BOTC - US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums MID-ATLANTIC LACROSSE MARYLAND FORUM MadLax Lacrosse

At which tournament? I don't see such detail posted for the NPYLL event this weekend.

A DC's pompous delusional jacka**es are legendary.

There are two fairly big tournaments this weekend:

Fall Brawl (Hogan) & Autumn Classic (Aloha). Madlax is at the Autumn Classic.

NPYLL seems to spread it's fall tournament sponsorship around from year to year. Last year it was the NPYLL Autumn Classic (Aloha). The year before it was the NPYLL FallFest (Madlax).

Once again someone is blaming Madlax of playing kids down. Can you at least give the team name and postion of this crazy rule breaker you are speaking of.

Ok Madlax people like it or not we need more then one top level A team at the youth level in NOVA? It is good that there is around 7 other clubs playing at the B level in our state. But we as Madlax parents we need there to be one of those 7 to step up and pull players from the other 6 and become a level A team. I do not know about you but if something goes wrong with my son at Madlax it would be nice to have another level A team to go to? But now at the youth levels all we got is 7 B teams. What club do you think should step up and find a way to get this done? I think it should be VLC as hard as that is to say.

I think it al depends on what the goals you and your child have for playing travel ball. If it is mostly to have fun and grow their love for the sport, maybe with the expectation of becoming a good HS player, then there are a ton of options in the NOVA region.

If the goal is to play on a legit AA level team and maybe get your kid recruited, then your options probably are limited to Madlax and VLC (although for reasons unknown VLC has played down as an A team in its last two tournaments). Perhaps FreedomLax will be able to build their program through the new Great Falls select league and new Gonzaga connection. And BLC is an option for those able to get their kids to practice in Bethesda.

Thats my point there should and needs to be 2 teams in NOVA playing at the AA level. There is 22 boys spread out on those 7 other teams and on Madlaxs blue teams that could and should have a place for a AA team. I agree there is a place and need for B travel teams Maryland has tons. But its going to be hard for a club team to be at the AA level with it being tied to a NVYLL club. I guess in a prefect world there would be a Freedomlax, Cavs, Battlelax, Fuze all star team. There is a soild AA team if you could cherry pick the best off of each for one team. You would think if these clubs Pres. wanted whats best for there kids they would work something like this out.

My myopic comments on this thread is unbelievable. You are no idea about the lacrosse landscape, history, etc. other than the couple of years your son has played youth ball.

Once you get to HS, you'll learn Madlax is not the top of the pyramid.

As for why i was talking about the youth landscape sir. I was speaking for u15 and lower. But your thoughts about how Madlax is not in the top for the area is kinda silly sir. I agree Blackwolf and VLC high school programs have the players. But you can in no way say that Madlax is not in that group. So if you would like to add another to this group for the high school age I would like to know for myself to keep up my options.

Well, this is sort of what BRYC has done, although they are not really a NOVA-wide lacrosse program. And Blackwolf should be added in at the HS level. Next Level and Performance have credible programs too in Bethesda.

I think one of the reasons families come back to Madlax after trying these other programs is that they perceive that player evaluation is based strictly on the merits, which is definitely not always the case at some of these other NOVA programs. So if my son got cut from the program next year, he would be bummed, but understand that it was based soley on his performance relative to the other kids trying out.

I agree with that statment Madlax seems to do the best job of taking the best players no matter where they are coming from. Thats why I am hoping the next program in VA not MD can step up and be a soild fair program and play at the top level.

BRYC is definitely NOT AA team. 3d, who bought Fuze, will fill the void in the Western suburbs, Madlax will continue to dominate Fairfax and in (with a few MD kids, not many). VLC is being left out in the cold. It's already happening. VLC will drop youth teams. They embarrass the King Crab

Madlax is not the best program in VA.

Come on man its not even close in the U15 and down Madlax is the best. At high School you will have the Kids from the Privates move to where there teamates are and where there high school coach wants/tells them to go. But at the youth level its not close.

Can you please give me a example of a Fuze team playing in a tournament at the highest level. And if so which tournament because i do not see them at the big ones that matter. I could be wrong please show me examples.

