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Hahaha... I just read this same post on the Crabs forum. Great cut and paste. People that hate on the crabs for being #1 also hate on the Dukes for being #1. Same reasons. Limited roster spots and their kids go on to be considered some of the top lacrosse players in the country. If you can't beat em', or join em'... hate em'.

I have read this whole thread. As someone who has been around this program (not as a parent or player) Gonzo seems to be EXACTLY like another "lacrosse minded person" Dukes tried to team up with a few years ago. He now has the police after him, lost his business and a host of other issues on his plate. How does this keep happening? These guys keep taking people's money and parents keep falling for it! The two I feel the worst for our EB and JC, they built a respectable name for Dukes and now this is the second guy who has scammed people out of money, they should pick better "associates"

Are you talking about the guy Rising Sons just hired? #laceup

Anyone receive their refund checks that were supposed to be mailed 9/13?????

Dukes Nationals is not a "Philly" Club.

They are good - especially the 2022 team but why shouldn't they be? They are an all start team.

The top local Philly Dukes team is the Young Guns and the 2022 is actually pretty damn good.

Taking your rankings from earlier and kicking Dukes Nationals out:

1) HHH (honestly I have no idea haven't seen them play but they had some nice NLF wins last year)
2) Black Storm - spring only team but 99% of them are playing South Shore so we will see how they do this summer
3) Freedom - still damn good team but did lose handily to Storm in Mid Atlantic
4) Dukes Young Guns - won pretty much everything they played last year but need to step up into harder tournaments
5) Sons or Roughriders or Mesa?
6) Then the second tier starts like NXT, Team 11, etc

While we might disagree we shall see on the field as all of those above except HHH is playing in Mid Atlantic this year.

Overall through the Dukes have too many franchised youth programs most of which stink. The Young Guns in general or okay, the 2022 team is pretty damn good, and the HS is decent still. Most of the youth expansion has hurt their brand.

How has the youth expansion hurt their brand? You even just said there HS teams are good but they are more than just good - go look at all of their kids verbally committing to D1 schools.

boring

Better comment is that they are not what they used to be. Still good but not great.

The youth expansion is diluting the Dukes name - Dukes Va, Mainline, new Twist, South, etc are weak.

So is Dukes Nationals a well run club and the best at each age level?

Read the board posts. You will see the majority consensus is a big fat NO! Emails are ignored and not answered, money is not refunded promptly or even at all, the list goes on. How the organization is managed is a separate topic from the talent of the teams.

Talent of the teams are a result of the other teams that train them. Dukes is just an outlet for the parents that need to show case their kids even more. Training camps are decent but team play is a joke. Not much competition and kids don't pass.

It's a shame, but they look like there headed the same way Dukes South went. You think the boss would have learned his lesson, no matter how good the lacrosse is once you start cheating the parents they will stop showing up.

Is dukes a well run club? The answer is no. DN is not a team. A team practices together on a regular basis, builds comradery amongst its players and the coaches have the best interest of the players when they are on and off the field. DN is a collection of good players who show up once a month(sometimes not) to a mini camp and then showcase their own talent during games with no regard to the other players or the dynamics of working as a team. Will they win, yes, When you have enough impact players who can score victories will come. As previous poster stated if you're looking for a supplemental program to showcase your kid than this program may be for you, but if your looking to build your kids skills, game play and ability to work with others as a team, stay far away!!!

From what I have seen from Dukes Nationals
2022 – “Holdback City”, but actually decent only if they have ALL their players are together (again, only when not playing with their primary club team).
2023 – Is a B Team at best. Always lose to A and B Teams when it counts. They need better coaches for sure.
2024 – Is a C Team and cannot even beat 2025 teams. No consistent coaches. They only have one coach when he’s even there.
2025 – May have something there.... 5th Grade, sure.

Dukes Nationals is not going to help your son with 8 or 9 practices a year, but Gonzo will help to empty your pockets.

Not a big Duke's fan but how can you say 2023 is B at best. They won NXT Cup last summer. No Bandits, Express or any real MD teams but still not bad.
How do you know this much about every level?

On the 22's agree with the hold backs comments - he'll one Koppers kid on team is a 2 year holdback - and agree good when majority of players are there.

But disagree with "decent" comment. Dude they beat the Hawks at Naptown and the Hawks are a clear #1 @ 2022. When the full team is there DN 2022 beat any team in Philly or most of the country easily.

Again not a fan but they are good - and should be they are an all star team.

Absolute money grab; don’t waste your time!!

When has the nationals student banquet been rescheduled for

Ha ha ha, dont hold your breath!

Will this banquet not be rescheduled? I was told that all star athletes must be all star students and that they would be recognized for all the hard work put in.

Dukes brought in more players for the 2nd day of Naptown to beat the Hawks. Fogo and Attack added that weren't on team the 1st day. Anything for that dub - as long as the suckers on the bench don't mind paying for guest players to come in and get the win.

Dukes Nationals 2022 had a playday at MD College Park last year and lost both games, but the DN 2023 team will win easily all there games.

Espn's Mark Dixon and throwing shade "I really don't understand the need to have a 'national' team for boys ages 9-14. Am I missing something?"

Espn's Mark Dixon is a shill for md roughriders. Thats why he says that.

All these clubs are adding franchises all over the country: True, 3d, T9-1, c2c, Madlax, etc., then pulling together the best for their "National" teams to play at the highest profile events. Even Roughriders is adding a third franchise. Only Dukes takes a different approach. Instead of having several franchises to pull from, they take the kids that are from clubs that don't have national franchises and make up a national team. It's a bit uncoordinated because most of the clubs would prefer to not have their kids playing for other teams, so the line up of the Dukes changes daily depending on who is available.

You may be right, but he also has a point. A National team for 9 yr. olds? "High profile" events for 9 yr. olds? It's laughable.

Interesting spin on it. Makes sensez

The Dukes national teams will get destroyed this weekend at the Battle of the Bay tournament.

I think you are missing the point. It is about playing with better kids and there will always be a market no matter what the sport, simply because it works. My kid plays on one of these teams and he plays on an excellent club team. He enjoys playing with "different" kids and getting reps in and I appreciate the different coaching perspective thet it provides. At the end of the day a compilation of different coaches with differing perspective will result in a broader experience and even at 9 years old that is a good thing. I have seen kids that play for the same rec coach who then happens to be his club coach and in some cases his father as well and they only play the game, one way. If that works for you fine but I prefer diversity, there are a lot of little "nuggets" to be learned out there and no single coach knows all of them.

I actually agree with playing on multiple teams - its not about the increased reps because a kid should only play so much lacrosse - its about the different coaching. I know the clubs hate it because they lose kids this way, dont have all thier best players for tournaments, etc.

So there is a pro and con -- to be the different coaching is great. I know my son has gotten better as a result of being coached by different coaches the past 4 years.

Completely agree; IGLOO and Mustang's will roll them.

Where’s the schedule?

Mustangs are bad [lacrosse]. Real good kids too my son has played with many of them at events.

How many PA kids play for Dukes Nationals?

Dukes minicamp this weekend in Baltimore. Homewood field JHU. 5 DN teams sharing one field. The 2022's alone need a field by themselves. Gonzo is making lots of $$$$

He has to pay for his trip to Israel.

Need more bodies to subsidize the ringers who show up and play for free.

ORLY?

Did Dukes 2022 play today?

They lost to Hawks.