lax culture from an insider

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son just received an invitation to Jake Reeds Nov showcase in NC. He says it is a big deal, particularly as his goal is to play at the college level. I see it s expensive and is scheduled for a weekend where we have other conflicts. Is this really that big of an opportunity for my son?

Yes. It is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've been told next level will be adding one high school team per year moving forward.

May be too little, too late. Madlax is creating Maryland based teams this year. I wish NL had gone the high school route earlier. Performance is also showing signs of being competitive at the HS level. Will be a battle for talent, and I think in the,end there will only be one team standing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've been told next level will be adding one high school team per year moving forward.

May be too little, too late. Madlax is creating Maryland based teams this year. I wish NL had gone the high school route earlier. Performance is also showing signs of being competitive at the HS level. Will be a battle for talent, and I think in the,end there will only be one team standing.

Which Performance Team is competitive?

Also Performance is $3800/yr. so only kids desperate for a team or extremely wealthy will play for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've been told next level will be adding one high school team per year moving forward.

May be too little, too late. Madlax is creating Maryland based teams this year. I wish NL had gone the high school route earlier. Performance is also showing signs of being competitive at the HS level. Will be a battle for talent, and I think in the,end there will only be one team standing.

Which Performance Team is competitive?

Also Performance is $3800/yr. so only kids desperate for a team or extremely wealthy will play for them.

Performance is run by great guys who played lacrosse at the highest levels. They also have a stable of excellent coaches, including a few big names in the local high school scene. They also tapped into the MoCo talent pool, many from the public schools. With all these things going for them, you'd think they'd be real contenders. Unfortunately, that does not seem to be their focus, and it can be demoralizing for the kids and their families to get regularly crushed by their opponents. To make matters worse, every year the small handful of stars are picked off by one of the VA club teams. Not at all affiliated with Next Level, but I do hope they succeed. It is embarrassing that living in MD, the lax hotbed, the best area club teams are all in VA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've been told next level will be adding one high school team per year moving forward.

May be too little, too late. Madlax is creating Maryland based teams this year. I wish NL had gone the high school route earlier. Performance is also showing signs of being competitive at the HS level. Will be a battle for talent, and I think in the,end there will only be one team standing.

Which Performance Team is competitive?

Also Performance is $3800/yr. so only kids desperate for a team or extremely wealthy will play for them.

Performance is run by great guys who played lacrosse at the highest levels. They also have a stable of excellent coaches, including a few big names in the local high school scene. They also tapped into the MoCo talent pool, many from the public schools. With all these things going for them, you'd think they'd be real contenders. Unfortunately, that does not seem to be their focus, and it can be demoralizing for the kids and their families to get regularly crushed by their opponents. To make matters worse, every year the small handful of stars are picked off by one of the VA club teams. Not at all affiliated with Next Level, but I do hope they succeed. It is embarrassing that living in MD, the lax hotbed, the best area club teams are all in VA.

I agree the Performance guys are great, it's just too expensive. They actually run a fun summer program.

Well the best is Baltimore ... They is MD.

[Anonymous]

That not they.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son just received an invitation to Jake Reeds Nov showcase in NC. He says it is a big deal, particularly as his goal is to play at the college level. I see it s expensive and is scheduled for a weekend where we have other conflicts. Is this really that big of an opportunity for my son?

Yes. It is.

Does this mean my som should also receive an invitation form the summer tournament? Or will that be based on his performance at the fall tournament?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've been told next level will be adding one high school team per year moving forward.

May be too little, too late. Madlax is creating Maryland based teams this year. I wish NL had gone the high school route earlier. Performance is also showing signs of being competitive at the HS level. Will be a battle for talent, and I think in the,end there will only be one team standing.

Go Katniss!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:any thoughts on breakout folding into Bethesda where will most kids go

Did breakout merge with BLC?

Breakout fell apart this year, especially at the 2021/2022/2023 levels. I don't think they would have been able to field teams for some of the grades because of how many kids left by the spring. Many kids were going to be moving out in different directions because of the chaos, but at least now they have a fall back plan w/ Bethesda.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son just received an invitation to Jake Reeds Nov showcase in NC. He says it is a big deal, particularly as his goal is to play at the college level. I see it s expensive and is scheduled for a weekend where we have other conflicts. Is this really that big of an opportunity for my son?

Yes. It is.

The one is the summer is a big deal (though it is lessening in importance). The one in the fall is not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've been told next level will be adding one high school team per year moving forward.

May be too little, too late. Madlax is creating Maryland based teams this year. I wish NL had gone the high school route earlier. Performance is also showing signs of being competitive at the HS level. Will be a battle for talent, and I think in the,end there will only be one team standing.

Which Performance Team is competitive?

Also Performance is $3800/yr. so only kids desperate for a team or extremely wealthy will play for them.

Performance is run by great guys who played lacrosse at the highest levels. They also have a stable of excellent coaches, including a few big names in the local high school scene. They also tapped into the MoCo talent pool, many from the public schools. With all these things going for them, you'd think they'd be real contenders. Unfortunately, that does not seem to be their focus, and it can be demoralizing for the kids and their families to get regularly crushed by their opponents. To make matters worse, every year the small handful of stars are picked off by one of the VA club teams. Not at all affiliated with Next Level, but I do hope they succeed. It is embarrassing that living in MD, the lax hotbed, the best area club teams are all in VA.

Quick education for you

1. The owners of Performance are great guys, but you have to have talent. Nearly all of the kids on their teams could not make the rosters of the best clubs in this area. So the lack of field success thus far is not a lack of focus from the top, but rather a lack of talent on the team.

2. The hotbed of talent in the DMV in Northern VA by far, so it's not a surprise that teams like Blackwolf, Madlax and VLC are at the top. Montgomery County is not Baltimore or Annapolis and has never been a hotbed.

3. You are right that Performance taps into the Montgomery County public school base, which has largely been untapped. But the talent in the Montgomery County public school pool is very shallow.

[Anonymous]

The Jake Reed event in the Fall is purely a money maker. Save your money.

I do think Montgomery County MD does have the numbers and individual talent to form a competitive club program at the HS level.

I don't think Performance is the option though as the owners seems strictly focused on making money and taking kids who were pretty much cut from other clubs. Its an interesting business model.

Mad Lax Maryland will be interesting but I do think Maddux is stretching himself too thin. It will simply be another B team for him.

If Next Level were to gradually add HS teams each grade year for the current 8th grade moving into the HS ranks - things could get interesting as I do think NL has more potential than Performance.

[Anonymous]

NL is falling apart. Performance doesn't have great teams, but they do have one thing NL doesn't - a bigger pool of kids. NL can barely field one team per grade.

If your son is serious about lacrosse, he needs to find better options that either of these two clubs.

[Anonymous]

PP, what happened to Breakout? Do they still exist? Shame. Some of the nicest coaches we've come across were part of that organization.

[Anonymous]

Breakout is folding into Bethesda. You are correct - Breakout has some very good people and coaches.