BOTC - US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums MID-ATLANTIC LACROSSE MARYLAND FORUM MadLax Lacrosse

Its only Four tournaments for all the young age kids. And the high school kids can take tournaments off you just have to pay for all of them in one flat overall fee. People with Lacrosse money really do not care about the cost. And it just kills me when people talk about cost of things. 80% of Madlax kids go to Private Schools that cost 20K a year on avg. No kid has a gun to his head to make every tournament. And everywhere else in the world people like options. Also if you read the text on the website for the new MD and VA teams it looks like they might be moving to a more flexible schedule. Because with three teams at each age, you could let kids pick and choice more and only field two teams not 3 on a weekend.

You are appalled at how Douchy the parents are. You are on a crazy youth Lacrosse website gossiping about Kids just like everyone else on here. So as a basic rule of thumb if you are posting and reading this site you are Douchy.

HEY!!! Watch that!!!

Wish I won the sperm lottery.

Awesome. I'd be psyched to pay for tournaments that we cannot attend. What a bargain.



I, and many people, do care about the cost of lacrosse. You are a [lacrosse].

In a non-profit model, at least, a flat fee is administratively easier, incentives folks to prioritize tournaments and lowers the average cost per tournament per attendee.

Can we talk about how Madlax has a 2020 kid playing on their 2020 Orange team? Or a 2017 kid who has played the entire year on their 2018 team despite being a public school 2017 kid?

Wow, whoever wrote this has some serious issues. Are you really trying to cheapen the lacrosse experience of 6 young men that played in a NCAA championship game to promote the fact your youth club is the best in the world?

Step back and relax.

These kids could care less about the clubs they play(ed) for, all of them helped them reach their potential (NCAA championship, college club lax, or not playing at all). Good for all the kids that play college lacrosse, and don't lesson their experience because you want to brag about how well your youth club is.

Parents, your sons are all great kids. No one cares where they play travel lacrosse, if it's good for you, to each his own.

The Madlax dads on this thread are nuts. If lacrosse aids in getting one son into the college and obtaining the education they so desire, that's a win. Playing time is a bonus. The point of getting into a school is to obtain a great education.

Get a grip. No wonder some of you look the other way whenever the Madlax owner threatens someone.

Any idea how Madlax will determine which tournaments the "AA" Va and Md teams play and which the "AAA" Capital All-Stars play?

I would look at the spring and summer tournaments that for the Capital and National teams this year. I would expect the VA / MD teams to play primarily in the MADLAX run tournaments plus a few others like Hershey. I would expect the Capital team to play in some of the middle to high level tournaments with a bit overlap on both sides.

The other factor is how strong the teams are. He protects his reputation as much as possible and avoids getting creamed. Please note that he cleaned house with one age group between the spring and summer rosters.

What age group?

It doesn't matter if what you call it. These new "MD" and "VA" teams are going to be lesser than the "Capital" team. Every club has an A team for each grade (or whatever they call it), and any other team in that grade are kids who couldn't make the top team. Doesn't matter if you call them a B team or "Single A" - we all know what it means.

It is pretty rare for any kid to have a good experience on a B team. If a kid just wants to have fun and get more reps, then a B team could be fine. Otherwise, a B team gets no publicity recruiting wise, plays lesser opponents in lesser tournaments, etc.

It's one thing for a kid who tries out for Madlax not sure if he can make their top team. But if he doesn't, he should definitely try to find another club whose A team he can play on. I know one kid who played for Madlax Blue all the way until he finally made their Orange team (partly because a lot of the Orange kids had left for other clubs). The parents regretted it because he didn't get any exposure his freshman and sophomore years playing for Madlax Blue. By the time he made Orange, it was too late.

Hard to tell whether separate lesser teams or more similar to a national team. Sounds like a kid can play both for the Virginia "AA" team and Madlax-Capital. I guess we'll see soon, in terms who the kids practice with.

In any event, it shouldn't be all about ER. It should be about developing into a great HS player who helps his varsity team advance through the playoffs. In Virginia, only about 5 kids per year commit to a top 10 program not named UVA.

