Tryouts for Youngest Teams

[Anonymous]

After watching my son in games this past year (he's playing w/ 1st grade, 2nd graders), so much of his performance depends on whether he gets the ball during the course of play. A lot of kids either can't connect with a pass or just try to drive to the net and score regardless of who is open, so if he doesn't happen to pick up a lot of ground balls in the scrum or the play happens to be mostly on the other side of the field during his shift, he doesn't get much of a chance to show what he can do.

No big deal for rec games, but he's trying for club/travel teams now. Anyone have advice on whether to tell him to just keep playing the "right" way and hoping to get a pass or should he just play hero ball and try like hell to be around the ball at all times? There have been games when he gets the ball a ton and if that happens during tryouts, great. But there have also been games where by chance he doesn't get on the ball much, which would stink for tryouts. Anyone who knows about the game at this age and how coaches evaluate kids during tryouts and scrimmage-type drills?

[Anonymous]

From my experience, at this age, the coaches want the parents who are willing to pay. I have yet to see a program "cut" kids from 1st/2nd grade teams.

I think most coaches will make a clear delineation between hero ball and a ground ball vacuum. Going after GB's shows hustle, even better if they stay on the top side of the scrum to grab the ball when it squirts out, or are ready to ride/defend the kid who does pull it from the pile.

I would suggest the best philosophy is to take a shot unless you see a teammate with a better shot, then pass it to him. The coaches at the 3 main programs in the area we tried out all advocated for making the right lacrosse play.

Luckily we have 3 great options for lacrosse at the youngest age bracket in the DMV, you really can't go wrong with any of these programs (NL, ML, BLC)...regardless of what is posted here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From my experience, at this age, the coaches want the parents who are willing to pay. I have yet to see a program "cut" kids from 1st/2nd grade teams.

I think most coaches will make a clear delineation between hero ball and a ground ball vacuum. Going after GB's shows hustle, even better if they stay on the top side of the scrum to grab the ball when it squirts out, or are ready to ride/defend the kid who does pull it from the pile.

I would suggest the best philosophy is to take a shot unless you see a teammate with a better shot, then pass it to him. The coaches at the 3 main programs in the area we tried out all advocated for making the right lacrosse play.

Luckily we have 3 great options for lacrosse at the youngest age bracket in the DMV, you really can't go wrong with any of these programs (NL, ML, BLC)...regardless of what is posted here.

What is the best age to begin lax try outs? My son really likes it and seems pretty good. He is currently 8 and in second grade.

[Anonymous]

You will also not want to be at one club from 2nd grade through HS. Keep that in mind

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You will also not want to be at one club from 2nd grade through HS. Keep that in mind

Yeah - right now we're just going with teams that practice close to our house. Can't stomach the idea of driving my 8 year old 30-45 minutes each way to practices during the week

[Anonymous]

Just play rec for a while. My son did "little lax" in Vienna then two years of rec before he tried out for a club. Then he still played rec through 8th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From my experience, at this age, the coaches want the parents who are willing to pay. I have yet to see a program "cut" kids from 1st/2nd grade teams.

I think most coaches will make a clear delineation between hero ball and a ground ball vacuum. Going after GB's shows hustle, even better if they stay on the top side of the scrum to grab the ball when it squirts out, or are ready to ride/defend the kid who does pull it from the pile.

I would suggest the best philosophy is to take a shot unless you see a teammate with a better shot, then pass it to him. The coaches at the 3 main programs in the area we tried out all advocated for making the right lacrosse play.

Luckily we have 3 great options for lacrosse at the youngest age bracket in the DMV, you really can't go wrong with any of these programs (NL, ML, BLC)...regardless of what is posted here.

What about Hammers? Right now, close to home is the most important.

[Anonymous]

I don't think Hammers starts until 4th grade. In Loudoun, Cavs seems to have a strong footprint and tons of kids. The boys we saw playing NVYLL with Cavs helmets all seemed to be strong players.

