Tell me about the area lacrosse leagues, please.
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Anonymous
| Our family (2 boys, both under 11) is new to the sport. There do not seem to be too many different leagues in the DC area (as opposed to say, soccer). And from the little I've heard from other parents, there are some marked differences between the handful. Please tell me about your league, and why you chose it. Thanks. |
Anonymous
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I'll try to help as best I can. My son has taken clinics and played for a couple of the different ones.
One of the oldest and laregst is the Bethesda House League. It is a developmental league which means all the kids get to play in each game and the coaches can go on the field during games to coach. The Fall season is known as "Fall Ball" and is games on Sundays, no weekly practices. Its very low key and set-up to allow the kids who want to play football or soccer to focus more on those sports in the fall but still get in a little lax time. The Spring seasomn is much more intense with at least 1 if not 2 practices a week and saturday games. Spring culminates in an end of the season tournament with trophies for the top team. Bethesda League also has select travel teams try-outs and that team then competes in the summer tournaments such as Lax Splash in Baltimore and Beach Lax in Ocean City MD. Its a very solid program and the select teams do very well. The newest league is the Next Level League. Next Level owns and operates an indoor sports facility off of River Road and has long offered lax clinics for kids year round. They are very good. When the child gets older they can try out for a Next Level team, which are select teams that play at a high level - aka Travel Teams. These teams have a good record of winning and are very competitive. This Fall, for the first time, Next Level has started a Sunday League (again to allow the kids who play football or soccer to still focus on those sports) for elite teams (those that hold tryouts and selecet the players) the teams play at Tilden Middle School off of Old Georgetwon Road. You can not enter this league as an individual, only teams can register so your son would have to already have made a team. Tryouts were in late August for all the area select teams this year (which is a new development). Some teams will have a second round of tryouts for the Winter and/or Spring season in November. You also have teams from organizations such a Breakout Lacrosse (in NW DC), Club Blue (assoc. with the area Catholics schools esp. Mater Dei) MadLax (in McLean), ACL (Alexandria). Breakout Lax fields teams in both the Bethesda House League and Travel Teams and is a bit more low-key (and perhaps less competitive) than some of the others but still a solid program with great clinics. Its somewhat associated with the Cathedral Schools and clinic are often at St Albans'. There Girls' program is more advanced that others in the area in that it has more opportunities for younger girls. Girls lax leagues and team play for elementary aged kids are still in the formative stages in DC. Club Blue is pretty exclusive to the Catholic Schools and Mater Dei especially. They had try-outs like everyone else in the area and but I know little about how they operate. These teams are always very competitive. There is also Club Pink for the girls. MadLax is based in McLean and has an actual store front. They hold some top-notch clinics that kids from all around the DC area attend. Their teams are all try-out level travel teams that cull almost exclusively from VA (mostly Mclean) and are playing in the new Next Level League this Fall. Last year they introduce a program for young kids (like 4 and up) at Palisades Park in NWDC so they may be trying to move into the DC-proper market. MadLax is run by the former Potomac Lax coach and often has "big names" (at least in the lax world) lead clinics. I know very littkle about ACL other than its THE league in Alexandria. I woudl think its would be bigger and more competitive considering that St Stephens St Afgnes is such a lax power-house but they dont seem to offer nearly as much as the other organizations listed above. I hope this helps. I think all the groups do a really great job with the kids. If your boys are new to the game, the Bethesda League is the best way to get started in team play but its too late for Fall. I'd look into signing them up for some clinics with one of the orgaizations in the meantime. |
Anonymous
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PP here - sorry for the there/their and other typos. I was typing fast and not paying as much attention as I should have. I should have added, lax is a fun sport but does get pretty competitive pretty quickly. I would ask your sons' friends' parents where their boys go and start with that. There is a culture of certain organizations being connected to certain private schools but the younger set tends to mix it up much more than they used to (switching around to differnt teams and programns to get lots of different experinces).
