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

True has no ownership in KP, which is part of Towson Rec. It's a nonprofit. They partner with True so that the best players can play on True State/National teams and the players can get positional training. Not every KP team is a True KP.

Wonder if Millon can convince some LI 91 kids to come down for some weekends. Otherwise this doesn’t seem like it would make any sense. 91 is definitely worse that most or all of the teams in AAA.

I see someone has lost good players to Predators, Dont be jealous, Hit The Wall !! and join the elite

In 91's defense, the worst possible outcome is that they lose just one more game in Elite this year vs AAA last year.

Predators are one of better NY teams?? And soon to be in Baltimore Top 5 , Jealous is not a good trait

At least check, there were 0 KP kids on True National and 5 KP kids on the True State team (which was really established for the True Annapolis kids who are featured there). The new KP helmets and jerseys are all True helmets/Jerseys that feature the KP logo, correct? And as somebody else said, the KP B team got absorbed into True Baltimore.

Partnership.

It's like saying that getting bitten by a tick is a "Partnership."

KP was doing just fine before True.

KP B team and True Baltimore aren’t the same team.

Madlax and Hawks cruise in DE as expected.

Crabs with three one goal losses to go winless. Ouch.

Meanwhile complete amateur hour at the Next Level tournament resulting in a literal last minute cancellation of the whole event.

I think there are Russian boys impersonating lacrosse dads

Did the Hawks really cruise? I heard Nationals made them work. NXT within 4 goals?! Doesn’t sound like cruising.

Any field between DC and Baltimore was covered with snow when the sunset last night. Nothing was going to change by 9 AM this morning. Next Level should have canceled last night. Instead, parents had to drive long distances this morning to find out the fields were covered with snow and games were canceled. Amateur hour.

Yes. Don’t worry, Cabell. Hawks are terrible. They only beat NXT 7-3 and they actually had to play to beat Nationals. I predict they will have to show up and play to actually win, which is proof that they’re actually bad. Better than everyone they play (not Madlax of course), but not good.

Serious question- why would both of those teams be there and not play each other?

Because the folks who are in charge of those teams take themselves way to seriously. It’s 6th grade lacrosse not the red river shootout.

Because it’s a play day tune up for HoCo for these teams. It’s also fun to play teams outside of the area. They’ll play each other enough over the next five months.

This is a stipulation that these clubs sometimes have when offering to "strengthen the field" by entering their club in an event (the following teams don't want to play us, and we're, uhhhh, OK with that).

Same reason that at Madlax events, ML teams start the event by facing the worst team (at 2028s, that would be Predators, MESA, Sidewinders, or 91).

ML and Hawks are at these events to build their brand, not to get their star players beat up 2 weeks before HoCo.

Like it or detest it, accept it or not, it's the facts. There's no other logical reason why these two teams "miss each other" so often at tournaments.

Watched the Hawks NXT game, I’m pretty sure the Hawks were up 5 or 6 nuthin, and didn’t seem too bothered by NXT or their goalie who is like 6’3” tall, literally fills the whole goal. He looks like a high schooler. Don’t think it mattered really though.

Nationals looked like they only had 14/15 kids, but brought in a bunch of 3DNE kids to help fill the roster. Better players than they’re used too.

NXT is not good. ML pulled their starting O and D for a lot of the game and were even using poles at FO a lot. I did not see the Hawks/NXT game but I can't imagine it was hard for the Hawks to put them away.

I’m just now realizing my son (7/2010) is a major younger player in 2028. We were a part of the folded Koopers so have had a really hard time finding a place and good fit skill wise for him. We are on a new team and he, while not the best, is outperforming his team and no longer wants to go to practice. Hoping his middle school team peaks his love again.

Yes thank you. Finances especially now are a real concern for many. I wonder how many kid sitting in a B team are phenomenal Players but lacking resources? Waiting for the high school shot.

Who is he playing for?

Not many because the top teams would go after them and offer them less tuition

The new blue claws b team.. parent coaches, lacrosse is their second sport for most kids. We are over an hour drive so trying to find a better fit next season. Will be going to more tryouts than previous years. He’s on Hereford middles team as well.

If the parents take them to the tryout. I know if I thought I couldn’t afford a teams fees I wouldn’t take my kid and have to disappoint them

I wanted to clarify, the team is fine, he is at least getting field time etc but hes been playing for years, clinics, privates etc. it’s our fault, as parents, he didn’t go out for other teams. We had/have some resource constraints we will have to adjust next season. I don’t want to LaxinItUp on his team. I’m not that person. They gave him a place when no one else would even meet/tryout

Hereford 28 team has great coaches as is in your back yard why not just play there? No need to drive a hour

Honestly it is hard to find a great fit on an existing AAA/Elite team. Your son has to clearly outperform a player they already have (unless one is leaving). Much more even playing field to get on a "new team" - which about 50% of kids will do in 8th and 9th grade as more options open up.

