BOTC - US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums MID-ATLANTIC LACROSSE MARYLAND FORUM Boys 2029 Grads - Mid Atlantic Region

I see many many "Al Bundy" parents in this thread. Reliving their glory days through their kids.

So back to actual 2029 lacrosse conversations.......................

Analyisis after 3 weeks of Elite and AAA Divisions:

ELITE DIVISION

Front Runners: Madlax & Hawks....everyone else seems to be in a race for 3rd through 9th. Madlax gets the slight edge over Hawks in my opinion, but will be a great match-up after we get back from Easter break. Definitely the two tops teams in HOCO and two of the top teams in the country.

Middle Pack: Bethesda, Next Level, True Annapolis, VLC, LTLC. I'll keep LTLC in this group because I think they do have some talent, but have had to play top opponents out of the gate. Bethesda, Next Level, True, and VLC are all extremely talented teams. Will be interesting to see if Bethesda and Next Level moprh together over the next few years. Will CRABS get a 2029 team back next year, or is VLC the only one. Who will they buy out to have a 2029 team in Baltimore.....they have to be thinking ahead. This is just a loaded bracket.

Bottom Feeder: Team 91 - Feel bad for this team as they probably got placed in the wrong division. Lots of new families came in and now you are having supplemental tryouts during the middle of the season looking for players???? The schedule only gets tougher. Long road ahead.

AAA DIVISION
Front Runners: FCA, HOCO, Carrol Manor - FCA might get the slight nod out of the gate, but should have a tough test with Carrol Manor after the break. Is FCA the real deal? One of these teams will definitely get bumped up to Elite next year. Carrol Manor has great coaching and very organized. HOCO looks to still hang for another year, even with the loss of a couple stud players.

Middle Pack: Team Maryland, Wolfpack, TRUE KP - Thought Team Maryland was playing well till they ran into FCA. Wolfpack has some great talent, but poor coaching and oranization on the field. Can someone please explain to be TRUE KP??? Still confused by the True / Kelly post org chart???

Bottom Feeder: Team Money & VLC - Team Money getting used to what Maryland lacrosse is actually like, vs. Central PA lacrosse. They have some athletes though and I give them credit for wanting to play tougher competition. That's a long 3 hour round trip communte each weekend though. Assuming this VLC 2029 team will fold, now that Crabs purchased Cavalier.

Closing Thoughts / Predictions............
1. So crazy to see that Looneys, Rough Riders, Breakers, Blue Claw, and CRABS don't even have 2029 teams at all. What happened to these programs?
2. Predicting Madlax vs. Hawks in the ELITE championship and FCA vs. CARROL MANOR in the AAA.

I second that. Why have all the posts been about a 28 holdback?
Let’s talk 29’s in here !

holdback whiner needs to play rec, coach his kid up or enroll his son in soccer which is played by birth year. My 4 kids play from HS all the way down to the 31 age groups. This sorta crying has been happening for a decade!!

Let me be clear: club lacrosse is NEVER, EVER going to go by birth year.

So u are wasting time when we would rsther be talking about matchups, game highlights etc

Please go to the holdback thread

Nah it’s the hold back dads that want the topic to go away because deep down your embarrassed you need to hold ya boy back

Interesting analysis..........agree with most of the Elite Division analysis although I don't think LTLC will be able to hang with the big boys long term. It's the overally difference and commitment from CLUB to REC-CLUB. I predict Madlax to win it all.

For the AAA Division, I think FCA is the favorite from the games I saw thus far. Watch out for TRUE KP....improving and training hard.

My questions are:
1) Is the 2029 age group as a class weaker because of COVID or the starting effects of "rec-club"
2) When does "Daddy Coaching" end? Seems like all these younger aged teams have Dad as coaches.

Will be interesting to see if Bethesda and Next Level moprh together over the next few years. [quote][/quote]

Why would BLC and Next Level morph together?

I am grateful for all the insane holdback parents. You are brining your dense kids so I don’t have to go through the hassle of playing my kid up! Thanks….I get to avoid all the years of paying for therapy for my kid. I imagine that is the calculation you all make….holdback to get a scholarship to offset therapy bills.

[quote=Anonymous]So back to actual 2029 lacrosse conversations.......................

