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Same kids as the fall and spring, it’s summer now, when exactly do they stop being new players?

Not sure you might want to address that with your parents.

For the most part, those kids played on Freedom before Dukes.

Anything for a W for the most part

Are any current Duke's nationals parents (2023) aware if the players report cards are still needed as part of the program? my son joined last year but has not been asked to provide one all year, I am just wondering if this is a thing of the past, seems to be the team has changed since it first started a few years ago from what I have been hearing all year.

LOL they came with the DN coach...

No, report cards have the weird way of telling you what grade someone is in. Creates a problem for the Dukes model.

The one who started Freedom 2023 Red, yes.

Started? really it wasn't there before....

We are actually considering Dukes for our son

We are actually considering Dukes for our son and I'm wondering if someone has a non-sarcastic response?

Any thoughts on Duke's Nationals 2025 team?

Not worth it. Best I can do. Save your money

No skin in the game, but I do know kids on the 2023 team and they are very unhappy with the current situation

Freedom 2023 Red? Yes. There was only a single 2023 team before it split last year into two.

I apologize if this has been answered somewhere else in this thread, but can I get a synopsis of what the "current situation" is and why the investment isn't worth it? Looking for honest, objective feedback from real experience with the club. Facts not opinions if you have them. I'll form my own opinion. I appreciate it.

Agree, son was on it and it is not worth the money or time spent look for a close local travel team you will do better and save a boat load of money.

Parent of a 2023 here. First of all, Duke's Nationals is designed as a supplement to your current club team. They meet once a month for a 3 hour mini-camp/tryout and often play in a local tournament during mini-camp weekend. They use a depth chart and only those above the travel line are invited to participate in the tournaments. Here's a secret - if your kid is an OK player, he will make the team, but he will be at the bottom of the depth chart.

What's good about Duke's? For the most part, the mini camps are pretty good. They are generally held at D1 schools (although you rarely get to play on their main field) and the coaching is pretty good. Your son will leave a mini camp feeling like he learned something and got better. And no matter what the haters on this forum say, there are some incredibly talented kids on Duke's. Being able to practice with them is pretty nice.

Many will say that the depth chart is a joke. It's hard to tell how they are evaluating players at the mini camp since rumor has it the positional coaches have no say in the depth chart. The feeling is that the depth chart is just a list of people the director likes, kids of the coaches, etc. If your kid is below the travel line, I'm not sure what he can do to move up so that has to be frustrating to the kids and parents alike.

Some of the tournaments the team participates in are pretty weak - the most recent one had a bunch of low A/B teams that Duke's could just beat up on all day long. Not very sporting if you ask me. At many of these tournaments, new kids will show up. Some will say those kids are ringers brought in by the coach, however I do know kids who could not make a tryout and were asked to come to a tournament and use that as a tryout. Still, those kids take time away from kids above the travel line which can again result in a lot of frustration. In exchange for this, you are asked to put Duke's ahead of your main club team and skip your local tournaments if they conflict with a Duke's event. That's a hard pill to swallow since you club team has a lot fewer players and is mainly responsible for your training.

Duke's has a hefty buy in - $600 for the uniform package (which will be given out in small increments) and another $600+ for the mini-camp package. For each tournament you participate in, you must also pay and that is usually around $200 - $300. It adds up.

The 2023 team has had a bit of a coaching crisis. The guy who coaches Freedom Red was also coaching Duke's and he has since left the program. Kids seemed to really like him. There was a little back and forth about coaches and the current one seems to be getting better since he now shows up to the mini camps and tournaments.

Management made some pretty horrific decisions this past winter. We had a mini camp in 4 or 5 inches of snow. With white balls. At night. Right next to an indoor facility. It felt like they didn't care about our kids and just cared about saving money with that camp. But I do think they have improved in that area - our last camp at UPenn was in the bubble (which was pretty cool) so nobody froze to death.

The Duke's team is actually pretty good, no matter what the haters say. And they are showing that a model where you take some really talented kids, give them some positional training and build their lacrosse IQ does work.

If you see value in the mini camps and that part of the experience, your son may well enjoy and benefit from being part of the organization. But if you can't deal with the depth chart BS as well as the constant invoices for events, you'll just become another jaded Duke's hater parent.

And don’t forget the thousands of dollars annually in airfare, hotels, and other travel expenses to play in some of the distant tournaments — which oftentime involve playing against very weak teams for easy wins. Naptown in July appears to be the only real tournament this program will play in all year long. If you live in MD, PA, NY, NJ or some of adjoining states, you may have better local club options where you’ll probably pay a lot less overall, get your uniform and helmet promptly upfront, play on a better team, play in better tournaments and hopefully skip the drama of frequent coach and player turnover. Which by the way, this team is not compatible with any other lacrosse club program — if you have a conflict and don’t play with Duke’s, you’ll get a hostile phone call or email, followed by a depth chart demotion and other forms of retaliation. Like others, we’re leaving when it comes time to renew for the next year. It’s a great idea, but execution and overall experience really fell short of our expectations. If you join, I hope your experience is better than ours and what appears to be almost entirely negative comments across 56 pages here — the majority of which appears to be pretty accurate.

