BOTC - US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums PENNSYLVANIA LACROSSE PENNSYLVANIA FORUM Main Forum Philadelphia & Vicinity

To the fella who is saying that BL could have beaten the Bandits, remember this: BL lost to the second string with a 5th grade goalie. Also, that small, slow, non-athletic team is a much better field team than box. And don't worry about the size, they're 11 and will continue growing. Phili is light years behind LI.

They practice twice a week, they take off most of the fall for football. My son has practiced with them some. They focus on stick work in the off season. This group has been together since 2nd grade. They believe in BOX and that is why the stick work is so strong.

They practice twice a week, they take off most of the fall for football. My son has practiced with them some. They focus on stick work in the off season. This group has been together since 2nd grade. They believe in BOX and that is why the stick work is so strong.

Hey there. LI parent here. 91 is a very strong program at every level; however, their 2020 Crush team and their 2023 Bandit team are on another level. The coach is a lunatic (also coaches NY Lizards, the reining MLL champs, and Stony Brook Women's Lacrosse, currently #5 in the country) but he gets results. The team has probably swapped out 10-12 players since 2nd grade and always upgraded with 2 or 3 every season, so it not like they have all been playing together forever. LI has a very large pool of really good players and, with a few exceptions, he gets his pick every year. There are some very good kids that won't go there because they would be fighting for playing time.

I know some people were talking about cost, but the cost for the Bandits is no more than any other top-their LI team. You get what you pay for. Their are probably 25 options for club lax on the 2023 level. The top 10 all cost the same (aside from travel expenses... some travel more than others). But they all practice twice a week in fall and winter. I would say Bandits, Warriors, Express A, Shore2Shore and Igloo are the top clubs. Then you have teams like Leg a Sea, Empire, Outlaws, Express B, True Blue and Igloo B (new club) that are below them. Then there is a ton of new or smaller clubs that may be better fits for developing player and parents who want to play locally. All of those clubs, even the developmental ones, have good players. Most have st least one stud player.

You need to understand how crazy lax is here. People buy their houses and settle into towns based on their varsity lax coach/program. That's not even a joke! Phili has talent, but it's still new there. Every dad in your area is not getting his kid a lax stick for his 3rd birthday. Grandfathers aren't taking their grandkids out to their back yards to shoot 100 righty and 100 lefty.

As long as the boys are having fun, don't worry about wins and losses. If your team is good, like BL, Sons, Dukes, etc) and you're losing, then it means you're playing the right teams. That's how you get better. Bandits and Crush play up very often.

Sounds like something that would be great to do in the Boys 2020 forum.....

What Philly league are the club teams playing in this spring?

Usually NXT. Someone said that NXT had a falling out with fever and Fever pulled all of their teams out of the NXT spring league. The also stopped swapping tournament registrations this summer. I would assume that the NXT league will crash and burn after this year. It is really overpriced for a bunch of short blowout games. Most teams are better off just scheduling Sunday paydays against a couple of teams that are of a similar skill level.

I couldn't agree more.

Moving to Philly area this summer. In the Main Line area it looks like Radnor is strong in public schools. Are there other good high school Lax programs? I would have thought Lower Merion schools might be stronger? Do the better players go to Haverford, Malvern Prep, etc.?

Haverford and Malvern are by far the top lax schools. Radnor and Conestoga are really strong programs.

Anyone notice why Dukes changed their practice location for the Nationals teams this past weekend the week before?

His brother coaches there?

No idea. But despite the rain, it was a great experience for my son. This model is not for everyone. But it's a great learning experience for these kids

Earliest commit ever. 2021 to Maryland

Sad that these coaches are pursuing kids this young. The system is broken. Too bad the adults in the equation (college coaches, club director, parents) can't show some restraint here.

Earliest boys commit. Bunch of 2021 girls committed already.

Funny not even the best player on his req team either. The system is beyond flawed kids locally getting recruited by big time schools and they might not even see the field for there HS teams.

They are being sold by parents and coaches more than they're being recruited. It happened with the LI 2021 girl going to Penn State. Dad was a football coach of some big time player and networked his way to getting his daughter committed. Can't wait till NCAA does away with this nonsense next month.

He doesn't play rec. He obviously is one of the top in the nation.

He played for Coventry and if it was my choice I would take the pole from that team. He is the second best player on his rec team.

exactly...that is what is comical about the early recruiting.

I 100% agree that some (not all) of the earliest recruits are being sold. There is one in the 2020 class that is average at best. I will be very curious to see how things turn out for them. I actually feel bad for the kids (and that is what they are) they have zero idea what it is they are "committing" to. I am sure I will get bashed for that comment and people will say how wonderful that their dreams are being met and all of their "hard work" is paying off, but there is no way a kid that has never even played a minute of varsity, and has zero HS credits can make a decision about what college they want to attend. IMO some parents have pushed this on their kids since they were little and the kid has had zero choice in the matter

Agree 100%.

Good thing its not your choice. I'm sure D1 coaches that are top in the Nation know what they are doing. Surprised they didn't consult you.

Okay "TAD" isn't even the best kid in Philly com'n now just overzealous dad you know it . I am going to guess the pole didn't play for Sons...

Who does your kid play for??

My kid play for Freedom, what does that have anything to do with it.

Spanos is a nice player. I don't think elite. My kid is a year younger than him. I do think that he stood out more when he was younger. There was a time no doubt that he really "jumped" off the field with skills and ability. But kids get passed as they hit puberty, get more touches, work on their game. There are a lot of kids that are really good when they are younger because they have a parent that put a stick in their hands in the delivery room. Then invariably other kids catch up with them that perhaps don't start until 5/6/7 for example.

No knock on the kid at all, congratulations to him and his family if that was their goal.

I just think it makes no sense to bank on these kids when they are in 8th grade. You can't even really bank on these kids, junior or senior year in high school let alone 8th grade.

Look at the kid from Syracuse that was the Number #1 Recruit and donned #22 talk... about underperforming and not living up to the hype. the whole thing is a crap shoot and throwing the dice in 8th grade isn't a table I would step up to.

Plays for Mesa, probably their best player, on a team that's very competitive

Doesn't he play for Rising Sons

his highlight video shows in played for koopers in MD last spring/summer. Seems like it would be a crazy travel burden although JHU HC has kids on that team so maybe he wanted to get seen by DP. Apparently switched to RS last fall.

Highlights are a combination of koopers and rising sons. He played with rising sons for a couple years and then left one summer when their 2021's disbanded and then came back.

RS 2021 never disbanded, there were lots of parents on the team that were dissatisfied and basically that whole team left, the original RS 2021 team was really good. Then they all left and were replaced with other players, not quite as good, but decent players none the less. The boy in question also spent some time playing for Igloo on Long Island. Both that and Koopers are crazy commutes, makes you wonder why anyone would want to do that

Yeah why when the 21 Mesa team is loaded? Could it be your parent is a total whack job?

Seems to have worked out and I think Sons beat Mesa and tied Igloo with the lesser players.

The Wookie!

They should bring back the wookies.....Small rosters and dirt cheap.

Tad you're a total [lacrosse]

What makes you call him that ? He has brought another elite program to the Philly area which was needed in this stale market of lacrosse. His program has been second to none for training and experience. Why all the hate ?

I think its more the way he did it. Any guy that would cheat in a local league when he already had the best team should tell you all you need to know...