BOTC - US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums PENNSYLVANIA LACROSSE PENNSYLVANIA FORUM Boys 2022

So if HHH has kids on all teams like Dukes Nationals it's a supplemental team to the regular club teams and they don't count either.

Freedom
Mesa
RR/ Sons
NXT
Team 11

How does BL stack up/rank?

When all the players from Freedom and Triple H play for BL they are very good but all the best players are part time. This should be interesting though as all the players really seem to like playing for Urso and a lot of the best players are from Kennett and BYC the two founding communities of BL

We are in the process of relocating to Unionville/Garnet Valley area and I was wondering which club teams are most popular for the boys from that area?
Looking at websites and practice locations it appears Brotherly Love, Rough Riders and Fusion are closest. Any feedback/input welcome.....thanks.

So you're saying they are like Dukes Nationals nonsense ... Part time players and a Daddy coach?

I don't get this logic.
Freedom, Sons, RR all have kids on other teams. How do you determine which is their primary team?
Not having HHH at the top of this is silly. Sorry Freedom daddy.

Not even on the radar.
Good coaching but do not have the personnel to compete at the AA or even A level.

BL is coached at 22 by Garnet Valley's head coach so that would be your best bet. If not one of the WC teams would be the closest, RR probably has the most talent.

Do people in Philly pay to be on multiple clubs at the same time? or are some clubs so desperate for wins (Dukes Nationals, big 4 hhh) that they take on lots of guest players?

I wouldn't call it nonsense. My son plays part time for BL and I have to say the experience was outstanding. He is coached by an extremely dedicated man who also happens to be one of the best to ever pick up a stick. The practices are outstanding my son has gotten better and loves playing for Coach Urso. I did consider his time with BL as supplemental and in fairness that is what the club presented this year as, however the experience has been every bit as good as my sons primary club. It will be interesting to see how BL shapes up at 2022 for this upcoming year. The club is outstanding and I have friends that play for their 2023 and 2024 teams and they are thrilled with the coaching and improvement of their boys. Not to mention they are both top 10 in the country

[quote=Anonymous]Do people in Philly pay to be on multiple clubs at the same time? or are some clubs so desperate for wins (Dukes Nationals, big 4 hhh) that they take on lots of guest players?

Definitely pay for DN and HHH, they are businesses $$. BL uses guests.

Avoid any team that carries 2 teams if you end up on their 2nd team. None of them devote the time towards the 2nd team. It is a complete money grab on their part.

If you really are looking for a place to develop as a player, the places to be IMO are NXT, Fusion, Team 11.

That is beyond stupid....

I agree B teams are total money grabs. B teams play in the $500 tourneys and supplement the A teams playing in the $2k to $6k tourneys. Only 1 dad coach vs 3 dad coaches.

Than you are playing for the wrong club.

B team fee $2100, Fall practice no tournaments, winter practice no tournaments, no spring, summer practice 3 tournaments
Total money grab

Then you are a schmuck and pissing your money away shame on you. Plenty of quality clubs that have solid 2nd teams you are the consumer you need to do a better job on you research

That is what a top highly competitive AA program is charging for the B team.

YOUR ON CRACK.....LOL

Depends on what the line up looks like - it changes every week. Sometimes Dukes are great, sometimes they are dookie.

"great coaches want to coach the B teams and clubs want to devote extra resources to B teams" said no club ever.

BL begs for guest players all the time. The Kennett Freedom kids come in and out when the director daddy calls for a "mayday"

The BL director Daddy is a full time blogger trying to justify getting beat by the Duke's programs. Make all the excuses you like. Write all the hate that you want Jonathan. Games are simply won and lost on the field. If you don't like to lose then make changes! ;-)

The BL director Daddy is a full time blogger trying to justify getting beat by the Duke's programs. Make all the excuses you like. Write all the hate that you want Jonathan. Games are simply won and lost on the field. If you don't like to lose then make changes! ;-)

Ha. Swing and a miss Gonzo. Jonathan maybe be a full time blogger never met the guy but comments aren't from him. I do know that you hate BL especially considering all the players they have from your program that have left knowing what you are really about. Stings doesn't it knowing that some of Lehigh Valley's best are driving an hour and half away to play at Brotherly Love instead of Dukes. Don't worry once people get to know your true colors there will be a lot more defections, you know how the saying goes about skunks and their stripes....The rest of us know who you are and what you are we have watched you screw people over for too long.

Gonzo. Looks like you are the full time blogger based upon the shameless plugs you are putting on all the other forums from Main Forum to MD. Com'n now have some integrity.

Agree. Gonzo you need to get a life this is a comment from another forum pasted below. You post the same question on multiple threads and think people are going to think it is a parent asking?

