Capital Orange Parents - If you could do it all over again

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Years ago like ‘14-‘18 Cardinal was sometimes beating Capital blue and better than Capital Orange.

I'd open that up through that '22 team (until they spun off in every direction). Top 5 in the the country and blah blah blah

The '23 team was promising until it splintered off into the metro black 23 team, YJ south and to the NEW pride has team.

Then Cardinal was sold and the club died.

[Anonymous]

Give Capital credit for leading the way and becoming the dominant high school travel team in the area. There will always be someone trying to compete for the top spot so who knows how long Capital will be the lead dog. Pride is trying, St. James/Stars is as well as they want to get into the high school business. Will be interesting to see in 5 years what the landscape looks like, I'm sure no no one thought Cardinal would be extinct 5 years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Give Capital credit for leading the way and becoming the dominant high school travel team in the area. There will always be someone trying to compete for the top spot so who knows how long Capital will be the lead dog. Pride is trying, St. James/Stars is as well as they want to get into the high school business. Will be interesting to see in 5 years what the landscape looks like, I'm sure no no one thought Cardinal would be extinct 5 years ago.

Agreed. One advantage St. James/Stars has is the indoor facility. Unless the others find something similar, gains can be made in the winter for this program.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:If you could do it all over again would you have chosen an A team at another club (MC Elite, Pride, VA Metro etc) over Capital Orange?

My DD is a recent Orange team player who is now in college.

We’d probably do it again just for the fun and experience but our family would go in knowing that DD would very likely not play D1or D3 in college. The colleges that the Orange team members end up at, if they want to play in college, are for the most part a joke. The recruiting director basically pays lip service to the Orange team players and parents and only gives them real attention once the Blue team is almost fully recruited. If your girl is smart and has top grades the recruiting director still steers your DD to crappy colleges and then gets all upset when you say no. My DD is now a starter on the club team at her Ivy and she is happy with that result and we are too. Much better than being one of 40 on a D1 team at a college that she otherwise would never attend. Recruiting has gotten so competitive that Capital does not get the Orange team recruited like they used to.

I think this is a good post. Your DD should pick schools first and if lacrosse is an option for her at those schools then great. It is troubling when you see kids pick a school for lacrosse when you know they would not go there w/o lacrosse.

I have friends who have DDs who had similar experiences with Capital Orange. They didn’t get much attention from the club and those who committed primarily chose lacrosse over school. Playing club at your school of choice is a much better option.

Every year is different for clubs, but the one consistent is Capital Blue. Prides only real high school A team was their 2023 class. They played the second hardest schedule of all clubs their last year and competed in the highest brackets against the best teams. Capital Orange will not play in the top brackets or against the best teams. Pride A is not nearly as good as it was but it is a better option over Capital Orange.

Good insight, thanks. Sounds like Pride Black might be the second best option behind Cap Blue.

Especially if the best non Capital Blue players coordinate better than the last few years and funnel to Pride Black.

On the other hand if they get together and stay at Capital I do believe the Capital resources will prove beneficial to a solid Orange team. It is all about the behind the scenes and convincing girls to stick together which is tough to do when girls are coming from so many places.

Capital does not use its resources for Orange until Blue is recruited. That will never change. Never. By the time an Orange player and her parents are confronted with that reality it is too late. The recruiting landscape has changed and grown so much more competitive in the last few years as the sport has spread across the country and the colleges that used to recruit Orange now have so many more club teams from which to recruit. Orange is fine if you and your DD don’t care where she goes to college as long as she plays D1 or if your DD doesn’t want to play in college. But please do not think that a “solid Orange team” makes a difference because it does not.

This entire stream is garbage. Capital Orange parent here. A few girls on Orange in our year went Ivy and others went D1 - UVA and Va Tech to name a few - and many others went to elite academic D3 schools. None of these outcomes would have occurred w/ out Capital. Sure most blue players commited earlier - because they were better players. Sounds like your daughter was smart. Great. But not talented enough at lacrosse to earn a spot from an elite academic D1 school. That’s life.

