Feedback on MadLax

[Anonymous]

For what it's worth, Madlax is always going to be looking for new players, and it will continue (and perhaps even accelerate) all through high school. I think six kids from the 2021 team, which had about 25 players, were on the team in seventh grade. New players were added even in Junior year. The team got A LOT better through the additions, but I am sure those who had to move on were not happy about it.

[Anonymous]

The BLC influx could have been a really good situation if it had been handled honestly and fairly. Before the BLC players and coach came over, there was a strong, cohesive Capital team with an outstanding head coach and assistants, but there were only enough players for half of a DMV team. The 12 new players from BLC solved that problem, and as an added bonus, some were good enough to upgrade an already strong Capital team. And, they are great kids and families who would gel with the incumbents if MadLax had managed it better.

If they had held an honest tryout, and been clear where everybody stands, they could have formed two right-sized rosters, each with its own coaching staff, and given the two teams time and room to practice together and get to know each other. Both teams (Capital and DMV) would have been substantially improved from where they were at the end of the summer tournaments. The DMV team actually could have been a solid, well-coached team, with plenty of former Capital players, that the boys would have been proud to be on. But instead, MadLax tried to create the illusion that 30 out of 40 players, and most or all of the coaches, are on Capital, and now everybody on both teams is scratching their head and saying WTF. When the dust settles the program probably will lose at least as many players as they gained this fall. Being straight with people would have been a better strategy than hiding the ball and the whole "warrior" gimmick.

[Anonymous]

The warrior thing is for sure a gimmick cooked up by Cabel. Cable’s fear of creating two teams and losing former cap players By placing them on dmv is really going to backfire soon

[Anonymous]

How are things with 2026 and 2028?

[Anonymous]

This all sounds very similar to what happened years ago when Madlax and Club Blue merged the 2023 teams. Long time players got kicked out or bumped down. Lots of unhappy parents then as well. Sounds a bit like history repeating itself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How are things with 2026 and 2028?

ML2028 Capital picked up a few players from BLC but as far as I know without nearly the drama associated to 2027.

Somewhat related topic, what's up with the younger BLC Blue teams (2028 and 2027) where multiple players are moving to new clubs...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The BLC influx could have been a really good situation if it had been handled honestly and fairly. Before the BLC players and coach came over, there was a strong, cohesive Capital team with an outstanding head coach and assistants, but there were only enough players for half of a DMV team. The 12 new players from BLC solved that problem, and as an added bonus, some were good enough to upgrade an already strong Capital team. And, they are great kids and families who would gel with the incumbents if MadLax had managed it better.

If they had held an honest tryout, and been clear where everybody stands, they could have formed two right-sized rosters, each with its own coaching staff, and given the two teams time and room to practice together and get to know each other. Both teams (Capital and DMV) would have been substantially improved from where they were at the end of the summer tournaments. The DMV team actually could have been a solid, well-coached team, with plenty of former Capital players, that the boys would have been proud to be on. But instead, MadLax tried to create the illusion that 30 out of 40 players, and most or all of the coaches, are on Capital, and now everybody on both teams is scratching their head and saying WTF. When the dust settles the program probably will lose at least as many players as they gained this fall. Being straight with people would have been a better strategy than hiding the ball and the whole "warrior" gimmick.

But then if the BLC players had been told they were on DMV in the summer, they would have stayed at BLC -- less money in CM's pockets. Genius actually. It is that simple.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How are things with 2026 and 2028?

ML2028 Capital picked up a few players from BLC but as far as I know without nearly the drama associated to 2027.

Somewhat related topic, what's up with the younger BLC Blue teams (2028 and 2027) where multiple players are moving to new clubs...

I heard only 1 out of 3 of the BLC players that moved get any real playing time, and the other two are basically on DMV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How are things with 2026 and 2028?

ML2028 Capital picked up a few players from BLC but as far as I know without nearly the drama associated to 2027.

Somewhat related topic, what's up with the younger BLC Blue teams (2028 and 2027) where multiple players are moving to new clubs...

