BOTC - US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums MID-ATLANTIC LACROSSE MARYLAND FORUM Maryland, D.C., Virginia Fall 2015 Summer 2016 Lacrosse

This thread will be used to cover the news and discussions of the Fall Lacrosse Leagues for Baltimore and Capital (Maryland, DC, Virginia) areas.

What does everyone think the impact Team 91 MD will have on all the other local clubs?

My guess is that 2021 and younger will be fairly strong and 2020 will be okay. They will need to prove their brand works in Baltimore before they will get the older kids.

If they were just south of Baltimore and convenient for the DMV, it would be a different story. They would be able to take players from MADLAX, Hawks, etc.

What fall leagues are there?

Annapolis area: AYLA Fall (Outdoor) - Some club, some rec - starts 9/13 thru 11/1

Bethesda area: Next Level Fall (Outdoor) - Almost all club - starts 9/13 thru 10/25

Baltimore area: Coppermine Box (Indoor) CBLL - starts 9/11 thru 12/13

Any more?

The impact will be that the Baltimore clubs will become even more diluted and even the best clubs will get a little worse..... LaxWorld, Rock, Wolfpack, Crabs, Breakers, FCA, Looney's, Kooper's, Greene Turtle, etc.

Strong clubs from out of state have tried to crack this scene before and didn't last long..... 3D, United, ???

I would not jump from a club you are happy with thinking 91 will be any better in their 1st year.

they could be strong at 2020. Breakers coach at that grade already listed on 91 website. Breakers were among the top 4-5 in MD at 2020. will be interesting to see if all players follow. Breakers is one of the most expensive in balt. Will 91 be more?

Where 3d blew it and Team 91 will blow it is neither centered in Southern Maryland. As a prior poster noted the best strategy is to be somewhere 30 mins south of Baltimore, 30-40 minutes from Annapolis and 20 minutes away from Montgomery County and 40 minutes away from Fairfax County.

Lots of people would exercise a choice and you could draw some people from all those areas and incubate a good club. Setting up shop in Leesburg Virginia was stupid for 3d and alienated the families of the better players they were able to attract. Setting up a me-too version of Madlax or VLC in Fairfax County is equally stupid, and setting up a me-too version of Crabs or FCA in Baltimore is likely the most stupid thing which is what Team 91 is about to do. I see more of the same reading that they are doing tryouts in early August in Baltimore burbs.

It's a loser strategy right out of the box. 3d just blew it. Nobody wants to drive to Leesburg to play with the Battlelax and PVI leftovers. That's a shame considering they have a platform to be a success but just a terrible execution strategy. Ditto with Team 91 Maryland...that will be exciting for about 3 months.

91 focused on building the boys side of the club from bottom up- starting with the little kids and making their teams strong and growing them. They did have older middle school and high school teams at first, but they were not as competitive. As their name got stronger, the older teams because more competitive and as the younger teams aged, they became some of the top teams- example- Extreme, 91 orange 2019, Crush, Smash, united, Heat, Bandits. If they work with the same model- starting with the younger teams and growing the club, they may be just as successful, only time will tell and you may not see success within the first year. I also agree that the 2020 team from the Breakers will be competitive.

I do think that a saturated market is really not great for the sport though, as it dilutes talent over many teams- but it does give the consumer the edge in finding a team and a philosophy that works for their family. Everyone should really research any club you join from philosophy, to the coach and past experiences good and bad from previous players, etc. It is a lot of money to spend and you need to be wise about your decisions, especially if starting young, as there is a long road ahead. Good luck to all!

No a shot I'm trekking over to southern maryland from fairfax county. I'd rather drive out to leesburg.

I heard MLC is dissolving, why? can someone confirm

That team won the MYLA [lacrosse] A division and made a decent run at trying to stay together as a club team. Time for something new. There should be a sizable migration at the 2019 age this year. Tryouts will be interesting.

Leesburg is the worst. I live in Fairfax. Expensive tolls both ways and fighting commuter traffic to get there from Fairfax on a weeknight. The ideal location for a DMV club is Tysons Corner exit if there are fields. Potomac School? Great Falls fields? Or the first few exits over the Maryland border. Tons of Fairfax County kids go to the Maryland side prep schools. Bullis has a zillion fields. People are going to complain no matter what, but in the end people will also go if the program is the real deal. There are Bethesda carpools to go play for Crabs and FCA almost an hour north. A logical thing is to get access to kids in Loudon, Fairfax, Montgomery, Howard and over to Annapolis / Severna Park areas. Loudon County is the absolute worst. Not enough good players or population there to justify a location there which makes it too impractical for the regions where more and better inventory of kids are.

