BOTC - US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums MID-ATLANTIC LACROSSE MARYLAND FORUM Boys 2027 Grads - Mid Atlantic Region

True. I haven’t seen them in any of the tournaments. They did relatively well last summer.

they're busy reshuffling players into blue and orange groups apparently. Welcome back, you're demoted! It was funny they weren't at NAL (the 27s) and not at summer exposure.

And that is all that needs to be said!

Hearing rumors that blue imploded after the coach quit.

Ok thanks. They were very good in last year's hoco.

So a losing record is very good?

They were not very good in HoCo. The coach's kid left MD and the remaining hub of MD parents now had the ability to speak out against the coach without fear of losing playing time or sucking up to him. They were also bad last summer beating up teams in a B tournament and had losing records for the other tournaments they entered. I think they may have even left a tournament this summer mid games. The team is way too MD centric and maybe now BLC can try and have an honest daddy ball tryout.

I thought they played relatively well at NLF last summer.

Meh - lost to probably the top 2 orgs on the east coast but got blown out in 2 of the 3. Beat a terrible team and barely beat the other. With a team stacked with well over 50% of the roster having birthdays before 9/1, they should be much better. Maybe the coaching change and a lineup shuffle will help but most likely the MD parents will continue to influence this roster until it goes to DCE and then it will be broken up.

Seems like a lot of shuffling between madlax, bethesda and next level. haven't seen much of next level 27 either this summer.

Madlax collects that $$ and plays lots of tournaments and practiced all during the quarantine period. Next Level and BLC had their June and July tournaments either cancel or get postponed. NL is practicing and will end up playing a couple and BLC called it a summer several weeks ago. BLC has deep pockets but seems to be in the most disarray,

Sounds right. That you're guranteed a spot at BLC but it could be blue or orange looked rough. NL or BLC not at summer exposure and then I'd be surprised if BLC is still in the millon invitational. For 27 I don't think we'll see a lot of surprises at summer exposure this year.

NL will be at million though.

Regarding the typical age argument, my son has been playing up since he started playing. He typically plays mid atlantic circuit. He is a 2028 but plays 2027 A level and I feel like that is the correct level for his team. My question is, how old are these kids typically? This past weekend at summer exposure there appeared to be kids that look like they should be in HS all over the place. We dont see 12 year olds in any sport that requires age verification look like that in Pa, and that is across multiple counties. I don't want to come off like I am complaining but just trying to get a better understanding on how badly the age/grad year system is abused in these tourneys. As far as I know they are allowed to have just turned 12. Is it typical to see 6 foot tall 150-175 kids that are fully developed physically?

Regarding the typical age argument, my son has been playing up since he started playing. He typically plays mid atlantic circuit. He is a 2028 but plays 2027 A level and I feel like that is the correct level for his team. My question is, how old are these kids typically? This past weekend at summer exposure there appeared to be kids that look like they should be in HS all over the place. We dont see 12 year olds in any sport that requires age verification look like that in Pa, and that is across multiple counties. I don't want to come off like I am complaining but just trying to get a better understanding on how badly the age/grad year system is abused in these tourneys. As far as I know they are allowed to have just turned 12. Is it typical to see 6 foot tall 150-175 kids that are fully developed physically?

Most tournaments have no restriction other then grad year so you could see kids +1,+2 older then a typical rising 6th grader. Many of the private schools push for a pre-1st or double 8th grade.

So who is to say they are even in the current grade they are playing at? Is anything verified at all? Sounds like a free for all to me.

2027s should be 10 to start the year in September and 11 by the summer. There should be very few 12 year olds, any 12 year olds in 5th grade have been held back.

Yes, I'm not sure what made sports like soccer so much stricter on age. US lacrosse doesn't seem to really tackle this issue. Older kids help teams win and that helps teams attract kids. Most parents want their kids at least playing with their own grade. Clubs also seem to want to meet the letter of the law in having kids in their grade groups so it's not called out too bad.

I'd be surprised to learn if there are elite teams that wouldn't accept a kid in his grade regardless of age. They may ask him to play up if capable.

I assume that was Walsh since only Fritiz is listed now.

I have never seen proof of grade even addressed at this level. My son is always one of the 2 or 3 biggest players on the field and admittedly looks older than a 2027, but he turned 11 in May and has always been 97th-99th percentile in height and is just developing early. Opposing parents cry non-stop that he "must be 13" claim he is playing down etc. but I have never been asked for proof of him having just finished 5th grade, nor has our coach been asked (outside of the casual...is he really a 2027 question from the other team). We have always carried his birth certificate in case restaurants try and keep him off the kids menu, but not an issue in lax.

