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

And you didn’t pass 5th grade grammar class

Your ( for you to understand) welcomed . Hope your son does better at baseball.

Good grief True is annoying

NY-based 2029 Igloo parent here. You guys are so fortunate that you have a great league to play in (I think you call in the HOCO league). Great competition! The NY teams don't have anything like that, to my knowledge. They only see each other at tournaments. I hope we can eventually do something like that up here. Looking forward to a fun weekend at the NAL. Good luck!

Careful what you ask for. Hoco has killed our rec programs which will eventually kill public high school programs. In maryland dc and Virginia, it’s turning into a “private school” only mentality. So instead of growing the game, we are narrowing the game to be what the stereotype says it is. And elitist sport.

Also, the parents in the hoco league are schmucks….appreciate what you have.

For clarity, this page changed the word hammerhead, to hammerhead (which is weird)….your still a major hammerhead.

Thanks for the response. I definitely didn't appreciate that. That's a shame. Club lax in general is a double edged sword.

Tell me you've never been to a tourney with LI parents, without telling me you've never been to a tourney with LI parents.

HoCo didn't kill anything......but I will say that its value is massively overblown. When your son is playing in 9th grade, no one will ask whether he was "elite" or "AAA" in 8th grade HoCo.........let alone whether he was "elite" in 3rd grade HoCo. The rec advocates can start by looking in the mirror: starting in 1st grade the rec clubs start pulling out rec kids for "all star games" and "rec travel" which instantly transforms to "rec club." I have an older kid who started at a high flying rec club and this was our timeline.....tell me if this makes any kind of sense to you....still blame HoCo?

Kindergarten - played soft sticks / rec in-house

1st grade - played rec in-house / wasn't picked for all star, or invitational summer training, or fall box team (kid got a little sour over it). He had "medium" talent but just didn't get picked, oh well.

2nd grade - the "all star" rec kids were all put on one rec team together, meaning thin talent on all other rec teams. My kid was on another team, full of kids who didn't want to play, and absolutely hated it. Asked to quit lax despite being a starter and playing entirety of most games. Kids spitting on each other, sword fighting, etc. "All star rec team" wins the in-house league. Coach quit halfway through the season. Most kids on the team quit lax permanently.

3rd grade - "all star rec kids" became "rec club kids" overnight, and were not required to play in-house rec anymore. My son tried out for, and made a different AA team.

4th grade - that in-house rec system continues to crater. My kid goes AAA.

5th grade - no more in-house rec, as most kids have either quit or moved to club. My kid at AAA

6th grade - my kid at Elite

7th grade - same team, my kid's team drops back to AAA

8th grade - AAA

9th grade - AAA, JV at school.

So out of 80-100 2025s, this rec association managed to keep about 20 kids in their own rec club, train another 20-30 kids to play club ball elsewhere, and 40-50 kids just gave up the sport entirely by 5th grade. Is this HoCo's fault?

Naptown will be interesting with all those top matchups? Any predictions who takes it?

HOCO is the reason we have a epidemic of holdbacks and a destruction of rec teams. Sorry your son had such a bad time, I suspect it wasnt that bad, but I bet you were an over reacting tiger Dad that had issues with rec club.

Frankly 10 years ago the model was great for lacrosse in MD until a GRADE BASED holdback league with MYLA's incredible delusional support came on the picture. HOCO was run by a MIAA holdbacks dad and could care less about rec or age. Howard County goes down in the Lacrosse Hall of Shame

Truth.

It wasn't that bad.....it was frustrating to see the rec system abandon the few average/above average kids who really wanted to play. I guess your argument is that MYLA/HOCO forced the rec association / club into that position. My argument is that you can support all three groups of players (early stars, decent players who want to play, and kids who are less/non athletic or coordinated and just want an activity) at the rec level, and many rec associations just don't want to do it. HoCo or no Hoco.

Back to actual 2029 conversations.................big tournaments with NAL Youth Tournament and Platinum Cup taking place.

