in high school…
I was a Dean of Students at St. Mary's also, and I used to do a back-to-school thing, and I probably
should find it somewhere, about the degrees of separation. This is the beginning, in 9th grade,
(34:54):
where they begin to separate from mom and dad.And I remember being a part of their tailgate,
and one of the freshmen got in a car with seniors. It was a friend of my son. My son
was in the year behind him. And the mother was about crying because he was—one, he was
getting in a car with seniors, which she wasn't really comfortable with. But he didn't need her.
(35:17):
So—and then the separation sis they get their own license. They need you less. And then they
go. And then they go to college. There's degrees of separation right now. You're going to be going
through—and embrace that. Because I know you don't feel that way when your kid's 15. But
(35:38):
you're going to want it when they're 30. Right.So allow the degrees of separation to slowly
morph themselves. Embrace those things and understand they're happening. And enjoy that
so that when they are an adult, they're not reliant on you, they're reliant on themselves.
(36:00):
And that's really, really important, I think.And sports are going to bring up more of those
degrees of separation from you. They're going to start going out socially more,
maybe spending longer days out, maybe sleep—if they have got to travel to an away game,
maybe they sleep over somebody else's house. You're going to see less of them a little bit.
So the degrees of separation—embrace those. But more than anything else, enjoy watching them play
(36:25):
because it's coming to a close.Right. Independence.
Celebrate the independence.100%. Go, go….
One of the—I'm going to switch—but I remember I dropped my daughter off at college. You know,
she was very, she's very quiet. And we went to meet the coaches with the other—we had a meeting
(36:46):
outside somewhere and we're walking over. And my daughter just left us. Just walked in front of us,
went over, shook the coach's hand, went over to meet the other girls, other parents.
We weren't—we weren't involved. We were both like, wait, you need us. You've got to want us.
(37:08):
And we were like—we were very happy. We were very happy and very sad all at the same time. Like,
holy crap, she doesn't need us at all.Well, go you and your wife.
Yeah, yeah.Matt, thanks again for coming
back and being with us here today and sharing all this great information about our boys who
(37:32):
are in high school sports, interested in college sports. You gave us a lot of great insights,
so we really appreciate your time today.It's ever—it's ever changing. So what I
said today may not be good in 6 months from now, but I enjoyed it. I thank you.
I really appreciate you guys having me. Good luck to all those mothers and boys.
To learn more about Matt's programs, visit Annapolis Hawks Lacrosse Club at
(37:56):
AnnapolisHawks.com or for lacrosse tournaments, visit HoganLax.com.
And thank you all for joining us today. Follow The MOB on Facebook, Instagram,
YouTube, and your favorite podcast platform. Be kind to yourselves, moms, and have a great week.
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