BOTC - US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums MID-ATLANTIC LACROSSE MARYLAND FORUM Boys 2028 Grads - Mid Atlantic Region

2way barely beat legacy 2 times maybe they aren’t as strong as we thought

Aren’t they the champions this weekend?

Got real quiet on here…what happened

pop, pop goes weasel, and Venom sure did Put it to THE BOYS....

Sunday Bored MD Dad Rankings:

I think we now have a reasonable view of where things stand. Maryland is the deepest region with six teams that are among the top teams nationally - Hawks, Madlax, FCA, Next Level, True Annapolis, and Crabs.

Long Island is sorting itself into the usual suspects with Team 91 as the top team on the Island. Long Island Express has also had some nice results recently. Legacy started off strong win a finalist spot at NAL but shown a lot of weakness since. Mooselax also has some good results and Naptown will help show where they slot nationally. None of the other LI teams seem among the top teams.

Outside of Maryland and LI, Freedom (PA), 2way (CT), Express North A team (NY), and BBL (NJ) have had the best overall results consistently.

These 14 teams seem like the top tier and it doesn’t look to be changing.

After that we have a few New England teams - 3D NE, Laxachusetts, 4 Leaf Army - with some good results.

1. Hawks
2. Madlax
3. 2way
4. Team 91
5. FCA
6. Next Level
7. BBL
8. Express North
9. Freedom
10. True Annapolis
11. Mooselax
12. Long Island Express
13. Crabs
14. Legacy
15. 3D NE / Laxachusetts / 4 Leaf Army

Saw the NL goalie today. Got a hard time believing he’s 10/11 years old. Looks like 13

Very fair list... I do think some west coast teams will crack this top 15 after NLF, or some other visits east. Keep an eye on Mad Dog West Elite, and Seattle Starz in particular. They’re big and athletic. 3D Colorado and 3D Dallas are not good enough to crack the order... and when West Coast Starz start putting out the 28’s, they’ll be competitive as well.

Venom is up there, but a split with Next Level is not a great showing, despite winning the consequential one of the two. NL went 2-4 in HoCo league this spring...

NLF can’t get here soon enough! Any idea who is playing the Adrenaline Platinum Cup July 5-7 in DE? Likely some top west coast teams...

Cross out D1 for your son.

Very fair list... I do think some west coast teams will crack this top 15 after NLF, or some other visits east. Keep an eye on Mad Dog West Elite, and Seattle Starz in particular. They’re big and athletic. 3D Colorado and 3D Dallas are not good enough to crack the order... and when West Coast Starz start putting out the 28’s, they’ll be competitive as well.

Venom is up there, but a split with Next Level is not a great showing, despite winning the consequential one of the two. NL went 2-4 in HoCo league this spring... and

You have seen the Hawks goalie then?

I think he’s referring to size, not skill. The Hawks goalie is normal size just really good. The NL goalie is a giant.

There were only a couple kids in hoco that looked out the normal size range, NL goalie was one.

Son of the Buccaneers nose tackle was playing this weekend for the 7 Flames 2028 team at Millon. Probably was going something 5’10 190 at 11. Played pole and was surprisingly quick. Some kids are just big. But it was visually crazy to see him matched up against all the sub 5’ and 80 lbs attackman.

The Hawks goalie is very big for his age as well— and extremely good. Whether he’s older for his grade, reclassed, doesn’t really matter— he’s just really good.

Kids starting to hit puberty at this grade level, will start to see big disparity in size— don’t just assume they’re older. Some times they are, lot of times they are not.

Saw that guy, apparently he just started playing a few months ago. I thought he looked pretty good for how raw he was and he was (thankfully) not throwing his size around against our midgets. Gonna be a beast if he sticks with it.

You have no idea what you are talking about. You’re wrong that he’s big, they aren’t a big team and he’s average on that team and he’s not a holdback.

Can we make a pact that when our sons get beat we don't make lame excuses like, "The other kid was so big!" or "We were missing players!" Just tell your sons to go out and play hard and have some fun. The NL goalie is a big kid. So what, so are most great goalies. The Hawks goalie isn't a big kid, but he can flat out play. Stop making excuses and figure out a way to beat them. True has a long pole who looks like a sophomore in high school. Does your son want to get better? Have him dodge against him for 40 minutes. Madlax has a massive midfielder. Tell your son to get low and push him down the alley. Kids who are faster, bigger, stronger, and just plain better than your son aren't automatically holdbacks because you can't imagine any other reason why that's the case. If you fold or make excuses the moment things become challenging why are you trying to run with these dogs? Just pack it in and go dominate rec.

