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

First, at the high school level, I don't really have that big of an issue with holdbacks. If you can play in 9th grade it means you are good and have decent size. If you don't you are on JV. Below 8th grade I certainly do.

Second, go read any 28 ML thread and know that this kid (because of his father) just causes huge issues. I know several of the parents on that team and while it certainly has its share of parent wacko issues for an ML they are below average on the wacko scale. Given everything that has happened to the 28 team because of the Dad' ownership of the club (and not "coaching" that team and allegedly stepping away) he's going to get involved in the 29 team. If I was a parent on the 29 team. I'd have my eyes open watching to see what happens.

Third, this is all about next year in the 25-26 season when the 29s are 9th graders so a lot can happen in that time frame.

You guys are like the Mayors of Goon Town. These boys have not even played a day of 8th grade ball and you're talking about "visibility." All this, when the transfer portal is starting to have obvious, massive impacts on HS recruitment.

If you run a Venn Diagram between 2029s who play on those 4 teams, and who will attend an MIAA-A school (yeah I know, your sons have alllll been offered scholarships lol), you are talking about, what, 50 kids? In 9th grade, there will be 400 in MIAA-A JV spots available and maybe 12 total Varsity spots available in the entire league. And some of those will be taken by kids who will move to Maryland/DC the summer before 9th grade (ask the 2028s about the new Philly, Texas, and Florida kids moving for McDonogh, St. Pauls, BL, CHC and Loyola). In other words, he's not making Varsity on any team where "there might be visibility."

So realistically your "top elite son" will make Varsity in 10th grade but never play (certainly won't generate highlights), and will play a bunch of varsity ball in 11th grade. WHICH WILL BE MARCH 2028. That's when the "visibility" starts. Especially since his recruiting competition will now include 21 year olds with 2+ years experience and coaching at the D1, D2, or D3 level, experience with college academics (or even a completed degree), and "no risk" to the same coach your son wants to impress. Do you really think that the summer after 10th grade, your son's Crabs/Hawks/FCA highlight reel will hide the fact that he can't shoot as fast, run as fast, or lift as much as the 20+ year olds in the transfer portal?


ViSiBiLiTy lolololololololol

Whatever you need to do to justify your kid playing 2nd line SSDM on Carrol Manor.

Anyone with a modicum of familiarity with the top club programs know that Crabs and FCA generally have 15+ D1 commits per class. They also will tell you that those rosters generally get pretty static by 9th grade. Crabs generally doesn't even have open tryouts after that age. They simply recruit for positions where they are weak.

Moreover, while the transfer portal is having an impact on recruiting, there is still demand for top players. If D1 programs graduate 350 kids annually, the pipeline needs to be replenished by 350 more. Yes... the impact is severe in top 10 programs but there are plenty of great D1 and D3 schools who are net losers from the portal.

Finally, if colleges don't recruit from top club programs then why were 304 college coaches including 73 of the 77 D1 programs in attendance in 100 degree heat on the sidelines at Naptown? Why would John Tillman park himself there in that misery if all he had to do was hit the transfer portal?

Want to play in those top games at tourney on Naptown? It won't be with True Baltimore...

Finally, while BL and McD love to play the out of town game with boarding, StP, CH, LB etc... only have so many "host" families available.

Middle school club doesn’t matter? The best school players are already in the club system. Show us a starting MIAA player that isn’t on a club team. What’s not clear is the weight of club vs school. Are there public school kids who play for a top club getting D1 scholarships?

What’s the word on tryouts? I’m hearing that clubs are already solidifying their rosters and there will be very little movement of top players. I’m guessing the lower clubs and startups will only pickup 2nd string talent at best.

From the coach's perspective.....

Nobody said club doesn't matter. But you continue to show yourself as delusional. The guy joked on the idea of "7th grade college visibility" when the average D1 coach is now spending as much time looking at 20-21 year olds, as he is 16 year olds. And is spending absolutely zero hours evaluating 7th graders. And there's a million reasons for that including that the 2029s have not survived a day of HS academics, a day of HS lax, a third of them haven't hit puberty (and have been boxed out of playing for elite teams due to size). It seems like you're asserting that 0% of the late bloomers will bypass the early growers. Data doesn't support that position, ya know.

