BOTC - US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums MID-ATLANTIC LACROSSE MARYLAND FORUM Greater Howard Club Lacrosse Conference (HoCo)

The obsession some dads have with the Crabs is really creepy.

they are the only club that asks kids to repeat a grade for lax! That is gaming the system, it morally and fundamentally wrong. the club, coaches and parents all lack integrity!

You ramble on and still do not understand the problem that Ryan Mc is creating. Do I have any respect for him, no, would I ever let my son play for his organization, no and he is well beyond good enough to do so, I want him, and others feel the same, to do it the right way. If you feel it is necessary that your son repeat so he can look better, than that is your call, but yes, I do not like what Ryan Mc has done to the youth lax game and he is taking it well beyond the sprit of grade base lacrosse. Yes, Crabs parents are gaming the system, but they are being pushed and encouraged to do so by Ryan M. I have never met him, I do not want to and I have no vendetta against him personally but I do for what he has done to youth lax. I strongly feel there are much better ways to have a strong/competitive team than to have an almost entire team of holdbacks. Ask around about him, others will tell you they have no respect for him in the way he runs Crabs and the LARGE number of holdbacks. Like I said before, all teams have a few holdbacks, but their entire team is not build on holdbacks, like Crabs teams are. If you feel you must defend him, go right ahead, but believe me you are in the minority. As for looking in mirrors, maybe you should take a look and see if you really feel that you are teaching you son that by repeating a grade is the best way to get ahead in lacrosse. Why not let his ability take him to his limit and then have him make every effort to improve on that. And do I hate Ryan Mc, but I have no respect for him and you know why. As far as being asinine, you can't even see what he is doing, you just drank the kool aid and are happy where you are. Last thing on this, no he isn't breaking the rule per se, but you damn well know he is abusing it and that was never the intent of grade base lacrosse.

LOL. I have a bridge to sell you. They have holdbacks. Every club has holdbacks. A club like Madlax has more holdbacks, as does FCA.

Philly? Every team there has holdbacks. Saying the Crabs are the only one who actively/passively encourages holdbacks is funny.

Please stop hiding behind "no rules are being broken", the fact that there are no rules is how you get away with what you do.

No rules are broken, but spirit of fair competition is being corrupted.

2020 Elite - Annapolis Hawks, Crabs, FCA, Looney's, Madlax, Next Level, Rising Sons, Team 91 MD Force, Team 91 MD Platinum

Madlax does not belong in that group

. What proof do you have that Madlax and FCA has more holdback? Right, didn't think you had anything but empty words. Mostly all teams have a few but none on the scale of Crabs. And I know of no other club that promotes holdbacks to the scale of Crabs. This is the standard pushback of Crab fans, try and put the focus on other clubs. As far as that bridge goes, why don't you and the Crabs leader go to the highest point and jump off.

Because I know many kids on both Madlax and FCA. Madlax encourages holdbacks on every team, and FCA has a ton partly because of the Catholic connection.

Crabs have them. So do nearly every club in this area. Get a grip, Dad. And no, we don't play for Crabs.

Madlax and next level are elite? Who even is next level?

Next Level has been around awhile in the NPYLL....low AA but better than madlax at the 2020 year group. Not very good at 2019 or 2021. 2020 was better than madlax last year and is much improved since then. Very strong this fall.

91 Platinum is Elite? They were A last year and won Halloween Havoc in the fall- what elite team plays Halloween Havoc? Somebody must have paid HoCo extra to let Next Level, Madlax and 91 Platinum into elite. Not really fair to the other 6 who always seek the toughest competition and play one another regularly with close games and games that could go either way. Dilutes the accomplishments of the 6.

For 2020, HoCo just drank the kool aid by letting 3 totally unproven teams into the "elite" bracket. They need to have a bit of a backbone and do what is right for the kids which is placing teams where they fit best. Allowing three lower level teams into an elite bracket is not fair to those kids - the true elite kids or the ones who do not be,long there. It distorts the bracket and does not allow even playing for the teams who do belong there as not everyone will get to play the weaker teams and not everyone will want to.

Crabs tell families "if you want to play crabs next year your son will have to stay back a grade"! This is a fact!

Madlax 2020 should not be AA. That is a joke.

Where's VLC?

All hoco did was rename divisions.
Vlc is AA

Are the HOCO divisions posted somewhere? I think that is someone's opinion of what the Elite teams are. HOCO doesn't name their divisions Elite. They are AA, A, B

Who did they play in the fall, what tournaments and with what scores that the "very strong" is based on?

91 Platinum was the top "A" team last year. It is the proper thing for them to move to "Elite" to challenge themselves, maybe they surprise somebody.

