BOTC - US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums NORTHEAST LACROSSE BOTC MAIN FORUM (LI, CT, WC) Boys 2021 - 9th Grade Fall 2017/Summer 2018

Totally agree. I have had similar conversations with people who try to justify the fact that their 17 year old freshman is playing my 14 year old freshman and try to convince me that I should do it now because he is an October birthday and I'm nuts for not holding him back already.

As an October birthday who played football in college at 17, I agree you should consider holding your 14 year old freshman back or having him do a PG year. The extra year of maturity before entering college will help him get more out of the experience.

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Definitely hard to tell nowadays...[/quote]

Then you and the other dude are morons.[/quote]

You obviously missed the point that I have met people on lacrosse fields that truly say stuff like the post, so it does make you wonder . . .[/quote]

Totally agree. I have had similar conversations with people who try to justify the fact that their 17 year old freshman is playing my 14 year old freshman and try to convince me that I should do it now because he is an October birthday and I'm nuts for not holding him back already. [/quote]

As an October birthday who played football in college at 17, I agree you should consider holding your 14 year old freshman back or having him do a PG year. The extra year of maturity before entering college will help him get more out of the experience.
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While I advocate for pre-HS age-based play, I too played college football at 17, and my impression then and now is that my being "only" 17 never entered my mind. Maybe it would have made a difference, but I am not convinced it would have.

The argument that your kid will have to play older kids in high school and college is for the simple mind of those who can't think past step one. Although it is true all kids will have to play older kids in high school and college (step one of the equation) all high school and college teams will have Srs and Jrs who are also older. A top freshman will have older kids to play with them on the same team in college and high school. When teams have mostly holdbacks of 17 and 16 year olds like in Naptown playing teams of mostly 13 and14 year olds is not the same as playing older teams in high school and college. The 14 year old vs the 16 year old is bad enough but it is far worse when that 14 year old team does not have 16 year olds to match up against the older holdbacks which is something all high school and college teams have. So that argument that all kids will have to play older kids at some point is simplifying a more complex problem.

How do you pick the prospect days to go to? Some seem like they are real invites, but most are mass mailers. I don't want to make the investment to go to a school at this point if they really are just fishing for people to come. Of course my son wants to go to every one.

Go to the Prospect Days of Schools that are on your son's target list. If he has no desire to go to a particular school, no need to go to their Prospect Days. Showcases are another story. Try and inquire if the coaches of the targeted schools will have representatives there. Showcases can be good barometer of your son's talent in relation to others, even if a desired coach is not there.

I second that - you need to go to the prospect days where your kid is interested in attending. NXT Philly, Maverick, UA are some of the better showcases.

What about Blue Chip? Is that one of the better ones? Seems like good coaches are there.

Prospect Days are certainly good when you know you Target List of schools but showcases are good to be seen by a variety of colleges. Contingent on the level, each showcase is different.

Blue Chip gets a lot of coaches but they also take a lot of players and IMO, it's over priced. NXT, Showtime, Blackcard and D1 Und1sputed are good specifically for the D1 schools but then there are a whole bunch good to get exposure from all three divisions so it should first be on what your kid wants and if you think he can play at that level and then most of these are invite only events so your club coach can hopefully make a push for your son or his accolades & highlight video get him in without any help. But back to Blue Chip, I personally look at how many players are attending and colleges of course. Just my take.

Any thoughts on the crabs 2021, saw them play this fall and looking good

Crabs 2021 do not have the physical dominance they once had. Oddly enough for them, their best player, who is one of the few legit on-age players on the team, is now a standout.

D.C. Express will be the team to beat. They finally added a legit FO and will be tough to beat because they are well coached, move the ball, take good shots and don't make many mistakes.

On LI, Igloo, 91 Blaze, Express and Icon are the top teams. Has been that way for awhile and won't change, although it was obvious the 91 caught up to Igloo.

Is it true that Icon lost players, and won't be as good. Heard that rumor last year, and they seemed to drop down a Tier. I think Black Ice and Blaze are in a class of their own, with DC Express and the Crabs. Express, Icon, Outlaws are a tier below them with Ambush, Empire and Legacy Greyhounds right behind that group, with the Greyhounds being the best of this group. The rumor is that Blaze took a few of the better players from Ambush, so they may drop down a bit.

Written by disgruntled Icon defector parent whose son left for a weaker team... see you on the fields this summer when we can see where all the teams rank ....

Or a disgruntled former Ambush parent. Please don't start that up this year. Pre-season rankings mean nothing at this point.

What tournaments is your son's team doing? Looks Like we are doing NYLA in Garden City, LI Lax Fest, Lake George National Invitational, NLF Summer Championship in Lehigh, & Run with the Best Showcase so far. The coach said that there will be 2 more added.

7 tourneys?! Yeesh!

2 Spring 5 summer, that isn't too much.

Sort by the schools that your son is most interested in. Then narrow by the ones you think he could possibly get into without Lacrosse. Then have either your club Coach/Director or HS Coach call those College Coaches and determine if there is real interest in your son. Not sure how much info the Coach can give with the new recruiting rules, but I'm sure your Coach will be able to determine genuine interest or not. If you don't pre qualify you'll just be making a donation, unless your kid is just a flat out superstar that everyone wants.

This is a weak tournament schedule. The NLF is good only if your team plays in AA otherwise you will get no colleges looking at your kid. The fact that you are not going to Nap Town means you will probably not play AA at the NLF. Don't come on here and brag over a sub par schedule. Your team is not going where the best teams are going so there is no point in bragging. It is not impressive.