You want someone to repeat the validity of the security blanket you've helped build for your son? Fine, I'll bite: If your son is playing for a top Hoco elite team in 7th grade, AND manages to be in the 50% who will still be on the same roster into 9th grade; AND he is admitted to an MIAA-A school (there are 2028 Crabs who were not admitted to any MIAA-A schools, for example, so don't make this assumption), AND he makes JV in 9th grade AND makes Varsity in 10th grade, AND doesn't have a career ending injury or 3 bad concussions AND doesn't detest the sport by then, OR doesn't get told to focus on a sport he loves more by his HS coaches (Spalding is bad for this), yes, I'd bet good money your kid will get "D1 Lax Offers." Partly due to "visibility!"
And congrats to him for that fine achievement, 100%!!!!!!! And by default you've probably done a great job of supporting him up through that moment. When and if you get there, you should be very proud of what your family and your son have invested in this challenge.

Will it be to a program your son has even heard of? Or a college that has his intended major (met a 2022 Hawks star who dropped his D1 offers when he got into Berkeley (no varsity lax) on academics)? Will the "D1 offer" actually be a meaningful financial offer (typically, it is not) or a roster spot? That's a whole different thing. And none of it will be curated, or cured, or prescribed by 7th grade "visibility."

Let your kid play as fast and as hard and as often as he wants to. Have fun with it. Because with the exception of the local private HS coaches watching the top 20 or so 2029s for HS admission this winter, and only offering substantial financial aid to about the top 12-15 of them, nobody is really watching your 2029. And if they told you differently, they are definitely lying. Again, feel free to take a survey of 2028s about how many of them heard vague promises of "scholarships" and then received "none" this spring.

So....good luck making sure he's not one of the 25-30% of kids cut from his elite team in the next few weeks. Look at the 2028 board from this time last year. Parents bagging on FCA and Crabs and other elite clubs for "ignoring family history" and "going after new shiny kids because they're tall" etc etc. And promising that "the new (elite team) roster will be far worse!" when of course, those teams all outperformed their previous versions due to the new roster additions. It doesn't mean it will happen to your son. But it doesn't mean it won't.

So yeah "visibility" OK. Be realistic about what this all is. Your kid is not a marketing experiment.

2029 parents and players are subject to the same sales pitches and gimmicks that past grad classes have fallen for. 2028 Mega Lax Dads made that same prediction you made, a year ago, and the following elite clubs had over a 50% roster turnover just 2 weeks later: Crabs, DCE, ML, NL, BLC (folded), True Chesapeake (folded), Kelly Post (Basically folded, fell all the way to Hoco A). Hawks, FCA, and 91 did some trading amongst themselves, and picked up Crabs kids who were cut/demoted to the new B team.

It would be really, really unusual if at least one of the elite clubs didn't totally go BOOM over the next few weeks and start over with a largely new roster.

The clubs primarily exist to prove that they can compete at their selected level, and continue to recruit new families at younger age groups on that sales pitch. They do not exist to bring your son up from 3rd grade to 11th grade, that's just a fun side benefit that sometimes occurs.

I don't think anybody believes club doesn't matter. But even at the highest levels, it is not the guarantee / pipeline it was even 5 years ago. Very few public school players have a chance to play D1, but those who do in our area, play on the best clubs.

Outside of our area, especially to the south and west, higher level clubs are the only way that some of the freakish talent in CA, OR, TX, FL pops up on anybody's radar, and yeah, half of those kids are public school students. Those who aren't public, tend to be single or double holdbacks which makes their 6'6" appearance that much more impressive. Locally and nationally, the most impressive 2028 players on the "visibility radar" (basically, useless social media posts by national clubs and showcases) are double holdbacks. Has 2029 really been cured of that? Really?

And weirder yet, get ready to accept that when those out-of-region kids pop up on 91's or FCA's radar, they will be playing ahead of our boys who have "done everything right" including paying dues on these elite clubs for years and years. "Here's Johnny, he's gonna be helping us out this weekend...here's a jersey, Johnny, you're starting."

