Boys 2028 mess - considerations and solutions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If VLC or anyone else wants more players, they need fields on both sides of the River and much closer to the city. A very large percentage of NL, ml, and blc/dc families live within a couple miles of the beltway. If true got their act together, they have the resources to pull it off. Otherwise, it’s just gotten too expensive for clubs to pull it off. Ml has almost completely moved out of Md and Landon due to $. NL has the model: hire the school coaches and get their fields.

Do the public high schools not rent out their fields? It seems like every team practices at private schools.

Here's the challenge. All 3rd party activities are subordinate to school activities. All grass fields shut down in November and don't re-open in March. Synthetic fields are anywhere from $100 to well over $200 if you aren't a county resident. Other sports, especially the soccer gangs, are all going after these fields too. Private school rates are around $290 per hour for the synthetic fields.

The running of a good club with good facilities, coaches and structure is no longer something a group of parents can do on their own. It's just too difficult and expensive. BLC, NL and ML are full time companies with full-time employees doing a pretty good job. DCE and VLC are part-timers with really poor direction and are currently barely hanging on. True gets ripped because of costs and that's fair because they can't get match what they provide with what they charge. VLC would need to really let go of their petty bs and really concentrate on finding a full-time staff. The teams suffer with the instability.

It’s really inexcusable that HoCo has all these fabulous publicly funded fields, while MoCo is relegated to scrapping together time when the private school fields are available. What do we pay these high taxes for?

Uh, sorry but would rather have MoCo's highly rated public schools than HoCo's easy access to fields after school.

You do realize HOCO public schools are just as good as MOCO, right?

The reason there are facilities in HOCO is the same reason there are big facilities in Loudlun County than the inner parts of FFX and Arlington. It is less developed.

Stop it. MoCo schools are far better. 6 of top 10 HS in entire state are in MoCo. HoCo has 1. Moco has 7 more in top 40 and HoCo has 2. That's 13 to 3. Land in MoCo is more valuable. There are plenty of fields for soccer in both. If a club lax team wanted to rent field space for lax they could find it in either county.

Correct on the schools, wrong on the fields. There is a severe lack of year round fields in moco bc the libs think synthetic fields kill people. The grass fields that exist and are playable due to lack of care and dog feces are few and far between and shut down in November thru february. Then there is the cost being higher than other areas. The impediments to entry in and around the beltway are really large. It is also showing in the regions performance against others. The dmv is behind other areas on the field in lacrosse and has been on the decline for a number of years. Covid masked it for awhile but it's hard to deny now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Getting back to the point of this thread. It seems that the state of the 28 class is:

1. The majors (ml NL & DCE) are overcrowded undercoached teams filled with unhappiness.

2. The minors (true tc & team va) are good for player development but not a way to get recruited (if that’s your thing)

3. The loss of the VLC 28 team means there is no mid-tier team for the “almost elite” (I love that phrase btw) to go to.

If I’m right about that why can’t a True or Black Wolf step up and fill the void at least for NOVA?

Because True can't find reliable and stable employees in the area given the high cost of living and doing business.
Black Wolf, TRW, VLC and all the other failed clubs like Cavs and Hammers operate too far away from the beltway due to the high cost of living and doing business.
Nova rec board needs to band together, get rid of their fiefdom attitudes and promote a travel level like BLC. They have access to fields and existing structure.

Totally agree that the NVYLL needs change (including single age divisions). But those changes won’t come in time (if ever) for the 28 29 or 30 class. What we need now is an alternative club for the 28s. I guess I’m forced to root for True

Personally I am rooting for VLC to announce a good coach to show they are serious about this age group. My son is on one of the three "good" teams and our family thinks it is a sh$t show, as do many others, and we are talking about players on the top half of the roster. I have heard the same from one of the other good teams too. I don't care that VLC royally screwed up their 2028 team a year or two ago, and I get that those families are never coming back. But if VLC took a mulligan and announced a marquee 2028 head coach, they would get a lot of good players pretty fast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Getting back to the point of this thread. It seems that the state of the 28 class is:

1. The majors (ml NL & DCE) are overcrowded undercoached teams filled with unhappiness.

2. The minors (true tc & team va) are good for player development but not a way to get recruited (if that’s your thing)

3. The loss of the VLC 28 team means there is no mid-tier team for the “almost elite” (I love that phrase btw) to go to.

If I’m right about that why can’t a True or Black Wolf step up and fill the void at least for NOVA?

