lax culture from an insider

[Anonymous]

Not true. It is terrible getting to VLC practice from Maryland. A majority of the practices are at Flint Hill and yes, they are held during the week in the summer as tournaments are on the weekends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not true. It is terrible getting to VLC practice from Maryland. A majority of the practices are at Flint Hill and yes, they are held during the week in the summer as tournaments are on the weekends.

My son played for VLC throughout HS, and it was a great experience. Most of the weekday practices were at 7 pm, so it was no problem getting out to practice. There are a lot of Landon kids who play for VLC now, so carpooling is not a problem for the MD kids.

There were some closer options that would have saved me at most 15-20 min in the car, but those clubs weren't as good. I know several families who live in Montgomery County who send their kids to practice with the Crabs in Baltimore or MD girls clubs like M&D and Skywalkers. Some even live in VA and play for those clubs.

I guess it's all about what you think is best for your kids. For us, picking the best club for our DS trumped clubs that were closer in distance.

[Anonymous]

What is the best school in the DC area if you want to play DI or Ivy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the best school in the DC area if you want to play DI or Ivy?

These days, any of them really.

Schools no longer depend much on high school coaches to steer players their way.

Good players get noticed. Good players who attend camps at schools they are interested in get noticed more.

Having size, physique and speed seem like prerequisites at may schools.

Don't rely on history. The landscape is changing. Looking at the rosters of top D1 teams will show you just how much wider the net is being cast than just a few years ago.

[Anonymous]

Thats very true, but it helps to be in an environment with other good teammates/coaches at school and to play against high level competition. For private schools, you should focus on IAC and WCAC schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the best school in the DC area if you want to play DI or Ivy?

DI - any IAC

IVY - Landon - strong connections with Princeton, Penn and Cornell

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the best school in the DC area if you want to play DI or Ivy?

These days, any of them really.

Schools no longer depend much on high school coaches to steer players their way.

Good players get noticed. Good players who attend camps at schools they are interested in get noticed more.

Having size, physique and speed seem like prerequisites at may schools.

Don't rely on history. The landscape is changing. Looking at the rosters of top D1 teams will show you just how much wider the net is being cast than just a few years ago.

This post is both correct and incorrect. It is used to be that starters/players from certain schools were destined to go D1 and/or Ivy. Those days are no more. More and more kids are playing lacrosse all over the country, particularly kids who are great athletes.

It is true that most recruiting happens outside of the spring HS season (fall and summer). That said, where you play lacrosse can still make a big difference. If a college coach views two prospects equally, he is more often than not going to pick the kid who plays for a program that has produced D1 talent. Coaches have to make evaluations that are in imperfect science, so they are trying to maximize the odds (and minimize the risk).

So if your son plays for a marginal public or private school, it may be much harder for him to be regarded highly enough, as opposed to the kid who plays for a top HS lax program. The club and performances at individual events are super important, but where you play HS ball can have a big effect.

To the OP's question, the best lax in this area is played in the IAC and the WCAC. Those two leagues produce the lion share of D1 recruits. After that, the VA public schools produce a lot of recruits. Montgomery County produces a lot less.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the best school in the DC area if you want to play DI or Ivy?

Clubs matter more than schools these days because recruiting happens so much earlier at top D1 schools, including Ivies. Elite clubs like Greene Turtle South 2016 already have 8 or 9 D1 commits, including 4 Ivy commits. That said, a top DC-area program is a good training ground for D1 play. Take your pick from Gonzaga, Prep, Landon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the best school in the DC area if you want to play DI or Ivy?

Clubs matter more than schools these days because recruiting happens so much earlier at top D1 schools, including Ivies. Elite clubs like Greene Turtle South 2016 already have 8 or 9 D1 commits, including 4 Ivy commits. That said, a top DC-area program is a good training ground for D1 play. Take your pick from Gonzaga, Prep, Landon.

Need to get your facts straight:

1. GT South 2016 is not a CLUB. It is one team that was put together and had a great summer last year. The parent club, Greene Turtle, almost folded and is barely hanging on. More relevantly, that club practices in Baltimore.