NAL Youth - Loaded field with some of the top clubs in the country. Madlax, Hawks, Bethesda and Sweetlax all finished undfeated on day 1 (3-0)....HOCO elite representing. Hawks and Madlax dominated the semi-finals leading to another rematch. Madlax brought it home once again 6-3 in the championship. Madlax look really good, possibly looking like a top team in the country in my opinion.

Platinum Cup - Looking at teamsnap had West Coast Stars #1, Next Level 2029 #2, True Annaoplis 2029 #3, and FCA 2029 #4 in the winners bracket. Upsets in the semi-finals with both FCA getting revenge on WCS and True Annapolis getting revenge on Next Level. True Annapolis brought hom the championship 5-3 over FCA.

Pretty impressive showing for HOCO 2029 Lacrosse Division with elite teams (Madlax, Hawks, Bethesda, Next Level, and True Annapolis) and AAA (FCA) competing with some of the best teams across the country.

Any other 2029 insights from this weekend.........................

Is FCA moving up to elite next year?

Amazing showing this weekend by the local 29s for sure.

National top five IMO:

1. Madlax
2. Hawks
3. Laxachusets
4. Nationals LC
5. True national

Notables:

Team 91 LI
Mooselax (dark horse, super athletic and tough, one game format and they can keep up with some of the best. Tourney format maybe not….yet)

Where is Mooselax from? (Haven't heard of them before)

Great representation from all the local 2029's this past weekend. I agree Madlax and Hawks seem to be at the top. I detest seeing "National Teams" ranked. There are probably 5-6 kids that all play on True Annapolis, True Naitonal, and Nationals lacrosse.

My son plays for Predators and we have definitely been told that we arey moving up to AAA for HOCO next season. I would imagine that FCA moves up to Elite after looking at their scores and seeing them play. They definitely looked elite caliber. The question is who moves down? LTLC? Team 91? Do they bring up two teams and go with 10 teams....bring up FCA and Team Maryland?

Totally agree. National teams should not be allowed to be ranked. But club lacrosse is ridiculous and will continue to allow it. True is in bed with US lacrosse. Money talks. So they will continue to be ranked, all of them.

It’s a shame. Lax has become so watered down

It's a ridiculous gatekeeping argument that lax should go back to being like the 1980s where your level of play was determined by your parents' wealth (and specifically, school district or tuition checks) and racial background. As long as it's inaccessible, it can meet your definition of "elite" and not "watered down." Laughable.

The overall level of play is head and shoulders above what it was 15 or 20 years ago. Does this mean that corporations seek to take advantage of this growing sector of customers? Yes obviously. Should the national teams be ranked separately? Sure, but who gets to make that rule? There's a Madlax 2028 kid (double holdback btw) whose parents drive him 2 hours up from Richmond to play. Does that make Madlax Cap a national team? What about the middle school teams who fly kids in from NC, GA,TX? Hawks, 91, all of them. Is it OK on an emergency basis? 1 time per tourney season? Tourneys only?

Who exactly gets to draw the line in the sand.

As for True........it's a corporation with a repeated, well established reputation for illegal roster substitutions across the entire company. Worse than Madlax, worse than Nationals.......who both have been caught doing this. I'm talking about hiding kids under team snack tables, when the tourney officials are trying to track the kid down.

I'd propose that once a team gets popped for illegal roster, they shouldn't be ranked at all that year. "Not eligible." Because, nothing waters down lax more than illegal roster subs. That would change the rankings more than getting rid of national teams.

He’s not a double holdback. Stop lying on the child. You’ve invalidated everything you’ve said and have zero credibility.

Tell me you can't own your parenting decisions, without telling me. Decide to hold him back twice, that's fine, most people in lax are not anti-holdback, neither am I. But own the fact that in effect you're playing the kid 2 years down because it's allowed. How is he performing in 2007s wrestling, football, etc?

According to the kid himself, as he's told tons of kids on other teams, he turned 14 in January of his 6th grade year...where on-age is 11-12. If you need to call that "not a double holdback" then that's fine. What do you prefer to call it? Double Secret Probationary Exploratory Flexible Educational Plan etc?