Club's a factor. Sure. It's not a bulletproof insurance policy or a guaranteed pipeline to D1, that's for sure. And I'd go so far as to say that in the case of 50% of clubs, the level of "development" (a big sales pitch) is kinda pitiful. If elite Maryland clubs truly "developed" talent, the HS age rosters wouldn't have boarding school kids from NH and CT, or TX/CA fly-ins, on them. How many team workouts are those players making? LOL.

What a debbie downer,

You dont know what you are talking about, The Best MIAA players getting recruited right now were on top clubs at this age, Pretty simple except to people like you who think you know it all.

The best three ways to get recruited, It all starts frankly before now, but you better be doing these now and in next year .

1. Be older , means hold them back, Please no excuses
2. Be on top club
3. Be in MIAA

You do those and you will be a D1 recruit, Really simple.

From the know. The long tirade above is a guy jaded by system. Pay him no mind

The original poster argued that if your kid is a top player, you need to get him on one of the top clubs either this year or next because rosters become increasingly rigid in high school and that the top clubs in baltimore (Crabs or FCA) Annapolis (Hawks) and DC (Express, ML, NL) offer significantly more "visibility" than other programs.... IN HIGH SCHOOL... no one claimed colleges are scouting 7th graders.

No one claimed club was more important than school.

Bottom line... D1 programs are loaded with kids from the same 10-15 clubs across the nation.

You kid still has to have the goods but if he does, a top club and top school are the best ways to get him seen.

With so many new teams for the 2029 age group, all seemingly going to elite or AAA, who gets hurt the most and who's positioned to have best squad at the end of it?

Baltimore clubs get watered down but all the other Elite teams will be the same or better.

I can't get over the 7th grade necessities here.......50% of the (on age) kids haven't hit puberty. Statistically, 50% of current club players will quit lacrosse before the 10th grade season. More than half the team will be cut after 8th grade. How many hundreds of players has 2029 Crabs cycled through so far? But the current players - oh yes - they will be the ones to reap D1 Greatness. Sure. Maybe?

Playing for a good club at this age only offers one guarantee: consistent exposure to other good talent. Playing for a "good" private school or exceptional public school lax program amplifies this. Both increase the rate of burnout, but....for most it's a positive.

A good gamble - but hardly a guarantee - is that they might receive some very, very good coaching at a high level club. Your mileage may very. Same as good school programs.

The biggest guarantee around is to hit puberty a number of months (or years) before your teammates. Holdbacks simply amplify this force of nature. If your kid is a late bloomer, sorry, if he ever does get recruited for D1 or upper D3, it will probably be as a college transfer. If he's got a few months of hormones over his competitors, that's actually a huge, huge deal. When you start adding "+12 months" to the equation, there's no looking back, it's a monstrous advantage.

News flash. You can't just show up at Elite or AAA because you said so.

Teams don't get to automatically join the Elite Hoco division.

I'm hearing Preds is going to try to stay in Elite. DC Express will be forming and will likely want to join. Might have a play-in game with Preds.

Red Hots won't be elite if it happens at all. Shuckers isn't happening as a full time team.

Team 91 is losing their best offensive player to Futures so they will be back in the basement.

TC is staying together and looking to build on a bright initial season with their VLC kids.

Hawks will continue with their daddy ball disfunction but will still be great.

Will be interesting to see how much if any ML and NL lose to Express.

Crabs has some 28's coming down but could see some roster turnover after a very rough summer. New coach is looking for upgrades.

FCA largely remaining intact. New coaching staff is recruiting more talent.

Preds will likely lose some kids and can expect to look forward to a looooong year in the basement again.

The bigger question will be how many 28 reclasses wind up in the 29 division next year.

Ok, got it Mr Downer, Everything good now .

