2027 boys landscape

[Anonymous]

How many days a week does Cabell or a Mitchell post on DCURBAN?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a 2027 thread, but agree that Next Level 2028 is top team at that age group. Last three times Next Level-Madlax played during this spring and last summer, Next Level won every single game. Madlax is well ahead of BLC, but that gap is closing.

Is it really???

Madlax is the better team. With better players.

Then why has NextLevel won three in a row?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a 2027 thread, but agree that Next Level 2028 is top team at that age group. Last three times Next Level-Madlax played during this spring and last summer, Next Level won every single game. Madlax is well ahead of BLC, but that gap is closing.

Is it really???

Madlax is the better team. With better players.

Then why has NextLevel won three in a row?

They have not.


Madlax beat NL 7-3 in the Fall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a 2027 thread, but agree that Next Level 2028 is top team at that age group. Last three times Next Level-Madlax played during this spring and last summer, Next Level won every single game. Madlax is well ahead of BLC, but that gap is closing.

Is it really???

Madlax is the better team. With better players.

Then why has NextLevel won three in a row?

They have not.


Madlax beat NL 7-3 in the Fall.

Also Madlax have beaten better teams. Check scores vs common opponents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a 2027 thread, but agree that Next Level 2028 is top team at that age group. Last three times Next Level-Madlax played during this spring and last summer, Next Level won every single game. Madlax is well ahead of BLC, but that gap is closing.

Is it really???

Madlax is the better team. With better players.

Then why has NextLevel won three in a row?

They have not.


Madlax beat NL 7-3 in the Fall.

Also Madlax have beaten better teams. Check scores vs common opponents.

NL2028 beat Madlax in Spring Hoco twice, once in the reg season (5-4), and again in the playoffs (15-12). You can say the two teams are roughly equal since ML won in the fall and lost in OT at Hershey last summer, but you def can't flatly say ML is better. There's a reason people keep track of scores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a 2027 thread, but agree that Next Level 2028 is top team at that age group. Last three times Next Level-Madlax played during this spring and last summer, Next Level won every single game. Madlax is well ahead of BLC, but that gap is closing.

Is it really???

Madlax is the better team. With better players.

Then why has NextLevel won three in a row?

They have not.


Madlax beat NL 7-3 in the Fall.

Also Madlax have beaten better teams. Check scores vs common opponents.

How should we count the wins for Madlax when they bring in the kids from Texas and New Hampshire? Also do the wins count where the game is dominated by a Madlax player from Richmond that is nearly 14 years old? A true capital team made for kids from DC hasn’t shown it can win against the better local teams like NL and Hawks.

[Anonymous]

HoCo is the best indicator because everybody has to submit one roster and live by it.

[Anonymous]

The 2028 banter is great, but here is my two cents to the OP question about the 2027 landscape:

NextLevel - By far the best, would beat the other three by 5-10 goals or more. But the roster is too big, so the bottom half of the roster will be looking at new options for fall, plus probably a couple of starters. And, they always choke in big games, such as the Hawks.

MadLax - Used to be competitive with NextLevel and Hawks, but no longer. Defense is good but has too many players, and the offense has tanked since they went to parent coaching.

DC Express - This team picks up where BLC ends, and the 2027 BLC team was AAA this past spring, compared to the 2025 and 2026 teams that were elite. But DCE will be drawing from Team Maryland, other DC teams, and the Baltimore teams.

VLC - This team was top half of AAA in the spring, and is working hard to recruit from Hammers and elsewhere. Potentially an elite team by next spring, but not certain.

Bottom line, there will be some movement this fall, and when the dust settles, NextLevel will remain the best in 8th grade, and DCE will probably pull even by 9th grade. Hope this helps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The 2028 banter is great, but here is my two cents to the OP question about the 2027 landscape:

NextLevel - By far the best, would beat the other three by 5-10 goals or more. But the roster is too big, so the bottom half of the roster will be looking at new options for fall, plus probably a couple of starters. And, they always choke in big games, such as the Hawks.

