BOTC - US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums NORTHEAST LACROSSE BOTC MAIN FORUM (LI, CT, WC) Boys 2025-9th Grade Fall 2021/Summer 2022

Lacrosse is so far behind in policing this issue it's ridiculous. Other sports like ice hockey and soccer have a very good system. It's birth year plain and simple, for this 2025 age group it would be 2007 birth year only. They don't care if you were born on December 31, 2006. You have to submit birth certificates, the kids are issued photo ID cards each year and you have to submit an official roster prior to the season. The referee lines everyone up before each game and checks the cards, protective equipment and the roster. If you break the rules they actually have punishments, they've taken away wins and championships. This whole process starts when they are little playing on a mini field and can't even tie their own shoes yet. Granted it is a bit tedious for little kids but it sets the tone for order and fairness going forward, by the time they get older it's just part of the game. I know once you get to high school they mix grades together, you can have an 8th or 9th grader playing varsity. That's not the point, you have to create a safe and fair environment starting from the beginning.

My kid plays for Empire and it's been great. The team is competitive and they're being coached by a great varsity coach. The directors are taking over the team next year and they should only get better

How many good lacrosse environments have you been a part of, especially now that they're in hs. With no governing body or standards the owners have run amok, as well as cost. Covid was used as an excuse for doubling fees and inflating rosters. Did anyone get their money back or see rosters shrink? Personally we're still stuck in the club rat race. If parents are sick of hearing the coaches and their recruiting and motivational pitches imagine how the kids feel. 75% of them will never play again after hs, almost all of them will get into college without lacrosse being a factor. I just wish we (them included) could enjoy the last few years of them playing.

Yeah but aren't they all 17 yrs old?

Lol not a one - if you believe that BS you haven’t followed this team over the years. Come by and see what your missing out on - they are special. A number of them started as freshman in the MIAA.

But the debate, which rages on…is holdbacks. But who cares they are all in HS and many of them, if not all are playing vs 10th 11th and 12th graders. So if a 9th grader is older, so what?

Maybe so…but for the kids that were at Showtime this week, it was their club that likely got them there. It’s HS, IMHO if your son just enjoys playing and not concerned with college lax, just stick with what is working, if not, you should find a club that has the right network to help get your son get into meaningful showcases and hopefully committed. Look at results, not promises.

Do the math. Most travel rosters have 25 to 30 kids nowadays. The showcases are looking for several players from each club. Many clubs have affiliations and agreements with certain showcases. The parents and players are doing the work, paying the fees and travelling. Clubs will proudly promote their players after they've committed. A club may get you an introduction but that's about it. We've had coaches tell us we're wasting out time because we'd miss one of their events. At the end of the day it's all about being realistic, figuring out what YOUR kid wants and doing a ton of work yourself. Take what everyone else says with a grain of salt, most are full of baloney.

Agree with the comment wholeheartedly. My son is one who isn’t concerned with playing after HS is over……and it seems like he is in the minority. When did things change so drastically to everything being about showcases and d1 college aspirations??
If my son needed lacrosse to get into a good school, I’d feel like a failure as a parent

My son plays lacrosse because he loves the game…..plays for a club team over the summer because he enjoys the guys on the team

Less than 10% of current HS and club players will play in college. Since when did club lacrosse become all about recruitment, that's what showcases are for. I agree with the post above that covid changed club lacrosse for the worse. Fees went way up, rosters got bigger and owners keep giving less. Half these teams could hire their own coach and play together anywhere, lightbulb just went off

Don’t know, but it’s all about recruitment now. Not saying I like it, but it will be the focus of a lot of these kids starting now. That said, the right club will get you into the right showcases it seems. Look at Showtime this week, your son isn’t going unless your affiliated with a few clubs is appears based on those rosters. BTW those invites go out in the Fall, the club sends the kids. So the point is valid, if it’s all about recruitment, the club 100% matters, just look at the clubs represented at Showtime I.e., if your son is a really good player and your club lacks a network imho you might be on the wrong team if this is something your son wants. if not about recruitment, then it’s about decent coaching and a decent team and hopefully your son enjoys it and gets good minutes in HS. My two cents and my opinion just from what I have observed. Could be wrong, but worth discussing.

Maverick Showtime excepted registrations day of event. And rostered a 2025 player onto the All-Star team, who wasn't even at the event. 😂🤣😂 Tweeted the roster, then took it down

No, that’s not how it works

Truth

Yes it is….

I know how it works. But I was there when a player registered and paid that morning. And a kid did make the All Star Team without even being there. He was getting all the text 🤣

Are you implying that there is business and politics involved in all of these complete money grab showcases? Can't be! LOL

I agree with you the “holdback” thing gets a bit crazy with a select few programs, but i don’t think you’re grasping the concept. It’s all about recruiting year. College coaches don’t care about your birth year in lax just what class you’re in, that’s what drives it. Hockey is a bad example. Most college coaches don’t recruit from high school and most high level prep players are all hold backs. Your youth hockey example and “safety” are notIntelligent. You said it yourself, you have a December 31, 2006 skating with a January 1, 2006. Full year difference, just like playing against a holdback. FYI my kid isn’t a holdback and I like him playing against older kids… cause I might hold him back in a year or two and laugh when everyone complains!

Wrong

The all star comment is true. Sort of funny.

2025 Igloo Northface Parents. Classy bunch of people (sarcasm)

Did someone cut you off on 95 after 5 hours in traffic ?

