Feedback on VLC Club Lacrosse?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For a club that one person thinks no one gives a S*&T about there are 136K views and 2K posts. Had two play for VLC. The team was always competitive and played with and sometimes beat the best teams in the country with many kids each year going to top D1 programs. The alumni record speaks for itself. While DCE, NL, and Madlax are all really good clubs, I never thought to move. One the drive is not worth it with VLC in the back yard. VLC kids were always more blue collar. More public school kids with some private school but had a humble attitude. Many did not want the culture of a Madlax. If you can play it does not matter which club you play for you can get recruited if that is the goal. It seems like the newer parents or families from CAV must be a different culture. Old VLC would turn away a toxic family. The formula worked they should stick with what works.

This was the culture it used to be and it was amazing! You hit the nail on the head with the CAV culture changing it. They do not have a 2027 team and the 2028 and 2029 teams are having issues also with "new" management. So this is not the same VLC team.....

What is funny is the new management is the CAVs management and most of the 28/29 teams are composed mostly of CAVs players and parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For a club that one person thinks no one gives a S*&T about there are 136K views and 2K posts. Had two play for VLC. The team was always competitive and played with and sometimes beat the best teams in the country with many kids each year going to top D1 programs. The alumni record speaks for itself. While DCE, NL, and Madlax are all really good clubs, I never thought to move. One the drive is not worth it with VLC in the back yard. VLC kids were always more blue collar. More public school kids with some private school but had a humble attitude. Many did not want the culture of a Madlax. If you can play it does not matter which club you play for you can get recruited if that is the goal. It seems like the newer parents or families from CAV must be a different culture. Old VLC would turn away a toxic family. The formula worked they should stick with what works.

This was the culture it used to be and it was amazing! You hit the nail on the head with the CAV culture changing it. They do not have a 2027 team and the 2028 and 2029 teams are having issues also with "new" management. So this is not the same VLC team.....

What is funny is the new management is the CAVs management and most of the 28/29 teams are composed mostly of CAVs players and parents.

Yeah... The "B" teams are mainly CAVS brought over. The "A" teams are were most of the issues are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For a club that one person thinks no one gives a S*&T about there are 136K views and 2K posts. Had two play for VLC. The team was always competitive and played with and sometimes beat the best teams in the country with many kids each year going to top D1 programs. The alumni record speaks for itself. While DCE, NL, and Madlax are all really good clubs, I never thought to move. One the drive is not worth it with VLC in the back yard. VLC kids were always more blue collar. More public school kids with some private school but had a humble attitude. Many did not want the culture of a Madlax. If you can play it does not matter which club you play for you can get recruited if that is the goal. It seems like the newer parents or families from CAV must be a different culture. Old VLC would turn away a toxic family. The formula worked they should stick with what works.

I have three sons and have written checks to all four of those programs at one point. All can be good, and all are far from perfect. But I think this post is an excellent summary of what is good about VLC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For a club that one person thinks no one gives a S*&T about there are 136K views and 2K posts. Had two play for VLC. The team was always competitive and played with and sometimes beat the best teams in the country with many kids each year going to top D1 programs. The alumni record speaks for itself. While DCE, NL, and Madlax are all really good clubs, I never thought to move. One the drive is not worth it with VLC in the back yard. VLC kids were always more blue collar. More public school kids with some private school but had a humble attitude. Many did not want the culture of a Madlax. If you can play it does not matter which club you play for you can get recruited if that is the goal. It seems like the newer parents or families from CAV must be a different culture. Old VLC would turn away a toxic family. The formula worked they should stick with what works.

I think that’s why you have so many views. This was once a great club and it could be again. There is certainly a niche for it. Not everyone wants to play for DCE, NL or Madlax. Some of the teams at certain age groups are already large and wouldn’t offer much playing time. Plus the commute is brutal. I just don’t understand why VLC can make it work.

[Anonymous]

Well, VLC can’t make it work now because it’s all run by Cavs and the old VLC is gone. VLC today is Cavs under the new name. Yes, not everyone in VA wants to commute to MD for DCE or NL. Or be a part of Madlax. It’s too bad because VLC used to have a nice niche in VA with great boys. Lesson there is VLC should have been more proactive with their current families and attracting future families.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, VLC can’t make it work now because it’s all run by Cavs and the old VLC is gone. VLC today is Cavs under the new name. Yes, not everyone in VA wants to commute to MD for DCE or NL. Or be a part of Madlax. It’s too bad because VLC used to have a nice niche in VA with great boys. Lesson there is VLC should have been more proactive with their current families and attracting future families.