Because True can't find reliable and stable employees in the area given the high cost of living and doing business.
Black Wolf, TRW, VLC and all the other failed clubs like Cavs and Hammers operate too far away from the beltway due to the high cost of living and doing business.
Nova rec board needs to band together, get rid of their fiefdom attitudes and promote a travel level like BLC. They have access to fields and existing structure.

Totally agree that the NVYLL needs change (including single age divisions). But those changes won’t come in time (if ever) for the 28 29 or 30 class. What we need now is an alternative club for the 28s. I guess I’m forced to root for True

Personally I am rooting for VLC to announce a good coach to show they are serious about this age group. My son is on one of the three "good" teams and our family thinks it is a sh$t show, as do many others, and we are talking about players on the top half of the roster. I have heard the same from one of the other good teams too. I don't care that VLC royally screwed up their 2028 team a year or two ago, and I get that those families are never coming back. But if VLC took a mulligan and announced a marquee 2028 head coach, they would get a lot of good players pretty fast.

Absolutely agree. If true or VLC steps up we will take a good look at jumping.

-Dad of starter on big three

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If VLC or anyone else wants more players, they need fields on both sides of the River and much closer to the city. A very large percentage of NL, ml, and blc/dc families live within a couple miles of the beltway. If true got their act together, they have the resources to pull it off. Otherwise, it’s just gotten too expensive for clubs to pull it off. Ml has almost completely moved out of Md and Landon due to $. NL has the model: hire the school coaches and get their fields.

Do the public high schools not rent out their fields? It seems like every team practices at private schools.

Here's the challenge. All 3rd party activities are subordinate to school activities. All grass fields shut down in November and don't re-open in March. Synthetic fields are anywhere from $100 to well over $200 if you aren't a county resident. Other sports, especially the soccer gangs, are all going after these fields too. Private school rates are around $290 per hour for the synthetic fields.

The running of a good club with good facilities, coaches and structure is no longer something a group of parents can do on their own. It's just too difficult and expensive. BLC, NL and ML are full time companies with full-time employees doing a pretty good job. DCE and VLC are part-timers with really poor direction and are currently barely hanging on. True gets ripped because of costs and that's fair because they can't get match what they provide with what they charge. VLC would need to really let go of their petty bs and really concentrate on finding a full-time staff. The teams suffer with the instability.

It’s really inexcusable that HoCo has all these fabulous publicly funded fields, while MoCo is relegated to scrapping together time when the private school fields are available. What do we pay these high taxes for?

Uh, sorry but would rather have MoCo's highly rated public schools than HoCo's easy access to fields after school.

You do realize HOCO public schools are just as good as MOCO, right?

The reason there are facilities in HOCO is the same reason there are big facilities in Loudlun County than the inner parts of FFX and Arlington. It is less developed.

Stop it. MoCo schools are far better. 6 of top 10 HS in entire state are in MoCo. HoCo has 1. Moco has 7 more in top 40 and HoCo has 2. That's 13 to 3. Land in MoCo is more valuable. There are plenty of fields for soccer in both. If a club lax team wanted to rent field space for lax they could find it in either county.

When you post X is in top 10 or whatever. You should put a link so we can see how said list is complied.

Also how many more people live in MOCO than HOCO

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Getting back to the point of this thread. It seems that the state of the 28 class is:

1. The majors (ml NL & DCE) are overcrowded undercoached teams filled with unhappiness.

2. The minors (true tc & team va) are good for player development but not a way to get recruited (if that’s your thing)

3. The loss of the VLC 28 team means there is no mid-tier team for the “almost elite” (I love that phrase btw) to go to.

If I’m right about that why can’t a True or Black Wolf step up and fill the void at least for NOVA?