The "just play rec" crowd is always interesting on here...if someone is asking to play club, why discourage them? It's not your money or your kid. The coaching in Rec varies greatly, we have seen some outstanding coaches and some who shouldn't be allowed to "Teach" lacrosse to anyone. I would say with club, on average, the coaching will be stronger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think Hammers starts until 4th grade. In Loudoun, Cavs seems to have a strong footprint and tons of kids. The boys we saw playing NVYLL with Cavs helmets all seemed to be strong players.

The "just play rec" crowd is always interesting on here...if someone is asking to play club, why discourage them? It's not your money or your kid. The coaching in Rec varies greatly, we have seen some outstanding coaches and some who shouldn't be allowed to "Teach" lacrosse to anyone. I would say with club, on average, the coaching will be stronger.

Coaching in club lacrosse also varies greatly, especially at the younger ages. My experience was that before 6th grade, there wasn't much to choose. Club coaching is about as likely to be "daddy ball" as rec coaching. There is really no great benefit to club before 6th grade. Certainly not a benefit that's worth the additional money that club will cost.

If the OP is interested in Hammers because they are convenient, and doesn't mind paying $1,500, then that's fine. But Hammers are basically a glorified rec team with a nice facility. Their coaching is not significantly better than rec coaching.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think Hammers starts until 4th grade. In Loudoun, Cavs seems to have a strong footprint and tons of kids. The boys we saw playing NVYLL with Cavs helmets all seemed to be strong players.

The "just play rec" crowd is always interesting on here...if someone is asking to play club, why discourage them? It's not your money or your kid. The coaching in Rec varies greatly, we have seen some outstanding coaches and some who shouldn't be allowed to "Teach" lacrosse to anyone. I would say with club, on average, the coaching will be stronger.

I've heard good things about the Cavs as well. Might be worth checking out as well. Looks like Hammers is marketing tryouts all the way to the 2031 age group now. Where are the Cavs based out of or practice?

[Anonymous]

Cavs practice just outside Leesburg.

They are a good example of a club team where coaching is quite variable. My son was a Cav for two years, and the main coach was a guy for whom coaching Cavs was not his first priority. They had two practices a week but he only showed up for one of them. The other day the coach was a team dad. The team was split into offense and defense for practice. The main coach took offense, and the defense coach was a high school kid. When my kid joined another club, the level of coaching at the new club was the difference between night and day.

If you want local, yeah, Hammers or Cavs. If you want higher quality coaching and to train with better players, try out for MadLax or VLC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cavs practice just outside Leesburg.

They are a good example of a club team where coaching is quite variable. My son was a Cav for two years, and the main coach was a guy for whom coaching Cavs was not his first priority. They had two practices a week but he only showed up for one of them. The other day the coach was a team dad. The team was split into offense and defense for practice. The main coach took offense, and the defense coach was a high school kid. When my kid joined another club, the level of coaching at the new club was the difference between night and day.

If you want local, yeah, Hammers or Cavs. If you want higher quality coaching and to train with better players, try out for MadLax or VLC.

VLC doesn't have teams at the OP's grade level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think Hammers starts until 4th grade. In Loudoun, Cavs seems to have a strong footprint and tons of kids. The boys we saw playing NVYLL with Cavs helmets all seemed to be strong players.

The "just play rec" crowd is always interesting on here...if someone is asking to play club, why discourage them? It's not your money or your kid. The coaching in Rec varies greatly, we have seen some outstanding coaches and some who shouldn't be allowed to "Teach" lacrosse to anyone. I would say with club, on average, the coaching will be stronger.

Regardless of the club program, the younger the kid where they get more practices and games above and beyond rec then the faster they'll progress. Now they might hit a developmental wall/ceiling faster that way, or might burn out and hate the sport. But by almost shear force of being at more practices they'll get better at throwing and catching for sure.

If there's "better" coaching going on depends on the club, the team, etc. If you can find a convenient option to do summer field box, that might be good. I believe some of the NVYLL rec programs are doing short (6 weekk) summer sessions to keep skills going. If there's one close to you that'll be a much cheaper way to keep your kid progressing.