You are the rarity, most larger than life players are prefirst or holdbacks. It really has gotten out of hand now as the pie is only so big for the many skilled High School players now. Years ago, it was MD up Mass prep schools and Long Island public/caholic schools feeding the college Lacrosse world...No more..way to many players from everywhere, prefirst/reclass/holdback are epidemic now without age gudelines. USL is in Baltimore surrounded by Private schools..They are useless.

You are the rarity, most larger than life players are prefirst or holdbacks. It really has gotten out of hand now as the pie is only so big for the many skilled High School players now. Years ago, it was MD up Mass prep schools and Long Island public/caholic schools feeding the college Lacrosse world...No more..way to many players from everywhere, prefirst/reclass/holdback are epidemic now without age gudelines. USL is in Baltimore surrounded by Private schools..They are useless.[/quote]
I understand and agree I am the rarity (Not trying to be a donk, but that’s why I put height percentile). I’d love for lax to be by age as it is the right/fair thing, but it’s not. It hurts my own kid, but given his academic and social standing I’d never stunt his life growth for lax. Plus, if I have that much of an issue I can play him in all the other rational non-school sports that have age cutoffs. I know you’ll say if my kid was small I’d feel different, but I don’t think I would. You deal with what’s in place and don’t cry about what you can’t control. Step up
or give up, your call.

Yes and I think Walsh is trying to move a bunch of kids to ML in exchange for what, I don't know. ML's current 27 coaches are pretty good. Maybe Walsh thinks he can create a new DC Dogs team. BLC 2027 teams should have a whole new look this year.

That'll be interesting. I"m not aware of one but it would interesting to see a club that has two elite teams at the same grade.

I wouldn't exactly call the BLC team elite. How is the 2023 DMV MadLax team? They were the Capital team before getting shoved aside. T

Is he around 5'10" to 6' tall 150-175lbs with defined muscular physique? Seems crazy for 11 to 12 year olds to be fully grown already. Just curious what 99th percentile at that age really is.

It's that time of year... a group of kids move up to middle school and they start to deal with the whole "holdback" issue. And people complain that US Lacrosse doesn't do anything about it.

Well, US Lacrosse can't really do anything about it, except at tournaments they sanction. They have put forward recommended age groupings, but unless a tournament follows US Lacrosse's rules and goes through the hoops to get sanctioned, it doesn't really mean anything. Most don't.

The "elite" teams are always (at least around here) going to be filled with holdbacks. But there are plenty of teams that aren't.

If you really care about that sort of thing, play for a team that goes to sanctioned tournaments. I'll warn you though... there aren't that many around here. It's not going to change until teams stop playing in tournaments and leagues where this happens. And guess what? They're not going to stop. Is it cheating? No... it's playing within the rules as set forth by the league or tournament. Is it gaming the system? Maybe, if coaches are recruiting those types of players in order to "look better."

Does anyone know the scores from today's HoCo games?

Some teams won, some teams lost.

Are they not keeping scores? Is it win/lose?

Anyone doing the metro box league? Hoping it gets enough players and teams.

Where is the Metro Box League? Link?

http://www.mabll.com/Default.asp?org=dcbll.mobi

The arrows are one team https://spark.adobe.com/page/wWa73jc5Yc79A/ and another is warthogs https://www.warthogslacrosse.com/ . I think they have some type of partnership going.

Wow, rough day for Crabs and Bethesda blue at Fall Brawl today. Roster changes I assume!

I suspect the Crabs are having problems because they took on about 6-7 Looney's players and have just too many players on the roster to form any kind of cohesion. BLC's A team walked out at the end of the summer and most went to MadLax where they now have a gigantic roster but switch a bunch of kids between A and B depending on tournament and availability.

USCL Rankings coming out this week..

My take on the top 10

1. Madlax(VA)
2. 91 Machine(NY)
3. Next Level(MD)
4. Hawks(MD)
5. TommyKnockers(CO)
6. WCS(CA)
7. Laxachusetts(Mass)
8. Nationals(USA)
9. Sweetlax(FLA)
10. PA Roughriders(PA)

Because there was so little inter-regional play this summer and fall, I would imagine the clubs in your ranking are correct but the regions will be shuffled lower and higher. For example, NL and Hawks will slide lower and TK, WCS and Sweetlax will go higher.

Why are 91 and Hawks not 1/2? They are easily the best two teams.