Girl's Club Lacrosse - 5th Grade and Under - Best Club for Development?

[Anonymous]

More than anything you will need to have your daughter train on her own or privately to really develop as most clubs don’t focus on the basics.

[Anonymous]

If you’re willing to do a bit of driving I’d look into Hero’s and BLC this summer. Forget the VA clubs.

[Anonymous]

For 5th grade and under, a VA club is perfectly fine. Your daughter needs to practice and play as much as she can, and sitting in the car for the next several years is counterproductive in a way. If your daughter is good and uninterested in the Capital path, then make a move to a Maryland team in a few years in advance of high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For that age, BLC is the best in the area. It only goes through 8th grade, but it is easily the top DC area club for 3rd-8th.

The BLC girls have no stick skills compared to the Balt clubs. Good athletes yes, but sorely lacking in stick skills.

[Anonymous]

Only go to BLC if you can get on Blue. Have heard that there is not a lot of focus on the Orange teams. Heros is the next closest and they both have good A and B teams.

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know anything about the Yellow Jackets DC team?

[Anonymous]

These suggestions are hilarious. No one has any idea what level your daughter plays at comparatively because... likely neither do you until she shows up. So recommendations of top programs in this area or another are inane.

You probably have an idea who all the clubs are and how to find your way around the interwebs for them. -Find out who the coaches are for that age, what their experience is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These suggestions are hilarious. No one has any idea what level your daughter plays at comparatively because... likely neither do you until she shows up. So recommendations of top programs in this area or another are inane.

You probably have an idea who all the clubs are and how to find your way around the interwebs for them.
-Find out who the coaches are for that age, what their experience is.

-See if you can determine anything at all on their website or social pages for whether that coach(es) is good. Whether the team looks like they improve over the year.
-Hit your top 2 or 3 tryouts, and instead of focusing on your daughter, focus on the coaches. Their style, temperment, engagement. Saddle up to parents and ask about what the coaching is like.
-Don't ask for advice on DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Don't do Pride if she's going into fifth grade next year. Heard from a friend that the coaching for that squad is not great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These suggestions are hilarious. No one has any idea what level your daughter plays at comparatively because... likely neither do you until she shows up. So recommendations of top programs in this area or another are inane.

You probably have an idea who all the clubs are and how to find your way around the interwebs for them.
-Find out who the coaches are for that age, what their experience is.

-See if you can determine anything at all on their website or social pages for whether that coach(es) is good. Whether the team looks like they improve over the year.
-Hit your top 2 or 3 tryouts, and instead of focusing on your daughter, focus on the coaches. Their style, temperment, engagement. Saddle up to parents and ask about what the coaching is like.
-Don't ask for advice on DCUM.

Right, ask the Clubs for advice! SMH.

[Anonymous]

So go to tryouts and asks returning parents what the coaching is like?

As if the parents would ever say "the coaching is bad, but we are still coming back"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
So go to tryouts and asks returning parents what the coaching is like?

As if the parents would ever say "the coaching is bad, but we are still coming back"

I think you'd be surprised as to how many parents do stay even if coaching is bad. its hard to find a good coach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Go to Heros or the real M&D. Dont mess around with the DC clubs. If you are serious about lax, you will do this. BTW, its fine if you are not serious but just make sure your expectations match.

BTDT and if I Could do it all over again I would have taken my daughter to Hero's. It is truly not that far and in the long run will benefit. My daughter went the BLC/Capital route and it worked out but I do think creating a cohesive unit from the younger years into high school is beneficial.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
So go to tryouts and asks returning parents what the coaching is like?

As if the parents would ever say "the coaching is bad, but we are still coming back"

I think you'd be surprised as to how many parents do stay even if coaching is bad. its hard to find a good coach.

Some perspective after doing this circuit with two daughters for the last 7 years. I am not aware of many situations where you run the table: good coaching; good team/highly-ranked; good culture (parents and kids); and decent commute. In fact, 2 out of 4 is generally the maximum you can expect. If you hit 3/4, you are in a great situation, and probably are commuting.

Most committed lax parents are never satisfied with their situation. Even when things are objectively good, there are little things to get concerned about. Is my daughter featured enough? Does the coach like her enough to give her the right recommendation when college coaches call or will he favor others at the same position? Why did we drop in the rankings? The other girls aren't committed enough. The defense is letting us down. We compete but we can't score, etc, etc.

Look at the 2028s this past summer. The top Baltimore teams averaged 5 players moving in/out after tryouts due to perceived greener grass even when they already had 3/4 boxes checked, and would have had great recruiting results where they were. Lax parents are never satisfied.

I'm not saying to reduce your expectations or not engage with your club and org to make things better; I'm just saying that if you have 2 or 3 of the positive attributes covered, you may already be in a comparatively good situation and may want to stand pat.

[Anonymous]

There is a distinction between the best option and the best available option. BLC now has a solid track record of outstanding Blue teams from 2029-2033. However strong teams now form in 3rd grade so plus athleticism as well as stickwork at home or via rec is likely required to make it in 5th. Orange teams can be slightly worse or much worse than M&D or Pride depending on the year, would select based on convenience and friends at this age.

Also 100 pct agree with the last post. All these options are at least decent compared to less lacrosse heavy areas but DMV area parents seem obsessed with measuring themselves vs Baltimore area or HoCo where player participation and roster depth are simply better starting from a young age, and there are likely a larger number of experienced coaches also. Anywhere your kid can have committed coaches who teach the game , friendly teammates who come to practice regularly , will be a productive enough environment. Though shocking with the recent turmoil at MC Elite and Pride how hard that basic requirement can be to meet.