Dallas Lawyer Sues Large Chunk of North Texas Lacrosse Community For Not Playing His Son

[TexasTowelie]

[font color=green]DISCLAIMER: Billy Munck plays lacrosse at my alma mater, Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. Southwestern University holds the distinction of fielding the first varsity lacrosse team (NCAA Div. III) in Texas.

I will withhold comment on the merits of the lawsuit.[/font]

Pop quiz: A young high school athlete isn't getting much playing time. As a parent, do you a) Encourage your teenager to buckle down and work harder; b) Have a few choice words with the coach; or c) Suggest that, you know, maybe academic decathlon might be a better fit for his or her talents?

If you chose any of the options above, you haven't been initiated into the rarefied Dallas lacrosse scene. If you had, you'd know that the correct answer is actually d) Sue for damages.

That's at least the one Dallas trial lawyer William Munck is choosing. On Tuesday he filed a federal racketeering lawsuit against Dallas Lacrosse Academy LLC and a half dozen local lacrosse coaches alleging they were shaking down families in exchange for playing their kids and giving them other advantages.

To understand the suit, which weighs in at a hefty 39 pages, it helps to understand how the local youth lacrosse community is structured. On the one hand, you have teams that have formed over the past decade or two at elite prep schools (e.g. St. Mark's, Greenhill, the Episcopal School of Dallas) and upper-crust suburbs (e.g. Plano, Highland Park, Frisco); on the other, are independent organizations like DLA (now C2C Lacrosse) and StickStar.

More at http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2014/03/dallas_lawyer_sues_large_chunk.php .

[EC]

1. I could see the coaches shaking down parents

for $$$ to play their kids. They do it in band and other areas where they need donations to keep going.

[TxDemChem]

2. That article is very interesting.

Remember when school sports were so much simpler?

[DhhD]

3. That was when athletics was a complete part of the curriculum and too much money was

unfairly budgeted toward one student. Now with the losses and shortages of education funding, the money has to be spent at a more equal out lay budget per department in a school. Used to be that some school districts budgeted very little money for science equipment and allowed a fortune to be spent on athletics. Now the state requires a certain percent of the week to be spent on scientific lab work. Accountability has made changes. Parents have demanded equality in academics (to include girls sports and athletics too-Remember Title IX).

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1632220-the-most-expensive-high-school-football-stadium-in-america#articles/1632220-the-most-expensive-high-school-football-stadium-in-america

How was this stadium paid for? See public records.

[TxDemChem]

4. I may have gotten lucky with the schools I went to.

My dad always wanted to make sure my environment supported all avenues of interests. He used to play basketball at OU, but went on to work in a lab, so he was very particular about my getting the best of both worlds. I really appreciate him for that. That stadium was a hot mess. We were so pissed to see how they spent their money. And now they can't even use it because of structural issues.
I guess it may just depend on where you live.

[DhhD]

5. The local school board could make Lacrosse a part of the curriculum, including gifts of money to

that public school program which are tax deductible. The Education Foundation can help set this up also if money is needed. The current coach can be a volunteer under the Athletic Director who is a certified teacher.