Haven't they always been (more sarcasm)

Interesting that all A teams have to leave LI to find tourneys. The only A level HS tourney on Long Island this summer is The Summer Showdown in July. But there is only a handful of A teams on LI. Not ranking save that for the 5th grade thread, just point out those seem to be the only A teams on LI. Don’t give me the nonsense of AA vs A or we have one team, but we are A. If your son’s club has not played one of those teams below. You are B, which is fine. A lot of decent playing lax at that level, just have be with the right club if your sons desire is to play in college.

3 weeks until tryouts start, lol…invest wisely


Express
91
Igloo
Legrush
Regulators
S2S
Rebels

S2S and Regulators are a joke...get hosed every tournament they play with real competition. The regulators went 1-7 at the world series, pathetic. Won't even speak about Igloo with how shady the people are there.

The NorthFARCE parents are also angry so beware. That club is a powederkeg

Exp and 91..... Then the rest. Igloo/ Stop.... Rebels? Have you seen them? Ill take 60% of "B Teams" to beat them. S2 S is improving. Its Exp and 91 and then PARITY

There isn’t a B team that could beat Igloo, Regulators or Rebels. For example, The Turtles played a 2026 A team and got smacked. And they just played B all summer and said they were A. The teams above are A teams and play A teams, might not be as good. But they step up and play A. This AA, A, vs B labeling is such nonsense. If you are A, play A. if you are B play B nothing else.

Stop with letters already. It’s high school now. Just play.

Same can be said for all of the A teams. I guess its easier to play out-of-state PAL teams as it boosts the morale and saves the local reputation.

play A's and getting smacked doesn't make you an A...

Turtles and Igloo organizations lied to the parents and should be ashamed of themselves. Regulators should go back to being a CSH team and shed the Massapequa kids...

Exp and 91 have owned this division. What I don't understand is why everyone buys into leaving LI every other weekend to to stay at dumpy tournament hotels for NYC prices. If this group all consider their clubs A teams why travel. The reason is because they can't win here, so. Regs are a CSH travel team with a few guests, S2S train wreck but what they all have in common is they beat Igloo.

And play the same 3-5 teams every week? Legrush Red, Regs, S2S and Rebels are all on the same level. Igloo is better than that group and that leaves 91 and Express. So they have to travel.

On LI it's the same competition they'll face all hs season. Privates complain they only have a few meaningful games, publics conferences are a mess with lopsided games even in playoffs, so everyone has to play club. So sit back and enjoy spending your weekends travelling 3+ hours each way to watch 3 maybe 4 games. How about making everyone else travel to us to play the best competition. or would that ruin the owners plans of expansion?

Your take on college hockey is wrong. Under current rules (for D1 - other divisions are slightly different), contact can not be made until January 1 of the player's sophomore year of HS, and offers can not go out until August 1 prior to their junior year. But all of these players are recruited out of their birth year clubs playing in birth year leagues/tournaments. Your statement that they don't recruit from HS is correct - they recruit instead from birth year travel teams. And your statement that most of the kids at prep schools are holdbacks is also true. But these same players are playing on birth year travel teams, and it's from these teams that they are mainly scouted. Some, who go to really high end Prep School teams, may leave the travel team system, but for the most part these kids were "found" out of their travel team. The college hockey coaches, I am told, like this system because they are watching like vs. like, and it makes for a better projection. They offer kids based on what they see out of the birth year teams, and then have the kid enroll whenever the kids is ready to play. For many of these kids, especially if they are not holdbacks or double holdbacks, this means they are told to play on a junior team after HS but before enrollment at the college. If the kid is already a double holdback then they will enroll after HS graduation.

The college coach in D1 hockey cares about birth year, but only to the extent that it informs them as to development. But they care less about grad year - its only relevant because they have to obey rules about when to contact and offer. Instead, they are simply looking for the best talent and will have that kid enroll when the kid is ready to play. In identifying the best talent at such young ages, it's best to watch kids compete against other kids in a finite age window consistent year after year.

D1 lax coaches would transition easily to recruiting in a birth year system. For instance, they will watch 2006 tournaments and showcases, and same for 2007, identify the best players, contact them when permitted to do so, offer them when permitted to do so, and enroll them when they are ready. When watching kids compete against each other in June, 2022, there is no reason that all of these kids need to be starting their college careers at the same time.

On LI it's the same competition they'll face all hs season. Privates complain they only have a few meaningful games, publics conferences are a mess with lopsided games even in playoffs, so everyone has to play club. So sit back and enjoy spending your weekends travelling 3+ hours each way to watch 3 maybe 4 games. How about making everyone else travel to us to play the best competition. or would that ruin the owners plans of expansion?[/quote]

Not sure what Privates you talking about... St. Anthony's and Chaminade have meaningful and tough schedules. As far as public school, yes it's a mess and the "top" teams should play in their own conference. It's very misleading for a public team to go 10-1 vs. VERY weak competition, it's very misleading. Let them play the 5-6 other strong teams and see what their record is.

91, Express, S2s would beat them

Please explain what you mean by legit. Any program that is allowing your kid to improve and play is legit. Most of the clubs are about profits, that's it. You don't have to be one of 20 kids standing on the sidelines for the big programs to be a good player. So what if they don't win a t-shirt every weekend. Play for fun and enjoy the other parents around you. Some are clicky as heck. Too many club hoppers looking to jump because they think they'll get recruited. Most of these kids will never play after hs, no matter what your director or coach says. Transfer portal, post grad years, going to small college most have never heard of. If that's what your kid wants than go for it, but first ask what the end game is.

Tryouts are here already in 10 days! Club choice is everything now. If your son wants to play on the next level there is a spot for everyone. However, use this summer to decide what is the best situation. Not advocating for one club over another. But do your research and ask questions about events, roster size, film, etc.

S2S, impressive.