Maybe he wasn’t bragging. Maybe he was trying to get a feel for what the schedule was. Sometimes teams will tell parents they are playing top tourney and not every parent is an expert on all tournaments. Can be a team that is being told they are an AA. Why assume he is bragging

He assumed they were bragging because that's what he would do . . .

If the intent was to get info on the events they are going to play that is fine. It could be taken both ways from the way it is written. These are mostly the events the NLF B teams are going to play in and 91 events. Not the strongest tournaments except for NLF top division.

Thank you. Obviously his kid isn't playing any top tournaments either, and has a need to belittle everyone else. My kid will do just fine with what he is doing. He isn't on a AA team, so I don't expect him to play at AA tournaments. Why go and get beat 15-2 by a bunch of holdbacks and double holdbacks. No thanks. He is already on the radar for a few good schools, so these tournaments aren't to serve that purpose. I don't expect him to be playing at a top 10 school, so I don't really care about AA tournaments. By the way, I have had some real feedback from AA parents whose kids are having a real hard time adjusting to the top schools. An 18-19 year old playing at a Syracuse, Duke, Maryland, etc, has a real hard time adjusting to playing your double holdback who is 25 and is still going to college and playing lax. My kid will be graduating and having a great start to a career, while your kid has delusions of playing in the MLL making 20k a year.

No need for this. If you already knew the tournaments were weak there is no need for this response . I did not see anything that was said about your kid. The post was they are weak tournaments. I hope you know there are AA players on B teams and kids on B teams that can play on AA teams. I hope you can get yourself to believe that and stop feeling inferior. But based on this this response you are struggling with that concept. Good luck this year.

You obviously haven't gotten the memo: if your son does not play on one of the self-chosen and so designated 'top' clubs, he is 1. wasting your money, 2. not a top player, IE, he's a B player, 3. should give up playing lacrosse altogether, yada yada. So says the lax mafia, so it shall be . . .

No need for saying that the guy is bragging when he is clearly asking what tournaments other kids are playing. I have no idea what a good tournament is versus a bad one. All the coaches tell the parents that they are going to good tournaments and will get good visibility. My son's coach actually put us in a DII showcase, because most of the boys on the team won't be playing D1.

D2.. what are you with the Outlaws??

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Thank you. Obviously his kid isn't playing any top tournaments either, and has a need to belittle everyone else. My kid will do just fine with what he is doing. He isn't on a AA team, so I don't expect him to play at AA tournaments. Why go and get beat 15-2 by a bunch of holdbacks and double holdbacks. No thanks. He is already on the radar for a few good schools, so these tournaments aren't to serve that purpose. I don't expect him to be playing at a top 10 school, so I don't really care about AA tournaments. By the way, I have had some real feedback from AA parents whose kids are having a real hard time adjusting to the top schools. An 18-19 year old playing at a Syracuse, Duke, Maryland, etc, has a real hard time adjusting to playing your double holdback who is 25 and is still going to college and playing lax. My kid will be graduating and having a great start to a career, while your kid has delusions of playing in the MLL making 20k a year. [/quote]

No need for this. If you already knew the tournaments were weak there is no need for this response . I did not see anything that was said about your kid. The post was they are weak tournaments. I hope you know there are AA players on B teams and kids on B teams that can play on AA teams. I hope you can get yourself to believe that and stop feeling inferior. But based on this this response you are struggling with that concept. Good luck this year.
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No need for saying that the guy is bragging when he is clearly asking what tournaments other kids are playing. I have no idea what a good tournament is versus a bad one. All the coaches tell the parents that they are going to good tournaments and will get good visibility. My son's coach actually put us in a DII showcase, because most of the boys on the team won't be playing D1. [/quote]
D2.. what are you with the Outlaws??[/quote]

This reply = Doubling down on stupid . . . !

"D2.. what are you with the Outlaws??"

And there it is....Sarcasm, the wit of the witless

Back to showcases, and please help Educate me. Are these worth doing?

Cascade Elite 80
Bluechip 225
Nike BlueChip

Of course my son wants to go to all of them. Thanks

Blue chip 225 absolute waste. It was good over 5 years ago. Do not waste your money on that if you think college coaches will be there. All pool games not one college coach on sidelines. And maybe about 30 showed up at all star game. So if your son doesn't get into all star game you will be disappointed.

If your son is on a good team and contributes, he does not need to do the events you listed. Maverik Showtime is a great event if he can get in. Under Armour regional teams are a great bang for the buck. Lastly, I think Adrenaline Black Card is still considered worth wile. Again, if he is on a good team and plays in good tournaments, he will be seen. If he has any idea where he wants to go to school, attending that schools prospect day is a good idea. You will get inundated with events and most of them are not worth your time. Good luck.

Thanks! He is on a good team, but not a great team, and is going to OK tournaments from what I hear. I was told by a dad with 2 boys playing D1 that I should hold off until next year, and let him develop as a player for another year.

Did anyone go to the IMG Showcase in Florida last month? I heard that it wasn't worth it. That is $1000 saved!

Suffolk HS Practices officially kick off on Sunday. Looking forward to my son playing for his HS this year.

I think only Varsity kicks off Sunday,

Lot's of schools have been doing multiple workouts per week for weeks now - some starting up full time today . . .

I think the official starting date is Monday, isn't it? My son's school has been doing "voluntary" 3 days a week all winter. Any thoughts of 9th grader's playing up? My son played JV as an 8th grader and did great. Not sure if he is ready to jump to Varsity yet.

Unless he's phenom or the varsity NEEDS him, then no - let him get reps on JV.

My thoughts exactly.