lax culture from an insider

[Anonymous]

Lacrosse insiders, please tell me about the Virginia Lacrosse Club Blue Crabs. I have heard (or at least my son has heard) of the Blue Crabs in MD. My son has friends who play for VLC. Is this just a new name for VLC? My son plays for another area lacrosse club but wants to try out for the Blue Crabs in VA, thinking it is more competitive than his current team, which is excellent, but does seem less competitive if wins/losses at the tournaments are any indication.

[Anonymous]

VLC was "acquired" (I put in quotations because I'm not sure what the terms were) by the Baltimore Crabs over the summer. This means that they are now technically one organization, which gives VLC kids access to various Baltimore Crabs events (including their tournaments), recruiting events, etc. -- not to mention that it takes the administrative burden off of the VLC founder. Our experience with VLC has been positive -- very good coaches (in all cases guys we are happy to have kids look up to), good recruiting access (4 boys on 2015 team have already committed to DI teams if this is important to you), good communication. No one school dominates the rosters at all so the kids are from lots of different schools, both public and private. Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:VLC was "acquired" (I put in quotations because I'm not sure what the terms were) by the Baltimore Crabs over the summer. This means that they are now technically one organization, which gives VLC kids access to various Baltimore Crabs events (including their tournaments), recruiting events, etc. -- not to mention that it takes the administrative burden off of the VLC founder. Our experience with VLC has been positive -- very good coaches (in all cases guys we are happy to have kids look up to), good recruiting access (4 boys on 2015 team have already committed to DI teams if this is important to you), good communication. No one school dominates the rosters at all so the kids are from lots of different schools, both public and private. Good luck.

Is Madlax the other game in town? Or at least in the VA suburbs? Does any one school dominate within their ranks?

[Anonymous]

No one school dominates Madlax's program. Madlax is the biggest program in terms of enrollment - some grades have three teams. But like most clubs, the experience is very marginal if you are not on the Orange or "A" team. Madlax is also very much a for-profit enterprise. Unlike a non-profit, the money does not get cycled into better coaching, etc.

The experience also depends on your kid's age. At some levels, one club is has the best team. At other levels/grades, another club is better. You have to ask around.

As someone who's kid has played at the A level for years for both Madlax and VLC, I can tell you that VLC's interests are aligned with the parents. We'll see how the acquisition by the Crabs goes, but so far, so good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one school dominates Madlax's program. Madlax is the biggest program in terms of enrollment - some grades have three teams. But like most clubs, the experience is very marginal if you are not on the Orange or "A" team. Madlax is also very much a for-profit enterprise. Unlike a non-profit, the money does not get cycled into better coaching, etc.

The experience also depends on your kid's age. At some levels, one club is has the best team. At other levels/grades, another club is better. You have to ask around.

As someone who's kid has played at the A level for years for both Madlax and VLC, I can tell you that VLC's interests are aligned with the parents. We'll see how the acquisition by the Crabs goes, but so far, so good.

I heard that the VLC/Crabs are having supplementary tryouts this month. Did they not get enough players, or enough talented players,who tried out last fall?

[Anonymous]

Hugeley had big problems before the murder. Serious alcoholic and rage issues. I wonder if his family is sad that they bailed him out/covered it up when there might have been hope for a different outcome. No murder etc.

[Anonymous]

Not sure the family noticed. Landon loved him and he was a great lax player. Hindsight is just that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one school dominates Madlax's program. Madlax is the biggest program in terms of enrollment - some grades have three teams. But like most clubs, the experience is very marginal if you are not on the Orange or "A" team. Madlax is also very much a for-profit enterprise. Unlike a non-profit, the money does not get cycled into better coaching, etc.

The experience also depends on your kid's age. At some levels, one club is has the best team. At other levels/grades, another club is better. You have to ask around.

As someone who's kid has played at the A level for years for both Madlax and VLC, I can tell you that VLC's interests are aligned with the parents. We'll see how the acquisition by the Crabs goes, but so far, so good.