Stop and just own it.

You are lying. He didn't say that. His birthday is not Jan.

Just stop. You don't know him, or anyone who knows him.

Great points around national teams etc. I somewhat agree with your point about kids coming in from other states etc. but I think these national teams are way worse. They carry 30 kid rosters, and typically 40% or more of the roster is never the same. One week it’s these 22 kids and the next week they swap out half the roster for the next best players they can find…at least with these kids flying in or making long trips they are consistently coming from fall until hoco and summer.

But any team that isn’t fielding the same roster every event shouldn’t be ranked.

True national and nationals LC, are the WORST with regards to this.

He's not a double holdback, Aesop. He is 13. You kid, told his kid, who told another kid who told you and then you inflated the age to sound like you know what you are talking about. I know him, his parents and some of his siblings. He is a big kid. His brothers are near 300lbs.

This is all ridiculous. The poor kid hasn’t asked for any of this. The sweet boy is big and talented and if he is a double holdback, it was before he could spell his name so he didn’t choose this and Madlax didn’t choose this. It’s a great fit for him and the team and you are clearly digging for something. He’s barely hit the cage all year so he’s not a threat. Leave him alone. It’s not his fault or Madlax so go find a 28 page to troll. You are still so bitter your boy didn’t play. Just go away!

Little surprised by the Mooselax talk. They are from LI. But they went 0-5 at the tournament. My sons local town team beat them not long ago.

I think the Hawks are a top 3 team but they and Bethesda had an absolutely cake schedule at the NAL. It doesn’t mean they’re not good. It just means that there is only so much you can take away from the NAL for those teams.

No offense but this sounds like a kid who will disappear in the HS depth chart. Very large single holdback who isn't a major contributor even as a holdback. If you have watched kids progress into HS sports before, you have seen this common process.

Which goes back to why does anyone care where he plays, or whether he is 14, 13, or 25 years old. Let him play. If he tells opponents he is older than he is, honestly that is hilarious. Good for him.

Not a major contributor? You obviously have no idea.

Where is everyone playing this weekend??????

I see Summer Exposure AA has (Hawks, Madlax, LTLC)
Summer Exposure A has (Koopers, VLC, Team Maryalnd)
Legends Fastbreak has (True Annapolis, FCA, and True National)

Yawn. ML faux outrage is as lame as anti-ML faux outrage.

Thanks sweetlax dad….

But you should have been on the list at 3. My bad. Until you beat the hawks your not ranked above them. And you have played them….

What? Not a sweetlax dad and I actually don’t know what you’re even trying to say here. I don’t think sweetlax is that great either. Certainly not close to top 3. I was just making an observation which I think is fair.

No criticism is fair as long as the 2 ML homers and 1 Hawks Dad are hovering around this dumpster fire of a thread.

Ha! The worst part is that it wasn’t even meant to be criticism. I think the Hawks are a great team (as I said, top 3). I was just pointing out that their schedule in this tournament was pretty light, which is not their fault. Bethesda obviously is not as strong, although certainly not a bad team.

Hahhahaaaaa

Maybe some got out over their skis with talk of Madlax 2029s taking over from the Hawks?

Thoughts on Hawks 2029s reclaiming the top spot over Madlax today?

My thought is that it will go back and forth for years. But when the hawks are fully loaded it’s gonna get harder. Kid they are missing does a lot for them, offense, defense and he’s one of the most skilled 29 draw men in the country.

Hawks exposed the madlax faceoff situation today……

Crabs should be in the mix soon.

Yeah. It’s about time for the 28’s to drop down to 29. Should compete immediately.

And LTLC too.

What does that “exposed” comment even mean? We stayed to watch this game. ML had the ball up a goal with slightly over a minute to go. If they spin the ball they win.
They went for a shot to really slam the door and actually opened door for Hawks.

Geez. All you people are too serious. Just two great teams, playing another great game.