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10-15 kids still not committed.

LE 24’s only scored seven goals in 3 games. 26th out of 27 teams and they got shut out one game. I only got to see one of there games but I don’t care how many kids they have injured, the coach has to be part of the problem with their performance.

Ahh! The old “blame the coach because the team isn’t scoring much”. Gotta love that !

Oh man. Your the parent that blames the coach for the kids lack of ability or performance. We all know THAT GUY. Don’t be THAT guy!!!!

This is highly inaccurate. There may be 5 or 6 but no way its even close to 10.

If you don't want to read the whole thing, every NJ team is average to below average. Why are we being outpaced by every other state?



I think NAL showed that everyone here throwing stones also lives in a glass house. What a horrendous showing by NJ across the board. Only two NJ teams made the playoff bracket for the entire event, LE 22s and BBL 24s.

I like the BBL 22s but I think they had a bad weekend. 22 group is tough with it being their last tournament and most kids already through the recruiting process. Kudos to the LE 22s for making the semis.

NJ 23's were bad across the board. Blue Star, BBL, LE wow. Sure Tri-State is supposed to be the best at this age group but where were they playing? Obviously not in the player's control but still would have been nice to see their teams here.
- no insight on the rumor that LE is ducking Blue Star, isn't that out of their hands? If they had some "no blue star" clause then why did the 24s play?

For the 24s, nearly as bad. BBL made the playoffs but were out in the first round. Beat a bad NH team and Legacy's B team to get there. LE put together consolation wins and Blue Star got one.

Overall:
Leading Edge 22s [4-1]....23s [2-3]... 24s [2-3]
Build Blocks- 22s [2-3]....23s [2-3]... 24s [3-2]
Blue Star- 22s [0-5]... 23s [2-2].... 24s [1-4]

Love the pumping up of Blue Star! Deserved or undeserved, at least we aren't just talking about LE and BBL.

Only 2 Long Island teams made the playoffs. Does that mean Long Island is average to below average?

If you were in Delaware this weekend you know the truth about coaches watching these teams (big difference b/w the teams by the way), and if you're kid actually plays on these teams you know the truth about commits/injuries/missing players/coaching/reclasses/politics, and side payments (yes, that is a rumor mill item now) that impact play.

If you weren't actually in DE and are just relying on Tourney Machine and your animonsity of other teams to form poor opinions, the below is for you:

- BBL 2022 only had 14 kids playing and missing key players. Hard to beat teams in such a deep and quality field without a full team, Solid performance despite the missing pieces
- LE 2023 had at least 40+ coaches including most top 10 programs watching their 2 games today despite the losses, tons of talent on the field just not the chemistry needed to win consistently. There will be many more recruited than you think.
-The other 2 NJ 2023 teams had significantly fewer coaches watching despite some talented players on both teams. Even some of the recent 2022s reclassed didn't move the needle a lot to produce wins on the BBL 2023 team. Talent doesn't always equal wins.
- LE 2022 does not have 10-15 uncommitted players, the person that said 5-6 is correct and most have offers and are waiting for the dust to settle from this weekend
- For now, BBL 2024 is still the best 2024 team in NJ. We'll see how a year of real HS playing time for other teams impacts this going forward.
- For those complaining about the coaches being the problem, good and elite players are formed from 1. a combination of player commitment to improving on their own time, 2. their club quality and experience (playing with and against top-notch players), 3. The quality and culture of their HS/town programs, 4. their own physical development (some have grown and some haven't), and 5. confidence level and willingness to become an alpha on teams of alpha players. If the team is underperforming (LE 2024 as an example), the players better start with number one on this list before blaming someone else and if the Coach isn't playing your son, you should consider moving to a different team because that is unlikely to change. Standing on the sideline of a great team won't give you visibility to recruiters or film.

Zero. Ill say that again. Zero LI teams won the NAL championship this weekend. According to OP's logic (which he is obviously compensating for his team's total ineptness), LI is not good. OP.. pro tip.. lay off the solo cups and enjoy your son play with his team while it lasts. You're welcome.

There is so much talk on these boards about playoffs, rankings, consolation brackets etc etc etc. My only point was no team in NJ stands out on the national scale. Yes, I used this weekend’s results to drive home my point. I’m sorry I hit such a nerve bringing you back down to Earth. Pro tip, stop projecting alcoholism onto strangers and begin considering things from a different viewpoint. You’re welcome.

I was at the LE 2023 games. There were not 40 coaches watching. And if they were, it would have been a bad day for that to happen.