There loss to an "A" team last year was to FCA, and that was when FCA brought down a handful of AA players.

If the division's hold true. It's good. The ones that won should move up. It's 6 games. You should play the so-called best. Most of the better teams added multiple players. just let them play. Don't be mad your kid didn't make crabs

It's doesn't matter what happened last year. The teams all changed this year.

Lots of speculation here on divisions....not sure HoCo will decide or if the teams will decide, but that is the key ingredient here. Some clubs will play down and some will play up to the detriment of the league.

Next level 2020 was strong at the madlax fall tourney and won the AA division. Madlax was not as good. Neither are as as good as the looneys, the crabs, or the team 91. I hope HoCo does 4 divisions so that the games are close for everyone.

They should play AA to challenge themselves then - not the Elite AA bracket. Jumping to the highest level of AA from A when there are alternatives shows that there is some major politics going on. They have not earned that placement and is unfair to the teams that have challenged themselves. It is a 6 week program and they , Madlax and Next Level are keeping those other teams from having the highest level of competition which is what THEY paid the same $$ for.

FCA White correct? Not Blue, the elite FCA 2020 team? They are probably a skilled team and capable of AA play - the point is that they have no basis for jumping right into the Elite bracket and it is not fair to the kids who have earned the Elite bracket. What true AA tournaments did any of the three play in the fall-their scores? What did they play last year ?

All this talk about holdbacks, cheating, and winning and losing lacrosse games s beyond stupid. There is only one reason parents hold their kids back a year and that is to draw he eye of college coaches/recruiters early in the process. This is where parents' minds are and for any big-time club program director/coach, this is where the money is. When you open a club's website, you don't usually see their win-loss record or their tournament championships, but what you do se is where their players are attending college. This is the brand.

They are this year, the above is accurate.

AA this year is - Rough Riders, FCA White, VLC, Lax Factory, Club Blue, API Diamondbacks, Looney's Green, Cavalier, Cannons and MD Xtreme.

That's funny. Many single A teams now called AA. What has lax factory, Looneys green, fca white, Vic won. Rough riders could be in the elite division but they lost five starters. Hoco has it right.

Where is it posted? Is the elite division set too? I'd like to see that as well if someone has it

"AA" is an "A" division, don't know why they chose to rebrand the divisions.

"HoCo has it right"? Except for putting Madlax, Next Level and 91 Platinum in the highest AA bracket - these teams belong with Looneys Green, FCA White etc. They would not roll over any of the teams in the AA bracket. Probably just the usual whining by the coaches and the "me too" mentality.

Ok
Leave top 6,
Then AA would be rough, next level, madlax, 91, club blue, cannons.
Move the rest to A

Can somebody post how they have it broken out right now - there are over 40 teams in 2020.

Apparently these are not completely set in stone. The Elite and AA already posted are correct. Kudos to teams like 91P, Madlax, Next Level for challenging themselves. It's usually the other way around with teams sandbagging. Here are other 2020

A Division

Performance
HoCo
Koopers
Rock
Zingos
3D
Peninsula
Lax World
Green Hornets
Madlax - MD
Hawks
USS Destroyer
Next Level
Breakers
Madlax - VA
Thunder

Surprised Thunder would be in 3rd division as they were 5-1 in A division last year

B Division-

Greene Turtle
HoCo
Sidewinders
Ground Control
Team 42
Bethesda
API Diamondbacks
MD Wolfpack
Rockfish
Tradition
Maryland Wild

Bethesda must have really fallen apart? They were a AA team just 2 years ago

How can the Elite and Double AA be set in stone and the others not? Wishful thinking perhaps if you say it enough, it shall be - if they are set in stone that is pretty shameful. So it is okay for those teams to challenge themselves at the expense of the other 6 teams getting crappier games ? You must have whined and petitioned ALOT to get your way.

I don't think Madlax is going fare too well in the elite. I think the brackets look about right though. Good for hoco if that's how it goes.

I said none was set in stone. The indication in hoco email I saw was that it they did not want to change any divisions from this. They had already sent something out and then there were changes. My son is not on one of the three teams that YOU are whining about. Shameful? You're a drama queen aren't you. Bet you are a treat on the sidelines. Hopefully your son can survive being exposed to non "elite" 8th graders.

Hey dads, get your egos out of youth lacrosse. Find your self-esteem somewhere else. Not at the expense of your son's self-esteem.

Exactly. Kids going 0-6 or 1-5 and having blowout games week after week is not a great set up going into summer. Parent and coaches ego. Let the kids play where they belong talent wise. They will be much happier.