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

BLC would go undefeated in AAAA.

There are kids on teams from A-AAAA that are rec players that literally can’t pass, catch or run. They only hurt the team when they are in. Some of these clubs are just taking your money. Elite teams would never allow this. If this is your kid shame on you as a parent. This is why they have rec lacrosse programs.[/quote]

Oh now you've done it. Here come the AAAA parents who insist there is zero overlap between the HoCo brackets in terms of skill.

Even at the "elite" level, skill evaluation is hit-or-miss. You'll note when you see a Crabs, Hawks, 91 or FCA helmet playing with another team (usually at a lower bracket), that kid isn't "on another level" compared to the kids he's playing with. And if you mention it to other elite parents, the response is always, "uhhhh, he was the worst one on the Hawks/FCA/Crabs, he's no good." I've heard that argument so many times. Obviously the Hawks/FCA/Crabs/91 coaches thought enough of him to cut other kids to make a spot for him? But 12 months later that kid "can't play." Yeah, sure.

What takes the skill evaluation process from bad to worse (borderline "without basis") is multiple dad coaches at tryouts. And you know it's true.[/quote]

What you are missing is that many of the elite teams, while they get competition for the top spots, don’t get that next group of really talented players. Most of the kids in the next group choose other options (and rightfully so) where they will get more playing time. The result is often a significant drop off from starters and bench players who get plenty of time to the last group of players on the team. That’s why those Hawks/FCA/Crabs/91 players who eventually get cut or drop down in level and play with AAAA, AA, A etc don’t stand out. They were never that talented to begin with.[/quote]

100% accurate, though honestly I'd refer to the "not that talented" players at Elite through AA as "non-standout athletes." And being a "non-standout" definitely means you could get cut by certain teams on certain days. Again, one of the issues I see are the dads insistent on their kid being called "elite" when really, most of the elite kids are good athletes on a team with 4, 5, maybe 10 standouts compared to your average club lax team in the USA...which has 4, 5, 10 good athletes and 0-1 standout.

GIven that last year's AA champion, Team MD, has made a mockery of its AAAA competition this year, and that BLC could surely beat Team MD, you are probably right.

[/quote] What you are missing is that many of the elite teams, while they get competition for the top spots, don’t get that next group of really talented players. Most of the kids in the next group choose other options (and rightfully so) where they will get more playing time. The result is often a significant drop off from starters and bench players who get plenty of time to the last group of players on the team. That’s why those Hawks/FCA/Crabs/91 players who eventually get cut or drop down in level and play with AAAA, AA, A etc don’t stand out. They were never that talented to begin with.[/quote]

Here is what happens. It is a lot easier to make Hawks/FCA/Crabs/91 when you join in 2nd or 3rd grade. Meanwhile, the Rec-based clubs have solid teams at this age group because they are much cheaper and parents don't want to shell out $2k for little Johnny. As they get older, some of the better players leave the Rec-based clubs to go to the private clubs. At the same time, the kids who joined the private clubs in 2nd or 3rd grade that are not very good either don't play or get cut. A club like 91 will allow you to stay with the club, but you are essentially just a practice player. A club like Crabs will actually cut you. Not sure about FCA and Hawks.

I wasn't even thinking about that, but that's a great point. It would be hard to do with more than 1-2 kids, but I could see if there was a unique fit with a team or coach, I might make that drive. But not at A level, or really even AAA level, ball. Without throwing any clubs under the bus here, there are definitely those who have said "Oh yeah we've got US Lacrosse leased all year, no need to ask any more questions about that!" and then within 30 days the boys are practicing on an unlit grass field in another county, a full hour away.

Easily.

They may get a chance to showcase themselves in AAAA next year, as they proved they are not Elite level. Same goes with Kelly Post. Bring up Blue Claws and one more.

Kelly post steamrolled that division last year and blue claws just lost to Team 91.

Then Wlite should be 6 teams. BLC and KP clearly have no biz up there, losing games 18-2, 16-1, etc.

Elite will probably be 10 teams next year.

Is hoco going to love the times for the semi finals Sat. Supposed to be 96 without heat index. Hear advisory. This is dangerous.

