Tell me about the area lacrosse leagues, please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Next Level?

That club is falling apart. Maybe part of it is having to worry about keeping that facility going, but they have lost a ton of coaches and kids the past 2 years.

VLC and Blackwolf have the best HS programs. Madlax has the deepest youth program, but it's not a very good experience unless you are on their A team.

If not Next Level, then what should we be looking at in MD/DC for my U-13 son?

[Anonymous]

What is SMS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is SMS?

http://www.smslacrosse.com/page/home.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is SMS?

http://www.smslacrosse.com/page/home.html

There website needs updating.

So it's all recruitment tournament focused? Are they a big name around here? Success rate?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Crabs are over rated in maryland.

In what way? Their mission is to groom top players so that they can play Division 1 lacrosse. 8 kids from their 2016 team have already committed to D1 schools. VLC merged with them to bring the Crabs' contacts and methods to the DC area, and 8 kids from the VLC 2015 team have already committed to D1 schools.

That's not overrated to me.

Crabs only success because the have so many hold backs kids.

[Anonymous]

Performance v SMS? Thoughts?

[Anonymous]

How about crabs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How about crabs?

Crabs younger teams suck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How about crabs?

Crabs younger teams suck.

Must be nice to have a snow day. Sled during the afternoon, have some hot chocolate, then hit Mom's Mac for some trolling after dinner.

[Anonymous]

BLC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Crabs only success because the have so many hold backs kids.

I've heard this mentioned in passing several times in the past year. Are you saying that the Crabs are letting kids who for instance age out of U13 (but are not quite good enough to make their U15 team) continue to play on the U13 team?

[Anonymous]

Any thoughts on Cavalier lax orange team middle school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Crabs only success because the have so many hold backs kids.

I've heard this mentioned in passing several times in the past year. Are you saying that the Crabs are letting kids who for instance age out of U13 (but are not quite good enough to make their U15 team) continue to play on the U13 team?

Encouraged is a better term. Crabs is well known to have holdbacks ... so the child who should be playing with the 2019 team is actually playing on the 2020 team. This of course means kids who are supposed to be playing 2020 have the choice of 1) sitting behind the 2019 who is a holdback who just took their spot or 2) moving down to 2021 or 3) leaving for another club. A mix of all the scenarios happens.

IMHO Crabs #1 priority is WINNING, and they will go to the rules edge to make it happen. Their 2020 team this year is fantastic, and should be since they have a large % of players who should all be playing 2019. Is it within the "rules"? Yes. But there is something to be said about character and integrity, things I would value more in raising my son vs. winning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Any thoughts on Cavalier lax orange team middle school?

Cavalier runs a good program. The 2020 team that won a bunch of tournaments last summer is no longer; many of the key players left (VLC, Madlax and 3D specifically). Part of the reason was the coaching, another was the quality of tournaments they entered and overall competition.

To their credit, Cavs took this to heart after the exodus and has begun to pivot from just a local club team to more focus on college recruitment. They're Orange team now attends better tournaments with AA type talent, and they joined up in the HoCo league instead of playing Freedom (which honestly, was a terrible league with no competition).

If your son has aspirations of playing in college, and has the talent to make VLC or Madlax I'd say go that route. VLC tryouts are once a year, although there are one off exceptions and they do take kids piecemeal. Madlax holds tryouts year round, and are doing so now for their Spring/Summer team. Thinking of the future, VLC and Madlax high school teams and players get more exposure as well (many D1 recruits on both sidelines). Cavs also has some, but in lesser numbers.

I also think the coaching at the other clubs is superior, especially in terms of developing lax IQ and preparing middle school kids for high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any thoughts on Cavalier lax orange team middle school?

Cavalier runs a good program. The 2020 team that won a bunch of tournaments last summer is no longer; many of the key players left (VLC, Madlax and 3D specifically). Part of the reason was the coaching, another was the quality of tournaments they entered and overall competition.

To their credit, Cavs took this to heart after the exodus and has begun to pivot from just a local club team to more focus on college recruitment. They're Orange team now attends better tournaments with AA type talent, and they joined up in the HoCo league instead of playing Freedom (which honestly, was a terrible league with no competition).

If your son has aspirations of playing in college, and has the talent to make VLC or Madlax I'd say go that route. VLC tryouts are once a year, although there are one off exceptions and they do take kids piecemeal. Madlax holds tryouts year round, and are doing so now for their Spring/Summer team. Thinking of the future, VLC and Madlax high school teams and players get more exposure as well (many D1 recruits on both sidelines). Cavs also has some, but in lesser numbers.

I also think the coaching at the other clubs is superior, especially in terms of developing lax IQ and preparing middle school kids for high school.

Thanks that is the answer I was looking for. The next question would be wait for the madlax tryout and pass up a spot on the Cavs?