2. That team has 3 Ivy commits and 7 overall.

Taking this opportunity to brag about that one team isn't going to help the previous poster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son played VLC U-15 and will be trying out for the high school rising freshman team. Can he expect a leg up on non-VLC boys trying out for the team? Or is it a clean slate for all?

Every club (Crabs, VLC or whomever) is looking to field the best team. They are going to take the best, period. If two kids are viewed equally, you would think they would go with the kid already in the program.

The key is not to take anything for granted and give it your best shot.

VLC v. Madlax, which is better for college recruitment?

[Anonymous]

This is an interesting question in theory but not in practice. Too many factors among years, coaches and specific teams. However, if an athlete is really so skilled that they can choose between vlc and madlax, then the best option is to play for Baltimore crabs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son played VLC U-15 and will be trying out for the high school rising freshman team. Can he expect a leg up on non-VLC boys trying out for the team? Or is it a clean slate for all?

Every club (Crabs, VLC or whomever) is looking to field the best team. They are going to take the best, period. If two kids are viewed equally, you would think they would go with the kid already in the program.

The key is not to take anything for granted and give it your best shot.

VLC v. Madlax, which is better for college recruitment?

The best way to answer that question is to look at how many college commits each club has.

- VLC recently published that they have 25 college commitments, of which 22 are Division 1 commits and three are Division 3 commits.

- Blackwolf has 19 college commits, of which all are Division 1 commits

- Madlax has 13 college commitments between its 2015, 2016 and 2017 classes. Of those 13, nine are Division 1 commits and four are Division 3 commits.


Of the three, Madlax is the only one that charges to help its players with college recruiting (http://capital.madlax.com/page/show/762677-college-recruiting-consulting). They charge $300 to start, and $200 a month afterwards to help get your son recruited. The other two clubs don't charge to help with college recruiting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son played VLC U-15 and will be trying out for the high school rising freshman team. Can he expect a leg up on non-VLC boys trying out for the team? Or is it a clean slate for all?

Every club (Crabs, VLC or whomever) is looking to field the best team. They are going to take the best, period. If two kids are viewed equally, you would think they would go with the kid already in the program.

The key is not to take anything for granted and give it your best shot.

VLC v. Madlax, which is better for college recruitment?

The best way to answer that question is to look at how many college commits each club has.

- VLC recently published that they have 25 college commitments, of which 22 are Division 1 commits and three are Division 3 commits.

- Blackwolf has 19 college commits, of which all are Division 1 commits

- Madlax has 13 college commitments between its 2015, 2016 and 2017 classes. Of those 13, nine are Division 1 commits and four are Division 3 commits.


Of the three, Madlax is the only one that charges to help its players with college recruiting (http://capital.madlax.com/page/show/762677-college-recruiting-consulting). They charge $300 to start, and $200 a month afterwards to help get your son recruited. The other two clubs don't charge to help with college recruiting.

I agree with the poster that said there are too many variables between age groups and teams to answer that question. The number of college commits is not a good barometer, especially since the majority of these commits go to private school. It is far more likely that the private school coaches played a bigger role in getting this kids committed than the club coaches. In fact, VLC recently had several public school kids leave because they weren't happy with the program.

[Anonymous]

I agree with PP. If number of commits mattered, then everyone should be flocking to 3D. They have 81 college commits, more than madlax, vlc, and blackwolf combined.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with PP. If number of commits mattered, then everyone should be flocking to 3D. They have 81 college commits, more than madlax, vlc, and blackwolf combined.

That is pretty misleading. 3D owns clubs in several states. On their website, the 81 commits represents kids from 5 different clubs that span multiple states and Canada. So it's not an apples to apples comparison to the options for parents in this area.

The better way to look at it is the 3D option in this area. That is the club formerly known as Fuze. On the Fuze website, they list three total college commits, two of whom don't play for Fuze and had committed after they left Fuze. The one college commit they have is a D3.

Things may change as 3D is desperately trying to poach as many players as they can. But as of right now, 3D is far behind the other three options in this area.