Because True can't find reliable and stable employees in the area given the high cost of living and doing business.
Black Wolf, TRW, VLC and all the other failed clubs like Cavs and Hammers operate too far away from the beltway due to the high cost of living and doing business.
Nova rec board needs to band together, get rid of their fiefdom attitudes and promote a travel level like BLC. They have access to fields and existing structure.

Totally agree that the NVYLL needs change (including single age divisions). But those changes won’t come in time (if ever) for the 28 29 or 30 class. What we need now is an alternative club for the 28s. I guess I’m forced to root for True

Personally I am rooting for VLC to announce a good coach to show they are serious about this age group. My son is on one of the three "good" teams and our family thinks it is a sh$t show, as do many others, and we are talking about players on the top half of the roster. I have heard the same from one of the other good teams too. I don't care that VLC royally screwed up their 2028 team a year or two ago, and I get that those families are never coming back. But if VLC took a mulligan and announced a marquee 2028 head coach, they would get a lot of good players pretty fast.

Absolutely agree. If true or VLC steps up we will take a good look at jumping.

-Dad of starter on big three

I am also going to agree and hope that someone from VLC or True does something. But I also hope the ML, NL, and DCE are hearing that families are getting frustrated.

-Another Dad of Starter on big three

[Anonymous]

Why would starters leave though? I could understand bottom half.

[Anonymous]

VLC's biggest issue is their practice locations.

They try to appease their former Cavs / Loudoun county families by forcing their teams to have one of their weekly practices at VA Revolution, which has Leesburg as a address but might as well be in West Virginia.

It's hard to find enough good players players who are able to do once a week at Mason and once a week all the way out there.

They need to decide if their are a Loudoun County based program or not, because splitting between the two prevents them from excelling in either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:VLC's biggest issue is their practice locations.

They try to appease their former Cavs / Loudoun county families by forcing their teams to have one of their weekly practices at VA Revolution, which has Leesburg as a address but might as well be in West Virginia.

It's hard to find enough good players players who are able to do once a week at Mason and once a week all the way out there.

They need to decide if their are a Loudoun County based program or not, because splitting between the two prevents them from excelling in either.

That’s why they are a 2nd tier club. You can’t split the baby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Getting back to the point of this thread. It seems that the state of the 28 class is:

1. The majors (ml NL & DCE) are overcrowded undercoached teams filled with unhappiness.

2. The minors (true tc & team va) are good for player development but not a way to get recruited (if that’s your thing)

3. The loss of the VLC 28 team means there is no mid-tier team for the “almost elite” (I love that phrase btw) to go to.

If I’m right about that why can’t a True or Black Wolf step up and fill the void at least for NOVA?

Because True can't find reliable and stable employees in the area given the high cost of living and doing business.
Black Wolf, TRW, VLC and all the other failed clubs like Cavs and Hammers operate too far away from the beltway due to the high cost of living and doing business.
Nova rec board needs to band together, get rid of their fiefdom attitudes and promote a travel level like BLC. They have access to fields and existing structure.

Totally agree that the NVYLL needs change (including single age divisions). But those changes won’t come in time (if ever) for the 28 29 or 30 class. What we need now is an alternative club for the 28s. I guess I’m forced to root for True

Personally I am rooting for VLC to announce a good coach to show they are serious about this age group. My son is on one of the three "good" teams and our family thinks it is a sh$t show, as do many others, and we are talking about players on the top half of the roster. I have heard the same from one of the other good teams too. I don't care that VLC royally screwed up their 2028 team a year or two ago, and I get that those families are never coming back. But if VLC took a mulligan and announced a marquee 2028 head coach, they would get a lot of good players pretty fast.

Absolutely agree. If true or VLC steps up we will take a good look at jumping.

