Girls Tryouts

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arguing over which program is just dumb. There are good teams in each program and on any given day they can win or lose. Have a daughter who played on arguably the best club team in the area in recent years who consistently beat M&D Black, TLC Red, Yellow Jackets, SkyWalkers, that being said they had games and tournaments that they lost to those teams as well. When they get to high school the coaches from the colleges don't care who wins or loses any of the games, they are not recruiting teams they are recruiting individuals. What is important is that they are taught the fundementals, play a team game, and are coachable. It is also important to be in the higher divisions at the best tournaments. Outside of that it does not matter what your win loss record is. After over a decade of travel lacrosse both boys and girls the worst thing I have ever seen is the parents on the sidelines. Unbelievable.

Once these girls graduate high school NOBODY cares about what their club teams records were, what they do care about is the relationships made and the fun that they had. Parents should try to focus on that, but by the looks of this thread it seems unlikely.

I feel like this should be posted on repeat on this forum! That said, a lot of the frustration stems from finding a program to do the things you outline - strong fundamentals, team play - and a group of dedicated girls that love it also because that does make it more fun when you can do more interesting stuff on the field together. It doesn’t seem like it should be hard to find; but it is!

I my experience the problem is always the parents.

Yep but for different reasons, most are unathletic, never played a sport in their lives, couldn't be competitive at ping pong and have the eternal entitled attitude. Glad there was some mythical unicorn that at 1 time beat the better programs. That is no longer occurring in the DMV clubs and they all have issues, most not even teaching the team game concept. Instead of growing and trying to put forth the DMV's best, the circus is falling further and further down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arguing over which program is just dumb. There are good teams in each program and on any given day they can win or lose. Have a daughter who played on arguably the best club team in the area in recent years who consistently beat M&D Black, TLC Red, Yellow Jackets, SkyWalkers, that being said they had games and tournaments that they lost to those teams as well. When they get to high school the coaches from the colleges don't care who wins or loses any of the games, they are not recruiting teams they are recruiting individuals. What is important is that they are taught the fundementals, play a team game, and are coachable. It is also important to be in the higher divisions at the best tournaments. Outside of that it does not matter what your win loss record is. After over a decade of travel lacrosse both boys and girls the worst thing I have ever seen is the parents on the sidelines. Unbelievable.

Once these girls graduate high school NOBODY cares about what their club teams records were, what they do care about is the relationships made and the fun that they had. Parents should try to focus on that, but by the looks of this thread it seems unlikely.

I feel like this should be posted on repeat on this forum! That said, a lot of the frustration stems from finding a program to do the things you outline - strong fundamentals, team play - and a group of dedicated girls that love it also because that does make it more fun when you can do more interesting stuff on the field together. It doesn’t seem like it should be hard to find; but it is!

I my experience the problem is always the parents.

Yep but for different reasons, most are unathletic, never played a sport in their lives, couldn't be competitive at ping pong and have the eternal entitled attitude. Glad there was some mythical unicorn that at 1 time beat the better programs. That is no longer occurring in the DMV clubs and they all have issues, most not even teaching the team game concept. Instead of growing and trying to put forth the DMV's best, the circus is falling further and further down.

It could also be these directors who only see $$$ and do not deliver a good product or even the product promised. But sure blame it on parents!

[Anonymous]

Does anyone know if these DMV programs (BLC, Stars, Pride, MCE, NL) allow payment in installments or is it all required at once?

[Anonymous]

Installments and workout payment plans as well

[Anonymous]

I think NL requires all at once and BLC allows for installments. Not sure about MCE and Pride?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know if these DMV programs (BLC, Stars, Pride, MCE, NL) allow payment in installments or is it all required at once?

Stars allows for installments and offers financial assistance.

[Anonymous]

How can parents be to blame? All the parents I know just want a decent coach and communication. Seems to me that these organizations are in it for the cash. Tryouts? Be honest you will never recommend rec when there is money to be made. Tryouts are for A teams and we will take everyone else's money for the B team. Matter of fact we will charge B team parents more to subsidize the A team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How can parents be to blame? All the parents I know just want a decent coach and communication. Seems to me that these organizations are in it for the cash. Tryouts? Be honest you will never recommend rec when there is money to be made. Tryouts are for A teams and we will take everyone else's money for the B team. Matter of fact we will charge B team parents more to subsidize the A team.

Definitely agree on the money grab/$$$. Very few good coaches these days and the communication is avg at best at most of the bigger clubs. The B teams shouldn't even exist or if anything just be there for practices and get better player development. Clubs see $$$ though and just appease the parents to say they play "club" for a name.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think NL requires all at once and BLC allows for installments. Not sure about MCE and Pride?

MCE does payment plans and offers financial assistance. They were very generous with us last year when my husband was out of work. I suspect most clubs are the same. Nobody asks for the full amount up front, do they???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How can parents be to blame? All the parents I know just want a decent coach and communication. Seems to me that these organizations are in it for the cash. Tryouts? Be honest you will never recommend rec when there is money to be made. Tryouts are for A teams and we will take everyone else's money for the B team. Matter of fact we will charge B team parents more to subsidize the A team.

Curious what you mean by "communication". I see that term a lot when parents talk about their clubs. Do you want a detailed email after practice with information on what they worked on? Game recaps? Individual player kudos? Most of the travel coaches we have had work full time jobs in addition to coaching. They communicate with players at practice and games. If a player wants feedback, etc they should reach out individually to the coach. At a rec level like Bethesda where there are parent coaches I get that it's more touchy feely but surely that's not what you want at the club level?! At that high level the communication should be between the coach and the player, not coach and parents. Besides game schedules and practice times what are you looking for? All I need to know is where my DD needs to be and when.