I agree 100% with this statement!

[Anonymous]

I had to take my sons off VLC because it was run so poorly. It should be a great club because there’s a ton of “good but not elite”players in nova and they need a team. I think it’s probably too late for VLC with True stealing their market share but here is how I would turn it around if I were in charge.

1. Fields. Why does true practice at Bishop O’Connell and Meridian high school with nice turf field and lights and Vlc practice is a barron and camron Park and Cav’ feild. This is a killer in early spring with practices being cancelled because of wet fields and lack of light.

2. Communications. We could not discuss practice times and locations with the Club. We had practices where less than half of the kids could attend.

3. Appropriate competition. The VLC youth teams are not (with some exceptions) elite and we were forced to go to tournaments where we were playing top level teams. One or two reach tournaments are a great idea but when your team is getting killed weekend after weekend it is a morale killer. Again we tried to discuss with the club and we’re basically told to deal with it.

4. Coaches. The quality of the coaching was inconsistent with a few great coaches but mostly mediocre at best coaching. Again parents approached the club and were told to deal.

5. Tryouts. Tryouts were poorly run with very little actual evaluation and some head scratching decisions.

There is a place for VLC in Virginia. But it needs to improve if it’s going to compete at the youth level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had to take my sons off VLC because it was run so poorly. It should be a great club because there’s a ton of “good but not elite”players in nova and they need a team. I think it’s probably too late for VLC with True stealing their market share but here is how I would turn it around if I were in charge.

1. Fields. Why does true practice at Bishop O’Connell and Meridian high school with nice turf field and lights and Vlc practice is a barron and camron Park and Cav’ feild. This is a killer in early spring with practices being cancelled because of wet fields and lack of light.

2. Communications. We could not discuss practice times and locations with the Club. We had practices where less than half of the kids could attend.

3. Appropriate competition. The VLC youth teams are not (with some exceptions) elite and we were forced to go to tournaments where we were playing top level teams. One or two reach tournaments are a great idea but when your team is getting killed weekend after weekend it is a morale killer. Again we tried to discuss with the club and we’re basically told to deal with it.

4. Coaches. The quality of the coaching was inconsistent with a few great coaches but mostly mediocre at best coaching. Again parents approached the club and were told to deal.

5. Tryouts. Tryouts were poorly run with very little actual evaluation and some head scratching decisions.

There is a place for VLC in Virginia. But it needs to improve if it’s going to compete at the youth level.

Great post and informative. You also just summed up every Lacrosse club in the Nova area, both Boys and Girls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had to take my sons off VLC because it was run so poorly. It should be a great club because there’s a ton of “good but not elite”players in nova and they need a team. I think it’s probably too late for VLC with True stealing their market share but here is how I would turn it around if I were in charge.

1. Fields. Why does true practice at Bishop O’Connell and Meridian high school with nice turf field and lights and Vlc practice is a barron and camron Park and Cav’ feild. This is a killer in early spring with practices being cancelled because of wet fields and lack of light.

2. Communications. We could not discuss practice times and locations with the Club. We had practices where less than half of the kids could attend.

3. Appropriate competition. The VLC youth teams are not (with some exceptions) elite and we were forced to go to tournaments where we were playing top level teams. One or two reach tournaments are a great idea but when your team is getting killed weekend after weekend it is a morale killer. Again we tried to discuss with the club and we’re basically told to deal with it.

4. Coaches. The quality of the coaching was inconsistent with a few great coaches but mostly mediocre at best coaching. Again parents approached the club and were told to deal.

5. Tryouts. Tryouts were poorly run with very little actual evaluation and some head scratching decisions.

There is a place for VLC in Virginia. But it needs to improve if it’s going to compete at the youth level.

Wow there are not elite players in N.VA? That is an uniformed opinion. The best defense player in the world, multiple PLL players, top player in the 2024 class, top freshman in college lacrosse last year, multiple all Americans, numerous D1 committed players in the 2023 and 2024 class all came from and played in NVYLL teams and you think there are not future Elite players?

The problem is that too many parents are worrying about HOCO league results and middle school tournaments and not staying with and building a solid team. VLC used to start at 7th grade and had one team that was tough to make and brought the best of the best. The problem is all of the clubs are robbing NVYLL and for the first time ever participation in rec lacrosse is down. These club teams are all suffering from not supporting rec lacrosse and it is a snake eating it's own head.