Do you have any idea what coaches are looking at?
Tillman was at 3 different LE games, Tiffany was there, Yale & Duke coaches at two games & West Point had a coach at 4 out of the 5. Dartmouth was at 3 games. They can't all be looking at the same 5 kids.
If the LE 2023s are so bad then why did they keep coming back? Are you saying there were no other games at the same time?
I can't explain it, the team looked really bad this weekend. We can make excuses about the girl that was walking around that they all keep talking about or they were exhausted from the summer. Regardless the coaches were there and keep coming back.

Coaches were at a lot of games, there were not an extraordinary amount of coaches at the LE games that I watched. There were definitely games that had more coaches, and others had less, but to suggest that LE had a monopoly is simply not accurate. Despite what others have posted about NJ teams at NAL, I would encourage people on this forum that weren't there to look at the teams in the consolation games, there were some heavy hitters, so even the Sunday consolation games had good coverage by coaches. Consolation games at 2023 had Madlax, Eclipse, Igloo, LI Express, Prime Time, Crabs, Hawks LE, so to suggest that NJ lacrosse is mediocre is just ignorant.. As far as the Bluestar/LE games being rescheduled twice, I have no idea what happened. I know that schedules often change for the first day of play, so we can chalk that one up to a "coincidence", but the Sunday change definitely came off as a bit more deliberate. Either way, there were some good wins, and some tough losses, for NJ teams at NAL.

Maybe they are there to watch the other team you are playing?

Do you have any idea what coaches are looking at?
Tillman was at 3 different LE games, Tiffany was there, Yale & Duke coaches at two games & West Point had a coach at 4 out of the 5. Dartmouth was at 3 games. They can't all be looking at the same 5 kids.
If the LE 2023s are so bad then why did they keep coming back? Are you saying there were no other games at the same time?
I can't explain it, the team looked really bad this weekend. We can make excuses about the girl that was walking around that they all keep talking about or they were exhausted from the summer. Regardless the coaches were there and keep coming back.[/quote]

I’m not sure where you are going with this. The coaches will watch Leading Edge because they have a strong history of recruits. But if the coaches watch a crappy product on the field they won’t recruit them. And, yes, coaches will go watch for the same 5 kids.

Exactly, why would any coaches have interest. I'm sure they only wanted to see LE over and over again.

Oh, so you’re “that dad”. You keep tabs on all the coaches on the sideline. Do you stand over their shoulder to read what they are writing down too?

Not sure why the prior post was edited, it simply listed the teams that LE played this weekend after "interest" in support of the probability that coaches may have been at LE games to see the other teams as well. Are the LE cancellation gremlins in this forum as well.

Your post sounds like a 2024 or 2025 player.
I'll answer anyway. No, I'm not "that dad" totally the opposite. I stand as far away as possible, the only reason I know they are there is because they walk when they leave.
I'm asking the question. Why are they there?

Tillman was planning his day, I want to watch these 3 teams play against LE because they are my baseline. Really!

Tillman was planning his day, I want to watch these 3 teams play against LE because they are my baseline. Really![/quote]

This is just an absurd discussion for many reasons. It's amazing how a ridiculous post about NJ teams morphed into a who's watching what games discussion. If anybody thinks that guys like Tillman or Tiffany were planning their day around LE, they are nuts. For the most part, they are looking at specific kids, not a club, and I imagine that on occasion they stumble across an under the radar kid. Go to a prospect day, these coaches will be very honest and tell you how many kids they actively pursue in any given year, the number is surprisingly low.

This is just an absurd discussion for many reasons. It's amazing how a ridiculous post about NJ teams morphed into a who's watching what games discussion. If anybody thinks that guys like Tillman or Tiffany were planning their day around LE, they are nuts. For the most part, they are looking at specific kids, not a club, and I imagine that on occasion they stumble across an under the radar kid. Go to a prospect day, these coaches will be very honest and tell you how many kids they actively pursue in any given year, the number is surprisingly low.[/quote]

Agree with the first part of your post. There are too many kids to watch, especially at an NAL tournament, to follow one team around.

I disagree with the remainder of what you’ve said. In today’s recruiting landscape, college coaches have to have an even bigger list of prospects than before. The floodgates open on September 1st, even during covid kids were committed within days. They’ll formulate A,B,C etc. lists and scout out a good amount of players. Even if the top 10% of players on a team drew them to the game, those will not be the only players they have notes on!

On the note of prospect days, be wary. They are money makers for the assistants and support staff. It is a great way to get in front of a desired school but they do want to have a full camp. A good club coach/director should be in touch with the coach and be able to gauge their level of interest.

Agree with the first part of your post. There are too many kids to watch, especially at an NAL tournament, to follow one team around.

I disagree with the remainder of what you’ve said. In today’s recruiting landscape, college coaches have to have an even bigger list of prospects than before. The floodgates open on September 1st, even during covid kids were committed within days. They’ll formulate A,B,C etc. lists and scout out a good amount of players. Even if the top 10% of players on a team drew them to the game, those will not be the only players they have notes on!