Was a kid that doesn't go from Blue to Orange until after sophomore year really likely to have gotten an offer just because he played for Orange for those two prior years? What other youth program in NoVa is a better alternative for a kid who can make the Virginia team but not the Capital team? 3d@Leesburg? Reverse commute to Cville? Drive to Bethesda? Live in Old Town so you can take your kid to Annapolis via I-95? I get that once you are a stud 9th grader you can probably find a travel team that gives you better exposure for the buck, whether Blackwolf or Duke's, etc., but who do you play for until then.

It's inevitable that another youth program will start up in NoVa and have a legit A-AA program, but where is it? Most mid-level Maryland programs usually have at least one year/team that is AA (eg, Diamondbacks 2022's), but I can't find another NoVa youth program that even fields a single A team/year, much less a AA team.

Has anyone else seen that they are starting a Madlax Georgia. this Sept? It says it will be based out of Atlanta. I guess the next question is how many partner programs is to many? This will only take National team spots away from the local Capital teams. This could be looked at as good or bad? But overall I think they have done a good job so far of still picking the best players for the National teams. They are all still Capital heavy if you read the rosters. Talking to the parents of kids on the National teams they still feel some of the kids from the other programs are not as good as some of the local kids not on the National team. But I am assuming if the head of a Partner program is fighting for a kid they have to put him on the team. Wonder how the other Madlax parents feel about these questions.

The more the merrier! It makes any spot more valuable, including the one my son has earned. I agree with the sentiment that Capital team is stronger than National Team. All players are good, but in many cases local team has developed chemistry missing from National Team.

More money for Madlax's bank account.

Yes little Johnny you are correct, that is how business works. Madlax makes money and if they want to keep making money they will keep winning and giving a good product.

Man that Wegmans down the street keeps giving everything people are looking for and need. But I hate them they are making a profit how dare they. The point being Madlax is not hiding behind a Non-profit label like some of these other clubs. Its a free market system and this is why they stay at or near the top. They other clubs go up and down based on the age and who is active for that age group. When a dads kid leaves the program goes away or down with it.

There is nothing wrong with Madlax being a for-profit company (although a non-profit has its interests more aligned with its families).

People can like it or leave it when it comes to Madlax' tactics for squeezing them for monthly fees, etc. It seems that more and more families are choosing to leave it.

Ok guy who keeps saying this. Please Please show me with real numbers how much cheaper VLC,Blackwolf and any other club are compared to Madlax. All of Madlaxs fees and costs are on the website. Once again nothing is hidden. But these other clubs never put what you get in total and how much you are going to pay for it. Please Please Please show me with numbers and actives for the other top clubs in the NOVA area. I am going to say Madlax is only $1000 or less for 12 months of lacrosse games tournaments and all compared to these other local clubs. I just read the Cavs site and they are charging $495 for the fall season. and they are playing in 2 tournaments. And I did not see if they are playing in a fall league? Madlax is charging $290 for fall league (Next Level) and the tournaments last year cost us $450 for 3 tournaments. The fall tournament schedule is not on the website yet.

If you think Madlax only costs $1000 per year, I have a bridge to sell you.

I forgot to say $1000 more. Not total. I know its more then the others teams but no one will ever man up and put down real numbers on cost for the other clubs. Because the totals will be a lot closer and I am betting a lot closer then every one like to just blankly say. So to clear it up I want to say I am betting when everything is all written down Madlax cost will be $1000 more or less then the other local clubs. So come on why is it so hard for a Blackwolf or VLC dad to write down what they pay.

We left Madlax partly because of the high cost and partly because we felt another club was better for our son's recruiting.

Here are the Madlax costs for a MS kid.

Fall 2014. I don't remember exactly but I think it was $700 for the tournaments.
Spring 2015. $580
Summer 2015. $1500

Annualized Madlax Academy fee. $900

So is $3680 for an entire year (not including winter, which not everyone does)

I'm not going to say where my child plays now, but the cost for this clus is nowhere near $2680, let alone $3680.

I don't think there is any club in this year that costs $2500 to play year round lacrosse.

Thanks for the cost breakdown. What is the cost where you play now and what seasons/tournaments are included? You do not have to name the club, but it would nice to match apples to apples for what you are getting for your money.

