I didn't have enough room to end that title with "DOMINATE." Not saying that the public schools in this region don't put out some good players, but in this day and age, the private schools dominate in terms of good players and teams. The private schools have always, ALL TOGETHER, had better teams than the public schools. However, several years ago, there were some public school teams that could have competed with, and even beaten, most of the private schools. Throughout the 60's and 70's, Towson High School had some incredible teams which produced loads of great players. And in the late 80's and early 90's, Dulaney had some incredible teams that could have competed with almost any team in the country. As soon as the 90's came about, it seemed like the private schools started to get almost all of the best players. Little by little, their domination increased, and it seems like the private school domination is at an all-time high today.

In this day and age, if you look at the Top 10 Boy's Varsity Lacrosse teams in the Baltimore Sun Rankings every week from the beginning to the end of the season, almost all of the spots are occupied by private school teams. Most of them are from the MIAA "A" Conference, which is considered by many to be the toughest high school lacrosse league in the country. IMHO, that is the hardest conference in any sport in the Baltimore-Annapolis area to repeat as champion in. The talent and the parity among the top teams is incredible. Here are the teams in the MIAA "A" Conference:

St. Paul's
Gilman
Loyola
Boys' Latin
McDonogh
Calvert Hall
Mt. St. Joseph
Archbishop Spalding
Severn
St. Mary's
Friends-I think they are still in it.
I hope I didn't miss anyone.

I wouldn't be surprised if these schools increase their dominance as years go on, and in time, the parity will be much bigger. The 3 weaker teams, Friends, Mt. St. Joseph, and Archbishop Spalding, have improved. And, as years go on, they will get even better. Archbishop Spalding has improved a lot, and with a more yuppy student body, much improved athletic facilites, and more lacrosse hype, they could be a tough out someday. Traditionally, Mt. St. Joseph has had a few great players but has not had as solid of a team as most others. However, I understand that they are re-doing their sports facilities and that those new facilities are going to be awesome. I predict that a lot more great players from Anne Arundel County, Catonsville, Ellicott City, Howard County, and Carroll Country who would have originally gone to the bigger lacrosse schools will now go to Mt. St. Joseph. Friends is known to be very artsy in some ways. However, one must remember that Friends is the alma mater of the great Kyle Harrison. I bet that knowing that Kyle went there will steer a few more players to friends.

And folks, remember this school for future years-John Carroll High School. John Carroll is a coed-Catholic high school out in Bel Air. Throughout the years, they have produced some really good players. However, since they are located out in rural Harford Country, they weren't located in a highly populated area and were too far away for many of the Balimore-area kids. John Carroll is currently in the MIAA "B" Conference. However, I predict that they are going to get a lot better as the years go on, move up to the "A" Conference, and be very competitive at times. First of all, Harford Country is much more populated than it used to be. Second of all, they have built some beautiful homes out there, and some very wealthy families have moved there, either from somewhere else in the county, from out of town, or even from Baltimore so that they now can have a little bit more nature and peace and quiet to enjoy. Hey! Their girls team won the "A" Conference this year, beating out many of the big traditional powers in that tough conference. That might well help to draw more boys' talent to John Carroll, because lacrosse is a CULTURE in this region for boys and girls. They love to be together.

Just to let people know, the top public school teams in the Baltimore-Annapolis area in this day-and-age are usually teams like Broadneck, Severna Park, Mt. Hebron, and Dulaney. It is not much of a surprise that those are the public schools with the most rich kids.