If price point is an issue, the obvious targets are HLC and Kelly Post - rec based clubs like Blue Claws. They always cost the least. HLC's AAA team is not quite as good as the Claws, KP's AAA team is slightly better than the Claws.

Tryouts for those two squads will again be tough this year (entering 7th), I would expect maybe 5-7 kids to leave each roster but not more than that. However they will have more roster spots after 7th, and "anything goes" after 8th.

Other AA and AAA teams in the Towson area are limited and expensive, but there could be openings at several clubs (Team 91, Predators, and Swarm to name a few) if their overly confident coaches have put their teams in HoCo brackets above their abilities (which is the rumor in all 3 cases). Families will "swarm" out if those teams drop 0-15 eggs every week this spring.

Koopers will eventually get critical mass for a 2028 team. Club is run by very high quality guys, and tons of parents who care about the kids.

Nationals’ goalie also had a great day. He probably made 12-14 saves, including some real steals. Hawks would’ve run away with that game if not for that kid.

Thanks HLC had an established team and only took internally from their 27/28 combined team. We aren’t looking AAA, I don’t think he is at that level. Could be, he has potential, but we just aren’t able to focus all parental energy on one kid. We have a handful. We would love for Koopers to run, Ron has been great keeping in touch. We will keep our eyes out for tryout schedules. We thought this forum would be helpful but very few are. Thanks for the input!

Truth to that statement, Nationals goalie (from Texas I believe) made a bunch of big saves in that game. Maybe the Hawks made him look good, don’t know, but he had himself a great game.

It’s unfortunate that the Kooper team folded on you late. If you miss those tryouts, the good AAA and elite teams like Blue Claws will not likely give you a shot at their rosters if they are already full.
If you’re coming from up in PA, there are a number of good programs up there too.

(Same guy). Hang in there and be glad it's just 6th grade and not 9th/10th. The X factor in Koopers not getting enough kids last year was that "allegedly" a coach committed to the Koopers 2028s in the early summer and then bailed before tryouts....making it awful hard to get kids to tryouts and retain them after they were offered a spot. I would guess they fix that before tryouts this year.

Generally keep your Fri-Mon open the last 3 weekends of July for tryouts (15th, 22nd, 29th). Some other places to look:

LTLC is affordable, well coached, great kids but solid "A" level ball probably what you are seeing at Blue Claws B team. Younger teams (2029, 30) are AAA studs. But the 2028 squad does not really have an upward trajectory towards playing competitive HS ball.

Kelly Post offers a AAA team as well as an A team and occasionally/rarely a kid will get pulled up from A (before they ever look outside KP). The A level squad is not bad at all, but also not great.

Koopers may run? See if they publicly announce a coach. Would expect them at AA or even A at this point. Maybe Predators folds, and they all go to Koopers hahahahaha.

Swarm (Perry Hall HS) has some delusion of continuing to run a team in AA or AAA but when they come back to reality, they will be looking for A level players

Predators (out of St Pauls School) has a ramshackle gang of lower AAA players (which really means a AA team). Some will leave because they can't hack it, some will leave because they want a more elite team, and maybe got cut this past year. Not sure if AAA or AA this year.

Team 91 (mostly out of Gilman) has elite dreams too, and really no way to cash that check for the 2nd? 3rd? year in a row. Anticipate major defections to lower level AAA and mid range AA teams........which means open spots. Currently about 30 kids on the roster including a bunch of the Koopers kids.

Did the Hawks really only beat NXT by 3/4 goals? NXT is equivalent to a AA team in HoCo. They better figure out how to gel their 2027 reclass kids soon, or they’re gonna get a wake up call in HoCo

Hawks are even better this year, Cabell. You’re the one who needs to set your alarm and wake up.

Cabell, if I didn’t know any better I’d say you had better things to do. Gaslighting a bunch of kids who went 3-0 in their first weekend on a message board isn’t below you, but it is creepy and weird. Focus on your team. Something tells me the Hawks will be just fine this season.

The team brackets are done for Hoco so I hear.

Anyone care to spill the beans?

2028 Elite 2028 AAAA 2028 AAA 2028 AA 2028 A
Next Level Blue Wolfpack True Annapolis White Rockfish FCA Orange
Madlax Capital Cannons Select Sidewinders Ville Arden Diamondbacks 2028/2029
Crabs Team 91 Arden Diamondbacks HoCo Zingos
FCA Blue FCA White VLC Bethesda Orange Green Hornets 2028/2029
Annapolis Hawks Hawks Black Team Money Next Level Red Baltimore Swarm
Bethesda Blue Team Maryland True DC Top Caliber Kelly Post Green
True Annapolis Green Blue Claws Red Baltimore Elite Madlax DMV LTLC
Kelly Post Grey HLC Predators VLC Herin True Baltimore
Blue Claws Blue

So 5 divisions? Where are you seeing this?

Also, would it be possible to share these groupings in a more confusing way please?

Quadruple A?

Lol