BOTC - US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums NORTHEAST LACROSSE BOTC MAIN FORUM (LI, CT, WC) Boys 2032-4th Grade Fall 2023/Summer 2024

My older son has played a “national team” and had a great experience. We didn’t take it too seriously, he met some great kids from other regions and we had a good time with the parents. Yes, there was a cost to it but overall the experience itself was actually pretty good. I wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.

In my opinion, regional/national teams are a head scratcher. Look at the 2026 teams that are committing to college now, half are from out state anyway. And all those kids are on ONE club team, I would venture to guess. These national/regional teams are sold as “super teams”…and none of them would ever beat the top Express and 91 teams by time the HS years come. Just find a team from a reputable club that has dedicated coaches, and all will be well. And make sure there is time to play other sports. Your son is not missing out of anything in the lax world. Long Island by playing on 2nd team. It is already so saturated in club that the next revenue stream is creating national and regional teams because clubs can’t expand further east anymore. Remember this is a business. And the key measure of success amongst the clubs, again, in my opinion, is wins vs losses and college commitments. Go on each club page and look at each clubs commitment list and see who develops the best talent.

Sounds like poster above is correct. You wouldn’t hesitate to do it again, but what about your son? Did he get better at lacrosse or did you pay for him to have friends? Have a look at 90 % of the scores from all age group's and tell me how that’s good lacrosse.

It’s not. The Red Hots and Nationals LC are good for Instagram. They basically play rec level teams at most of the tournaments and have double digit wins. But hey, those behind the back passes and goals are great for Instagram.

We had a meh national experience. Should have trusted our gut instinct. After lots of salesmanship from the director to try out, we realized very quickly at the first tourney that the team was just a money grab that slapped a "national" label on a PA/DE club team. Comparing scores against common opponents and development, our regular club team was much better than the national team we played for.

So for extra runs, I guess it was ok. For development, or winning, it was not good. And certainly not for the price tag they put on it. Most of which was mandatory gear purchase. So we got a few bad tourneys and a nice shiny gold helmet that we'll never wear again!