BOTC - US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums NEW JERSEY LACROSSE NEW JERSEY FORUM Top Boy's Club Teams in New Jersey

Unfortunately, you are dealing with a system that is completely "unreasonable" at this point

I'm not sure a court would have much sympathy for the "but other people do it" excuse. Especially when dealing with children. Again, I hope that there is never a reason to test this in court.

So what's the word on BBL 2024? Did they cut any players. If so, from what teams did they take players?

A couple are new but pretty much the same team with most of the players from WSYL remaining.

US Club Lax just posted the Final Rankings for 2019. BBL 2024 Ranked #4.

BBL is the best '24 in NJ. No surprise Leading Edge was the top NJ team from '23 up. BBL '20 and TriState '21 in top 15.

'21 Mad Dog National is a great team but sure they should count as an NJ team. Going to be interesting to see if the CA & TX kids continue to play with the team after 9/1.

It would be interesting to see the criteria used for compiling this list - both subjective and objective.

(This info is from US Club Lax's Instagram. Copied and pasted.)

Understanding the Rankings:

Rankings are determined using these factors: tournament strength, playoff outcomes, undefeated points, winning percentage and bracket placement.

How RPI is calculated:
The index comprises a team's winning %, it's opponents' winning %, the winning % of those opponents' opponents and goal differential (maximum 8 goals). The opponents' winning % and the winning % of those opponents' opponents both comprise the Strength of Schedule (SOS).

Strength of Schedule:
After playing in a tournament and or bracket the computer will look at the winning %/opponents' win % and opponents' opponent's win % of those in the bracket and will calculate whether this tournament and or bracket is a SOS denomination of 1 through 5 (5 being the Highest)

Head to Head:
"We beat that team!", "We have beaten the #7 team how are we ranked lower?".. We get these questions every time we put out the rankings. Head to head match ups only matter for the SOS portion of the rankings.. Just because you beat a team ahead of you does not mean you leap frog them in the rankings. Example: If Duke basketball is #1 and loses to a non-ranked opponent, that does not mean that, that team now becomes the #1 team in the country. It helps their overall SOS but does not catapult teams ahead of them.

Losing Record and Ranked or Winning Record and Not Ranked:
"We are 17-2. Why are you ignoring us? There is a team with a losing record that is ranked above us, how is that possible?".. If there is a team with a losing record in the rankings, you have to look at their SOS. That means they are playing in the top brackets and tournaments in the country, week in and week out. If your team has an amazing record and is not ranked, it has nothing to do with US Club Lacrosse ignoring your program or team. It simply means the computer calculated that the tournament, bracket or teams you played against was not competitive enough.

"Nissan WSYL/Inside Lacrosse 13U Final World Rankings" just came out.. BBL ranked 2nd.

Seems like there were quite a few player moves at 2023, was Mad Dog able to reformulate a team

Doesn't matter. Tribal is taking over. Everyone else is on notice.

10 players at tryouts. Not sure they can create a team. Their top 2024 moved to Blue Star and United. MD Girls Directors left for T3. Not good

Seems like a bunch of kids, not just from MD, migrated to Blue Star. Tough market for Mad Dog with United up the street. The MD 2025 team is pretty solid, perhaps they can build off of that.

I wouldn't be bragging about this BBL parent. The hard reality is going to take hold next summer.

Here we go.. he's back trolling the jersey board. I'll play.. what's this hard reality that's brewing in that melon of yours?

Great White Lacrosse/Shark River took all of MD younger teams. $3,000 vs $900. No brainer for a 4th, 5th & 6th graders. Not sure what they have to build on.

Any truth to Tommy D moving back to NJ to taking over the CBA job and fixing the issues at Mad Dog NJ. Stagnitta taking over CA after he is done at Hopkins.

Not sure how anybody can expect to get another program up and running in the area. I guess the questions is, what do you get for $900. Are they going to play tournaments (no way $900 covers tournament fees), paid coaches or parent coaches, do they have reliable practice space...when you factor in all of the variables, then you can decide whether it is a good deal. The other problem is that, as these kids get older, and if they turn into higher level players, they will migrate to other clubs which are perceived as "the team to be on"

Not true

Guess you'll have to wait and see. Hopefully you guys won't see Wolfpack, Madlax, Eclipse or Taz in the fall or summer.

I see you're family is back from your annual Busch Gardens vacation and you'd been hitting the sauce hard again because you're not making any sense. The whole point of being in a top lax club IS to play the top teams and hopefully win and be competitive. We hate blowing out inferior teams because it's a total waste of time. You wouldn't know that because your son is on a B team and play weak teams. Plus you're teaching him to be afraid of playing good teams which will turn him into a wimp like you are. That's ok with me. By the way, do your homework, we'd played all the teams (except Eclipse) you mentioned and we're looking forward to playing them again. Keep hitting the sauce wimp.

Pump the brakes, Tribal has one good team

South (Jersey) will Rise Again!

Dumdum.. you got it wrong... you should hope instead the entire state should rise against LI and MD. Jersey is better off without people like you.

All kidding aside, does the proximity to the Philly area programs create an issue retaining players. If one were very ambitions, Maryland is not really that far either.

Wow. I seem to have really got under your skin. Good luck with your season.

I can tell you it happens and it's not unique to NJ. Top players will always seek top teams that will give them the opportunity to play in top brackets. For instance, players from PA playing with LI teams (Express and 91). Imagine that commute. But can you and I really claim we wouldn't do the same for our sons?

Disappointing.. you're not worth it.. good luck with your son's B team, there's nothing wrong with it.

Your are right on that with commute and doing whatever it take for your son. We are on LI and was invited to a philly team that is the tops in my kids age and coaching and we are doing it. It will be a ton in the car but a sacrifice and a good lesson for my boy on wanting something. Anyone else do this type of commute? you're experience? Thanks

That's dedication! Always look at the bright side, you get to spend quality time with your son on your car ride, he will improve his game and will meet kids outside his circle. Good luck!

Looking for some elite high school training for the fall. I have been looking at the BBL site. Does anyone know of any other clubs or coaches that have good classes or clinics.

Depending on where you live, shop around clubs in your area by calling the club director and better yet, ask to speak to the coach of your son's year and ask for a skills assessment (hopefully free or reduced fee). My 2 cents.

Most clubs have a fall programming for high school. Does you current club not offer fall practices and tournaments, that would raise a red flag for me.

What happened to Mad Dog NJ. Multiple sources saying they only have one team, 2025s, and a Sea Girt middies dad is trying to move that team to United to play for the Manasquan High School coach.

Interesting considering that United already has a solid 2025 team. That being said, I don't understand why there are so many issues at Mad Dog, my interactions with their current coaches and director have always been positive, is this just fallout from mismanagement that occurred in prior years.

They shipped one of their directors to LA. Good move for the director, from the looks of it, they are down to 1 team in NJ.

Correction, the United 2024 is their strong team, not 2025, either way, that MD 2025 team is very good

What's going on with TriState? Blue Start picked up a number of their players. It only took MV 3 years!

Not really sure what to make of it, but with the tri-state kids and a few other additions, the blue star 2023 team could be interesting. A lot of the tri-state kids that left the last 2 years were from the old shore team, a bunch to blue star and a few went to Leading Edge, there was some decent talent on that shore team

Bluestar 2023 not interesting at all. Have 2 maybe( stress maybe) 3 decent players (one an ex-tristate for sure) played them over summer-not a real challenge