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After what I witnessed from the BL allstar team yesterday at the Mesa play day it's clear they have work to do if they think they can compete at the WSYL.

to funny..

BL did take top kids from other programs last year which is why several players left. the owner could care less about how it hurt other competitive programs in the Phila Area....new parents didn't care either. That all said, it didn't work as evidenced by their disappointing performance at WSYL. All that money and stress for what? Hopefully the boys on the team have learned a good lesson for life.....when they are NOT playing lacrosse.

Seemed quite obvious to me that the BBL team that went to the WSYL was not a "regular" BBL team. First, they were a lot better than the regular 2024 team. Second, the team was enormous. I'd say that close to 90% of the team was 5'11" or better. Their "regular 2024 team" is not nearly that big. And they were definitely not bean pole kids. That's usually a pretty good indicator that something is up. I don't know many 6 foot 7th graders. Having 20 of them, is definitely strange.

But the real truth came out when the team played. It's a good team. Very powerful (older), obviously, but skills were good for the most part.
However, their offense was NOT good. The only offense was either an isolation or an isolation with a draw and dump. That's it. No plays. Basically a two man game at best. No ball movement at all.

Why would that be, if a team has big strong and talented players?? There are only two plausible explanations for this. The first one is that the coaching staff is absolutely horrible. They don't implement any plays, and they basically don't coach. The kids just go out and "play". While this is certainly one of the possibilities, I don't think this is the reason. I'm quite sure that the coaches are quite capable.

The only other reason why the offense is not near as good as it should be is because the team doesn't have any plays, or formations, simply because the team hasn't had any practices to put such things in. It's simply a team of as many 2023 age-eligible kids they can find, and some from their 2024 team, and other teams too. It's a WSYL-only team.

The idea is they get the biggest and best age-eligible (Fall 05 babies) players they can find and go with that, and forego the practices, since all of the players play on different teams, coordinating a few practices would prove impossible.

Mystery solved. Good 2023 team for the most part. I'm sure there are a few 2024's too, to be fair. But everything adds up to a WSYL-only team, that has had basically no practices. The older/bigger team will do well against mid-tier AA teams, but not true skill "TEAMS" that play like a TEAM.

I highly doubt they broke any rules, and I'm sure that most other WSYL teams did exactly the same thing, but just not as well as BBL did it. But not quite well enough.

I understand your feeling of disillutionment about how your team fared at the WSYL. It's only human nature to find reason and explanation. I'm not sure I wouldn't do the same. Having said that, you only have to download the WSYL App as it lists the roster of every team. Since you're seeking some sort of truth, my advice is to look at those names and simply match them up the the jerseys (which has them printed on the back) of their 2024 team that you regularly play in tournaments and know that they are born after Sept. 1 2005. If you want to check what grade they are in, ask your kids to search and follow them on Instagram. After all that, I hope you find inner peace and answers to the questions that you seek. Also, try to keep things in perspective.. that this is youth lacrosse.

Not sure what you are referring to about BL but here with some facts. The BL team went 6-1. Lost in quarter finals to a team that played in the championship game. The boys had an over the top experience and enjoyed every minute of it. No one came home with any regrets or lessons to be learned. It was great lax and a great experience. . End of story.
Take your BL drama somewhere else..

Crazy right? The tournament and everything associated with it is1st class and an absolute blast. Amazing scenery, no humidity, legal pot....

What this does show is that Long Island still dominates this sport on age. The best athletes play lacrosse on the island, they practice ALOT and having a team that plays together for a long time clearly has a benefit.

Everyone wants to say the rest of the country is catching up, but it’s really not happening. The rest of the country is getting better at lacrosse and top players from some bordering states can go toe to toe with best players from LI, but lacrosse is a team sport and LI has the best on age teams.

And Team 91 dominates the youth landscape winning 3 of the 5 years.

2020 Team 91 - Crush
2023 Team 91 - Bandits
2024 Team 91 - Wolfpack

No holdbacks.
No 2023’s
No guest players
No WSYL-only team

One team for holdback lacrosse. Same team for WSYL.
70% of team has been together since the beginning, in 2nd grade.

Not saying anyone cheated or even did anything deceptive. No disrespect intended, in fact kudos to the #2 team in the event. Most teams did the same thing creating a WSYL-only team. Just pointing out that there are significant drawbacks to doing that. The biggest one being the teams don’t play like true “teams”, like real teams would. If that was a true “team”, in all likelihood they would have won the whole thing.