I heard that the VLC/Crabs are having supplementary tryouts this month. Did they not get enough players, or enough talented players,who tried out last fall?

Also, do you know where they practice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one school dominates Madlax's program. Madlax is the biggest program in terms of enrollment - some grades have three teams. But like most clubs, the experience is very marginal if you are not on the Orange or "A" team. Madlax is also very much a for-profit enterprise. Unlike a non-profit, the money does not get cycled into better coaching, etc.

The experience also depends on your kid's age. At some levels, one club is has the best team. At other levels/grades, another club is better. You have to ask around.

As someone who's kid has played at the A level for years for both Madlax and VLC, I can tell you that VLC's interests are aligned with the parents. We'll see how the acquisition by the Crabs goes, but so far, so good.

I heard that the VLC/Crabs are having supplementary tryouts this month. Did they not get enough players, or enough talented players,who tried out last fall?

The high school teams are all excellent, but the fall tryouts (which continue through next fall) were in flux because of the Crabs acquisition. Unlike Madlax, they are just fielding one team per grade, so they are trying to maximize the talent for the summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one school dominates Madlax's program. Madlax is the biggest program in terms of enrollment - some grades have three teams. But like most clubs, the experience is very marginal if you are not on the Orange or "A" team. Madlax is also very much a for-profit enterprise. Unlike a non-profit, the money does not get cycled into better coaching, etc.

The experience also depends on your kid's age. At some levels, one club is has the best team. At other levels/grades, another club is better. You have to ask around.

As someone who's kid has played at the A level for years for both Madlax and VLC, I can tell you that VLC's interests are aligned with the parents. We'll see how the acquisition by the Crabs goes, but so far, so good.

I heard that the VLC/Crabs are having supplementary tryouts this month. Did they not get enough players, or enough talented players,who tried out last fall?

Also, do you know where they practice.

It depends. They are practicing primarily at Flint Hill, but they have practiced in the past at Madeira, St. Stephen's and other locations.

[Anonymous]

Questions for parents with lax players? One, does your child only play lax and is that the norm or do they play other sports ie: soccer, basketball, on the school teams?

Secondly, do the Ivy Leagues recruit players from this area for lax? How good do you have to be to play lax at the Ivies?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Questions for parents with lax players? One, does your child only play lax and is that the norm or do they play other sports ie: soccer, basketball, on the school teams?

Secondly, do the Ivy Leagues recruit players from this area for lax? How good do you have to be to play lax at the Ivies?

1) You can play other sports till around 8th grade. You may make it or not because the other teams have layers who are dedicated to those sports. If you want to get recruited, you need to be on an outside club team and play in the summer at recruiting tournaments. This starts as early as the summer after 7th grade with the most important summers,the summer after 9th and 10th. The HS will not get you recruited. It is the club team that makes the difference.

2) Ivy leagues do recruit. You have to be good and also have decent grades and SAT scores. It is very competitive. There ae many good lacrosse players all over the US as you can see from the attached list of 2014 and 2013 commitments.

http://forums.insidelacrosse.com/showthread.php?226045-2014-Boys-Verbal-Commitments
http://forums.insidelacrosse.com/showthread.php?205996-2013-Boys-Verbal-Commitments

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Questions for parents with lax players? One, does your child only play lax and is that the norm or do they play other sports ie: soccer, basketball, on the school teams?

Secondly, do the Ivy Leagues recruit players from this area for lax? How good do you have to be to play lax at the Ivies?

1) You can play other sports till around 8th grade. You may make it or not because the other teams have layers who are dedicated to those sports. If you want to get recruited, you need to be on an outside club team and play in the summer at recruiting tournaments. This starts as early as the summer after 7th grade with the most important summers,the summer after 9th and 10th. The HS will not get you recruited. It is the club team that makes the difference.