Hawks were dominant team at Naptown. Nationals and Mooselax both struggled against better competition. Colorado team not ready for East Coast play. Mad Dog and 3D Gulf Coast better than advertised, showing there is real lacrosse talent outside MD and NY. Nationals supposedly an All-Star team with lots of different helmets, but not as athletic or skilled.

Hawks parents sure do have a chip on their shoulder after a little recent success at 2028. Nobody else knows what they’re talking about, And yes— the Hawks goalie IS big. And very good.

Got it hold back Dad. You want your son to play down in 6th grade while the rest of us play on age and stay quiet. Hilarious , the logic of the holdbacks/reclass/prefirst dads

I brought my measuring stick today. We’ll get this sorted out licketty split!

You assume any kid better than your son must be a holdback. Maybe they’re just better athletes. You seem like the kind of person who complains about his letters when he loses in Scrabble. Stop whining and be a better.

If they were just better athletes why would they need to be held back?

47 on Madlax is 13 he said it himself.

And here come the other holdback/prefirst parents to say it doesn’t matter - when you know, it actually does.

He's 12. Mind your business and stop trolling children.

isn't 2028 supposed to be 10/11 year olds?

if he's 12 now he's a holdback.

12 is not 13 and the composition of any 2028 team (or any grade based team) is probably 20-30% minimum summer birthday's (i.e. holdbacks). Get over it.

Nope he a hold back. If it was a summer birthday he would be 11.

This is why club lacrosse should be aged based until probably grade 7-8. Being 12 and playing 2028 is a advantage no matter how you look at it. There are kids playing 2027 that aren’t even 12 now. But you don’t know his situation maybe he struggled in lower grades.

Why did he hold back? Was it because he couldn’t keep up in the classroom or on the field?

Not true, but the truth hurts.

Serious question; What happens when the other kids catch up and the holdback doesn’t make the team anymore?

Let's please all stay away from discussing individual kids on specific teams. Parents and coaches are the ones who decide where these boys play, not the kids themselves. Generally speaking, the most talented players play up. Kids want to play with their friends. Most 11 year olds wouldn't want to play on a team of 9 year olds, etc. But the parents or coaches put them in that spot for a reason. Don't blame the kid.

It's not the kids fault and this is not the biggest problem the biggest one for me is teams bringing older kids come playoffs in tournaments.

Hawks, man. Pretty impressive showing at Naptown. No significant dispute about who is #1 anymore I think.

Nobody on here has disputed the Hawks position on top of the field. Even the Madlax folks have made that point clear. We have yet to see Madlax or the Hawks play The two teams up north but everyone says are the best they have to offer, 2-Way and 91 Venom. Hope we get to see those four teams tussle at NLF in July.

It’s a nice win but do you think the tournament was filled with high level teams?

I've said this for years with two older boys who play, it's a grade-based sport. If you don't like it, pick something else, like soccer or baseball. But stop with all of the "holdback" nonsense. I'm sure that back in kindergarten when they decided Johnny wasn't ready, developmentally or emotionally, they were envisioning him playing lacrosse, and that him being 6-8 months older than some of the kids in his class would chart his future in the sport.

Bingo. 99% of these kids are held back before Kindergarten... and it had nothing to do with sports. There are also the occasional reclasses in grade school. Not many, though, it happens when they’re like 4 or 5 and not mature enough to start Kindergarten. What kid who is any good wants to leave his buddies and play with the little cretins the grade below, as he’d call them?? Not many... certainly not mine.

Get over it. When it really matters (high school), freshman will be playing with seniors and its sink or swim, whatever their age.

Agreed - no need to single out specific kids. It’s definitely not the child’s fault where the parents/programs chose to play them.

Some parents want their kids to play with younger kids (and learn in the classroom) with younger kids.

To each their own.

It’s tremendously unimpressive in the grand scheme to watch 12/13 year olds beat up on 10/11 year olds - but this is the world of wealthy, private school, blue blood lacrosse.