3d is about 3600 a year all inclusive. So that's about the same expensive # as Madlax.

Breakers HS Team was $2,500 last season for two Fall tournaments and five Summer tournaments, practice uniform, game uniform and shooting shirt. Helmet and additional apparel items, ie. sweats, shirts and hats were additional costs.

The costs for my son's MS team over the last 12 months were a little over $1,000, not including gear.

Covered 7 tournaments (so 35-40 games), 4 scrimmages, boot camp with visiting coaches and about 40 practices. Saw Madlax play a few times but never played them. We had similar records against common opponents but I thought Madlax looked better.

I'd probably be willing to pay more for more, but my son's improving, most goals are assisted so the goals are spread around, and he's having fun.

VLC is $1750 for the year
5-6 Sunday fall practices & 2 tourneys
Spring NPYLL league with Saturday practices
3 summer tourneys with 5-6 practices

$3500 for a year of lacrosse is insane. Cost for Baltimore Crabs is about the same as VLC.

So if you add in the extra summer tournament Madlax plays four in the Summer and 3 or 4 in the fall. I am correct they cost a little less then 1000$ more then the other teams. So yes no matter how you look at it Madlax is not a crazy amount over the rest. And if you throw in the extra games it's about even. Take the 900 out they pay the coaches with and its the same for sure.

Your math is wrong. Even if Madlax plays in more tournaments (which is a waste because no kid needs to play in 5-6 team touranments), the cost is still much higher for Madlax, especially when you factor in that ridiculous monthly or quarterly "Academy" fee. Madlax is more than twice the cost of the Baltimore Crabs, and the Crabs is a much better club.

Crabs you could say are better but much better is up in the air. Also the key word here is Baltimore not NOVA or DC. So you might want to add gas into the price for someone who lives in NOVA. I would also like to see the Crabs prices written down somewhere. I am guessing it cost people more then $1700. I am not saying what the correct amount of tournaments are. But if you are playing in more of anything its going to cost more money. Madlax parents do wish the club cost us less money overall but after reading all the data that just came in Madlax is not that over priced. And most of the time people are willing to pay 30% more because they are so mad about something with the club they left.

The one thing I will say about Madlax and Crabs is that they seem to have multiple practices per week, particularly in the spring for youth teams. I am not sure that is true for other clubs.

A bit of a clarifier on 3d; the teams don't practice on weekdays in fall. 3-4 training sessions of 3 hours in fall, then 3 fall events. In winter there is a box league that for 3d kids is a nominal uniform fee only and was about $60 for yet more apparel. The box league is very decent and about a dozen games. Not sure about youth, but the HS teams do 6-8 practices and 5 events. Some events are considered 2 if you go to Uplax for 3 days or Baltimore Kickoff for 2 days. To me it seems like one weekend, but the tournaments charge for each session so it is paying twice. That's all of it. I think juniors include a spring league but not sure. It is on the expensive side for sure. Not a Madlax parent, but in fairness the high price buys a lot of lacrosse if they are practicing multiple times a week, and doing 5-6 events in summer. The events are really expensive. It may be priced fair considering $1750 for a few practices and 2 fall then 3 Summer events also sounds expensive for what it is. My one criticism is no kid needs to be doing 5 or more summer club events, especially in high school. I'd much rather see it curbed to 3 and cost $800-$1000 less. There's also a bit of a moral hazard when the extra events are to stuff more teams into events owned by 3d or Madlax since both organizations also do events.

Team 91 MD 2020 is $2195 for the year. For that you get:

Once a week fall practices
2-3 fall tournaments
Winter indoor box training (with provided box helmet) and games
2x weekly spring practices
2 spring leagues
2 spring tournaments
2x weekly summer practices
4 summer tournaments
CPX-R helmet
Brine or warrior head
Brine or warrior gloves
Shooting shirt
Uniforms

But Madlax gives you the Case thing. Totally justifies paying $3600.

That is a bargain, because VLC wins championships.

Madlax focuses on winning youth tournament trophies. Crabs, BW, VLC and other clubs focus on getting their kids to college programs.

VLC seemed pretty focused on winning that trophy last spring