BL, BBL, True all looked solid. I think they all went 6 and 1 and beat Long Island teams. The top 2 Long Island teams just deeper and more experienced at this point, but I think those 3 teams will give Legacy and Wolfpack better games in the future as they get the experience and add couple kids.

they went 6 and 1 fyi.

Not saying anyone cheated or even did anything deceptive. No disrespect intended, in fact kudos to the #2 team in the event. Most teams did the same thing creating a WSYL-only team. Just pointing out that there are significant drawbacks to doing that. The biggest one being the teams don’t play like true “teams”, like real teams would. If that was a true “team”, in all likelihood they would have won the whole thing.
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Whenever someone says no disrespect the intent is definitely to disrespect. You have some great theories but none are based in fact. You claim that this can't be a true "team" but BBL scored 2 goals in the qualifier championship and yet averaged high double digit goals in this tournament and was tied 5-5 heading into the 4th quarter vs the eventual champion who demolished everyone else. Seems like you would need a miracle for that kind of progress with no practice and a team of kids who don't know each other. I know you hope its not true but this is the BBL team you will see for years. Oh, and by the way the top teams in this tournament all want to play each other and not make excuses. Hopefully you can find the right level of competition for your son. Will make things more enjoyable...for all of us.

You’re putting Legacy in the same category is Wolfpack?? Did you see the championship game? Those two teams are in two completely different levels.

If what you are saying is accurate, and I’m not saying it is, then BBL has a serious problem with their coaching. BBL was able to beat inferior teams with size alone, playing biggie ball with a 4th grade mentality offense... big guy goes to goal. No ball movement at all. Same thing for every team played, based on parents from the different teams. Never going to beat a good defense or a skilled ball movement offense with that mentality, at this level. Having said that, maybe you can explain to all of us how a pure 7th grade team is 80%+ 5’11” or better. The only team I’ve seen that is comparable size-wise to that team is the Annapolis Hawks team which, as everyone knows, is 80%+ holdbacks. For what it’s worth, that strategy works better for BBL then it does for the Hawks. Hawks are not nearly as good as your boys. Advise: Find a real offensive coach.

I know this is entertaining fodder but why are you so obsessed with BBL? Did we wrong your son or team in any way? Why does height matter if they proved that they are on age. WSYL has strict proof of age requirements. We're doing just fine with our coaches, you can keep yours and their awesome play book. I'm sure your team moves the ball really well and crushes the competition. Advice: worry about your own team, unless they're already ranked #1 in which case, you can afford to dole out advice, that's if anyone would listen. Any other questions?

Not saying anyone cheated or even did anything deceptive. No disrespect intended, in fact kudos to the #2 team in the event. Most teams did the same thing creating a WSYL-only team. Just pointing out that there are significant drawbacks to doing that. The biggest one being the teams don’t play like true “teams”, like real teams would. If that was a true “team”, in all likelihood they would have won the whole thing.
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Whenever someone says no disrespect the intent is definitely to disrespect. You have some great theories but none are based in fact. You claim that this can't be a true "team" but BBL scored 2 goals in the qualifier championship and yet averaged high double digit goals in this tournament and was tied 5-5 heading into the 4th quarter vs the eventual champion who demolished everyone else. Seems like you would need a miracle for that kind of progress with no practice and a team of kids who don't know each other. I know you hope its not true but this is the BBL team you will see for years. Oh, and by the way the top teams in this tournament all want to play each other and not make excuses. Hopefully you can find the right level of competition for your son. Will make things more enjoyable...for all of us. [/quote]

If what you are saying is accurate, and I’m not saying it is, then BBL has a serious problem with their coaching. BBL was able to beat inferior teams with size alone, playing biggie ball with a 4th grade mentality offense... big guy goes to goal. No ball movement at all. Same thing for every team played, based on parents from the different teams. Never going to beat a good defense or a skilled ball movement offense with that mentality, at this level. Having said that, maybe you can explain to all of us how a pure 7th grade team is 80%+ 5’11” or better. The only team I’ve seen that is comparable size-wise to that team is the Annapolis Hawks team which, as everyone knows, is 80%+ holdbacks. For what it’s worth, that strategy works better for BBL then it does for the Hawks. Hawks are not nearly as good as your boys. Advise: Find a real offensive coach.
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Unless you are a coach or player of WP I think we will pass on your advice. Amazing that in an aged based tournament (with verification) you can still try to use the same holdback argument. If you are correct that 80% of the team is 5’11+ (you said 90% in your first post) how could we not play biggie ball? It’s just math. Not possible to pass it to a small kid if you don’t have any. But we all know that is not the case. Going back to facts over myth check out who led the tournament in assists and made first team all tournament. It’s on the WSYL app and he is nowhere near 5’11. I guess he is part of the 20% under 5’ 11 (or 10% in your original post) who was able to somehow survive in the offense you describe. Fact is you are now saying things like “based on parents from the different teams” which clearly indicates you didn’t see this team play. Give it a rest and when your son is on a team that has more success than this we will listen to your sage advice. My guess is that won’t happen anytime soon.