On the note of prospect days, be wary. They are money makers for the assistants and support staff. It is a great way to get in front of a desired school but they do want to have a full camp. A good club coach/director should be in touch with the coach and be able to gauge their level of interest.[/quote]

I certainly respect the response, but the info about the number of kids that top schools actively recruit came from the coach of a top 10 program, just passing along what was relayed to the kids. I do not doubt that they scout and rank a ton of kids, but but actively recruiting a kid is much different.

I certainly respect the response, but the info about the number of kids that top schools actively recruit came from the coach of a top 10 program, just passing along what was relayed to the kids. I do not doubt that they scout and rank a ton of kids, but but actively recruiting a kid is much different.[/quote]

Simply out of curiosity, what number was relayed to the kids and how recently? I would imagine that number gets larger as you move down the rankings from the top 10 programs, but this is purely conjecture.

You’re definitely correct that the number of kids they take time to get to know personally on visits and actively pursue is much lower. I sometimes think the fluidity and subjectivity of the process is understated, especially here.

Simply out of curiosity, what number was relayed to the kids and how recently? I would imagine that number gets larger as you move down the rankings from the top 10 programs, but this is purely conjecture.

You’re definitely correct that the number of kids they take time to get to know personally on visits and actively pursue is much lower. I sometimes think the fluidity and subjectivity of the process is understated, especially here.[/quote]

It was a recent prospect camp, and surprisingly, you could count on one hand, and you didn't need every finger, the number of kids that they were really targeting. I have also been told that they dig pretty deep in order to really get to know a kid, outside of lacrosse ability and grades, they also focus on the family, they don't want a kid who's parents will be a pain in the butt for four years.

It was a recent prospect camp, and surprisingly, you could count on one hand, and you didn't need every finger, the number of kids that they were really targeting. I have also been told that they dig pretty deep in order to really get to know a kid, outside of lacrosse ability and grades, they also focus on the family, they don't want a kid who's parents will be a pain in the butt for four years.[/quote]

I don’t follow, schools bring in roughly ten kids a year depending on need. How are they targeting less than that? The deep dive makes sense, after all their selections decide their success.

They are there to look at the 2-3 kids they want.

I don’t follow, schools bring in roughly ten kids a year depending on need. How are they targeting less than that? The deep dive makes sense, after all their selections decide their success.[/quote]

I wish that I could give you more insight. What I would like to know is how the transfer portal factors into filling out their need, i.e. do they put more weight on a portal kid to fill a spot as opposed to an incoming freshman. Seems like it would be a lot easier to get a transfer into a school, assuming that they meet the academic requirements.

Brady’s Bunch is squeezing in a camp in New Jersey this weekend & we hope you can make it!

We are heading to New Jersey for a 3-day Lax-n-Life event!

All boys, 2028-2021’s, are invited!

This is a NOT-TO-BE-MISSED training weekend!

Come learn from the best in the game today!

Drills will be lead by Brady’s Bunch Lacrosse staff along with PLL & MLL friends.

As Brady’s Bunch Lacrosse is about so much more than lacrosse - The whole weekend is in honor of and dedicated to all the kiddos in the area dealing with a cancer diagnosis.

Please see below for more information – even those that cannot attend can contribute & be a part of this!

When -

July 30 – Aug 1 (Note – Friday the 30thwill be MVP’s only. More about this below.)

Where -

St. Joseph’s High School

145 Plainfield Ave

Metuchen, NJ 08840

Weekend Schedule –

Friday 7/30

Check-in 6:15-7pm

Intro 7-7:25

Stretch 7:30-7:45

Full Pads on field 7:45-9:15pm – This MVP session will be position specific. Players will work in small groups working on their position with the pros!

Note - Friday evening drills are for MVP registrants only. However, others can come to the check-in & pick-up uniforms if you want.

Saturday 7/31

Check-in 9:15-10am

Intro 10-10:30

Stretch 10:30-10:40

Drills/Stations w/ full pads 10:45-12:45

Lunch 12:45-1:30

On field w/ Full Pads 1:45-3:45

Sunday 8/1

Stretch 9:30-9:40am

On field w/ Full Pads 9:45-12:00pm

Cost –

$285 + 1 Gift Card – 2 days of high-level lacrosse! Saturday & Sunday ONLY

$384 + 1 Gift Card – Saturday & Sunday + Friday evening! MVP’s get an additional session with the pros! MVP’s will concentrate on their specific position.

