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

If coach would have put me in the 4th quarter we would have been State Champions, no doubt,,,,no doubt in my mine, I would have been in the PLL living in a Mansion , soaking up in a Hot Tub with my soulmate.

Seems pretty accurate I'd swap Mad Dog Nat with 3D New England. Wouldn't sleep on LI Express, who just split 2 games with Nationals at Blatant Jam a few weeks ago. Hawks have the easiest draw.

Pretty rough they put Mad Dog and Igloo in the same pool. Hawks got a cakewalk.

They switched the pools up. Wonder who complained.

This will be fun!! Size speed and strength will have a severe disposition since the fall, be ready to hear everyone crying holdback.

Topic of discussion - Now that we are entering Tournament season. (Scenario - Average middle of the road tournament.) Does a coach play it's best players to run the table and win every game or does a coach provide 2nd tier players more playing time with the chance to lose/tie games but still make a good run to the championship? Open to thoughtful discussions.

IMO, I think providing players that might not get a lot of PT chances is good in tournaments where they might be able to get challenged even if games are closer then they should be or even lose. Running the table in middle of the road tournaments does little to better top players and nothing for players not seeing playing time.

Valid question. As a coach/parent/player, I think that fall tournaments are for playing time and summer tournaments are for showcasing the club and team. The objective is to get to 12-3 or 9-0 and then, absolutely, use your 2nd and 3rd line. But if I'm coaching a tournament and we're down a point, I'm making sure the team has the best chance to win. And if we're losing badly, our starters need the PT apparently. Once they're gassed and we've basically given up, yes, play everybody.

Honestly it does not matter what level of tournament it is. Your coaches should be entering your sons into tournaments that are APPROPRIATE for their skill level. If they are going 5-0 at an event with no goal differential less than 5, that is the wrong event. Same thing for going 1-4 or 0-5 at an event. Hold your clubs accountable for that nonsense.

And one final note about all of the above, one of the densest things in youth lax these days is B-teams (at any level) bringing down players from their A teams for tournaments. STOP IT. FCA (not this age group), True (every team, every age group), Team Maryland, NXT, Dukes Elite, the list goes on and on. Your B-team players paid their club dues. Let them play in their Single A or B level tournaments. If your elite level son is on an A-team or AA team and gets the invite to play down, really think about if that's doing anything positive for your son, except letting him collect another Aloha medal in the B bracket when he's worked incredibly hard to NOT be a B bracket player.

Hawks thought they had a cakewalk today until 91 punched them in the mouth.

Predators over Legends / crabs???

Yeah saw that. I would imagine that many of the second and third line players where given opportunities to play extra. Ended up beating Preds in the championship decisively.

This.

Although, I might lower the mentioned score differential if I'm picking nits. If your team is winning face offs and controlling the game you can run the third line kids much earlier IMO.

I would also add that tourneys without early stall calls have to go. Nothing worse than traveling to a tourney and watching a team pass the ball in a circle for a whole quarter.

NY thread said LI had some older boys playing down which isn’t possible since MD is the only place that lets older kids play

Have the crabs formed the new team and these are kids that didn’t make it??

?

Crabs played their starters almost all of both games against the preds. All crabs key players were there. Same team as hoco season.

Preds has the benefit of great coaching. Non-parent head coach that is defensive coordinator of McDonogh…who gives everything has to the boys. And then a few parent coaches that were extremely high level players and ton of experience. Preds boys have developed all season. It was a great win for them…and second game was actually pretty close. Coaches have done a tremendous job with the boys.

Very “crabs-like” to make excuses…but the crabs played to win. Both games. They did not rest players.

So you’re saying the blind pred finally got a nut? Great job talk of Baltimore!

Pretty rough they put Mad Dog and Igloo in the same pool. Hawks got a cakewalk.

Hawks thought they had a cakewalk today until 91 punched them in the mouth.

I have three boys: a 2029, a 2028, and a 2026. This Hawks team is not good compared to the other Hawks teams I have seen over the years. It seems like a bunch of daddy-ball and boys trying to play hero lax. This isn't a good look for those looking to get into an MIAA- A school.

Since when is winning a tournament an "excuse"? Sounds like Preds Dad had a fun time charting opponents playing time.

I don’t get it, why do you keep mentioning crabs. They are ltlc legends. That’s what the uniform says. Yes they will play as crabs in some tournaments. True Baltimore played well against crabs and beat them in the first game. However true Baltimore lost in the championship. Koopers did get better since going 0-7 in hoco this year. See what I did there. True Baltimore B team really struggled in the tournament. Oh sorry I did it again Preds B team struggled.

I don't get it. Legends and Crabs are the exact same team (kids, coaches, parents) during the same season. Some weeks, they wear a legends jersey, some weeks they wear a crabs jersey, and then they switch back. Koopers was never True Baltimore during the same season. True Baltimore certainly never beat the crabs 2029 team (or ltrc/ltlc/legends) except maybe in one of their dad's dreams - or even got close. Ever. True Baltimore and Preds were never the same team. There are numerous players on the Preds B team that played for True last year - but how many? Is it even a majority? I don't follow your point.

Give Preds their due. They beat a very good Crabs team. Not a lot of teams did that this year. And the only other Baltimore-based team to beat Crabs was FCA in the fall - so Preds in great company. Preds develops kids with their tremendous coaching.

