Boys 2028 mess - considerations and solutions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's steer this back to the original purpose of the thread.

US Lacrosse rankings are out and DCE is ranked 28, Next Level is 24, and MadLax Capital/Supreme National is ranked 42/43. All three teams have robust rosters, and B teams for players who want to play competitive lacrosse but don't make the top team.

All three programs have their pros and cons.

DCE played Madlax this summer and it was a competitive 6-3 game. Not sure if NL played either DCE or MadLax this summer.

It looks like VLC did not get a team off the ground.

Is the mess now somewhat solved?

Solved? Having no DMV teams in the top 5 top 10 or top 20 was unthinkable a few years ago. Club is not thriving. Talent in the DMV is way down due to the fact the clubs did not support rec leagues. This is the result. In the 2018-2023 years all the top kids played rec and the top did club but it was easy to do both.

What is interesting is that NL and DCE “A” teams did not change much or any at all. So I am curious if that is because of the lack of talent or coaching? Seems like that would help ML on getting new players that want to play on an “A” team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's steer this back to the original purpose of the thread.

US Lacrosse rankings are out and DCE is ranked 28, Next Level is 24, and MadLax Capital/Supreme National is ranked 42/43. All three teams have robust rosters, and B teams for players who want to play competitive lacrosse but don't make the top team.

All three programs have their pros and cons.

DCE played Madlax this summer and it was a competitive 6-3 game. Not sure if NL played either DCE or MadLax this summer.

It looks like VLC did not get a team off the ground.

Is the mess now somewhat solved?

Solved? Having no DMV teams in the top 5 top 10 or top 20 was unthinkable a few years ago. Club is not thriving. Talent in the DMV is way down due to the fact the clubs did not support rec leagues. This is the result. In the 2018-2023 years all the top kids played rec and the top did club but it was easy to do both.

What in the heck are you trying to say because if you look across all years, this isn't an issue. The 28s in the area isn't a very strong class. Or are you talking about 24s or 25s or just the 28s. Most other years have at least 1 if not multiple teams ranked in the top 10 and 20. Are we including national teams?

Or is your argument that somehow the 28s didn't play rec so they aren't good? But, a year ago they were all playing rec? And it all changed in this one year. Your argument needs some actual evidence. BTW, one of the reasons 28s didn't play rec is because it wasn't offered in the spring of their 4th grade year and then it was severely restricted in their 5th grade year because of COVID. That is a big development year. Club lax was playing in 2020 summer - not spring, so maybe that is an issue. This is an issue across many sports in areas that highly restricted sports during COVID - the talent is down in those areas because there as lack of ability to play.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's steer this back to the original purpose of the thread.

US Lacrosse rankings are out and DCE is ranked 28, Next Level is 24, and MadLax Capital/Supreme National is ranked 42/43. All three teams have robust rosters, and B teams for players who want to play competitive lacrosse but don't make the top team.

All three programs have their pros and cons.

DCE played Madlax this summer and it was a competitive 6-3 game. Not sure if NL played either DCE or MadLax this summer.

It looks like VLC did not get a team off the ground.

Is the mess now somewhat solved?

Solved? Having no DMV teams in the top 5 top 10 or top 20 was unthinkable a few years ago. Club is not thriving. Talent in the DMV is way down due to the fact the clubs did not support rec leagues. This is the result. In the 2018-2023 years all the top kids played rec and the top did club but it was easy to do both.

What in the heck are you trying to say because if you look across all years, this isn't an issue. The 28s in the area isn't a very strong class. Or are you talking about 24s or 25s or just the 28s. Most other years have at least 1 if not multiple teams ranked in the top 10 and 20. Are we including national teams?

Or is your argument that somehow the 28s didn't play rec so they aren't good? But, a year ago they were all playing rec? And it all changed in this one year. Your argument needs some actual evidence. BTW, one of the reasons 28s didn't play rec is because it wasn't offered in the spring of their 4th grade year and then it was severely restricted in their 5th grade year because of COVID. That is a big development year. Club lax was playing in 2020 summer - not spring, so maybe that is an issue. This is an issue across many sports in areas that highly restricted sports during COVID - the talent is down in those areas because there as lack of ability to play.

Look at the landscape of DMV lacrosse it was rising and this area was a real hotbed until it peaked in 2022-2023. In 2022 DC Express and Hawks along with T91 MD were top 5 teams. ML was also a top 10 team and in 2023 ML Dc Dogs and VLC and NL all had top ten teams. The Madlax 2024 team was good but split and ended outside of the top 10 NL had a decent team that year. I know that US club lax is not all that but look at the recruiting numbers. There are still top players but about half the number of top D1 recruits as during the peak years. 2025 was much weaker and we shall see with 2026 and 2027. Before anyone brings up COVID or the uncertain future of college sports, I am just talking about the DMV relative to other areas. COVID had an impact in NY, Baltimore, and NE as well. However, the decline of the sport here seems to be based on fewer kids playing rec and more jumping to club sooner and sooner.

[Anonymous]

You have to look beyond 2028 and consider other factors.

2027 Next Level and Madlax teams are both ranked in the top 20 nationally by US Club Lacrosse. So are Annapolis Hawks and Crabs.