I always say I would rather drive 35 to 50 mins for a top of the line product. Then drive 5 mins and get about 5 mins of good lacrosse and play with not good players. Its the same argument you need to have when you compare prices of clubs. You drive 50 mins and pay $50 at Ruths Chris steak house. But you will only drive 5 mins and pay $20 for steak at Outback. The same rules can apply to a lacrosse club choice. You have to look at it that way.

was the original poster referring to the whole club or just the MLC 2019 team? That team would be in HS come fall. MLC was down big time this past spring in terms of # of teams in MYLA. MLC had always been a quasi rec/club program with most teams playing MYLA and a few playing in NYPLL. Maybe they're a victim of the rush to play full time club at younger and younger ages.

Ask any MLC parent.....they will tell you.

what would they tell us?

To many dads as coaches?

Silly

Most MLC teams are MYLA rec teams. Volunteers are the backbone of youth sports and for better or worse mostly parents. Not affiliated with MLC but don't think they are folding. 2019 team stayed together for club purposes and now moving to high school. Perhaps kids on that team dispers.ing for recruiting purposes

To my knowledge, the 2019 MLC team is the only recent MLC team to play in club tournaments and the only MLC team to ever play in the NPYLL. MLC is a great rec/MYLA member with many teams in the boys and girls divisions every year. I am not sure why the 2019 team disbanded but all of those boys are good players who are in the process of finding new teams right now.

Weak tryout numbers for teams. I feel sorry for the 8 kids that tried out, but won't make it.

Were you there?
There were close to 100 for some age groups. other age groups already had base teams and were only filling in. High school age may be a bit scarce but that is not a shocker given teams at this age group are usually set. 2019 and 2021 may be weaker but the other teams very competitive.

How did they have base teams in Balt if this is the first tryout??
Did they have some complete teams come over?? 100 is a good showing for a age group..What grade? Be an interesting year coming up with all these club teams. I find it hard to believe that Balt will be ale to produce that many true very good teams at each youth age group below 9th grade down to 4th.

Both Breakers 2020 coaches moved over. That is the age they had 100 kids and they will field 2 teams at that age. MM's Breakers 2022 team is coming over for the most part also.

Wow...Figured MM's team would come over..But 2020 teams too. Ouch! Good start to org. Breakers will need to reload bigtime. They had a little trouble filling a few teams last year. Wonder if Breakers will drop a couple of teams??

Such a moron...

I heard they lost their $ backer. Zero confirmation on that, but VLC was an apparent beneficiary. VLC 2020 tryouts were very impressive....50 solid players on the field. Some from Cav, Freedom, madlax, and others. This should be a great team in an otherwise unimpressive northern va 2020 field of teams.

Team 91 Maryland, a bunch of promises of
"Elite coaches". So where are they?
You want to pay over $2k for your lax,
Have at it!!

[quote=Anonymous]Team 91 Maryland, a bunch of promises of
"Elite coaches". So where are they?
You want to pay over $2k for your lax,
Have at it!! [/quote

Rock is over $2000 as well, $2200 plus additional money for clinics and other options. If you do everything you are paying close to $2700!

Isn't it funny that on both the boys and girls side, the top clubs are usually at the low end of the price range?

Agreed. If you kid isn't a 2022 or 2024, you are not playing for elite coaches. Rather you are playing for rec coaches that moved over to club. 91 is a for profit organization and priced accordingly. Crabs makes their money off tournaments and camps.

What is the definition of an Elite Coach

Breakout just merged with Bethesda. Will this have any impact on Madlax, Club Blue, or Next Level?

I think this will help Kill the Madlax Maryland model. They are saying the tryouts are not going well this week. Club Blue will always have the GT prep kids and Next Level has a place. This is just taking the bottom level teams and making a better bottom level team.

Someone that has coached at minimum of a Varsity level and preferably the collegiate level.

What it is not, is someone's dad that played in college.

Club Blue falling apart. Not even having younger year teams - and lost most of their coaches. CB boys at all grades - except 2021 and 2023 are trying out for other clubs.

Bethesda 2021 has 110 kids coming to tryouts this weekend and has 70-80 at every other grade.

Bethesda 2021 will be strong. Bethesda 2020; however, has blown up. Most are headed to Next Level 2020. Bethesda 2020 will be a B team this year. That's what you get for having no HS program.

Bethesda has no interest in a high school program. It's a not for profit youth organization and the best and biggest one in the area. The for profits should be thrilled Bethesda is developing the boys that play for them in high school and Bethesda will stand behind its mission and offer lax to every kid.

Sad what the for profits have done to the sport. Early recruiting has certainly impacted 8th grade squads - nothing new there. It too bad since only a handful of kids will ever get recruited before 10th grade.

And Next Level is not where u would go if you had a chance to be recruited in high school - been years since had even a decent high school team.

What if that Varsity team was 1-12 three years in a row, I just see the term thrown around and was wondering what people's take on a Elite Coach was