Analyisis after 3 weeks of Elite and AAA Divisions:

ELITE DIVISION

Front Runners: Madlax & Hawks....everyone else seems to be in a race for 3rd through 9th. Madlax gets the slight edge over Hawks in my opinion, but will be a great match-up after we get back from Easter break. Definitely the two tops teams in HOCO and two of the top teams in the country.


Shocker: madlax daddy gives them the slight edge! Joking….of course you do. You should! Those are your boys! It Should be a good one. Not sure those two have played a game that didn’t end in a one goal deficit since the beginning of 2021. Hawks have won every matchup except one I think (yes or no?)And considering how hard it is to beat a team two or even three times in a year I find it rather impressive that the hawks did it 6 or 7 times.

Both teams added talent if this board is accurate, and they played in the fall.

Goaltending: hawks
Defense madlax
Attack madlax
Midfield hawks
Faceoff hawks

I predict, another 1 goal street fight but unwilling to predict a winner. Can hawks win again? Probably. But so could madlax Who knows, tons of talent on those two teams.

Not sure it matters, except for playoff positioning…but it’s Gonna be awesome

Haha. Yup. Dudes just want the convo to go to the thread no one goes to.

HoCo 5th grade level (2029s) has about 1/3 less teams than 5th grade last year (2028s). I think there are fewer "club-capable kids" to be honest, as the years go on. Peak was probably 2023-2026 classes. Lax is pretty saturated in MD-DC. The bottom half of the 2028 teams (shown as HoCo AA and A this year) are abysmal, and should be rec only. 2029 teams are looking the same way. Look at the awful product that some of the 2029 "elite" clubs are putting on the field. Unless your kid is in the top half of teams, you are getting worked for $1500 - 2500 per year.

As for the dad coaching, it is a question you should ask when your son tries out for a team. Some clubs love it because they can pay dads less money, in exchange for a guarantee their son makes the team. And then you'll see that the offense or defense works through their son almost exclusively.

Some clubs have a "no dad coaches" policy and that's where I focused my $$$$ with my older kids. Ask at (or before) tryouts.

re: True KP. , a coach can elect to be True by adding addition fee. Not sure exact amount, maybe $200. They get a extra training nights - goalie, faceoff, shooting, etc run by True coaches. The kids can also tryout for state/national teams.

There are two kids on NL 2028 who are 5th graders playing up. If those kids ever joined NL 2029 that team would be unbeatable.

They aren’t fifth graders playing up. They are recent holdbacks who are on age for 2028 and extremely old for 29. But yes, they will dominate whenever they drop down as they are very good on the 28 level which is their on age level.

Are they legit playing up or are they late summer birthdays who held back going into kindergarten….because they may be 2029 graduation classes but still technically holdbacks. I’m not saying that’s the case. I’m asking.

This is a 2029 board and you people are deep into the "true holdback" nature of two kids who play in the 2028 division but happen to be fifth graders. I think we're through the looking glass on holdback talk.

Looks like a good matchup after the break, who’s taking who? Hawks or madlax?

When's the last time Madlax won an Elite division title at any age group? 2019? Asking for a friend.

Well, considering there’s only been one season since 2019– you’re REALLY going out on a limb there buddy.

So your going with Hawks next week. Check.

Madlax 29 gonna roll Hawks. 12-6.

One for madlax. Although that score seems a touch off considering these teams have played about ten straight one goal games including in the fall. But hey, we will see

Well apparently, the Hawks just reclassed their 6-0 tall goalie from ‘28 to ‘29… is this the same kid? He was already a beast at 2028. Or is this bad intel? Heck, I think he was playing 2028 starting this spring??

Just checking to see how this post aged…….

Not as quickly as the 13 year old Hawks goalie!!

As stated above. Same kid as always. Not a holdback.

1. Totally ridiculous to start spreading this rumor. Same goalie as the last three years. He’s a true 2029
2. He’s not even close to 6ft
3. He’s always been the best goalie in the division
4. It’s easy to make saves when you take crappy 12+ yard shots.
5. Instead of being bitter, offer up some respect to that kid.
6. If this (my third post refuting this subject) gets deleted again, it will be clear that this site is a madlax driven site.

No one believes a Hawk is a true “insert” any year.

As predicted. Hawks rolled by Madlax D. #99 is tough to beat but Hawks rolled him.