Lax in general is also growing in popularity in other parts of the country. Today's top teams teams have to complete against much stronger southern, midwestern and western teams than they did 4-5+ years ago. And the proliferation of "national" teams all around the country has muddied the water as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have to look beyond 2028 and consider other factors.

2027 Next Level and Madlax teams are both ranked in the top 20 nationally by US Club Lacrosse. So are Annapolis Hawks and Crabs.

Lax in general is also growing in popularity in other parts of the country. Today's top teams teams have to complete against much stronger southern, midwestern and western teams than they did 4-5+ years ago. And the proliferation of "national" teams all around the country has muddied the water as well.

OK keep your head in the sand. Having top 20 and top 5 are different things. The 2020 DCE and ML, 2022 DCE and ML, 2023 NL, ML, DC Dogs, DCE all had double digit D1 recruits. Heck even before that BlackWolf and VLC had good recruiting classes I think VLC had good 23 and decent 24. The 24 class was a bit down from there are 25 was down. Looking beyond that, 2026 may be OK but nothing like 22 and 23 classes. 2027 is not as strong and 2028 as the title of this thread indicates is a mess. Hard to predict 2029-2032 but does not seem like this area is producing as much talent as previous years. They had national teams back then too in fact many DMV kids played on the national teams. There will still be some kids recruited from this area don't get me wrong but nothing like it was which is what they call a trend. VLC and Madlax are not on social media pleading for kids in the younger ages when they used to be hard teams to make. I do follow local lax and officiate games and I can tell you the talent is not what it was. These clubs did not chose to support REC and some tell kids not to play rec and you reap what you sow.

[Anonymous]

Hard to imagine given the nationally growing prominence of the sport that we will ever see a year like the 2022s again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have to look beyond 2028 and consider other factors.

2027 Next Level and Madlax teams are both ranked in the top 20 nationally by US Club Lacrosse. So are Annapolis Hawks and Crabs.

Lax in general is also growing in popularity in other parts of the country. Today's top teams teams have to complete against much stronger southern, midwestern and western teams than they did 4-5+ years ago. And the proliferation of "national" teams all around the country has muddied the water as well.

+1. Lacrosse is growing by leaps and bounds. I remember when drawing a team in a tournament from Florida or Georgia was pretty much an automatic win and a chance to get playing time for our bench players. Now those are real games.

[Anonymous]

There has been almost no growth in lacrosse over 20 years. Some states have grown while others have shrunk. The % of players from the NE has essentially gone unchanged. The fall of MLL led to the rise of the PLL. The article tries to spin growth but it's flat.

https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/the-geography-of-men-s-di-lacrosse-growth-in-georgia-colorado-michigan-and-more/56369

[Anonymous]

Also regardless of what the rest of the country is doing the sport is flat to fading in the DMV area and Rec lacrosse started to decline several years ago. The clubs will continue to feel this and will get less players and less high level recruits moving forward in the DMV

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also regardless of what the rest of the country is doing the sport is flat to fading in the DMV area and Rec lacrosse started to decline several years ago. The clubs will continue to feel this and will get less players and less high level recruits moving forward in the DMV

This I agree with. Not to stir the pot again, but this is directly related to the barriers to entry in starting and sustaining any kind of youth sports group: facility pricing, insurance, equipment, facility allocation, willingness to structure management towards the future. I have tried with MoCo and their policies, procedures, and attitudes are so burdensome to the point of impossible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also regardless of what the rest of the country is doing the sport is flat to fading in the DMV area and Rec lacrosse started to decline several years ago. The clubs will continue to feel this and will get less players and less high level recruits moving forward in the DMV

I also think that kids that are good athletes do not feel like they have a chance to play in college unless they go to a private school. Which is also making the public school lacrosse teams less competitive than years past. So those kids then go to play other sports for their local HS.

[Anonymous]

Travel club lax has taken over. It’s always been a rich kid sport but is getting worse every year. Only the affluent can afford the year-round club fees and private training (starting in 2nd grade). There are exceptions here and there, but many better athletes just never get a chance because they don’t have the same access to playing and practicing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There has been almost no growth in lacrosse over 20 years. Some states have grown while others have shrunk. The % of players from the NE has essentially gone unchanged. The fall of MLL led to the rise of the PLL. The article tries to spin growth but it's flat.

https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/the-geography-of-men-s-di-lacrosse-growth-in-georgia-colorado-michigan-and-more/56369

Tell me you don't know how statistics and demographics without telling me you don't know how statistics and demographics work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There has been almost no growth in lacrosse over 20 years. Some states have grown while others have shrunk. The % of players from the NE has essentially gone unchanged. The fall of MLL led to the rise of the PLL. The article tries to spin growth but it's flat.

https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/the-geography-of-men-s-di-lacrosse-growth-in-georgia-colorado-michigan-and-more/56369

Tell me you don't know how statistics and demographics without telling me you don't know how statistics and demographics work.

What are you seeing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There has been almost no growth in lacrosse over 20 years. Some states have grown while others have shrunk. The % of players from the NE has essentially gone unchanged. The fall of MLL led to the rise of the PLL. The article tries to spin growth but it's flat.

https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/the-geography-of-men-s-di-lacrosse-growth-in-georgia-colorado-michigan-and-more/56369

Tell me you don't know how statistics and demographics without telling me you don't know how statistics and demographics work.

Try again without the condescension and borrowed, now tired internet saying. What's your angle on it?