[Anonymous]

I disagree that these criticisms of VLC are equally applicable to other Virginia programs. VLC has significantly more issues with communication, feilds and competition than any other team I know. Although I would agree the coaching and tryouts are inconsistent in every program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had to take my sons off VLC because it was run so poorly. It should be a great club because there’s a ton of “good but not elite”players in nova and they need a team. I think it’s probably too late for VLC with True stealing their market share but here is how I would turn it around if I were in charge.

1. Fields. Why does true practice at Bishop O’Connell and Meridian high school with nice turf field and lights and Vlc practice is a barron and camron Park and Cav’ feild. This is a killer in early spring with practices being cancelled because of wet fields and lack of light.

2. Communications. We could not discuss practice times and locations with the Club. We had practices where less than half of the kids could attend.

3. Appropriate competition. The VLC youth teams are not (with some exceptions) elite and we were forced to go to tournaments where we were playing top level teams. One or two reach tournaments are a great idea but when your team is getting killed weekend after weekend it is a morale killer. Again we tried to discuss with the club and we’re basically told to deal with it.

4. Coaches. The quality of the coaching was inconsistent with a few great coaches but mostly mediocre at best coaching. Again parents approached the club and were told to deal.

5. Tryouts. Tryouts were poorly run with very little actual evaluation and some head scratching decisions.

There is a place for VLC in Virginia. But it needs to improve if it’s going to compete at the youth level.

Wow there are not elite players in N.VA? That is an uniformed opinion. The best defense player in the world, multiple PLL players, top player in the 2024 class, top freshman in college lacrosse last year, multiple all Americans, numerous D1 committed players in the 2023 and 2024 class all came from and played in NVYLL teams and you think there are not future Elite players?

The problem is that too many parents are worrying about HOCO league results and middle school tournaments and not staying with and building a solid team. VLC used to start at 7th grade and had one team that was tough to make and brought the best of the best. The problem is all of the clubs are robbing NVYLL and for the first time ever participation in rec lacrosse is down. These club teams are all suffering from not supporting rec lacrosse and it is a snake eating it's own head.

I think you are deliberately misconstruing my statement. I did not say that there are no elite players in NOVA I said there “are a ton of good but not elite players.” VLC could (if it fixed its issues) serve that segment of the market. I find your defense of VLC (talking about the old days, complaining about parents expectations, fretting about the decline of rec lax) to be unconvincing. Moreover, you sound like VLCs management- which consistently dismissed parents concerns, and disregarded player needs. I hope you don’t speak for VLC - Otherwise that club is doomed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had to take my sons off VLC because it was run so poorly. It should be a great club because there’s a ton of “good but not elite”players in nova and they need a team. I think it’s probably too late for VLC with True stealing their market share but here is how I would turn it around if I were in charge.

1. Fields. Why does true practice at Bishop O’Connell and Meridian high school with nice turf field and lights and Vlc practice is a barron and camron Park and Cav’ feild. This is a killer in early spring with practices being cancelled because of wet fields and lack of light.

2. Communications. We could not discuss practice times and locations with the Club. We had practices where less than half of the kids could attend.

3. Appropriate competition. The VLC youth teams are not (with some exceptions) elite and we were forced to go to tournaments where we were playing top level teams. One or two reach tournaments are a great idea but when your team is getting killed weekend after weekend it is a morale killer. Again we tried to discuss with the club and we’re basically told to deal with it.

4. Coaches. The quality of the coaching was inconsistent with a few great coaches but mostly mediocre at best coaching. Again parents approached the club and were told to deal.

5. Tryouts. Tryouts were poorly run with very little actual evaluation and some head scratching decisions.

There is a place for VLC in Virginia. But it needs to improve if it’s going to compete at the youth level.

Wow there are not elite players in N.VA? That is an uniformed opinion. The best defense player in the world, multiple PLL players, top player in the 2024 class, top freshman in college lacrosse last year, multiple all Americans, numerous D1 committed players in the 2023 and 2024 class all came from and played in NVYLL teams and you think there are not future Elite players?

The problem is that too many parents are worrying about HOCO league results and middle school tournaments and not staying with and building a solid team. VLC used to start at 7th grade and had one team that was tough to make and brought the best of the best. The problem is all of the clubs are robbing NVYLL and for the first time ever participation in rec lacrosse is down. These club teams are all suffering from not supporting rec lacrosse and it is a snake eating it's own head.

