Start them young.

Coach them well.

And hope they stay together later.

That seems to be the recipe for success, according to area high school lacrosse coaches, if teams from the Bucks County area want to truly compete against the dominating teams from the other side of PIAA District One — namely the Delaware County powerhouses.

Bucks County youth lacrosse programs a must

"So much of it starts with the youth programs," Pennridge boys' lacrosse head coach Chris Pianko said. "Look at the teams in the Central League. Those kids grow up playing together in really good youth leagues, working their way up and then they all stay together in high school.

"They don't go off to a private school. They know they can win (PIAA) state titles and stay together at their (public) high school. Radnor's won the last three and Springfield (Delco) and Conestoga have also won and are always strong."

And the numbers bear this out.

Since boys' and girls' lacrosse became an official PIAA sport in the 2009 season, 10 teams from District One have won the Class 3A boys (large enrollment) title.

Pennsbury's Popovich soaring: Pennsbury's Popovich went from girls' lacrosse novice to standout in a hurry

La Salle High (District 12) has won three PIAA titles (2009, 2013, 2019) and District Three (Manheim Township in 2018) has had one winner. No PIAA championship was held in 2020 due to the pandemic.

In girls during that span, 13 teams from District One have won PIAA Class 3A titles and one from District 12.

PIAA titles eluding Bucks County teams

None of the winners, be it a district or PIAA title, besides La Salle High, a private school, have come from the Courier Times/Intelligencer coverage area.

In fact, besides La Salle High (which has gone 28-9 in the PIAA tournament), only Pennsbury (0-1), Pennridge (0-1), Hatboro-Horsham (0-1), Abington (0-1), Archbishop Wood (0-2 in Class 2A), Lansdale Catholic (2-4 in Class 2A) and Central Bucks East (5-6) have qualified for the PIAA tournament.

In girls, Gwynedd Mercy is 3-4 in the PIAA tournament while North Penn (0-2), Archbishop Wood (0-1), Hatboro-Horsham (0-1) and Upper Moreland (0-1) have never won a PIAA tournament game.

Latest boys lacrosse rankings: Boys' lacrosse rankings: Here are the top teams in the Bucks County area

More of the same this season for Bucks County lacrosse?

This season, in the latest www.phillylacrosse.com top 15 polls of Philadelphia area high school teams, La Salle High is ranked fifth while Central Bucks West is under consideration.

It's telling the Explorers, who are loaded with a whopping eight seniors that have committed to Division One programs, are sandwiched in the poll by Radnor at No. 4 and Springfield (Delco) at No. 6.

"Those schools like Radnor, Springfield and Conestoga have had a pipeline going for a long time," La Salle High head coach Rob Forster said.

"And we've been blessed to have had coaches like Bill Leahy and Tony Resch that built our program into one that kids want to be a part of."

On the girls' side, only Germantown Academy of the Inter-Academic League is mentioned in the poll, and the Patriots, like CB West in boys, are under consideration and not in the top 15.

Latest area girls' lacrosse rankings: Girls' lacrosse rankings: Here are the top teams in the Bucks County area

Club programs needed in Bucks County area

"Can the gap be closed?" asked Upper Moreland head girls' lacrosse coach Kim Frantz, whose team qualified for the PIAA tournament for the first time last season.

"For us, it's really, really tough because we lose kids to the private schools that recruit. We obviously don't recruit, but we have to play some of the private schools that do recruit in the playoffs, and they've taken some of our top kids."

A lack of strong club programs in the area also hurts.

"The closest club to us is in Doylestown and that's 30 minutes away," Frantz said. "And the really good club teams are where the college coaches look for kids.

"I'm now involved in our township lacrosse program, but since Warminster doesn't have a township team, and Lower Moreland doesn't have a township team, we have kids from those areas in our program.

"We welcome everyone and try to teach them the game, but having strong youth programs everywhere would help everyone. Our program starts in kindergarten, but everyone seems to push soccer, baseball and softball when the kids are little."

Top returning girls' lacrosse players: Take a look at the top returning high school girls' lacrosse players in Bucks County area

The Bucks County area also needs the cycle of former players that know the game to turn to coaching after their playing days, according to Pennsbury girls' lacrosse head coach Marguerite McDonald.

"One of the problems at all levels is getting coaches," McDonald said. "This year, we maybe could have had a freshman team, but we didn't have enough coaches.

"We have myself, my assistant, and a JV coach and 52 kids came out. We love the turnout, but we just couldn't find a coach."

Winning a huge part of the lacrosse equation

Winning, too, as always, makes a big difference. But developing a winning program, and maintaining it, isn't easy.

"Success breeds success," said Pianko, who led Pennridge to its first PIAA tournament appearance last season.

"We have some new kids out for the team this year that saw the success we had and wanted to be a part of it. Everyone likes winning and they're much likely to stick with a sport, and work at it, if the team is winning.

"If you can keep winning, you can keep your kids and keep building and building."

Private schools alluring to top Bucks County area players

But the allure of playing for a potential PIAA title is a strong one.

"I was debating going to a private school my freshman year," said Upper Moreland junior Annalise Messina, who scored her 200^th career goal in early April and has already verbally committed to Rutgers.

"I thought I was going to, but ultimately decided not to. I have a twin brother, Kevin, and he would have stayed at Upper Moreland and that would have been tough. I don't regret the decision at all."

Drew Markol covers local sports for PhillyBurbs.com. Support our journalism with a subscription.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Can Bucks County area lacrosse teams catch up to District One foes?