BOTC - US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums NEW JERSEY LACROSSE NEW JERSEY FORUM Top Boy's Club Teams in New Jersey

Curious. How did that work out for the 2023 Bluestar kids? Any of them get recruited to top schools? Honest question.

Currently, none have committed. That's not to say that they aren't good lacrosse players, they probably just need to be more realistic about where they can play,

Maryland, Delaware & Cornell + a few D3

Maryland, Delaware & Cornell + a few D3

I believe that the poster was referring to the Blue Star kids that left for LE

So the Bluestar Kids who left Bluestar did so to get more playing time and more exposure at Leading Edge? Just trying to get the rationale, but that doesn’t add up in my mind. Figure at this point play where you are and get noticed.

As an outsider with younger kids I don’t seem to see bluestar mentioned often in the higher level club discussions but it looks like they get a decent number of kids playing in college

As an outsider with younger kids I don’t seem to see bluestar mentioned often in the higher level club discussions but it looks like they get a decent number of kids playing in college

Every club has its advantages and disadvantages. While there are a lot of biases and opinions on this forum, you need to assess what situation is best for your kid. It is a mistake to classify a club as high level vs. another, Blue Star, much like LE, Tri State, Riot etc. mostly play in the same caliber tournaments (other than the NLF which is a closed ecosystem, but probably dying a slow death). Your kid will get comparable exposure on any of these clubs, and I think that you are 100% correct, just look at their commit pages, that clearly shows that all of these clubs have high level recruits, including D1and high academic D3's. Having been through the ringer with some of these clubs and the recruiting process, I assure you that if your kid is good enough, any of these clubs will get him exposure.

good stuff, thanks ^^^^

Blue star is in no way the same caliber of lacrosse as TS, LE or BBL.

Blue star is in no way the same caliber of lacrosse as TS, LE or BBL.[/quote]

Thank you for bringing some sanity to the discussion. The coaching, player talent level, and quality of tournaments they enter needs improvement.

If you want an impartial perspective on the quality of the programs, check out the rankings on USCL. They give a general idea of how these programs stack up at different ages.

Blue star is in no way the same caliber of lacrosse as TS, LE or BBL.

I was not suggesting that the caliber of talent top to bottom is the same, its is not, I was referring to the tournaments that they play. I understand that they are not at tournaments like Crab Feast and Naptown, but there is just as much exposure at the tournaments that they play, i.e. NAL, Sweetlax, Pinnacle as examples. So putting aside the overall talent on the team, Blue Star is achieving the same goal as the other clubs, putting their best players on top college teams, isn't that what most of us are looking for. Yes, there may be a drop off in talent on the roster, but the kids that are good enough are getting the exposure and the offers with a lot less organizational drama. As far as coaching goes, I would argue that their players may be getting equal, if not better, coaching from the top D1 talent on the sidelines. I imagine that many of the comments comparing programs come from the parents of younger kids, so I completely understand why you feel the way that you do about clubs like Blue Star, I was not much different a few years ago, but I assure you that your attitude will change when you get beat up by the recruiting process, it is brutal, and when your kid is not the one getting all of the calls on 9/1, the first place you will look to is your club director, and as things progress, and you kid is not getting the offers he wants, you will slowly realize that you are basically on your own.

Man, always a lot of Vitriol on here. Be confident in your decisions, no need to project. The previous posters seemed to give a well reasoned and informative post. W/L in summer ball? The primary reason you play high school club lacrosse in the summer is to get recruited in college. At the younger ages it’s learning the game and having fun.

I just glanced at their last few years for colleges. By that measure if those club rankings are correct, Blue Star outkicks their coverage via college placement. Looks like four D1 already this year, and high level D1 at that. Putting aside the high end D3 schools listed. Past years look pretty good as well. What are they doing better than these clubs with more wins? I don’t know but it’s interesting. They were ranked one millionth in that ranking you posted. The only real measure for club is placement rate. That is it.

What’s the point of being number 12-20 on the bench of the top club, start somewhere else and actually get seen.

Secondly club is critical if you are at a lower level high school program. Kids here want to win county’s states and TOC (no longer), although you want to do well during the summer, this is what matters. If you play for a high level public, or parochial, you’ll get seen. High school tournaments run after most colleges have stopped playing. This is your showcase. If you play for a crappy high school, club is more important, no one is coming to see you play. Think of the added club fees as a property tax you thought you would save.

That said if you actually play on a high level Nj high school program you more than likely play club ( Summit, BWR, RFH, w field, hunt central ridge wood private/parochials).

my favorite part of these threads are the "clueless dad" comments. just because your son wears a leading edge pinney doesn't mean you know anything about the game of lacrosse!

my favorite part of these threads are the "clueless dad" comments. just because your son wears a leading edge pinney doesn't mean you know anything about the game of lacrosse!

Almost as ridiculous as making any decision/comment based upon meaningless US Club Lacrosse rankings.

Solid follow- up, I was referencing your post mine came in at the same time.