You are clueless as to the explosion of girls club lax both locally and nationally since your DD was on Capital Orange.

It is also worth noting for potential Capital parents that, with the exception of Langley (which will likely change with their new coach) and potentially Yorktown HS, the recent Orange players who have gone on to strong academic D3 schools attended private HSs (e.g. SSSAS and Stone Ridge) where their lax coaches were also heavily involved in recruiting for their players.

[Anonymous]

Capital Orange parent here. Beyond a doubt, we're happy with our experience at CLC. Our daughter is playing at a highly selective, D3 small liberal arts school for a coach and team that she loves. For those of you who want to sneer and say "Ha, it is only D3", I want to say simply that you are a moron. You have no idea how competitive and national the D1 recruiting landscape is to start, how ~50% of D1 recruits eventually quit, get injured and/or never earn even marginal playing time, and how good and positive the D3 lacrosse experience can be for a player. I couldn't give a fig what the Orange team's record was versus other clubs or what our team ranked at any point. All I know is that my daughter is thriving in her academics, preparing for graduate school, planning to study abroad for a semester, and enjoying playing her sport. The CLC directors, coaches, teammates and families helped her get to this point and I will always be grateful.

[Anonymous]

The reality is that the recruiting landscape is dramatically different now that it was even 5 years ago. 5 years ago, 80% of top D1 offers went to girls from MD, NY, PA, VA and CT.

Now it is lucky to be at 50%. Even though there are more schools with programs, there is much much more talent acrosse the country, especially in GA, CA, CO, Mass and Florida.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It tougher with parental egos.

This. There are a handful on each team who think they deserve better and won’t stop at any cost to get their DDs moved. Good luck with that.

I don't think they'll hang around until Summer tournaments or tryouts. I have an older CLC DD and the rumor is there will be several Orange 25 and 26 parents who push their DDs to leave for other "better" teams after American Select and varsity teams are announced this year. Sounds like some kids accepted and are hangin' on to use those coach ties. Really sad for girls who didn't make Orange and really wanted to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It tougher with parental egos.

This. There are a handful on each team who think they deserve better and won’t stop at any cost to get their DDs moved. Good luck with that.

I don't think they'll hang around until Summer tournaments or tryouts. I have an older CLC DD and the rumor is there will be several Orange 25 and 26 parents who push their DDs to leave for other "better" teams after American Select and varsity teams are announced this year. Sounds like some kids accepted and are hangin' on to use those coach ties. Really sad for girls who didn't make Orange and really wanted to.

Curious as to what would be better after reading these replys...go to M&D or Heros or Skywalkers? You are not making the A team there either. Go to Pride? Go to new Stars program? Just not sure what the alternative is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It tougher with parental egos.

This. There are a handful on each team who think they deserve better and won’t stop at any cost to get their DDs moved. Good luck with that.

I don't think they'll hang around until Summer tournaments or tryouts. I have an older CLC DD and the rumor is there will be several Orange 25 and 26 parents who push their DDs to leave for other "better" teams after American Select and varsity teams are announced this year. Sounds like some kids accepted and are hangin' on to use those coach ties. Really sad for girls who didn't make Orange and really wanted to.

Curious as to what would be better after reading these replys...go to M&D or Heros or Skywalkers? You are not making the A team there either. Go to Pride? Go to new Stars program? Just not sure what the alternative is.

Especially for the 25's. Unless you are a Charlotte North the top A teams rosters are locked. As the PP noted where would you go? To teams still accepting players which are probably no better if not worse than CLC O.

[Anonymous]

As previously discussed, Pride Black or Capital Orange would probably be the two best local options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It tougher with parental egos.

This. There are a handful on each team who think they deserve better and won’t stop at any cost to get their DDs moved. Good luck with that.