I think one of the reasons families come back to Madlax after trying these other programs is that they perceive that player evaluation is based strictly on the merits, which is definitely not always the case at some of these other NOVA programs. So if my son got cut from the program next year, he would be bummed, but understand that it was based soley on his performance relative to the other kids trying out. [/quote]

BRYC is definitely NOT AA team. 3d, who bought Fuze, will fill the void in the Western suburbs, Madlax will continue to dominate Fairfax and in (with a few MD kids, not many). VLC is being left out in the cold. It's already happening. VLC will drop youth teams. They embarrass the King Crab [/quote]

I think VLC wrote off youth development a couple years ago and basically wanted to knock out Blackwolf for high school level teams. One season after being bought out by Crabs they dropped U-11. That spring they cancelled the U-13a team after the team had tryouts and the families bought the gear. Just awful communications and professionalism. Now they have U-13 and U-15 teams playing in down divisions. VLC has some decent high school teams, but it is important to understand that those players and teams came up with a different VLC club that developed players and did two U-15 and U-13 teams up and through. Considering that the whole ungrateful quitter thing didn't kill Madlax, VLC and Blackwolf are now both in real trouble now because the better players developed by other clubs are tending to stay put, and this is because neither VLC or Blackwolf has put the resources into the youth levels and are finding less success just poaching the best kids developed at other clubs. Sounds a lot like the Crabs philosophy because it is the Crabs philosophy. Another big problem is VLC parents are always upset their teams don't go to the right tournaments, showcases, they never get put in the best brackets like the Balt Crabs, etc., etc. Maybe that is just whining but there is a continued belief by a lot of VLC parents that the only purpose served by VLC is to make Ryan McClernan some money.

Seconding the above points, with the popularity of lacrosse in Northern Virginia, I have been surprised at the competitiveness (less than expected) of clubs there other than MadLax at youth levels. Doesn't appear like anyone up there other than Madlax could compete with 757 Select, for example, out of Norfolk/Tidewater. Is it just too many clubs? Do rec leagues start later (say 3rd grade, versus kindgarten)? I would think the population would easily support several other A teams, even if not another AA team. Not trying to be negative here - it's just a little puzzling.

I don't think Fuze exists anymore. 3d bought that club out and then most of those families scattered away this fall to other local programs.

It is baffling to me too. Every time a new club starts there is a honeymoon period to really build something or just get cast off with the many other also ran programs. To Madlax credit, it must be hard and take a lot of work to get and to keep elite youth teams going every year. Maybe 3d will win big given they are well funded and organized, It isn't a NOVA program but Bethesda Lacrosse Club (BLC) has really blown up and has a ton of kids and some top youth teams. Maybe Cavalier or Freedom can pick up some momentum. It makes no sense that another club can't get it going at a AA level n youth.

The Cavs and Freedom are stuck to a NVYLL program. So if I am parent of a kid not on that NVYLL program I will always be thinking if my kid is not playing becuase he is not playing with this coach on Sat. I understand why they start as part of a NVYLL program but it only can get so big. The thoughts will always be there true or not. I think it has to be a 3D or Lax world store team. The impression has to be this is a NOVA team not a fairfax,loudon, or PW team.

I think it comes down to anything built on parents it will never last. It has to be someone/something that is for a large goal of being the top club. Not I need a good team for my son to play on. Also what people want is a clear misson. Not this lets do whats best for the kids. The crazy we want the best and only the best to win and go to college to play lacrosse kids. Is why Madlax works. They show tryout after tryout that they are going to take the best no matter if you have a last name or not. I have seen it everytime at the 3 tryouts a year they have at Madlax.

Not sure if you're simply misinformed or you wish to spread lies, but nothing you wrote is true.

Looks to me like NVYLL had 47 U11A or B teams this past Spring. I picked U11 just as an example.

Shouldn't it be easy to field a half-dozen travel "A" teams from that group? The 2021 South Charlotte Cyclones lost 9-8 to the Madlax AA team after beating the Hawks AA team this Summer. They couldn't have drawn from but a small fraction of that number of kids. Again, not trying to be derogatory and no point to make, but this just doesn't compute. Are AA players commuting to Bethesda? Is soccer or swimming the dominant travel sport?