BLC exodus in 2027 and 2028 was mostly driven by inability of the overall organization to secure fields and support the teams during the summer. 2028 played out differently because not as many kids left (only around 6-7) and most of those were absorbed by Next Level rather than Madlax.

[Anonymous]

What we need is an alternative to Madlax in Mclean/Northern VA. We should create a net new 2027 club team with an honorable coach, funded by the families. Run the club with commitment to players and their development. Accept that the this unit may not always win, but teach the boys to be loyal to one another and to be a cohesive team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The BLC influx could have been a really good situation if it had been handled honestly and fairly. Before the BLC players and coach came over, there was a strong, cohesive Capital team with an outstanding head coach and assistants, but there were only enough players for half of a DMV team. The 12 new players from BLC solved that problem, and as an added bonus, some were good enough to upgrade an already strong Capital team. And, they are great kids and families who would gel with the incumbents if MadLax had managed it better.

If they had held an honest tryout, and been clear where everybody stands, they could have formed two right-sized rosters, each with its own coaching staff, and given the two teams time and room to practice together and get to know each other. Both teams (Capital and DMV) would have been substantially improved from where they were at the end of the summer tournaments. The DMV team actually could have been a solid, well-coached team, with plenty of former Capital players, that the boys would have been proud to be on. But instead, MadLax tried to create the illusion that 30 out of 40 players, and most or all of the coaches, are on Capital, and now everybody on both teams is scratching their head and saying WTF. When the dust settles the program probably will lose at least as many players as they gained this fall. Being straight with people would have been a better strategy than hiding the ball and the whole "warrior" gimmick.

But then if the BLC players had been told they were on DMV in the summer, they would have stayed at BLC -- less money in CM's pockets. Genius actually. It is that simple.

I am sure that was Cabell's reasoning exactly. But it was not very smart. He had more leverage than he realized over the new BLC families because they were leaving for a reason. So a dose of honesty ("you will get a fair tryout, but no promises") still would have gotten at least some of those 12 to join MadLax, probably most. And only one of the new BLC players is an impact player, so all MadLax is getting from the deal is revenue, not talent. But in exchange, MadLax is losing long-standing families who until recently were happy with the program, and would have continued paying the crazy prices for the next six years. The BLC players will mostly be short-timers once they realize that they were misled, and are not getting meaningful roles on the Capital team. So the overall roster will probably be SMALLER by spring than it was before the BLC players came over. Cabell has made many good business decisions over the years, but unfortunately this is not one of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What we need is an alternative to Madlax in Mclean/Northern VA. We should create a net new 2027 club team with an honorable coach, funded by the families. Run the club with commitment to players and their development. Accept that the this unit may not always win, but teach the boys to be loyal to one another and to be a cohesive team.

Excellent idea, but easier said than done. What you just said ("an honorable alternative to MadLax") is the founding principle of VLC, Cavalier, Top Caliber, plus new programs cropping up more recently.

[Anonymous]

The only thing that makes any sense is that the BLC team was promised a team of their own -- Like DC Dogs.

I can't imagine the BLC parents thought the whole team would become part of Capital and replace the existing players.

Any BLC parent care to comment?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The only thing that makes any sense is that the BLC team was promised a team of their own -- Like DC Dogs.

I can't imagine the BLC parents thought the whole team would become part of Capital and replace the existing players.

Any BLC parent care to comment?

They have a team of their own and it's the DMV team. The 1 or 2 BLC players can switch to DMV to play with their friends and that team can be supplemented with kids in the program. The BLC dad can coach the team and those 2 teams can fight it out over the winter and in competing tournaments to find out which team plays in the top division of HoCo in the spring. Seems pretty easy to me and change the name too if that really bothers the BLC contingent. Otherwise, go back to BLC Orange for the year and have the same structure over there for winter and spring.

[Anonymous]

I don't think that the gist of the prior post "the BLC kids can play DMV or can go back where they came from" is what most of the legacy Madlax families think. It feels like families and players on both sides of the marriage may have been misled. I hope that a BLC parent chimes in and shares what they were told.