If you want a recommendation from me, I would start them out with a clinic this Fall (or Winter at Next Level as its the only indoor facility) and then go from there. Our son knows many of the boys on other teams because they all took Next Level clinics together when they were younger and there was still a long off-season. It makes the sport that much better for him and his peers because even when they play against each other they have many friends on both sides and it builds good sportsmanship. The parents we have encountered in the sport since our son started (he is also under 11) are very nice and open and willing to share all of this type of information too. As the boys age, however, everyone seems to get more attached to certain teams and the opinions tend to get "stronger" about who is the best, who plays dirty, who is weak, etc... I would like to see that fade a little and it may for this generation as the boys are allo starting younger and there are so many great clinics and camps where they all go. |
Anonymous
| Wow, PP! Thanks for the very informative response! I am not the OP, but I appreciate all your input as my son is an aspiring lacrosse player. |
Anonymous
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Has anyone heard of the Virginia Lacrosse Club?
http://www.leagueathletics.com/?org=valaxclub.com |
Anonymous
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Arlington participates in some league, with some training component attached. They have an outreach program in the summers that is cheap and (according to the kids of my friends), really fun. There's an A and a B team. Not hard-core travel, although they do play outside the county.
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Anonymous
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Virginia Lacrosse Club is runs tournament travel teams and came as a break away from MadLax. It is for experienced players.
ALC is Alexandria Lacrosse Club and it plays as a club with A, B and C levels in the NVYLL - Northern Virginia Youth Lacrosse League. To play in that league the players must be Virginia residents, boys or girls and many towns and organizations have clubs. Breakout lacrosse is good for learning in NW Washington/Bethesda area. Beltway Box Lacrosse runs camps, clinics and scrimmage leagues off season in Alexandria. Triple Edge Lacrosse runs off season field leagues and camps in Fairfax and Chantilly area. Next Level is good for training/lessons, as are MadLax and other camps in the area. |
Anonymous
| If you live in NW DC, but are a very competitive player, what league makes the most sense? |
Anonymous
If he's a very competitive player, he must have experience - where has he played before? That may help us give you a more specific answer. |
Anonymous
Breakout, Blue Team. |
Anonymous
| Any experiences with Next Level in Bethesda? |
Anonymous
| Lax bros! |
Anonymous
Yes, it is a top notch program with some of the best teams in the area. They play in Bethesda league when they are younger and then the NYPLL (National Youth Premier Lacrosse Leaue) when they get older - U11A and up. The try outs for boys, and girls, teams started today and were very heavily attended. If you did not start playing with them (or another travel team like Bethesda, Club Blue or Madlax) fairly early - like at 8 or 9, you will have a very tough time making one of the older teams. Lax is an intensive ball handling-skill game and not as easy to pick up as some other sports. However, there is always the kids who grabs a stick and middle school and figures it out pretty quick. Next Level clinics are excellent and kids start as young as 4 with Soft Stick, an easy starter version of lax. It is a very nice facility, the only local lax organization with its own private in-door facilities. The owners Randy and Pam Laco, are both experinced lacrosse players and experienced parents with childen who grew up playing lax in the area. |
Anonymous
Yes, my kids have been involved with the program for years. It is a top notch program with some of the best teams in the area. They play in Bethesda league when they are younger and then the NYPLL (National Youth Premier Lacrosse Leaue) when they get older - U11A and up. The try outs for boys, and girls, teams started today and were very heavily attended. If you did not start playing with them (or another travel team like Bethesda, Club Blue or Madlax) fairly early - like at 8 or 9, you will have a very tough time making one of the older teams. Lax is an intensive ball handling-skill game and not as easy to pick up as some other sports. However, there is always the kids who grabs a stick and middle school and figures it out pretty quick. Next Level clinics are excellent and kids start as young as 4 with Soft Stick, an easy starter version of lax. It is a very nice facility, the only local lax organization with its own private in-door facilities. The owners Randy and Pam Laco, are both experinced lacrosse players and experienced parents with childen who grew up playing lax in the area. |
Anonymous
| Don't most of the area leagues end at U-15? What happens after that? |