-Dad of starter on big three

Why would a starter leave to go to a lesser club?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Getting back to the point of this thread. It seems that the state of the 28 class is:

1. The majors (ml NL & DCE) are overcrowded undercoached teams filled with unhappiness.

2. The minors (true tc & team va) are good for player development but not a way to get recruited (if that’s your thing)

3. The loss of the VLC 28 team means there is no mid-tier team for the “almost elite” (I love that phrase btw) to go to.

If I’m right about that why can’t a True or Black Wolf step up and fill the void at least for NOVA?

Because True can't find reliable and stable employees in the area given the high cost of living and doing business.
Black Wolf, TRW, VLC and all the other failed clubs like Cavs and Hammers operate too far away from the beltway due to the high cost of living and doing business.
Nova rec board needs to band together, get rid of their fiefdom attitudes and promote a travel level like BLC. They have access to fields and existing structure.

Totally agree that the NVYLL needs change (including single age divisions). But those changes won’t come in time (if ever) for the 28 29 or 30 class. What we need now is an alternative club for the 28s. I guess I’m forced to root for True

Personally I am rooting for VLC to announce a good coach to show they are serious about this age group. My son is on one of the three "good" teams and our family thinks it is a sh$t show, as do many others, and we are talking about players on the top half of the roster. I have heard the same from one of the other good teams too. I don't care that VLC royally screwed up their 2028 team a year or two ago, and I get that those families are never coming back. But if VLC took a mulligan and announced a marquee 2028 head coach, they would get a lot of good players pretty fast.

Absolutely agree. If true or VLC steps up we will take a good look at jumping.

-Dad of starter on big three

Why would a starter leave to go to a lesser club?

Three reasons:

1. Coaching at the majors is clearly lacking as as evidenced by HOCO performance.

2. Even for kids who are starting - the large numbers of players make the team and sidelines angry and uncomfortable. I am a dad of a starter and it’s no fun to stand next to a dad who hasn’t seen his son play a minute of time. Remember this is a major investment of time for both player and parent alike and it’s no fun to make conversation with a family that is clearly getting screwed.

3. No reasonable assurance of recruiting help - with a cast of thousands how likely is it that CM DM or who ever is coaching DCE is going to use his best efforts to get my son recuited? And before you say coaches don’t have anything to do with recruiting let me ask you a question- what am I paying for?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Getting back to the point of this thread. It seems that the state of the 28 class is:

1. The majors (ml NL & DCE) are overcrowded undercoached teams filled with unhappiness.

2. The minors (true tc & team va) are good for player development but not a way to get recruited (if that’s your thing)

3. The loss of the VLC 28 team means there is no mid-tier team for the “almost elite” (I love that phrase btw) to go to.

If I’m right about that why can’t a True or Black Wolf step up and fill the void at least for NOVA?

Because True can't find reliable and stable employees in the area given the high cost of living and doing business.
Black Wolf, TRW, VLC and all the other failed clubs like Cavs and Hammers operate too far away from the beltway due to the high cost of living and doing business.
Nova rec board needs to band together, get rid of their fiefdom attitudes and promote a travel level like BLC. They have access to fields and existing structure.

Totally agree that the NVYLL needs change (including single age divisions). But those changes won’t come in time (if ever) for the 28 29 or 30 class. What we need now is an alternative club for the 28s. I guess I’m forced to root for True

Personally I am rooting for VLC to announce a good coach to show they are serious about this age group. My son is on one of the three "good" teams and our family thinks it is a sh$t show, as do many others, and we are talking about players on the top half of the roster. I have heard the same from one of the other good teams too. I don't care that VLC royally screwed up their 2028 team a year or two ago, and I get that those families are never coming back. But if VLC took a mulligan and announced a marquee 2028 head coach, they would get a lot of good players pretty fast.

Absolutely agree. If true or VLC steps up we will take a good look at jumping.

-Dad of starter on big three

Why would a starter leave to go to a lesser club?

