Feedback on VLC Club Lacrosse?

[Anonymous]

I am a VLC dad and I agree with 23:10.

As for 7:49, people are constantly ragging on Cavs for going to "easy" tournaments so they can crush weak opponents. It shows much greater character to go to tough tournaments and play superior opponents. What is notable from the Big 4 tournament this year and last year is that the older VLC teams did better than the younger ones. This shows that VLC is doing a good job of developing their players over time.

Why are the younger Team 91, Crabs, and HHH teams better than the VLC teams of the same age? Beats me. Is there a larger pool of good lax players in Baltimore available to join those teams than there is in Fairfax County, is that the issue?

What kind of training does VLC need to do to become as good as Team 91 and Crabs? I also don't know the answer. Since Crabs and VLC are affiliated, one would expect VLC training to be similar to Crabs training, but I don't know that's true. From observation of VLC practices, I believe their training is very good, and I don't know what they're not doing, compared to Crabs or Team 91, that they should be doing.

I have trouble believing that Crabs and Team 91 took players "straight out of rec" and made them awesome in one year thanks to their great training program. Seems like a lot of it must be pre-selecting kids who are already good. VLC is probably already attracting the best kids they can - and certainly they're getting kids who are turned off by MadLax.

[Anonymous]

I'm the commenter referred to as 23:10 (I guess). I am definitely not a master of PR but I'll take that as a compliment. I just try to keep things in perspective. As for the comment about kids going and getting blown out game after game, I agree, the club has a responsibility to put the kids in the appropriate tournaments and at the appropriate skill level. I think it is ok to be in a tournament where you win some and lose some. But if you are not going to be competitive at all, it is hard to stomach (for parents and kids alike). As a VLC parent, we've tried to convey that to our coaches and we have to trust their process. I do know that some tournaments we participate in are obligations from the mothership and aren't really an optional.

My commentary was to speak to the topic of this forum thread as a whole which is "Feedback on VLC Club Lacrosse." If there are parents who legitimately wondering about the VLC experience, I shared mine. Having the debate devolve into nastiness or sideline superhero dad comments is never good. I don't know if its appropriate to call VLC a glorified version of Cavaliers as I don't know that group top to bottom. What I will say is that if you look at a spectrum from youth to high school, the time that players spend with VLC results in higher performance and skill year after year. I would VERY much expect that the differential between VLC youth teams and other clubs/rec is not that great but that the improvement in a club like VLC is exponential. It takes a few years to build lacrosse IQ and through good recruiting and tryouts they will separate the wheat from the chaff. In the DMV, or if you want to just look at Northern VA, there are a number of options for teams. This means that many teams who are stronger got that way because they got ahold of good talent early and have cultivated them. VLC missed the boat with many of their teams as far as early acquisition, but it seems they have realized this and have teams all the way down to 2026. It will take a few years for this to show dividends but based on what I've experienced as a parent, I think the return will be there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:New poster. I watched VLC play last weekend. They have some real talent. Especially in the cage. The LSMs were excellent. There were a few mids who were very physical. But the attack had no vision, and most did not seem to grasp the concept of off-ball movement. I don’t believe they won a single face-off during the game I watched, and I know for sure the opponents face-off guy was not a FOGO, just a strong mid who was a wrestler and mad-dog rabid. I’m also a fan of VLC, mainly because they represent a big FU to Madlax. But if this is the best they can come up with these days, a glorified Cavaliers, then woe is them.

Which team did you watch?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When a youth team goes to an out of state tournament and can’t win a game and gets blown out game after game, their club hasn’t done a good job for the kids or parents. Not criticizing the kids at all, it’s the program that needs to evaluate itself.

As a parent with a kid on one of these teams, it was a worthwhile experience - 3 out of 5 were competitively played for most of the game and for the blowouts, the skill level of the opposing team (at team or player level) was attainable.

[Anonymous]

I was at Crabfeast. I watched every DMV 2021 team there. DCE impressed. Crabs and Madlax represented well. VLC was by far the weakest of the DMV teams. Selfish play. Did not see one assisted goal. FOGO benched after quarter. Inability to scoop up ground balls or make passes. Sloppy play and zero IQ. Cheap penalties. So where’s the beef (or crab?).

[Anonymous]

Is it a coaching issue or talent issue?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was at Crabfeast. I watched every DMV 2021 team there. DCE impressed. Crabs and Madlax represented well. VLC was by far the weakest of the DMV teams. Selfish play. Did not see one assisted goal. FOGO benched after quarter. Inability to scoop up ground balls or make passes. Sloppy play and zero IQ. Cheap penalties. So where’s the beef (or crab?).

I didn’t know Baltimore teams like Crabs were part of DMV - what were your impressions of Next Level, Annapolis Hawks, FCA, Green Turtle, Roughriders?

[Anonymous]

FCA 2021 looked sharp. Lots of talent. Great off-ball. If you are a college coach you are following this team closely. Crabs 2021 had a winning record, but the talent pool does not seem as deep as most crab teams I’ve seen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was at Crabfeast. I watched every DMV 2021 team there. DCE impressed. Crabs and Madlax represented well. VLC was by far the weakest of the DMV teams. Selfish play. Did not see one assisted goal. FOGO benched after quarter. Inability to scoop up ground balls or make passes. Sloppy play and zero IQ. Cheap penalties. So where’s the beef (or crab?).

VLC has great success in developing players who are recruited to play in college - many of which have played in NCAA tournament, won Nationals Championships or now play professionally. After DCE had a cake schedule on Saturday, I saw the DCE final game and I wasn't impressed either at the level of play, maybe the kids were just tired.

[Anonymous]

I will concede that VLC has a college placement record as good as any club in the country. I’ve just never been impressed with their team play. My son played for a rival club for 2017. VLC has a phenomenal placement for that year. Still whenever I saw them play they lost and didn’t really stick out like Crabs or Eclipse or LI Express.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will concede that VLC has a college placement record as good as any club in the country. I’ve just never been impressed with their team play. My son played for a rival club for 2017. VLC has a phenomenal placement for that year. Still whenever I saw them play they lost and didn’t really stick out like Crabs or Eclipse or LI Express.

VLC lost two games on Saturday that could have gone either way. Yes, they lost to Eclipse, but Eclipse is a great team. Many coaches attended the VLC-Eclipse game, and several defenders on the VLC side got some notice. VLC won their two games on Sunday, I understand, albeit in the loser’s bracket.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it a coaching issue or talent issue?[/quote

May be a practice issue? The team only practices a few times before the summer season, and not at all - as a club - during the winter and spring seasons.

Not sure what the other DMV teams do, but many of the Northeast teams practice all year round.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FCA 2021 looked sharp. Lots of talent. Great off-ball. If you are a college coach you are following this team closely. Crabs 2021 had a winning record, but the talent pool does not seem as deep as most crab teams I’ve seen.

Thank you for posting about other teams. We live just as far from VLC as we do the Hawks and are looking at both clubs. Not sure why other teams aren’t talked about more on this board since the teams all seem to play in the same tournaments and against each other in the HoCo league.

[Anonymous]

Richmond Hawks are new and quickly establishing themselves. Worth a look.

[Anonymous]

There's just not that much talent in NOVA to field competitive teams. Not enough passion for the game by the players in NOVA. Some have it, but not enough compared to other regions.