Madlax can't be drawing all the AA players from NVYLL or else they would be even better.

LOL. Madlax has nowhere near a monopoly on the best youth players. They have a very good 8th grade team and a good 7th grade team. Neither is a juggernaut.

And this assertion you keep making there are no politics within Madlax, and that Madlax is the only club that makes decisions based on merit, is simply not true.

The Cyclones team lost one game all summer - to Madlax, they are the only team in their area and get All the best players.
Their parents were actually shocked they lost the game because of the summer they were having.

Sticking with your Madlax U11 example, they went 18 - 0 over the summer

The NVYLL changed its rules last year to require all teams to field at least one "A" team, regardless of whether or not that team could field a team at that skill level. Waivers were not granted. Teams were rated "AA" or "AAA" based on the number of teams fielded by that recreational lacrosse program, not based on preseason player evaluation. So while the talent is getting deeper in the NOVA region, there may not be as many true "A" or "AA" level players as appears at first blush.

That is perfectly informed. Freedom Lax was started by Twomey and another Ex VLC coach who left to start a new club when Crabs guy decided to drop U-11 and the season after he cancelled the second U-13 team's season after they tried out and started to practice. He cancelled their season because he didn't want a second less elite U-13 team so he abruptly cancelled and sent refunds back. Freedom lacrosse started after all this happened in 2013

Freedom was started because the founder's kid got cut, so he started a club. Their teams are pretty bad.

VLC stopped doing U-11 teams after 2012. They no longer do U-11 teams. VLC dumped doing second U-13 team also after 2013. Neither of those determinations or decisions had anything to do with a coaches' kid and that is a disgraceful thing to direct at a family, but predictable coming from VLC's team mom troll. Now go sell some Crabs socks and make me a sandwich.

I'm not with VLC. I know the family and that club. The club was started after the kid was cut, so he started his own club.

I know something about Freedom. The plus side to the program is that there is a family atmosphere, the coaching is pretty good, and the teams were reasonably competitive in year one. Where they ran into difficulties at the U13 level was that the A team was starved of midfield talent relative to the "AA" team; and the AA team had too many kids, leading to concerns about playing time for several of the boys. A perception also developed, fairly or unfairly, that kids from Great Falls had an advantage over kids from other youth programs when it came to playing time. I believe they were trying to make the rosters smaller this year to address the playing time issue, but I don't think the rosters are up on the website and so its hard to know whether things have changed or not.

This last statment is repeating my point that any travel club team based from a Rec program will not be able to play at the highest level because the impression will always be there that the kids from the Rec program will get playing time over the kids from outside the Rec program.

My biggest complaint about Freedom is the name. Sometimes 3 different Freedom clubs will show up at tournaments (Philly, nova, and Sykesville). Time for a name change.

And how do you respond concerning VLC Great Falls kids getting that same home town treatment from the coaches with ties to that rec program as well? Others replied with their feet and started leaving.

The team from Philly is actually Elite so there is little confusion on the field

Another lie. None of those GF kids are getting preferential treatment from VLC. The 2 families who departed left for other reasons.

All of VLCs 2013 year U-13 B team players and the U-11 team families left because those teams were cancelled from the VLC offerings. That is dozens of families, not sure where you are getting two. VLC doesn't do U-11 and only does two youth teams now one each at U-15 and U-13. And both of those teams are now entered in B tournaments or B divisions of tournaments. Who really cares if VLC has kids from this town or that town, the truth is their youth program is in tatters. Come at the posters with some facts and stop running away from that fact. Look at the VLC website for their team offerings and the tournaments they go to for the two remaining youth teams, its all there. Maybe the VLC website lies.

This is why I let Madlax rob my pocket book every 3 months. I call it a "drama free" upcharge.

Starting to sound more and more like some NOVA families are paying to Freedom and VLC youth team club rates to play Great Falls plus neighbor towns rec ball. What used to be $300 can be $1500 for the same thing on the same field except for one Hogan tournament a season. That is a lot of money for what it is. With Madlax it is run like a club for the club rates or upcharge.

They did the same thing this past weekend at NPYLL event in Aberdeen. Doesn't make sense