Here is a list of NJ clubs that had more college commits than Blue Star in the 2022 class - TS, Riot, LE, Patriot, BBL, NJLC, 2KL, O2, Steps, Team 91. Southshore, Brotherhood, and Evolution. And keep in mind that Blue Star has multiple teams at some age groups (not sure if 2022 is one of them). To say that Blue Star is doing something better with recruiting than these other clubs with more wins is not accurate.

I agree that the most important thing in HS club lacrosse is getting the kids recruited. However, this can also be a lagging indicator of the health of an organization. LE and TS draw a ton of new talent in HS so the success of their youth programs is not a predictor of HS success. That said, most other programs have to develop talent from their youth programs. With the success of 3D Garden State and NJ Express at the youth level, look for them to be moving up the recruiting charts in the future if they can hold onto their talent. These 2 programs also happen to be based in areas where Blue Star used to pull a lot of talent from. Only so many talented kids in these areas . . .

Thanks, I get that and I think TS BBL and LE lead the pack by far, Riot does well with placement but the next clubs you mention have very low numbers:
EVO they have six all d3 right now,
steps all d 3 zero d one. so on and so forth
The point made was that Blue star had 6 d one offers and was low ranked. Its either development, coaching or a good recruiting director. People were saying it isn't wins it has to be something.


I appreciate the shared experience from the above poster mentioning the ringer he went through and perhaps a few words of wisdom.

As an aside 3d is losing quality kids at the 26-29 years apparently. Was a tough summer for them and many kids have gone other places at that age, BBL, TS LE seem to be the stop spots...3D seems to be an incubator for youth, but cannot hang on to kids at the high school level. The areas they draw from have expendable dollars and many kids also go private, which will then bring them to a different club.

I do have a wandering interest in Towerman, can they keep up their success, its interesting and neat to see a one off lead their grade and be highest rank in NJ. They have so far stuck together, which is impressive. Good for them

Here is a list of NJ clubs that had more college commits than Blue Star in the 2022 class - TS, Riot, LE, Patriot, BBL, NJLC, 2KL, O2, Steps, Team 91. Southshore, Brotherhood, and Evolution. And keep in mind that Blue Star has multiple teams at some age groups (not sure if 2022 is one of them). To say that Blue Star is doing something better with recruiting than these other clubs with more wins is not accurate.

Last post on the issue. As I said before, I agree that clubs like TS, BBL and LE have talent deeper on their rosters, but as you make very clear above, all of these clubs are getting kids committed, so its not about which team/club is doing it better, it's about exposure. Not one college coach cares about your club team's record or ranking. Best of luck to all of you that start the journey on 9/1, it is an exciting time, just try to keep things in perspective.

Bluestar is a decent club. A top kid will get seen playing for them. But in general they don’t have as deep a team as the big 3. Talent pool in SJ has been light of late.

That’s a shame. Good players. I guess the grass isn’t always greener.

Last post on the issue. As I said before, I agree that clubs like TS, BBL and LE have talent deeper on their rosters, but as you make very clear above, all of these clubs are getting kids committed, so its not about which team/club is doing it better, it's about exposure. Not one college coach cares about your club team's record or ranking. Best of luck to all of you that start the journey on 9/1, it is an exciting time, just try to keep things in perspective.[/quote]

The most important thing for HS club lacrosse is getting recruited. These club programs aren't cold calling D1 schools trying to get your son recruited. The best thing they can do for your kid is get them visibility in front of the most/best college coaches. If your club team is not going to NLF, Crabfeast, Naptown, Pinnacle, etc that doesn't mean you can't go high level D1, but it does mean that you are likely going to have to work harder (and pay more) to get that visibility through showcases and prospect days.

And I agree that the USCL rankings are meaningless, but the site is a valuable source of info to understand what tourneys each of these programs are going to. Not always easy to find this info on club team websites.

Curious. How did that work out for the 2023 Bluestar kids? Any of them get recruited to top schools? Honest question.

Currently, none have committed. That's not to say that they aren't good lacrosse players, they probably just need to be more realistic about where they can play,

That’s a shame. Good players. I guess the grass isn’t always greener.

Agreed. I suspect that you will see a few of these kids do a PG year, but certainly no guaranty that a PG year will put you in a better place in the end.

I think Towermen will lose ground to LE because of a noble thing called loyalty. LE drops and picks up kids in 9th and 10th grade while Towermen stays loyal to their players. Love the loyalty. BBL suffers the same thing. A summit, Westfield, Chatham kid will never be cut for a non Westfield, Summit, Chatham kid. BBL knows they need to keep their youth program rec departments happy at the expense of getting better. Loyalty is good.

Loyalty is not only noble, but it creates better team chemistry over time and that is a huge advantage over teams that overhaul their teams every season.

Club loyalty helps the kids in the bottom third of the roster . . . and it hurts the kids in the top third of the roster. Top kids want to improve their team by adding more talent. If top clubs aren't continually looking to improve, they will be passed . . . and then the top kids on their team will leave for the better programs.

Ultimately clubs are about as loyal as their options. Most clubs will give a tie to an incumbent, but if a clearly better kid comes along they will find a spot for him.

I don't know much about Tmen. Have they had turnover or is their current roster the same one they've had for the last few years?