So I decided to do some digging into the last couple of years of top recruits from the area that went D1.(Yes I am that guy and I have the time). I found something very interesting. About 40% of the players I looked up are not playing at their college. Most aren't even playing at all, not D1,D2, or D3 lacrosse. As I looked even closer most just stopped playing, Some decided to go the college party route / Fraternity, some got cut, and some couldn't handle the academic rigor. The ones that did stay continue to play seemed to be academically sound and where socially and mentally prepared for college. My point is that while holding back or providing your son the best opportunity to succeed on the field and achieve their/your dreams of lacrosse success nothing is guaranteed when they head off to college and are expected to make their own decisions. So my suggestion, guide and encourage your athlete to succeed on the field, but more importantly stress the importance of being a responsible, independent. self aware student/athlete that every coach wants on their team. And for heavens sake start teaching them how to talk and communicate with adults. I can't stand coaching kids who can't look a person in the eye, have a simple conversation with an adult, and communicate clearly.

Crabs / Legends finally playing big boy competition and not looking so hot at Crabfeast and Gauntlet. 1-4 this past weekend.

Holding your son back for sports shows them (falsely, of course) that lax is life. When they face roadblocks and/or hardships, they don’t know what to do, b/c Mommy/Daddy usually handled all of their concerns. Taking the easier path doesn’t build character, it limits it

Is that from a fortune cookie?

Pretty sad to see Mom's so excited to @ChillLaxin on some 13 year old kids. Your head is going to explode with joy next week.

What other local Baltimore teams are still playing in top tournaments? Any other records you want to share for folks considering teams for tryouts?

What happened with the FCA coaching staff?

Director/Coach Left becasuue of Parent drama. FCA is forming a 29 b team. Fact.

Are there going to be enough kids to fill all the teams holding tryouts?

Crabs went 5-1 at Crabfeast.

Is it the New coach looking for upgrades or is the 28 B Mom. She has been working around the clock!

Not remotely true. 29 coach was asked to transition to younger age groups. He hasn't been the director in a year.

The current director and is going to pick up the 29 team now that his 25's are graduating.

They are forming a B team as well.

Against cupcake opponents.

Here is their pool play lineup....

Eclipse B Team- ranked 155
Red Hots Pittsburg- ranked 58
Team 91 Carolina- ranked 89

Crabs stacked the deck playing teams ranked between 80 and 150 to make sure their underperforming team was guaranteed a playoff spot.

Haha... hater trying to create drama where it doesn't exist.

Most teams transition to high school coaches at some point in middle school. Former coach is going to coach the 31's and 33's.

example: Crabs will have new coaches next year.

O and D coordinators are coming back and they are adding Evan Connell and Drew Wardlow.

Then tell the parents from the team to stop spreading rumors. Information came from within the team. I was with them at most of the games during hoco and tournaments. If it false information then shame on the team parents.

What teams are still playing lax into mid July? I know crabs is. Any other teams still grinding?

Your “with” the parents of a team during most hoco games and summer tournaments in other states but your not part of the team or parents…

Sure… that makes sense.

It’s all noise until after tryouts. I suspect elite team starters will remain mostly unchanged and they will try to add where they can. Crabs will be interesting and I think have more adds and leaves/drops. Lower teams and startups (if they can get enough kids) may pick up good players who aren’t getting time.

Will be interesting to see how Crabs performs this weekend at NLF. If they continue to struggle, they could lose a couple of their key players. Hearing rumblings from families that they are not happy with the direction of the team.

Will also be interesting to see how Crabs management reacts. McClernan generally has a pretty short fuse for teams that don't perform.

Saw a lot of Baltimore based team helmets at the True Chesapeake tryouts this week. I think lots of players are shopping around this year.

King Crab will be fine, He is great at getting players at this age group.

0-2 including a 10 Goal drubbing for the Crabs.

Any update for today @Crabshater?

Looks like finished dead last in their division. After bracket stage, Crabs have given up more goals than any other 2029 team at the tourney. Won their first bracket game, so they have avoided playing for last place. One more day to finish up one of the worst seasons for any crabs middle school team on record.

Will obviously be interesting to see how many of their “key players” find out next week that they really aren’t that key and get cut. The Crab way.

2-0 with an impressive win over Resolute today