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If what you are saying is accurate, and I’m not saying it is, then BBL has a serious problem with their coaching. BBL was able to beat inferior teams with size alone, playing biggie ball with a 4th grade mentality offense... big guy goes to goal. No ball movement at all. Same thing for every team played, based on parents from the different teams. Never going to beat a good defense or a skilled ball movement offense with that mentality, at this level. Having said that, maybe you can explain to all of us how a pure 7th grade team is 80%+ 5’11” or better. The only team I’ve seen that is comparable size-wise to that team is the Annapolis Hawks team which, as everyone knows, is 80%+ holdbacks. For what it’s worth, that strategy works better for BBL then it does for the Hawks. Hawks are not nearly as good as your boys. Advise: Find a real offensive coach.
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Unless you are a coach or player of WP I think we will pass on your advice. Amazing that in an aged based tournament (with verification) you can still try to use the same holdback argument. If you are correct that 80% of the team is 5’11+ (you said 90% in your first post) how could we not play biggie ball? It’s just math. Not possible to pass it to a small kid if you don’t have any. But we all know that is not the case. Going back to facts over myth check out who led the tournament in assists and made first team all tournament. It’s on the WSYL app and he is nowhere near 5’11. I guess he is part of the 20% under 5’ 11 (or 10% in your original post) who was able to somehow survive in the offense you describe. Fact is you are now saying things like “based on parents from the different teams” which clearly indicates you didn’t see this team play. Give it a rest and when your son is on a team that has more success than this we will listen to your sage advice. My guess is that won’t happen anytime soon.


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BBL is clearly on this person's head to spends this amount of time obsessing and worrying about us. My guess is that it's killing this person inside that his or her son has not yet reached his growth spurt or is part of a team that is not competitive. I do hope your son hit his puberty soon so maybe you can focus your energy on his development and his team instead. He'll need all the luck in the world based on how you're behaving in these boards. I can only imagine how you treat him after losing a game. This person is probably one of those toxic parents that will move their son from one club to the next. Good luck anyway.

Yes, we’ve seen your same old post across multiple Forums with the same old blah, blah, blah. Speaking of unnecessary and lacking any sense of self-awareness, classy job running up the score to settle a LI beef on national television, WP. Hope that satisfied the coaches and parents. Cringeworthy. Deep down, your moral compass to come on these forums to perpetually brag and trash other teams is no better than MadLax. Running up the score was icing on the cake. The audience tuned out early on your biggest day, the stadium emptied out early as it was clear you are no ambassador for the age on sport, and ESPN2 is probably regretting they televised this event as it was a total loss for their commercial ad sponsors in the second half. Also, the 8 to 10 teams that got clobbered with double digit lopsided losses and went 0-5 or 1-4 in pool play (pretty much
what WP did in the first two games with 19-1 and 18-1 pool play wins), likely won’t incur the time and expense to send their 2025 teams next year. So next year, likely less ad money and less teams which is a bad thing. Sadly, it won’t be surprising if we just witnessed the beginning of the slow demise of the last national age on tournament in the country.

Not sure why you are so defensive, since I have been nothing but complimentary of the BBL team.

Since you mentioned it, my team is the #1 team.

Have you read your own post? If the way you complement is by casting shadow of doubt to the legitimacy of a team when it comes to playing by the rules, then consider me flattered. If it's meant to be truly a complement, then thank you and congratulations to your team for winning the WYSL. My question to you is, why even bother with the negative spin if your team is clearly the best on age team on the planet. You should be out celebrating the WSYL win.. I know we would if we won it. Now that we're passed that, our semi final game was a great game and we hope to get the chance to play your team more in the coming season.