Yeah imagine losing a game by that much. I agree, get rid of BLC, KP and FCA.

If you arent playing elite by now, you have zero chance of being a starter in MIAA let alone play D1 in college.

Probably the densest comment on Back of the Cage from a guy who never played a minute of Varsity lacrosse. Have fun at Preakness with your Black Eyed-Susan.

What summer tournaments are teams doing?

Who is playing in Naptown?

Hawks green
June 11-12: NAL, New Castle DE
June18-19: Summer Exposure, Annapolis
June 27-28: Naptown, Annapolis
July 9-10: Prime Time, Danbury CT

Is the gap between the two divisions so vast that the same team would be a punching bag in elite, but a sandbagger in AAAA?

A+ but too vanilla trolling attempt. No one who ever played high school sports would say this.

Furthermore, anyone who has ever coached and tracked athletes' development knows that "talent evaluation" before 9th grade is at best a 50-50 prospect. There are kids on every single AAA, AAAA, and Elite team this year who should not have made their team and have not contributed.

This is a question of the time (3 years?) it takes "getting beat up at elite" to attract key standout players (at this age, 2 mids, 1 SSDM or LSM, 1 FOGO, and 1 goalie) whose parents simply do not want them to be playing "down" at AAAA or AAA.

At most other spots on the roster (at this age), including backups, there's not much dropoff from mid-low Elite to upper AAAA (you can't tell me the NL 2nd string goalie is substantially better than the FCA white 2nd string goalie)...........but those 4-5 standout kids make all the difference. *at this age*

What tourneys are Madlax and NL playing in this summer?

Madlax 28 Cap Tournies:

NAL
Summer Exposure
Naptown
Prime Time, CT
NLF

Not at all. The top 2 teams in AAAA can play up and compete with the middle of the pack Elites. Just like the bottom couple elites do and would be in the hunt for AAAA. If you say otherwise, you havent seen all the teams play enough.

It’s a Hawks v Madlax summer!!

They're going to be playing 3+ games/day in those temps come summer tourneys, so I would not be holding my breath for a change.

Venom will also be NAL and Naptown. Has Venom played Hawks or Madlax recently? What was the score? I see Venom has leaped to the top of USCL rankings after playing a bunch of mediocre LI teams.

ML has never played Venom or 3d New England.

Not that anyone asked, but NL was 1-1 against Venom last summer. They’re a strong team.

2 good games. Venom is much improved this year but so are the Md squads

Hawks beat both venom and 3DNE in 2021. Both close games.

Naptown schedule is out!

Madlax is playing all four of these events as well as NLF in Bethlehem PA

False. Crabs and FCA (elite middle pack) would steamroll every AAAa Team. The gap is huge

Has Venom ever stepped foot off the island?? Glad to see they’re coming down for Naptown and NAL.

They want to NLF and million last year. But let’s not pretend that the mid-Atlantic travels anywhere.

Ok Strong Island Guy. In 2021, Madlax played tournaments in:

Orlando FL
Vail CO
Hershey PA
Amherst MA
Rehobeth DE
Philly PA

Your brethren from LI (Legacy, LI Express) travel a good bit. 91 not at all.

Champions for the Weekend
Elite: Hawks
AAAA: Blue Claws
AAA: Team Money
AA: Ville
A: KP Green

Elite: Madlax will give hawks a run for their money (toss up)
AAAA: Team Maryland will beat the pants off of Blue Claws
AAA: VLC beat team Money last week and will do it again.
AA: Ville
A: Diamondbacks

Thanks everyone, I’m sick of driving over and hour for a team that does not value my son, period. We are late to the club game, which is laughable when you think about it. Koopers would be super close to home, so we will give more thought to the tryouts available. Some good questions asked. I have asked these question of breakers and I think unless they gain interest from some new to club kids it won’t move forward. I want to keep expectations reasonable, let my kid show what he can do. Try not to be one of “those” parents

Again, anybody curious that last year's AA champ (Team MD) also looks like a possible AAAA champ this year, with almost no new kids?

Tell me again how much separation there is between the brackets lol.