Originally Posted by Anonymous
I’m curious why 91 players year in and year out get to the top D1 programs vs the other clubs? It’s not marketing or shiny helmets.

Well let's get the facts in order first. Other than the outstanding 2023 and 2025 teams, where the owner of 91MD has his sons, the recruitment record of 91 MD is fine, and maybe boringly similar to other top clubs. It's fine, and they do a good job of it - just like Crabs, Hawks, FCA, Madlax, etc. Posting all over the internet that they'll "boast a significant number of top 50 recruits" is silly and not factual, unless you define "significant" as "2 of 50."

Another fact is that if you look at how many "91 players" are in the "top D1 programs", defining "top D1" as the top 20-25 D1 programs who are potential contenders for the NCAA tourney each year, then most years, "how many" is probably 2, 3, or 4 players. Very similar to other MD top clubs.

All of this leads me back to the point that, absolutely, 100% it is marketing. It is marketing a good product that for some players at the HS level, meets the promises made by the club after 8th grade when all the youth players are moved to "practice team" and the new players make up the new roster.

Mark will accurately say that "the 2023 and 2025 teams were together since 3rd grade," which is largely true, but it's also because a lot of really talented adults poured thousands of hours of coaching and parent-networking (and HS coach networking!!!) into ensuring those teams were an absolute Unit on the field. When you look at the younger 91MD teams, you see that they have about 50% player turnover every year, so clearly, the grip on this has loosened.

Great example is the 2027 team, who went from being a non-factor through most of 8th grade, to suddenly getting some big wins in the summer before 9th grade. Is it because the 5 years of player development suddenly "hit" between May and June of 8th grade? Or because the HS roster additions began? No judgment here, because we know Crabs, FCA, and absolutely the NJ and LI teams are building rosters this way at the very same time. It is what elite HS club teams do.