lax culture from an insider

[Anonymous]

Wow. At this point I have heard so many repeated stories like on Madlax, to Blackwolf and VLC. I will be careful with this one but direct, VLC was a great program when the founder owned it. When it sold to the Crabs, it inherited everything foul about Crabs. My sons used to play for VLC and there was one instance where my son had a non-lacrosse prior commitment. He was in a school orchestra that planned a trip to perform out of the country and did fundraisers and it was a great honor they were selected to go. It coincided with a VLC tournament weekend, which I mentioned many months prior to the coach. Three weeks before the trip when we had passports, flights, hotels paid the coach sent an email that simply read -- YOU NEED TO CALL RYAN ASAP.

I called and emailed Ryan McClernan and left messages. He didn't respond at all. One week later the coach emailed me -- DID TOU STRAIGHTEN THIS OUT WITH RYAN? LET ME KNOW ASAP OR I NEED TO ROSTER ANOTHER KID.

I called and emailed the coach and Ryan all day, and finally reached the coach. I told him Ryan never responded. The coach said he spoke to Ryan earlier that day and didn't believe I was having trouble reaching Ryan and noted that this was a big tournament to be missing which I had known about when the kids tried out. He suggested he leave an email with me copied to Ryan to respond back to me. He wanted this to work out for my son to do his trip but also manage Ryan whom the coach said is the boss and while I am with you on this, it is his decision.

After I got the coach's email with Ryan copied I sent a humbled email thanking Ryan for speaking on this, that my son was excited for the season but that this one weekend was the only absence he'd have in three years because of the honor to go on this trip which was once in a lifetime.

Ryan didn't respond for another 10 days. The day before we left on the trip I called the coach and said as much. The coach sounded shocked and said he would call Ryan personally. Ten minutes later I got an email from McClernan that read -- "Your son and your family are no longer welcome in Crabs, and I am sending you a refund for the summer season today."

I still have that email. We left the next day and my son didn't have a summer club team to play on...we returned and he did a few events and was invited to guest play for another team and made the most of it. That fall he tried out for another club and has been much happier since.

[Anonymous]

VLC was founded by a Landon Father who is semi retired.

I agree it was a completely different program 3 years ago before he merged it with the Crabs program.

Between the Crabs Founder and the Mad Lax founder, both of them are pretty ruthless and I have heard several negative stories from parents in each camp.

My son played for VLC but stopped after his sophomore year due to the time commitment between summer tournaments with his high school team and club team. It's just too much.

What disgusts me the most is some of these club coaches, especially mad lax and the crabs make it mandatory for their players to play with them over their over their own high school.

Fortunately my son had the grades, to get into a NESCAC school and due to the relationship his high school coach had with the college coach, combined with solid work in the classroom, my son was able to make a verbal to a nescac school the summer going into his senior year.

[Anonymous]

Was thinking of sending my rising 4th grader to Blackwolf combines later this month. Have registered but not paid yet. Anyone have experience with the combines in June for U11 and U13? Don't want to subject a 9 year old to the kind of behavior cited by the earlier poster. Does Trig run the combines for younger kids the same way?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Was thinking of sending my rising 4th grader to Blackwolf combines later this month. Have registered but not paid yet. Anyone have experience with the combines in June for U11 and U13? Don't want to subject a 9 year old to the kind of behavior cited by the earlier poster. Does Trig run the combines for younger kids the same way?

Trig has this act where he acts all tough for one second, then befriends the kids the next. It's quite weird to watch. He definitely has this cult of personality where he likes to say stupid and shocking things to the kids and to the parents watching. Some kids like it, some kids don't. He doesn't allow his teams to have a tailgate at events. So instead of bonding together and cooling off under a tent, his players and parents have to watch around aimlessly between games like nomads in the desert. He won't talk to parents because he insists that kids will benefit if they are the only ones communicating with him.

A 9 year old is definitely way too young to play in that club. There are better options for sure. Trig thrives on poaching kids developed at other programs, so I would be worried about the ability for kids to learn how to play the game. We know several kids who started at Blackwolf and were cut soon afterwards because they didn't play as well as some other kids, so they were berated every practice until they were cut.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the insight - did your son do the June combine for the U11 and U13 kids, or are you speaking as a parent of a player on one of the older teams? I am just wondering if Trig changed his shtick or toned it down for the younger kids at all?

[Anonymous]

Thank you to the posters. These are all good things to be aware of if you are a parent looking into lacrosse clubs for their kids.

[Anonymous]

My son participated in the June combine for U11 and U13 kids, and he has participated in several Blackwolf clinics. The combines and clinics are fast-paced with solid instruction. The atmosphere is relatively intense. It's not for everyone, but my U13 son has loved it. Based on what I've seen, it would be a real stretch for a nine year old.