Could you explain why VLC does not have a 2027 team then?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had to take my sons off VLC because it was run so poorly. It should be a great club because there’s a ton of “good but not elite”players in nova and they need a team. I think it’s probably too late for VLC with True stealing their market share but here is how I would turn it around if I were in charge.

1. Fields. Why does true practice at Bishop O’Connell and Meridian high school with nice turf field and lights and Vlc practice is a barron and camron Park and Cav’ feild. This is a killer in early spring with practices being cancelled because of wet fields and lack of light.

2. Communications. We could not discuss practice times and locations with the Club. We had practices where less than half of the kids could attend.

3. Appropriate competition. The VLC youth teams are not (with some exceptions) elite and we were forced to go to tournaments where we were playing top level teams. One or two reach tournaments are a great idea but when your team is getting killed weekend after weekend it is a morale killer. Again we tried to discuss with the club and we’re basically told to deal with it.

4. Coaches. The quality of the coaching was inconsistent with a few great coaches but mostly mediocre at best coaching. Again parents approached the club and were told to deal.

5. Tryouts. Tryouts were poorly run with very little actual evaluation and some head scratching decisions.

There is a place for VLC in Virginia. But it needs to improve if it’s going to compete at the youth level.

on which VLC team(s) did you have this experience?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had to take my sons off VLC because it was run so poorly. It should be a great club because there’s a ton of “good but not elite”players in nova and they need a team. I think it’s probably too late for VLC with True stealing their market share but here is how I would turn it around if I were in charge.

1. Fields. Why does true practice at Bishop O’Connell and Meridian high school with nice turf field and lights and Vlc practice is a barron and camron Park and Cav’ feild. This is a killer in early spring with practices being cancelled because of wet fields and lack of light.

2. Communications. We could not discuss practice times and locations with the Club. We had practices where less than half of the kids could attend.

3. Appropriate competition. The VLC youth teams are not (with some exceptions) elite and we were forced to go to tournaments where we were playing top level teams. One or two reach tournaments are a great idea but when your team is getting killed weekend after weekend it is a morale killer. Again we tried to discuss with the club and we’re basically told to deal with it.

4. Coaches. The quality of the coaching was inconsistent with a few great coaches but mostly mediocre at best coaching. Again parents approached the club and were told to deal.

5. Tryouts. Tryouts were poorly run with very little actual evaluation and some head scratching decisions.

There is a place for VLC in Virginia. But it needs to improve if it’s going to compete at the youth level.

Wow there are not elite players in N.VA? That is an uniformed opinion. The best defense player in the world, multiple PLL players, top player in the 2024 class, top freshman in college lacrosse last year, multiple all Americans, numerous D1 committed players in the 2023 and 2024 class all came from and played in NVYLL teams and you think there are not future Elite players?

The problem is that too many parents are worrying about HOCO league results and middle school tournaments and not staying with and building a solid team. VLC used to start at 7th grade and had one team that was tough to make and brought the best of the best. The problem is all of the clubs are robbing NVYLL and for the first time ever participation in rec lacrosse is down. These club teams are all suffering from not supporting rec lacrosse and it is a snake eating it's own head.

Could you explain why VLC does not have a 2027 team then?

I do not have the first clue about why VLC does not have a 2027 team. I made the previous post and I do not have any current affiliation with VLC as I had one play who is now in college. If anything I was defending N.VA lacrosse talent. The point is that currently parents seem to be chasing club wins and willing to buy what is being sold by the latest club. The only difference is that instead of paying $200 for spring lacrosse and renting equipment parents are all too willing shell out 10X that much for less consistent coaching. The result is lower participation in NVYLL which will hurt all the clubs. The clubs do not care. But yes, it is the parents not the clubs that are hurting lacrosse in N.VA.

[Anonymous]

There is a whole post on why VLC doesn't have a 27 team. To sum it up. Head Coach (paid, not a dad, ok guy but not great at coaching/running his team) left the team in winter, before HOCO. There was no notice to anyone, maybe VLC knew, but didn't share. VLC tried to fill his spot with another coach but at this point damage was done. Parents had questions/concerns but VLC management didn't seem to care. By summertime they didn't have enough players for tournaments and had to call in bodies just to play. When tryouts happened they didn't have enough boys show up to even field a bare bones team. VLC had months of notice that this team was going to fall apart and just didn't care or didn't want to be bothered. They let a head coach run the team on their own but the problem is that if a HC doesn't have that skill and management doesn't step in, it will fall apart. I hear that VLC is going to have tryouts for a new 27 team this year. Will be interesting to watch this.