Three reasons:

1. Coaching at the majors is clearly lacking as as evidenced by HOCO performance.

2. Even for kids who are starting - the large numbers of players make the team and sidelines angry and uncomfortable. I am a dad of a starter and it’s no fun to stand next to a dad who hasn’t seen his son play a minute of time. Remember this is a major investment of time for both player and parent alike and it’s no fun to make conversation with a family that is clearly getting screwed.

3. No reasonable assurance of recruiting help - with a cast of thousands how likely is it that CM DM or who ever is coaching DCE is going to use his best efforts to get my son recuited? And before you say coaches don’t have anything to do with recruiting let me ask you a question- what am I paying for?

Just eating the popcorn and hear for the comments as I have a kid currently playing in college. Here are some answers to your question 3

1. If your age group is still playing in the HOCO league you don't need to worry about recruiting yet. The rosters and skill levels will completely change between now and HS. While many of the same kids will get recruited how they did in HOCO will not matter one bit. Your son will be seen a club tournaments playing v teams from TX and CA where the teams were formed months before the event and some of those teams are capable of beating a "Elite" team.
2. Your son is the one who gets himself recruited not the club or the coach. It is the play on the field that counts. If the play is at a high D1 level and most important the grades are there, they will be calling.
3. What are you paying for? Access to the tournament. There are only a few events that matter. NHSLS (if a good HS), Crabfeast, NLF, Naptown ect. This year the 2026 brackets will have dozens of high level coaches on the sidelines with clip boards. They also have film. they want to see if your son can complete with players they are also looking to recruit and the competition is recruiting. I know you may ask why can't my son just attend a prospect day and train on his own. Every coach will ask you to send your summer schedule and if you are not on a team playing these events it is a red flag. Look at classes of 2024 and 2025 all the top players play in the NLF events.

As far as worrying about the dad next to you and his "money spent." For many lax dads the cost of travel is less than the monthly bar tab at the club. If it is too expensive for any family do not do it. If you are judging the coaching at the club by HOCO performance then you will be really surprised when WCS shows up with 50 kids and a college kid coach who they met in the parking lot. Especially when 3/4 of those kids get recruited. Not to mention those families sometimes fly to practices. Good luck and do not over think it.

[Anonymous]

“Because True can't find reliable and stable employees in the area given the high cost of living and doing business. “


What are you referring to? Clearly you have zero experience with the program. It’s not perfect but they have all paid coaches who have been with the teams for multiple seasons. You could argue they are stretched thin during spring bc most if not all coach at area high schools as well. I don’t think you’d be disappointed to move to the program at the 28 level however.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this true? Are we all suckers for paying for club?

Yep

Mom of Division 1 walk on.

National teams - not MadLax Nationals - are really where all of this is headed. The clubs are a scam. No other way to put it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this true? Are we all suckers for paying for club?

Yep

Mom of Division 1 walk on.

National teams - not MadLax Nationals - are really where all of this is headed. The clubs are a scam. No other way to put it.

The worst of the DC area clubs is DC Express. No recruiting support, and what little there is is skewed to Bullis and Prep. $5,000 per year so little Johnny can play lets pretend lax is just stupid but that's all DC Express does and their parent co-owner(s) are the worst. Full snow plow for their kids at the expense of the rest of the team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

“Because True can't find reliable and stable employees in the area given the high cost of living and doing business. “


What are you referring to? Clearly you have zero experience with the program. It’s not perfect but they have all paid coaches who have been with the teams for multiple seasons. You could argue they are stretched thin during spring bc most if not all coach at area high schools as well. I don’t think you’d be disappointed to move to the program at the 28 level however.

It's you who sounds like a newcomer. True tried and had teams in DC, Moco and VA near the beltway. They were trying to throw clinics and build something. Unfortunately, due to high turnover and lack of real organization, all of that went away. They are no longer in the immediate dmv area. Because they aren't in the immediate dmv area, there are fewer choices and kids are stuck on 25-30 pp rosters at DCE, NL and ML. Just go to their website and look at what they used to offer. They've never taken down the teams but have disabled the links.