2) Ivy leagues do recruit. You have to be good and also have decent grades and SAT scores. It is very competitive. There ae many good lacrosse players all over the US as you can see from the attached list of 2014 and 2013 commitments.

http://forums.insidelacrosse.com/showthread.php?226045-2014-Boys-Verbal-Commitments
http://forums.insidelacrosse.com/showthread.php?205996-2013-Boys-Verbal-Commitments

I agree with 99% of the quoted post. The reality is that the top players in top local HS programs do all play club. Here's my 1% differing view -- the views of well-respected coaches in this area, such as the coaches at Prep, Landon, Gonzaga, Boys' Latin (Baltimore), Gilman (Baltimore) do still matter as well and they can help get an athlete on the radar (if, for example, there was an injury during the summer that precluded club play; they can also help get players invitation to the selective summer camps/recruiting events). However, the center of gravity for recruiting is, no question, absolutely extremely weighted towards club play and recruiting camps, as the prior poster states.

To see who plays Ivy League lacrosse, another useful thing is to go to a specific Ivy's roster. You will see some DC-based players, but also players from the other traditional lacrosse hotbeds (Baltimore, Long Island, Syracuse area, NE Boarding Schools) as well as from areas that didn't have lacrosse a generation or two ago (e.g., California, Tennessee, Minnesota, Texas, Florida). From the IAC (the conference in which Landon, St. Albans, Prep, Bullis, St. Stephens St. Agnes, and Episcopal play), I would estimate anywhere from 6-10 players from the league, total, go Ivy each year; it is a combination of the best players who also have strong academic records.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Questions for parents with lax players? One, does your child only play lax and is that the norm or do they play other sports ie: soccer, basketball, on the school teams?

Secondly, do the Ivy Leagues recruit players from this area for lax? How good do you have to be to play lax at the Ivies?

1) You can play other sports till around 8th grade. You may make it or not because the other teams have layers who are dedicated to those sports. If you want to get recruited, you need to be on an outside club team and play in the summer at recruiting tournaments. This starts as early as the summer after 7th grade with the most important summers,the summer after 9th and 10th. The HS will not get you recruited. It is the club team that makes the difference.

2) Ivy leagues do recruit. You have to be good and also have decent grades and SAT scores. It is very competitive. There ae many good lacrosse players all over the US as you can see from the attached list of 2014 and 2013 commitments.

http://forums.insidelacrosse.com/showthread.php?226045-2014-Boys-Verbal-Commitments
http://forums.insidelacrosse.com/showthread.php?205996-2013-Boys-Verbal-Commitments

I agree with 99% of the quoted post. The reality is that the top players in top local HS programs do all play club. Here's my 1% differing view -- the views of well-respected coaches in this area, such as the coaches at Prep, Landon, Gonzaga, Boys' Latin (Baltimore), Gilman (Baltimore) do still matter as well and they can help get an athlete on the radar (if, for example, there was an injury during the summer that precluded club play; they can also help get players invitation to the selective summer camps/recruiting events). However, the center of gravity for recruiting is, no question, absolutely extremely weighted towards club play and recruiting camps, as the prior poster states.

To see who plays Ivy League lacrosse, another useful thing is to go to a specific Ivy's roster. You will see some DC-based players, but also players from the other traditional lacrosse hotbeds (Baltimore, Long Island, Syracuse area, NE Boarding Schools) as well as from areas that didn't have lacrosse a generation or two ago (e.g., California, Tennessee, Minnesota, Texas, Florida). From the IAC (the conference in which Landon, St. Albans, Prep, Bullis, St. Stephens St. Agnes, and Episcopal play), I would estimate anywhere from 6-10 players from the league, total, go Ivy each year; it is a combination of the best players who also have strong academic records.

I was the PP and I agree with your 1% addition.

[Anonymous]

Thanks PPs. Nice to hear such responsive and knowledgeable responses.

This is what I still don't understand - are the recruitment tournaments for the post-U15 players by team (i.e., Madlax or HS like Landon), or does your son get invited to a tournament somehow, and then play with other invited boys?