BIG WIN for the HAWKS this past weekend. Analysis after 4 weeks of Elite and AAA Divisions:

ELITE DIVISION

Front Runner: Hawks....they got it done once again 6-3 over Madlax. Didn’t get a chance to watch or hear about the game, but have to give them the clear top spot overall. What the Hawks secret sauce? Are they the top 2029 team in the country?

Middle Pack Tier 1: Madlax and Bethesda – Will be interesting to see how Bethesda responds to playing Annapolis. They had a lighter schedule on the front end, so they may be dropping some more. Madlax is a talented team, just wasn’t good enough to get it done this past weekend. Looking forward to seeing a rematch hopefully in the Championship Game.
Middle Pack Tier 2: Next Level, True Annapolis, VLC – Should be interesting to see these guys battle each other over the next few weeks. I have a feeling Next Level will rise to the top. Challenging schedule ahead for VLC (It’s about to get real!). Thought True would be better so far, maybe True is overtraining these 2029s?
Bottom Feeder: LTLC and Team 91 – LTLC has some talent, but this ain’t Rec – Club competition anymore. Welcome to the big leagues, but I admire them for playing Elite. They have some talent though and will be interesting to see if they can keep the band together. Team 91….aye aye aye…..just feel bad for this crew and culture (2029’s 0-4, 2030’s 0-5) and continuing to have supplemental tryouts during the season…..come on Millon.

AAA DIVISION
Front Runners: FCA – Haven’t seem them play, but looks like they are ready to join Elite next year from looking at their scores / schedule. Will the shiny Orange Chrome MDLax look as shiny next year playing with the big boys and better competion?

Middle Pack: HOCO, Carroll Manor, Wolfpack, Team Maryland – HOCO and Wolfpack continue to battle and improve each week. Team Maryland looked good when I saw them play, but not sure what happened when they played FCA?? (Maybe missing some guys to spring break hopefully) Carroll Manor…great group of kids….have you ever heard a coach yell so much at 5th graders? Come on …..Seriously, could never let my son play for that group.

Bottom Feeder: Team Money, True KP, and VLC – All three continue to fight, but are just overmatched. A couple skilled players here and there, but not enough all-around depth to compete.

Closing Thoughts / Predictions............
1. Elite Final Four: Hawks, Madlax, Bethesda, Next Level. The same elite four….Hawks vs. Madlax in the championship. Overtime thriller…..Madlax prevails.

2. AAA Final Four: FCA, Team Maryland, HOCO, and Wolfpack. FCA vs. Team Maryland in the championship, and HOCO pulls off the upset of FCA in the finals.
3. Will be interesting to see if there are more “holdbacks” than normal in the 2028 group that would ultimately play 2029 next year. Will COVID cause more to look into that option as the 2029’s approach middle school?

4 Hawks goals were on man up plays. Madlax contains their penalties and the game is tied.

Just curious which of the top 2029 teams in Baltimore County have Dad coaches? Trying to avoid "daddy ball" for my son next year.

So what. Part of the game?! That’s like complaining about losing a basketball game because the other team got all of their free throws.

Contracts are just starting to go out for many clubs. Honestly, there will be clearer answers to your question closer to July 1, when current parents at the clubs are asking "who are the coaches for next year" right before tryouts.

LTLC, True KP, Carroll Manor, and Wolfpack are all led by Dad coaches. Can’t say what clubs might fit that description until summer.

As fun as it is to push peoples buttons, it’s also cool to talk about how good both of these teams are. Look hawks are clearly the better team. They have beat madlax like 9 out of the last ten times. But both have great players.

In the fall hawks dominated the X. But madlax found a way to fight back this last game. Also, madlax rides as hard as hawks and both seem to put forth an emphasis on it.

The game was won between the lines. And we should all feel lucky that we get to watch these two teams battle for a few more years.

Kudos to both teams

My kid plays for a less talented team then ML Cap 2029 and we have beaten ML 2029 because they are poorly coached around self control and penalties. Worried about the man-up goals? Don't cross check the other team's FOGO in the neck, in front of the ref, on a fast break that was headed for a nearly certain goal. "It was man up goals" is a new level of pathetic excuses for losing.

Was expecting BLC to at least compete today against the hawks. Got weird i think

How many 2028’s did the Hawks bring down this year? The 2028’s have brought down 7-8 the last 18 months or so…they’re presumably doing it this class as well

Zero. Three new faces from other clubs. That is it. Only one plays significant time I believe.