MadLax - Used to be competitive with NextLevel and Hawks, but no longer. Defense is good but has too many players, and the offense has tanked since they went to parent coaching.

DC Express - This team picks up where BLC ends, and the 2027 BLC team was AAA this past spring, compared to the 2025 and 2026 teams that were elite. But DCE will be drawing from Team Maryland, other DC teams, and the Baltimore teams.

VLC - This team was top half of AAA in the spring, and is working hard to recruit from Hammers and elsewhere. Potentially an elite team by next spring, but not certain.

Bottom line, there will be some movement this fall, and when the dust settles, NextLevel will remain the best in 8th grade, and DCE will probably pull even by 9th grade. Hope this helps.

This is a great summary. It’s just interesting how DCE is typically strong but the feeder BLC is not. I wonder if they’re able to recruit some of the top players from the clubs you described above.

[Anonymous]

This is a 2027 thread. 28s should start their own. But shows how biased responses can be. No dog in this fight, but Madlax can't claim their 2028s are better if they lost head-to-head three times in a row (sorry, fall ball scores are useless - best true athletes at every age group play football in the fall -- and no I didn't say 'most kids,' I said 'best athletes.'). Sorry Madlax, but 0-3 against a team in spring and summer = they are the better team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How many days a week does Cabell or a Mitchell post on DCURBAN?

I have wondered for years if those guys actually post themselves, and my guess is that they do not. There are enough families drinking the kool aid from both programs to post the talking points for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a 2027 thread. 28s should start their own. But shows how biased responses can be. No dog in this fight, but Madlax can't claim their 2028s are better if they lost head-to-head three times in a row (sorry, fall ball scores are useless - best true athletes at every age group play football in the fall -- and no I didn't say 'most kids,' I said 'best athletes.'). Sorry Madlax, but 0-3 against a team in spring and summer = they are the better team.

Nipr

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How many days a week does Cabell or a Mitchell post on DCURBAN?

I have wondered for years if those guys actually post themselves, and my guess is that they do not. There are enough families drinking the kool aid from both programs to post the talking points for them.

+1

[Anonymous]

I do believe that the 28 families are a little over the top.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The 2028 banter is great, but here is my two cents to the OP question about the 2027 landscape:

NextLevel - By far the best, would beat the other three by 5-10 goals or more. But the roster is too big, so the bottom half of the roster will be looking at new options for fall, plus probably a couple of starters. And, they always choke in big games, such as the Hawks.

MadLax - Used to be competitive with NextLevel and Hawks, but no longer. Defense is good but has too many players, and the offense has tanked since they went to parent coaching.

DC Express - This team picks up where BLC ends, and the 2027 BLC team was AAA this past spring, compared to the 2025 and 2026 teams that were elite. But DCE will be drawing from Team Maryland, other DC teams, and the Baltimore teams.

VLC - This team was top half of AAA in the spring, and is working hard to recruit from Hammers and elsewhere. Potentially an elite team by next spring, but not certain.

Bottom line, there will be some movement this fall, and when the dust settles, NextLevel will remain the best in 8th grade, and DCE will probably pull even by 9th grade. Hope this helps.

This is a great summary. It’s just interesting how DCE is typically strong but the feeder BLC is not. I wonder if they’re able to recruit some of the top players from the clubs you described above.

Not strictly accurate to say BLC is not competitive with NL and Madlax as a whole. For years 27 and 28, BLC teams are weaker because both squads lost several key players during the COVID restart in 2020. NL and Madlax were quicker to get back to the field and parents of kids in the 27 and 28 age groups bolted for organizational issues dealing with field time in 2020 on light of COVID. For 29 and down and 25 and up, the three organizations are pretty even and it just depends on the year who is better. So hard to say what will happen with DCE 27 and 28. Could be outlier weaker teams like NL has at 26 or maybe the make up the gap with player movement. Hard to tell because 27 and 28 are so different in this way from other years.