I don't think they'll hang around until Summer tournaments or tryouts. I have an older CLC DD and the rumor is there will be several Orange 25 and 26 parents who push their DDs to leave for other "better" teams after American Select and varsity teams are announced this year. Sounds like some kids accepted and are hangin' on to use those coach ties. Really sad for girls who didn't make Orange and really wanted to.

Curious as to what would be better after reading these replys...go to M&D or Heros or Skywalkers? You are not making the A team there either. Go to Pride? Go to new Stars program? Just not sure what the alternative is.

Confirmed. At least one cap orange staying to make AS and then hitting the gas to play elsewhere. Hope they get called out. Not fair for girls who would like to play for cap orange.

[Anonymous]

That’s crummy…

[Anonymous]

This chain is utterly clueless - entertaining, yes, but still clueless. You and your daughter are her main recruiter. And no, five years ago, it was not just mid-atlantic D1 recruiting pool. Pull up any top D1 roster and you'll see kids from all over. CLC is a good program, and some of the Pride years are good as well. Your daughter just has to be in the right tournaments but then you have to go beyond that. Do the homework. What type of school does she want? What does she want to major in? The PP There are some great programs and a ton of better schools. Its all about what type of experience they want - not level of lacrosse play. Once they graduate from high school the secret no parent will share is that the bulk of their career is OVER. Not a bad thing, but a fact. Upperclassmen will dominate her first two years of college play, and assuming uninjured and still interested, she might have the last two years of college or maybe 20-24 match in total. Stop thinking about this solely in terms of lacrosse, and start thinking experience and work-related. Healthier for you and your DD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This chain is utterly clueless - entertaining, yes, but still clueless. You and your daughter are her main recruiter. And no, five years ago, it was not just mid-atlantic D1 recruiting pool. Pull up any top D1 roster and you'll see kids from all over. CLC is a good program, and some of the Pride years are good as well. Your daughter just has to be in the right tournaments but then you have to go beyond that. Do the homework. What type of school does she want? What does she want to major in? The PP There are some great programs and a ton of better schools. Its all about what type of experience they want - not level of lacrosse play. Once they graduate from high school the secret no parent will share is that the bulk of their career is OVER. Not a bad thing, but a fact. Upperclassmen will dominate her first two years of college play, and assuming uninjured and still interested, she might have the last two years of college or maybe 20-24 match in total. Stop thinking about this solely in terms of lacrosse, and start thinking experience and work-related. Healthier for you and your DD.

+1, I don’t think casting a wide net is the best approach to lacrosse recruiting. Your net should be as wide as the schools you would want to attend for reasons outside of lacrosse. There may be a school or two that approaches your DD for lacrosse she never considered that offers the complete package of academics, size, location + lacrosse, but I think this will be the exception and not the rule if your DD has already identified schools that fit her ideal profile. Could your DD see herself at the school she chooses w/o lacrosse. This is the key question to ask. Settling for a school because of lacrosse generally does not turn out well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It tougher with parental egos.

This. There are a handful on each team who think they deserve better and won’t stop at any cost to get their DDs moved. Good luck with that.

I don't think they'll hang around until Summer tournaments or tryouts. I have an older CLC DD and the rumor is there will be several Orange 25 and 26 parents who push their DDs to leave for other "better" teams after American Select and varsity teams are announced this year. Sounds like some kids accepted and are hangin' on to use those coach ties. Really sad for girls who didn't make Orange and really wanted to.

Curious as to what would be better after reading these replys...go to M&D or Heros or Skywalkers? You are not making the A team there either. Go to Pride? Go to new Stars program? Just not sure what the alternative is.

Confirmed. At least one cap orange staying to make AS and then hitting the gas to play elsewhere. Hope they get called out. Not fair for girls who would like to play for cap orange.

Just one? I’ve heard at least two are leaving right before summer season (and after a variety of select teams are announced). Really crappy. Hopefully those slots will be filled with deserving girls who appreciate playing for O.