I'm a Duke parent too and I have been feeling disappointed lately with the team but after reading your post, I realized that it's not as bad as the tristate area makes it out to be, I do agree with everything you said.
My son is proud to be a Duke and I am too.(again)

What exactly about those posts makes you proud?

Why not just play for Freedom Red?

The long post about the good and bad of DN. I was agreeing with the poster even the bad.

Considering.. I'm assuming they have tryouts?

as the above poster noted "The 2023 team has had a bit of a coaching crisis. The guy who coaches Freedom Red was also coaching Duke's and he has since left the program."


Left is not accurate, maybe what G says but the coach and his kids were kicked off the team and that started defection of 2023 players this year. The players really liked the coach and he was the best thing about the team, it was the last straw that broke when parents and players said enough of this and left to play on better local travel team. Ask G about it and see what he says and let the community know if he is full of baloney....

I don't think the original poster was going into why the coach left, just that he is no longer with Duke's. And yes, he is a pretty good coach and the kids do seem to like him. I've overheard the interactions he has with his Freedom team and am impressed with how he guides the kids during games and motivates them to do their best.

Duke's has their share of drama. You can either focus on that or on the positives of the program. Just remember not everyone sees it in a negative light.

Nice post G

Just read all the posts about the 2022 and 2023 coaches and players defecting in recent months. Really unfortunate for those kids remaining. Any word on what’s happening with the 2024 team?

The same or worse from my understanding about the 2024 team, the entire Dukes Nationals program is a train wreck and not looking like it may last another year.

Defecting is the wrong word. Defecting insinuates a lack of loyalty. There is no loyalty with Dukes Nationals. The original concept was good. Outing a group ofmteally talented kids together was great. My son was on the original team and we stayed longer than I wanted to only because he liked his friends on the team. We received the nasty, “if he doesn’t play in the [ChillLaxin] Dukes tournament this weekend instead of playing for his good club team, he’s cut” phone call. It’s a shame. Good idea, but run by a money hungry stunad. Don’t waste your time or your money.

Unless you are morally deprived enough to purposefully lie and play at a lower grade level with others doing the same thing. Its shameful. And those that are really 2023 should think about who you’re associating with.

You’re not missing anything with the 2024 team. Same stuff — coach turnover, kids leaving, guest players showing up, missing/late gear, screwed up bookeeping, B league tourneys, etc. We’re playing another B league tournament today in the lacrosse Mecca of Lake Placid, NY. What’s left of the regular 2024 team couldn’t field enough kids to play so we had to rely on guest players. So far, we have beaten 4 opponents by a total score of like 50 to 9 today. Why did I pay money and take days off work to do this? I’m literally embarrassed for our team — we shouldn’t be here beating up on these B league clubs to get a t-shirt. There’s no way this is helping our kids become better lacrosse players.

Sounds like a normal Duke's National tournament, Playing teams just for a win without any competition at all and a huge waste of time and money.

The Dukes Nationals lost to Annapolis Hawks at Naptown today. What a joke this team is,we are done G will not be geting anymore more money from me...

I assume you are talking about the 23s. They lost by 1 goal in a very evenly matched game. Hawks is one of the best teams around. Not sure how that makes Duke's a joke.

My guess is that you aren't there, though, and just read the result on Tourney Machine which means your sour grapes might be all about the travel line.

By far the best game of the day and could have gone either way!! A lot of talent on the field at every position for both teams and I hope these two play again tomorrow at some point.

I assume you are talking about the 23s. They lost by 1 goal in a very evenly matched game. Hawks is one of the best teams around. Not sure how that makes Duke's a joke.

My guess is that you aren't there, though, and just read the result on Tourney Machine which means your sour grapes might be all about the travel line.

Competently wrong, watched the entire game in person, terrible, they should have won but choked big time!!

I'm here at Naptown and was a good game

how is losing to Annapolis Hawks in their backyard a joke - not a fan of Dukes, but basing your comment on a loss to Hawks is ridiculous

Choke....maybe by the refs who missed a clear push with possession after a faceoff win when the game was 7-7; that lead to a turnover and the game winner. Obviously you were not there and have no clue what you are talking about. Hawks is one of the best team in the Country in this game could have been won by either team; Hawks won in a well played game!!

“Annapolis” Hawks v Duke’s “National”