The National Team concept is an interesting one and in my estimation is here to stay. There are several teams such as Dukes and True that seem to be garnering both attention and success. While the merits of aggregating star players from disparate geographical areas is beyond refute their success is what will ultimately validate both the model and standard. A club like Dukes foundationally depends on a venerable name and despite the new leadership that assumed the mantle of both the name and the prestige; their long term success is questionable as the majority of the feedback seems tepid at best with an occasional salvo from the director vehemently decrying foul against any negative comments.

The True model is an interesting one. Multiple states fielding decentralized club teams aggregating under a single Team to win a couple of championships at the end of the traditional tournament season while unfurling a National Team Banner that serves a multitude of purposes. Not the least, being good cocktail banter that always illicits praise from family and friends along the lines of, "Wow, Johnny plays on a National All Star Team, you must be so proud!" In our frenzied hyper-competitive world I have a sneaking suspicion this may provide the majority of the impetus for parents with children on these teams. Having played against several of these types of teams it seems the caliber of lacrosse is diminished greatly; but the teams prevail because they have bigger faster kids. It is like watching the NBA All Star game. An annual rite that draws an audience but certainly isn't lauded as being quality basketball.

The UA All American game in Maryland seems like a great game and a ton of fun and an example of an All Star Team that is worth pursuing. In fact it seems more like a joyous celebration that ushers in collegiate careers while closing the youth chapter of endless hours and playing for the love of the game.

In my estimation the National Teams are here to stay. It seems that Dukes initial success will be short lived and their model unsustainable. The teams that they are pulling players from have the infrastructure, the stature, and Darwinian resilience to adjust. There are many large clubs with multiple state franchises such as 91, Madlax, and Roughriders, to name a few that will abbreviate their tournament season and then field National Teams in the latter half of July.

Food for thought. After all it is survival of the fittest.

Beware of BL. My son has played for them in the past and they speak out of both sides of their mouth. They constantly have players showing up who are not dedicated to the team. The director is unorganized and the training is just ok. This team has struggled, Freedom is a far greater option.

BL uses guest players? Don't they have a B team?
How many kids do they carry on the A roster that they need to bring in guests?
Why do they bring them in? To win? Vacations lightening the roster?
We are considering BL as an option but this concerns me...

At 2022 they are a B team unless they have freedom and HHH kids. So all of the above... They don't have enough players, vacations, and to try to compete in A tournaments. Different story at 2023 and 2024 they have both A and B teams. Claim to have AA and A at 2023, but really AA and B.

Kids playing on more than one club is not uncommon that is not a guest player to me a guest player is one that doesn't practice with the team during the season. My club always brings guest players in late July as rosters are thin due to family vacations.

Says the Freedom dad.
There are plenty of options. Freedom is no longer the best team in Philly at 2022. That ship has sailed. Triple HHH and Dukes 2022 would both beat Freedom soundly and the Storm has beaten them as well in head to head. That would put them at 4th best in Philly.

The only championship they won was at the end of the summer when all the good teams were playing elsewhere.

My son plays on the so called lesser Team at BL 2023 that you are citing as "B" and I think you are sorely mistaken. Playing in the A Bracket at Summer Exposure we wen 4-1 in a Baltimore based tournament with 28 Teams in the Single A Bracket. I have no problems with him playing for the lesser team on an outstanding club such as Brotherly Love.

I am under no pretense, my son will likely not play lacrosse in college. However he is an outstanding student and just an all around good kid. My contention is there isn't another Philly based club that would place a team in the AA bracket and still have another team play A in same grade bracket and go 4-1. Prove me wrong. Or better yet get out of your comfort zone and actually go to a real tournament not in your back yard with one of your "lesser" teams and see how they fare.

That comment was not meant to slight you or the 2023 2nd team at BL in any way. They are a very good team and a great program. Just because your son is on a 2nd team at this point does not mean he won't play in college. No one can project anything at this point. I was mearly pointing out that they aren't really an A team. NXT and RR also claim to be A teams but they just aren't at this point compared to A and AA teams. I commend BL for playing in an A tournament to challenge themselves, but they also played in B events. The BL team played an A team in MD91 and didn't fair very well, so the assessment is fair.

Team 11, Mesa, Freedom, HHH and RS aren't really AA but play in some AA events as well as A events. So an assessment of them as A teams and not really AA is fair also. This doesn't mean they aren't good programs. BL has done an outstanding job fielding a competitive 2nd team at 2023 and BLs 2nd team is better than any other programs 2nd team (and some clubs 1st teams but aren't really an A team.

It just goes to show that Philly is the city of brotherly love. Whatever club has the toughest tournament, the other clubs send their best players to help out. So very nice.

Said no one ever....

What's anyone know about the Headstrong Program up in the Lehigh Valley?
Any other options up there?
What happened to Stars and Stripes?

Any teams out there going to [lacrosse]'s ToC this December?
I see they are going birth year for this. Good idea.