And give the Crabs their due. They bounced back and won the tournament.

Never said that Preds didn’t deserve their success just referring to the fact that you keep mentioning “crabs” rather than legends. Yea they are the same players and coaches but the 2 separate organizations have made a clear decision to represent each program during their dedicated games/tournaments separate from each other. Hence the fact that you didn’t see crabs gear on the field during the game and vice versa. I will just take it as “let me push some buttons” convo. I didn’t watch to many games this season however I think that calling teams by the organization they represent on the field should be acknowledged especially when a Rec/Club program has had so many successful seasons.

Ok to summarize the previous topic so we can move on. Preds have gotten better. Legends and crabs are the same coaches and players under two separate organizations. Each team deserves their credit. At least it’s not about hold backs.

Anyone else have any updates about the tournaments. How did the hoco do?

“Crabs” is trying to have it both ways because they blew it years ago with this age group and need to get back on the board. The same “Legends” team is playing tournaments this summer as “Crabs.” Switching helmets in a few weeks doesn’t change that. Don’t try to diminish the fact that they lost a straight up game to Preds, or tell me the sky isn’t blue.

And we continue to push the issue. Let's move on. How did FCA, Hawks, ML, Next Level, 91, and TC do this wekend. Any udates?

Go get Tourney Machine it isn't hard to look at results and plug in June, Lacrosse and then pick either DE, MD, or PA - that's where 95% of the time these programs play their tournaments.

NL, ML and TC were all off this weekend from looking at various tournaments. I think Hawks (made semis), FCA (7th or 8th), and 91 (10th or 11th) were all at NLF in DE this weekend.

Is the point of a tournament to win it or just play some games, get sunburn and see how many free coozies and stickers the kids can pick up at the vendor tents? Pool play games are for seeding. Once that is figured out, bracket play is when it counts.

They looked like the same team as last year, and the same size as last year. They were clearly a head shorter all over the field this weekend, with 1 or 2 exemptions. The lack of physicality stuck out to me defensively, and a slow moving offense that doesn’t move the ball when doubled and triple teamed.
Congrats to Fusions, they are good and deserved it. With teams like Fusions, True, Finest, etc…are we going to be seeing more of these regional all star teams into the high school years or will they all go back to their town teams?

"Is the point of a tournament to win it or just play some games, get sunburn and see how many free coozies and stickers the kids can pick up at the vendor tents? Pool play games are for seeding. Once that is figured out, bracket play is when it counts."

Agreed. I guess this is where good/great coaching comes into play.

"Is the point of a tournament to win it or just play some games, get sunburn and see how many free coozies and stickers the kids can pick up at the vendor tents? Pool play games are for seeding. Once that is figured out, bracket play is when it counts."

Agreed. I guess this is where good/great coaching comes into play.

point of clarification on the Preds v Legends game. All comments are correct.

Legends did play their guys hard but only after going down 0-3 early in the game after starting a mix of backups and starters to gain PT and experience. As you know in shortened tournament play a 3 goal lead is very difficult to overcome without a shot clock.

Credit to Preds players and coaches, they always come to play.

Traditional lineups were used in the final and the bench guys got reps after building a lead.

Thanks Ryan. Not true. Score never 0-3…and crabs started their standard starters - same guys as all season.

The next game against Coastal Academy - the one that crabs tied - starters played less.

But again. Does it matter? Crabs gave preds their best shot and lost….then won game #2. The big question is what are you going to do to get your team better for next year? But at least be honest.

Top 5 of 13 made the bracket at NLF and finished as follows…

Fusion Futures
Leading Edge
91 LI Chaos
Hawks
FCA

I love this. Thanks for the entertainment folks. I needed a good chuckle today. Keep up the commentary. I know that I will never get this time back however it's always good to watch (read) mindless pointless commentary. I think we have the makings of a new replacement for the Maury Povich show.

Imagine getting worked up over winning a pool game in a B level tournament. Maybe Preds should've left a little something in the tank for the championship game like the smarter Legends team.

Clearly someone's kids got cut from Crabs. it's okay buddy, time to move on. Or maybe you just had the strap on your bucket hat a little too tight this weekend. LMAO

If I had to guess they'll be replacing the dad coaches and holding an actual tryout.

Clearly someone cant get over getting beaten by talk of Baltimore Preds. Move on, one lost is only one lost, but then again, it must hurt to lose to Preds !

Middle school lacrosse is serious business don't you know.

Go out and get some air mom it's middle school lacrosse. Why is this forum so full of personality disorders. The kids on these teams all go to school together and get along just fine.

This is great. They’re not Crabs, they’re Legends. However they are clearly so elite that any kid on Preds that’s not on Legends obviously got cut from Crabs. Meanwhile they are playing in B tournaments and resting starters against a Preds team that, while the talk of the town, has no business talking about a win because it was in pool play against a team that was not Crabs and regardless thought it more important to get experience for all of their backups that will certainly still be on the team next year. In the end though Crabs, I mean Legends, decided that it was important enough to play starters in the finals to whip the Preds by 3 and bring home a B tournament trophy. Meanwhile the Preds should be ashamed that they even showed up. Have I touched all of the bases from above?

Did the kids have fun? Never mind. dense question to ask here.