[Anonymous]

Thanks! Good info. My son is skilled but small for a nine year old anyway, so I think we will wait at least another year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:


I really have to offer a different view of Trig.
My son did his camp this summer and after his first day this was his observation.

Morning pep-talk was telling them he would be using the f-bomb and if they didn't like it there was the parking lot. Told the kids that he didn't care if parents emailed or called he wld just hang up. This is the way he rolls.

During the drills he and his coaches would yell at the kids using the f bomb and other colorful words.

He belittled a player because he wasn't recruited like his brother who had already committed to d1 school.

Day two: Same little pep-talk
1. no need to be walked to the field no child molesters on the field. No one was walking around with their privates hanging out.
2. He didn't care if they had championships stickers on their helmets compared it to M in their closet because no one cares.
3.Told the kids if they thought they were all that then they might as well as bend over because they will be F by his high school coaches.
4. Talk about hitting them with his stick.
5. Told them if they couldn't take this kind of talking to then they were soft.
6. If a fellow player was bringing them down tell them they sucked.

The age of the kids were 11-13. My son asked not to go back. He had no respect for an adult who yelled and cussed at him and others. As a parent I could not justify placing him back in this type of environment. This was a camp that was to instill values and teach them the game of LAX. I spoke to another parent about the situation and her response was "thats the way it was for my older son. I know as a parent its hard to accept but everyone wants to play with him." Really?

This is awful! Ages 11-13 are way too young (I would argue never ok, but my brothers and nephews played D1 sports and it can be rough out there). He should be ashamed of himself.

[Anonymous]

The quality of the BW teams also varies a lot. When he has been able to poach a lot of kids from other clubs, the teams have been strong. When he fails to poach for a particular grade, the team is weak. For example, his 2019 team really was nonexistent this summer because he failed to get good players in. I would be reluctant to play for his middle school teams until he establishes a track record.

The other negative things about BW is that the roster fluctuates all the time. You can be at one tournament and 10 new guys show up and there's 35 guys present so playing time gets skewed. Other times there will only be 16 guys. You never know because he doesn't really communicate. They are constantly inviting new guys to be on the team, so people show up and nobody knows who they are. Kids get added and cut all the time and you either accept it or leave.

[Anonymous]

Blackwolf policies seem very odd.

How can a team build chemistry if new kids are coming and going every other month.

[Anonymous]

The objective isn't to build a team or chemistry: it is to sell players to colleges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Blackwolf policies seem very odd.

How can a team build chemistry if new kids are coming and going every other month.

Coming and going every month? What do you mean? Monthly tryouts?

[Anonymous]

We have had a very positive experience with 3d Mid Atlantic. The coaches are connected (current and former MLL players), and have truly acted as an advocate for my son, which is why we keep coming back. If you are good enough, there are many opportunities to branch out from your regional team for even more exposure, including the national team or guest playing on other 3d teams. The northcal, new england, and colorado teams are all superb.

The cons are price (this is a big one), and communication can be lacking at times. I think moving practice to fairfax was a good decision, so for me location is no longer a con.

As another poster mentioned, the girls program is fantastic. They aren't the most competitive yet, but the coaches are so positive and energetic, it's just a matter of time.

[Anonymous]

3d has the best business model right now. Not the best high school teams per se, but a good model that works. The problem was the Loudon location for practices just deflated people from other areas but it sounds like they fixed that.

Our youngest son plays for a 3d 2019 team, and after speaking to some dads from the older classes I don't hear any horror stories. At $1800 twice a year it is expensive, but that is not a knock on the 3d coaches. Spencer Ford ad Steven Brooks have more lacrosse credibility than Cabell Maddox, Ryan McClernan and Trig combined. Both are college and MLL legends. They are also flexible with families. There are PVI kids who come over and guest play for a tournament or two and then ask Spencer and Steven to help them with recruiting. Crabs kids guest play all the time on the 3d HS teams also for the same reasons. I've heard nothing but positives about how Spencer and Steven guided kids through the process for none of the credit to 3d for "getting them committed".

They also have a philosophy that is refreshing to hear when they spoke to our son who is going into the recruiting years. They told my son that right now he should not be doing videos and going to prospect days and should spend his time, and our family should spend our lacrosse budget, on training and development. Then as a soph or junior there will be good fits for him at a strong D3 academic school or possibly a Patriot League team depending on his development. They were also honest to say they can't place him -- the college coaches respect them because they refer a fit not force a fit. The recruiting works out for kids the colleges want and the 3d guys help guide that without a lot of drama to take credit for it. I think it is a good club.