I think you are both right, frankly. We have played BBL a bunch and they move the ball well. Their strength, though, is their midfield size and speed. They would be crazy not to use that as a weapon and capitalize on mismatches. But what happened in the final was reflective of the team they were playing against and the score. When they were down, they played more individualistic than I have seen them - a lot of one on one play trying to be a hero. They lost patience and lost the game. Maybe the coach should have stepped in as you say. I think Wolfpack probably wins 6-4 in 10 ’games - there wasn’t a talent gap except for #22 and #3.
The BBL team is really the one we see all summer but for maybe a LSM and a goalie who joined for the WS team. They must have busted their butts to improve since the qualifier because they were a machine in Denver.

its why the tournament is tainted. They went out and grabbed 5 new players to form the WSYL team you saw on TV. so be it. The 2 middies they got make that team what it is. They played well as a team and won ., Exactly what the club wanted . THe Win.. all about the Win Not about the sport or the kids.

It is sad to see the BBL parents crying about their loss like somehow they were wronged. Anyone who knows anything about the 2024 division could have told you that it would have ended this way. Stop complaining and embarrassing your children who worked hard. They did well.

That WP braggart better be a parent of either #22, #3 or the goalies, because if not, we all know that their kid is expendable and replaceable without any drop off to that team.

The WP parent is correct. The talk of the tournament was the BBL size and lack of offensive prowess. What amounts to 2nd grade, run to the goal and score, lacrosse. Every non-BBL parent said the exact same thing about the team. It wasn’t just their performance against the WP team. It was against every team. Yet the BBL cry baby parents choose to not respond to either of those points, which is very interesting in and of itself. But then again, nobody really cares all that much about the #4 team in any tournament. True Illinois, along with Legacy Taz, were far better teams.

#22 joined from LIE and #3 was originally a Taz player. So kudos to WP for doing some serious recruiting. Games would have been a lot closer with out those two. That said, they were there, they dominated and WP is best on age. Hands down two of the best players around.

Love the 'pack hate. LOL. It's been going on for 7 years. Get over it they are a great team. Let it go dad. Or maybe we should talk about it another 7 years.

Love the 'pack hate. LOL. It's been going on for 7 years. Get over it they are a great team. Let it go dad. Or maybe we should talk about it another 7 years.

It’s a very well known fact that WP has no holdbacks, no 2023’s and no guest players no matter if they are playing MD cheater teams or WSYL 2023’s. One team, one goal. Vomiting such obvious lies to the contrary just makes you and the whole bbl organization look like a bunch of sore losers, which the parents on here are. You really are. Nothing but compliments have come from me, with the exception of the size question and the offense question which was asked by literally every parent at the WSYL. Yet you don’t address the two questions, which I find very condemning, in and of itself. The only thing out of you are cry baby insults. Absolutely no class. At least you live up to the well earned reputation of the Garden State which is arm pit of the world. Congrats on bringing this trash site down to new depths. You fit right in perfectly. Notice I didn’t vomit any lies about bbl, just posed the same two questions that everyone is asking.

they went 6 and 1. won the east regional over BBL. how is that disappointing? They beat Freedom and NXT in recent tournaments along with BBL, Bethesda, Carolina, etc. Pretty solid wins. Are they the best team in 2024 no but they can give anyone a game and definitely a top 10 team. Pretty age on as well so that is impressive.

Wait until high school...BL is the new Rising Sons. Wouldn't touch that program with a ten foot pole!

Completely agree. They have absolutely zero track record with being able to guide kids through a recruiting process. They don't have the structure nor the kind of culture required to be successful for kids in terms of recruiting. If you want to chase wins, tournaments, and all of the "fun" garbage they are the perfect fit. The owner spends an awful lot of time trolling this site waiting to pounce at a moments notice to push the BL agenda. They have no plan and hoping it works out doesn't quite get it done.

Anyone know anything about Team 11? Good practicies? Does Sankey coach?

How many of the Sons 2020 team is going to play in college? and who coached them....oh yeah you both sound like stunads. And i guess neither of your kids made the team when they tried out.

[quote=Anonymous]Anyone know anything about Team 11? Good practicies? Does Sankey coach?[/quote

Team 11 teams are all in the NXT range of competitiveness. In the lower A/B level. (Aside from the 2024 team at NXT, they are a high quality team somehow). Sankey’s Brother but not him, but overall I would say coaching is solid.

They are both classless organizations. They poach players and win at all costs. Could care less about who is playing in college.

What are you basing this on? Neither Team 11 or BL have kids that are even at the age to be recruited. Based on the people that have been brought into both organizations I don't think getting kids recruited will be an issue for either one.

I was referring to BL and RS clubs...the earlier thread.

What?> The oldest RS team is 2020 and they have 14 or 15 commits so far (and a Yale footbal recruit). Name another Philly 2020 team that has more.

People are stunads...they say things w/o having a clue. They say BL and 11 chase title, look at the weak events Freedom 24 played in; talk about chasing t-shirts to no avail.