And what club is charging more for B teams than A teams??? FWIW, my daughter's friend tried out for one of the top travel clubs and was not offered a spot and recommended rec for a year so it does happen. She had previously played so was not a newbie to lax.

[Anonymous]

So what has happened to the Pride A team for ‘25s? How many stayed? Where are they getting new players from to replace the ones who left for Capital? Will there still be a ‘25 B team too?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How can parents be to blame? All the parents I know just want a decent coach and communication. Seems to me that these organizations are in it for the cash. Tryouts? Be honest you will never recommend rec when there is money to be made. Tryouts are for A teams and we will take everyone else's money for the B team. Matter of fact we will charge B team parents more to subsidize the A team.

Curious what you mean by "communication". I see that term a lot when parents talk about their clubs. Do you want a detailed email after practice with information on what they worked on? Game recaps? Individual player kudos? Most of the travel coaches we have had work full time jobs in addition to coaching. They communicate with players at practice and games. If a player wants feedback, etc they should reach out individually to the coach. At a rec level like Bethesda where there are parent coaches I get that it's more touchy feely but surely that's not what you want at the club level?! At that high level the communication should be between the coach and the player, not coach and parents. Besides game schedules and practice times what are you looking for? All I need to know is where my DD needs to be and when.

And what club is charging more for B teams than A teams??? FWIW, my daughter's friend tried out for one of the top travel clubs and was not offered a spot and recommended rec for a year so it does happen. She had previously played so was not a newbie to lax.

We have been in situations where the team did not have a coach. Meaning when we signed up we were told "X" would be coach. They bailed and we were left with a carousel of coaches. When the tournament site is updated the organization should be updating Team Snap. Look I understand that these are all volunteers but I believe that if leadership is strong they will have strong coaches and people who want to be a part of a strong program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How can parents be to blame? All the parents I know just want a decent coach and communication. Seems to me that these organizations are in it for the cash. Tryouts? Be honest you will never recommend rec when there is money to be made. Tryouts are for A teams and we will take everyone else's money for the B team. Matter of fact we will charge B team parents more to subsidize the A team.

Curious what you mean by "communication". I see that term a lot when parents talk about their clubs. Do you want a detailed email after practice with information on what they worked on? Game recaps? Individual player kudos? Most of the travel coaches we have had work full time jobs in addition to coaching. They communicate with players at practice and games. If a player wants feedback, etc they should reach out individually to the coach. At a rec level like Bethesda where there are parent coaches I get that it's more touchy feely but surely that's not what you want at the club level?! At that high level the communication should be between the coach and the player, not coach and parents. Besides game schedules and practice times what are you looking for? All I need to know is where my DD needs to be and when.

And what club is charging more for B teams than A teams??? FWIW, my daughter's friend tried out for one of the top travel clubs and was not offered a spot and recommended rec for a year so it does happen. She had previously played so was not a newbie to lax.

We have been in situations where the team did not have a coach. Meaning when we signed up we were told "X" would be coach. They bailed and we were left with a carousel of coaches. When the tournament site is updated the organization should be updating Team Snap. Look I understand that these are all volunteers but I believe that if leadership is strong they will have strong coaches and people who want to be a part of a strong program.

DD teammate left a club for precisely that reason - probably the same team as you judging by what you said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So what has happened to the Pride A team for ‘25s? How many stayed? Where are they getting new players from to replace the ones who left for Capital? Will there still be a ‘25 B team too?

Most went to clc, a few went to MD clubs and I am sure stars got a few. Won't know for sure how many stayed but educated guess is 40-50%. Black took a few from white and loudoun, but note those teams lost their best players too. sure some stars players joined black. Hard to see Black 2025 at the same level it has been. yes there is a nova white, but no loudoun 2025.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How can parents be to blame? All the parents I know just want a decent coach and communication. Seems to me that these organizations are in it for the cash. Tryouts? Be honest you will never recommend rec when there is money to be made. Tryouts are for A teams and we will take everyone else's money for the B team. Matter of fact we will charge B team parents more to subsidize the A team.

Curious what you mean by "communication". I see that term a lot when parents talk about their clubs. Do you want a detailed email after practice with information on what they worked on? Game recaps? Individual player kudos? Most of the travel coaches we have had work full time jobs in addition to coaching. They communicate with players at practice and games. If a player wants feedback, etc they should reach out individually to the coach. At a rec level like Bethesda where there are parent coaches I get that it's more touchy feely but surely that's not what you want at the club level?! At that high level the communication should be between the coach and the player, not coach and parents. Besides game schedules and practice times what are you looking for? All I need to know is where my DD needs to be and when.

And what club is charging more for B teams than A teams??? FWIW, my daughter's friend tried out for one of the top travel clubs and was not offered a spot and recommended rec for a year so it does happen. She had previously played so was not a newbie to lax.

We have been in situations where the team did not have a coach. Meaning when we signed up we were told "X" would be coach. They bailed and we were left with a carousel of coaches. When the tournament site is updated the organization should be updating Team Snap. Look I understand that these are all volunteers but I believe that if leadership is strong they will have strong coaches and people who want to be a part of a strong program.

DD teammate left a club for precisely that reason - probably the same team as you judging by what you said.

I am pretty sure PP is talking about MC Elite but given the drama on this board it sounds like it could have been any other club as well!