Gift Cards – Each player attending Lax-n-Life New Jersey must bring a gift card to donate upon check-in and to receive your pinnie. Gift cards must be a minimum of $20 & from a national merchant. Big box stores (Wal-Mart or Target), gas, restaurants, Visa, & Amazon cards are a few examples – but really any are appreciated! Please just make sure your donation card is from a national chain.

Being a part of Brady’s Bunch is about so much more than what happens on the field. The mission of Brady’s Bunch is to spread awareness of pediatric cancer and to help families battling a diagnosis. Brady’s journey began at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. He went through years of treatment there including both of his transplants. Throughout this time, we learned firsthand the hardships that a family faces when a child is fighting a life-threatening illness. Gift cards are an easy way that we can all chip in a little to help others!

All gift cards donated will be donated to the oncology child life department at Children’s Hospital of New Jersey. They will then gift cards to patients visiting clinic for life saving treatments.

Registration –

To register and reserve your spot for this Lax-n-Life Clinic, use the following link…

https://bradysbunchlacrosse.sportngin.com/register/form/001011476

When registering, you will choose between 2 options – with the MVP upgrade ($384) or without ($285).

Extras –

Everyone is welcomed to share in this event with us and help patients and their families that are dealing with pediatric cancer. If you cannot make the camp but wish to contribute, you can send gift cards to –

Brady’s Bunch Lacrosse
3 Randy Rd.
Framingham, MA 01701

Please also feel free to share this with friends that would want to send some love to the many patients fighting for their life right now!

The email entered on the registration is where all correspondence will be sent between now and the clinic weekend. Be sure to enter an email you regularly check.

We are so excited for this event! And we look forward to sending some love & support with you to the patients and their families at the Children’s Hospital of New Jersey! Please feel free to contact Mike with any questions – he can reached at 602-819-0828 or mwein@bradysbunchlacrosse.org

Brady's Bunch Lacrosse

www.bradysbunchlacrosse.org

I wish that I could give you more insight. What I would like to know is how the transfer portal factors into filling out their need, i.e. do they put more weight on a portal kid to fill a spot as opposed to an incoming freshman. Seems like it would be a lot easier to get a transfer into a school, assuming that they meet the academic requirements.[/quote]

Some schools are less likely to take transfers due to cultural fit, but I think most have a hard time passing up on the opportunity to bring in talent. Even the #1 recruit in high school hasn't proven themselves on the field.

But remember its not just transfers taking those spots. Every kid was granted an extra year in 2020. Schools will have less kids leaving which I think will equate to bringing less in. My guess, spots will become more scarce for current recruiting classes.

Great cause. Good luck!!

I have a question related to scouting. Does anyone know if there were D1 scouts at the NXT Summer Invitational in Philly and an event like Summer Slam for the 2023's this year. I know they were at Pinnacle, NLF, Naptown and NAL, just curious about the other events.

I was at NXT Summer Invitational with a B level 2023 program. There were D1 coaches there - I saw Michigan and Harvard amongst others. Most of the coaches appeared to be watching the 2022 games . . . and I suppose some of the higher level 2023 games. Same applies to Liberty Elite Classic in DE and Baltimore Summer Kickoff.

Thanks for the response. If anyone has any other info feel free post (without comparing the other events to the big ones we all know about)

Yes, they were at the NXT Summer invitational. Not sure what other age groups they were watching, but quite a few attended the 2023 games.

Some schools are less likely to take transfers due to cultural fit, but I think most have a hard time passing up on the opportunity to bring in talent. Even the #1 recruit in high school hasn't proven themselves on the field.

But remember its not just transfers taking those spots. Every kid was granted an extra year in 2020. Schools will have less kids leaving which I think will equate to bringing less in. My guess, spots will become more scarce for current recruiting classes.[/quote]

This is definitely going to impact recruiting, but as well all know, most of these kids are not playing for free, so staying for another year for a dead end sport can get pretty expensive. Probably more of a factor for D1 programs as opposed to D3, the D3 kids that seem intent on staying are mostly top players at the D3 level that try and make a run at a D1 program.

There is now Mad 2 Dog North teams/4 BBL Teams/4 Team 91 teams. As well as a ton of other clubs. New clubs seem to be openign up every day.
When will the bubble burst on these teams? I love how they claim to be having tryouts for these type of teams and clubs. Other than LE, BBL Black most of these teams are begging for players and not cutting anyone.

It's going to be a rude awakening for some of these clubs...While I think that the United merger was a good play for BBL, their other satellite teams, along with the others listed above, will have a short shelf life. If this expansion doesn't play out for BBL and their reputation is tarnished as a result, the real risk could be kids leaving the Black teams as well, just look at what the exit of a few 2023's did to that team.

You guys are overthinking the United merger. Did they keep any of the United 2026 kids?