By the way, things are changing at BBL regarding your Summit/Westfield/Chatham comment. I think they realize that "loyalty" is a reason why they may have lost top kids to LE in the past.

No loyalty at the top levels - and with reclasses needing to find a home in these huge lax clubs - goodbye to team chemistry. I have seen reclasses take sports from better kids, who have chemistry. Don't get it

huge advantage how?

Loyalty is not only noble, but it creates better team chemistry over time and that is a huge advantage over teams that overhaul their teams every season.

Everything you say is true, but what you need to realize is that the success of the team is really secondary. While it is nice to wins games and tournaments at the youth level, it means absolutely nothing at the high school level, kids just want to be seen by college coaches. LE 2023 is the perfect example, they are a very good 2023 team, not the best, and some would argue that they have awful chemistry, but they aggregate a lot of top players and are competitive at good tournaments with lots of exposure (and not a LE parent).

It's easy, your players/kids are a commodity. The financially successful clubs use them to draw in more money. This is business! The funny part is the parent that uses "loyalty" to defend staying at a lower-level club is the same parent that uses "money-grab" when their club adds 5 players to backfill for the 2 that leave for another club.

If your kid is not one on the 9/1 recruits for any of these clubs, you will slowly realize that "loyalty" only goes so far. Your kid has to put the time and effort in to reach out to these coaches and try and develop some type chemistry with a school that they are interested in.

The point I was trying to make is that these club coaches are not out there proactively trying to get your kid recruited if they are not among the top players.

You're talking about club lacrosse....
At the grade school level maybe its about team chemistry. Def about having fun, getting better, making friends and getting some t-shirts. Middle School, have fun, play club at a top level with friends and start seeing where you are in the lax universe.. HS, club is every man and team for themselves. If you're good and looking to get recruited so go where that will happen. Team chemistry and wins that matter are for the HS season. I get it but the only loyalty required here is to your family. Honesty on the other hand is a different story. Tryout season feels like a game of survivor. How does that player know where he stands to manage tryouts and team movement.

You're talking about club lacrosse....

At the grade school level maybe it's about team chemistry. Def about having fun, getting better, making friends and getting some t-shirts. Middle School, have fun, play club at a top level with friends and start seeing where you are in the lax universe. HS, club is every man and team for themselves. If you're good and looking to get recruited so go where that will happen. Team chemistry and wins that matter are for the HS season. I get it but the only loyalty required here is to your family. Honesty on the other hand is a different story. Tryout season feels like a game of survivor. How does that player know where he stands to manage tryouts and team movement?

This is exactly right, and if you kid is one of the fortunate few to get the D1 offer, it doesn't get any better in college, every practice is a tryout, a lot of kids competing for very limited field time, always having that scholarship money hanging over your head is a ton of pressure....not cutting it, goodbye scholarship.

College playing time is no guarantee. I agree with think education and after college when selecting a college.

Enjoy their high school games and club games. Hopefully they are able to play more than one sport in high school because lax burnout is real.

You need to ask yourself a bunch of hard questions when you are thinking about playing college lacrosse:
Do I want to be an impact player and probably get minutes as a frosh and maybe not be the best academics or “coolest” college?
Do I want to play for the best team that I get recruited to and maybe not get any minutes at all?
Do I want to go to the best academic school I can get into and maybe won’t get any minutes at all?
Do I want to go to the coolest college I can get into and maybe not get any minutes?
Only the best players can check all four boxes. You need to figure out what you really want out of college before you make your list.

Good post. I would add, what geographic area do you want to be in?

You need to ask yourself a bunch of hard questions when you are thinking about playing college lacrosse:
Do I want to be an impact player and probably get minutes as a frosh and maybe not be the best academics or “coolest” college?
Do I want to play for the best team that I get recruited to and maybe not get any minutes at all?
Do I want to go to the best academic school I can get into and maybe won’t get any minutes at all?
Do I want to go to the coolest college I can get into and maybe not get any minutes?
Only the best players can check all four boxes. You need to figure out what you really want out of college before you make your list.

Basically, what do I want the next 4 years of my life to look like. Do I want to have a life in college, or is lacrosse practice and weight training every day my idea of college. As I have said before, if your kid has the chance to have a real heart-to-heart talk with a few college players, D1, D2 and D3...take the time to listen, it can be a real eye opener, and it may give your kid a little more perspective on what they want. My son was lucky to have a few high-level D1 and high academic D3 mentors, they really were a terrific resource.

Good point. I would just say that it is very rare for freshman to play their first year in college. Unless your a superstar going to like a Drexel. Its just so rare. Esp at the good schools.

Not true with a D1 caliber player who chooses to go D3 for exactly that reason. They want minutes all 4 years and many of the get them.

100%, but my guess is that the poster was referencing a freshman getting D1 playing time.

It's more than just minutes, most D1 caliber players choose D3 for academic reasons. Williams vs Drexel. Not that Drexel is a bad school but Williams is better and less expensive even if you get a little money to play D1. Unless parents want a "D1 Athlete on Board" sticker why would you?

You make a valid point, but outside of a top D1 academic school or the ivies, I suspect that a kid that can get admitted to Williams, or any NESCAC academically for that matter, is not considering a lower tier D1 program.