BOTC - US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums PENNSYLVANIA LACROSSE PENNSYLVANIA FORUM Boys 2024

Let the BL Bragging and Bashing begin.....

Thanks for starting the 2024 thread. Picking up where the other poster started on the general thread that BL2024 promises their parents Championships I have to say that was never brought up.

We left another club and tried out for BL this past season. My son is not by an means close to the top boys on this team but I can tell you what the experience has been thus far.

Positives:
1. Excellent coaching. Especially the box training really made a difference over the winter kid loved it.
2. My sense was I would pay less money as they mention with their a la carte approach and I have.
3. The team has 3-4 players that are outstanding 5th grade lacrosse players and then a lot of "good" players. Better kids help my sons development. Our previous club didn't really have any top notch players. It gives him a goal.

On the negative side:
1. There are boys on this team that are AA caliber players and there are boys that are struggling to consistently catch and throw.
2. I think they could practice a bit more and consistently.

All said and done very happy with the switch and looking forward to the Tournament season.

Does anyone know if the Dukes Nationals 2024 team is any good? Were they able to attract some talent, did they get quality players from LI and MD? Seems crazy to me to go from the two biggest hotbeds of lacrosse to the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania. What tournament are they playing?

Dukes 2024 has some very good talent. No weak links , certainly not the caliber of taz or Wolfpack as a team but some very strong players But this team is brand new. Played 1 tourney together, They played up in binghampton in a 5/6 tourney a few weeks ago and held their own against some good 6th grader teams. They have multiple kids from Maryland, Virginia, Carolina, New [lacrosse] etc. this team is not intended to be your primary team, The tournaments are set up around the primary travel period, not to conflict. Mini camps are awesome and getting better and better as more kids show up. The mini camps are set up on college campuses where the team watches the game then practices on the college turf. The coaching is phenomenal. Even if you have no interest in playing, 60 dollars for a very intense 3 hours is well worth it. Upcoming tourneys is shamrock 3/19 on Long island

Will Dukes National be at the Shamrock on the makeup date 4/8?

Probably, especially since Wolfpack is playing up.

Heard the BL 2024 lost again to Madlax. Anyone know the score? How did Madlax look?

Lost 7-6 both teams looked rusty no excuses but Just a side note BL was missing three starters one of whom is top 2 on the team. ML is all
About one kid that is a foot taller than anyone else on the field he had 5 goals

Everybody was missing players last weekend. Madlax was probably missing some too. Most of the DC area was on Spring Break. No shame in losing to Madlax. I think Taz has lost to them like 7 straight.

No shame at all we have lost to them three times now by 1 goal each game. We will get over the hump. Our coach told us that their coach asked to move the game up in time as families were "leaving" for break in the afternoon but that they had their full team.

I saw the tournament schedule before and after it was changed. BL vs Madlax was always at 12pm - The time for this game never changed.

Uh duh you do know all tournaments send a draft of the schedule for review for conflicts before they publish it to parents in fact most say DONT share with parents

I love how this 2024 team has endless number of excuses. Just face it... you'll never get over the hump. You are not a top 5 team in this age group! Wolfpack, Taz, Madlax, BLC, and Hawks are all better than this team.

No excuses my friend. My son told me heard the HC for Madlax actually say to the coaches at BL, "you were missing some guys" and the BL HC Coach responded, "No excuses"
You are just jealous that a small club like BL is beating your team like a drum.

Who has BL beaten "like a drum"? Has BL ever beaten one of the top 5?

I guess we'll find out just how good this team at the Elite 8 tourney in June.

Wolfpack
BLC
Madlax
Team 91 MD
Taz
Igloo
Hawks
BL

I'm sure once BL loses to one of the teams above, they will make excuses again.

Yes we will and you won't be there.
My point was that all these boards are the same. Local teams complain and accuse the better teams of cheating and just being bad people. You are correct we have not beaten a team on that list and half we haven't even played, ever. However we are in the conversation and invited to the party. I would turn your questions to what LOCAL team have we not beaten because it is local bashers and you know it. Is there another local Philly 24 team that can compete with anyone on that list?

Rough Rider BETTER than Brotherly Love. PERIOD!

Now that's funny...

Rough Riders should worry about beating Freedom

Uprising as well.

where are most kids playing on uprising coming from?

I think they are more Bucks County and there seems to bed some sort of partnership with Triple H. They are a decent local team. I would rank the local teams at 2024 below:

1. Brotherly Love
2. Uprising
3. Freedom
4. Rough Riders
5. NXT

Uprising will be at the top of that list for this class give it 2 years

If you are counting on Triple H to help Uprising I wouldn't. The days of Triple H and Dukes having a strangle hold on the talent are long gone.

Triple H is still the standard. Don't kid yourself there is a reason that kids leave other clubs to join Billy and his team of coaches.

If they were the standard they would field competitive teams at the younger ages which they don't..21/22/23/ are all well below average

There are those that use a win / loss metric however I would offer the better metric is how much the kids "learn" from superior coaching. The proof is in the results. In the last year what club can claim a higher placement rate in elite athletic and lacrosse institutions. Fear the "H"

The matchups are set and it is going to be a fun weekend! Let's hope the weather is perfect for lax.

We may go 0-4 my friend but the reality is that we are IN and you are OUT

Your joking right! If they are the standard, the sport is in trouble!

Freedom 2024 is the best team in the nation. With Ryan Shannon leading the defense and Jake McMahon leading the offense, they are unstoppable.

We'll, this is an interesting statement.

Their best player is Udo
We have played them multiple times and it isn't even close

They aren't even the best team in Chester County, let alone Philly.

Obviously someone told the kids about this site and they posted this.

Maybe 2019 and up, with all teams going to year round training, HHH although strong is not top dog at any age.

Completely agree. Kids are no longer leaving their clubs to be coached by Billy and his team. They did this several years ago because they believed that HHH was their pathway to the Dukes. HHH is just another Philadelphia lacrosse club and should definitely not be considered the standard.

Dukes national is becoming a joke. New kids every tournament. Depth chart means nothing. Some kids played on the 2023 then same tournament get pulled down to play with the 2024 team. The 2022 team had about half 2021 kids on it. I had a older son play for the original Dukes program the national program is a complete money grab

So are you saying these are grade eligible kids or are they dropping kids that are not grade eligible.