BOTC - US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums NEW JERSEY LACROSSE NEW JERSEY FORUM Boy's 2023 - 8th Grade Fall 2018/Summer 2019

This is probably true, plus, but don't discount the teams form the West either...Mad Dog West and Team Colorado have very good teams, and the MDW team has been playing together for a while with a lot of success

correction..Denver Elite

Assume you mean the North teams? BBL and BL are in the east. NY teams are in the North. Last year 2 east teams made the Quarter's and didn't get beat down by teams from the North. Lost, but not beat down.

Unfortunately, the WSYL event is not a very competitive event any longer. It was a great idea when it started but they can't get enough high caliber teams to commit to the event. It's fun, but it's not really a great measure for the best teams. If you are going, enjoy it. Don't worry about winning it all.

Who cares? The WSYL event has basically become a B level tourney. I doubt it will even be around in a few years.

The WSYL is an age based tournament, nothing more, nothing less. It is a great experience, so long as you put it into perspective. With the growth of the sport, I think that the event will be around for a while, especially if common sense prevails and lacrosse goes age based (I know, wishful thinking). Yes, there are lesser quality teams at the event, but their is also a lot of talent on the teams in the upper half of the pool. While I agree that you will not see the same level teams as you might at NLF, Crab Feast, Naptown and the like, chalking it up to a B level tournament is simply not true. Half the kids at the WSYL last year were at Naptown, 2023 National Championship and the NLF National Championship in July last year, certainly not B level players

OK, so it’s A- then. Whatever you want to call it. But it’s not a real championship like it claims to be.

Its an aged-based championship, and that's what it claims to be. Sure there are plenty of other championships like the Rising 8th grade event in Maryland and the NLF Championship, both of which probably meet your standards for and A level tournament, and they are very good tournaments, but they are so full of controversy with holdbacks, reclasses, guest players, etc. that they become somewhat of a joke. Just go and listen to the audio from last years 2023 NLF championship, it was laughable.

What is going on with Mad Dog 2023 team, word on the street is that the team imploded

Very sad, was a great group of kids. Letting the Manasquan coach leave didn't help, considering they are somewhat of a feeder program. Mad Dog struggles to keep their top players when they move into High School.

That is unfortunate, nice group of coaches as well

Did the players move to other clubs or just stop playing travel? They had 10 very good players.

Leading Edge, Tri-State & United. Leading Edge ended up with the top players

Seems like Leading Edge will have a pretty large roster with the additional bodies, might not be great for playing time. Regardless, there will probably be a lot of turnover next year when the competition for spots on teams like Leading Edge gets much more intense. Not really sure about the depth of the talent coming from Mad Dog as they did not play the same caliber tournaments as TriState and Leading Edge, especially Leading Edge with the NLF events, but I have heard that there were 2 or 3 really good players on the team.

The players leaving Mad Dog was not a reflection of the coaches or the program. The primary reason for them leaving was their teammates. You had players that would stay up all night before games, miss tryout, not run the wing on faceoffs and parents that used Mad Dog as their social outlet. Unfortunately, Mad Dog had no control over parents lack of parenting.

Very sad, was a great group of kids. Letting the Manasquan coach leave didn't help, considering they are somewhat of a feeder program. Mad Dog struggles to keep their top players when they move into High School. [/quote]

That is unfortunate, nice group of coaches as well[/quote]

Did the players move to other clubs or just stop playing travel? They had 10 very good players. [/quote]

Leading Edge, Tri-State & United. Leading Edge ended up with the top players [/quote]

Seems like Leading Edge will have a pretty large roster with the additional bodies, might not be great for playing time. Regardless, there will probably be a lot of turnover next year when the competition for spots on teams like Leading Edge gets much more intense. Not really sure about the depth of the talent coming from Mad Dog as they did not play the same caliber tournaments as TriState and Leading Edge, especially Leading Edge with the NLF events, but I have heard that there were 2 or 3 really good players on the team. [/quote]

The players leaving Mad Dog was not a reflection of the coaches or the program. The primary reason for them leaving was their teammates. You had players that would stay up all night before games, miss tryout, not run the wing on faceoffs and parents that used Mad Dog as their social outlet. Unfortunately, Mad Dog had no control over parents lack of parenting. [/quote]

It's definitely hard for a kid that loves the game to be surrounded by others that are not willing to put in the effort. Too much time and money spent to be frustrated every weekend, hopefully, it will be a better experience for the boys.

Ridiculous statement. It's the best of 2024, that are actually 2024 age. That's B level to you, just because they don't allow cheaters?? Your thinking is totally warped by all of the cheater teams. This is how it is suppose to be!!! That's how corrupt this sport has become. The cheating culture is ingrained with so many people, they actually think this is OK and is the norm. That is really very sad. The cheater teams shouldn't even exist. They are CHEATERS.

It has nothing to do with age. The talent pool top to bottom is not very strong, and that takes into account the age issue you are whining about. There are only a handful of very good teams at the event. There's basically Long Island, then everybody else.

While that may be the perception from the outside, I found that it was a much different experience having attended. I do not know if you have been there as well, but there are some very talented teams at the event. While I agree that there is a pretty big swing in talent between the top third and bottom third, last year, there were some really exciting playoff games. Granted, 91 Bandits was the best team there, however, it wasn't as if other teams were out their league. Obviously, if you just accept the WSYL for what it is, it is a great experience. However, for those out there that hang their hats on a age-based tournament victory and claim that they are the #1 team, that is certainly misguided.

What 8th town team has been ripping it up this spring? West Field, Del Val, Mountain Lakes?

Not traditionally a large pool of teams, in past years it was usually Westfiled, RFH or Mavericks, but teams have really come together this year. Del Val has a pretty strong team, but I would still put Westfield at the top.