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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Where did you read anyone said ask the clubs for advice, and why are you quoting me for it?

[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"

This isn't useful information for you as you don't seem to have a processor for it, but as you're misrepresenting what I said; HOW someone answers questions, their enthusiasm level for things, what can be read into answers -- can and often is much more useful than WHAT is said. Particularly when related to opinion, and not facts.

But you go on your merry ole' oblivious way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

This is well said and a very good point of view. The only thing I would add is just another attribute and that would be playing time. It's probably the most important attribute as we all know many players have moved teams because of lack of PT. You can check off all the other 4 attributes but if they are not playing, that can ruin the whole thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

This is well said and a very good point of view. The only thing I would add is just another attribute and that would be playing time. It's probably the most important attribute as we all know many players have moved teams because of lack of PT. You can check off all the other 4 attributes but if they are not playing, that can ruin the whole thing.

Fair point!

[Anonymous]

Just wondering if the OP knows about the clubs mentioned here or if all this is new to them? It may be helpful to find out their NGLL schedules this spring or find out if they are in any local summer tournaments so you can watch them play. It may give you a better idea of where your DD could fit in, you can see the coaches in action, and then you could prioritize those tryouts this summer. That way you are doing your own research in a sense, instead of relying on others opinions. Many posters make really good points on this thread, but you will be able to make a more informed and personal decision for your DD if you know how these teams play.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

1000%

Agreed, however to be honest about it, if you aren't playing club now, the chances of making an M&D or Heros is pretty remote. At this point, you should be looking for the best club where you daughter will actually get PT. BLC is solid, but their bench generally doesn't play much on their top teams. Stars has more training at youth level and tends to have more even playing time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

1000%

Agreed, however to be honest about it, if you aren't playing club now, the chances of making an M&D or Heros is pretty remote. At this point, you should be looking for the best club where you daughter will actually get PT. BLC is solid, but their bench generally doesn't play much on their top teams. Stars has more training at youth level and tends to have more even playing time.

Agree with this post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

1000%

Agreed, however to be honest about it, if you aren't playing club now, the chances of making an M&D or Heros is pretty remote. At this point, you should be looking for the best club where you daughter will actually get PT. BLC is solid, but their bench generally doesn't play much on their top teams. Stars has more training at youth level and tends to have more even playing time.

^^^ would definitely go to Stars over Pride

[Anonymous]

My advice is to switch to volleyball. Lacrosse in this area is a hot mess and just getting worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Clubs in nova have a hard time truly developing kids. They don’t do a lot of teaching. I would suggest playing club and then finding a high school or college playing to do some training with her.

This is so stupid. Go look at the last 2025 and 2026 Capital recruits and tell me that middle school programs like Pride and Stars don't develop players. There is someone in the recruiting thread who has painstakingly documented this (hat tip for your work). Sheesh.