Girls Clubs in Bethesda Area

[Anonymous]

I am confused by all things and everything Lacrosse, despite my daughter being involved. We are in Bethesda area. All available clubs seem to have travel teams. Are the "A" teams for all of these clubs considered equal (or B teams for that matter)? Or are there hierarchy among clubs? (Not looking to judge, but rather truly understand if some clubs are considered more advance than others.)

She's involved in one but has some interest in another due a friend joining it. While it's her choice, I want to understand if switching would impact level of play/coaching, etc. either up or down.

[Anonymous]

You ask great questions. I don't have great answers but no one on this board does. Lots of "silly" ideas out there and blanket statements that come from biased, often ill-informed people. As such, this is my opinion and informed by having coached in the area on boys side and having daughter in the HS process now. Without knowing what year your daughter is it's tougher, but here goes.

The coaching is the place to start. Every club is different according to the year and there are wide variants from staff to staff. if you have good ones, do everything in your power to keep kid on team and keep coaches. One crappy relationship can mess a kid's love of the game up. a few seasons with good coaching can turn a decent player into a potential college player. Most if not all programs have an A and B team. Realize that A teams get more/better resources than B, so the coach for B is more important. Read "B" as developmental and "A" as more advanced - often MUCH more advanced. B can be great for a kid who needs to build confidence or mature physically. Amazing things happen over the course of a year!

In general, the older the player is the more club "matters". Youth club reputation matters some in relation to HS club, but far less than how fast, strong, big, skilled kid is. Bottom line the stronger athlete the kid is less team matters. most youth travel teams have an affiliation with HS clubs, so get a sense of that. Familiarity matters to people and programs. People want to view it as a greedy conspiracy but it's more human nature. Again, that matters more to average athletes, less to stronger.

If recruiting is your goal, look at program and where players go, but there are ALWAYS individuals who go D1/hiD3 from decidedly average programs. They are athletes (see a theme here?). The stronger programs go to better tournaments and play in front of more coaches, but because of NCAA rules they really focus on 10th/11th grade summer nowadays.

For my money, a happier kid is a kid who wants to put in time and effort to get better. If she's views it as more social, then stay with the friend group and have her enjoy it. If she is driven to get good and the friends are holding back because they are less serious, then it's tougher - so good luck. If aligned on expectations, then awesome!

Alrighty, clubs...Everyone wants to "rank" clubs - on what metrics? how do you rank apple juice to orange juice? So, having said that here is my decidedly less than perfect opinion on things:
Youth - too many options to really comment on all and lord knows I don't want to know all of them anyway. Everything depends on coaching. MC Elite coaching varies wildly from year to year. Our personal experience was less than optimal but other friends had great experience. Their HS teams are not the top of the competition scale but individuals have different results. Bethesda is good for developing player, most have parent coaches or at least more parent coaching exposure, most teams are less competitive than others the older they get. Our experience was great but no illusions that parent coaching can be a nightmare. Madlax - I mean why? Stars was considered best for a long time, but St. James is far away from Bethesda and the whole crossing the river thing is traumatizing for some. Pride - McClean so some of issues with Stars. Program has good reputation on development side on youth level. The whole M&D, Green Turtle, Skywalkers thing is beyond my geographic patience but there are those that swear it's the end all be all - whatever. Assume that VA Metro, 3d are all a bridge too far (...sorry about the awful pun)

HS - First off, this is where parents seem to lose their minds. Every single one of these programs have questionable parent dynamics. Seems to come with the territory. MC Elite: not top tier but individual results vary. seems to have coaching inconsistency. less advanced. Pride: young program so next couple of years will be interesting. Some radical divisions on leadership, but coaching seems a positive for a very young HS program. advancing but relatively new. Capital: Considered most "advanced" in DMV, but will competition for players change that? Coaching seems to be a plus for them. not formally affiliated with Stars but leans that way. Madlax - I mean why? A vocal minority will say that one club or another is best and trash everyone else - some will argue that VA Metro is far and away the greatest program on the planet or that if you want real HS club lax you have to go to Baltimore. I don't believe either, so this is MY opinion, and I offer it because I wish someone shared this with me whether I started.(...and I had 45 minutes to kill)
Plus, there are more and more programs popping up every year, so good luck.

Remember, enjoy this time with your kid because it ain't coming back.

[Anonymous]

There is also Rebels and Hero's with Hero's being one of the top clubs in the nation if you are lucky to be on the Green team. However, they only hold tryouts for MS teams with HS being by request/appointment only. They are also Howard County so it's a bit further. But it is not uncommon for girls in the Montgomery County area to head out that way, especially some of the top girls at the eastern side of the county. Others may head to go and do the STARS/Capital route.

Our MS DD is now playing for Rebels. We have have had a good experience and DD loves her coaches. I know they have had some issues in recent years but we have had a really good experience thus far. It seems as though they are rebuilding. We have weekly communication with our coach and get practice plans plus the girls have done some Zoom practices where they watch film, set goals, etc. DD has also enjoined their guest speaker series.

Previously we were at MC Elite and it was miserable. Sprints after losing games, sprints after being 5min late to practice because they changed the location last minute so we had to turn around. There was a carousel of coaches, and that is even if they even showed up. Some of her friends left MC for Bethesda (Club) and don't seem to like the coaches as much but still prefer it to the MC Elite experience. Their 2027 Blue team is top notch but seems that is about it from conversations I have had with other parents.

[Anonymous]

Thanks to both of the people who replied.

We are not at the level in terms of skill or interest for one of the far-away clubs. The two clubs in question are MC Elite and Next Level. I don't want to say which my DD is in and which she's considering moving to but welcome feedback on the two, including any perceived difference.

Also, regardless of club, it sounds like so much depends on individual coaches. My DD is good and wants to develop, but has trepidation about being the worst on a good team vs. best on a bad team (not unusual, I know). Unless something really clicks, this is not a girl who will be playing in college. She does want to play on her (public) HS team if possible, though, which we are under the impression it may be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks to both of the people who replied.

We are not at the level in terms of skill or interest for one of the far-away clubs. The two clubs in question are MC Elite and Next Level. I don't want to say which my DD is in and which she's considering moving to but welcome feedback on the two, including any perceived difference.

Also, regardless of club, it sounds like so much depends on individual coaches. My DD is good and wants to develop, but has trepidation about being the worst on a good team vs. best on a bad team (not unusual, I know). Unless something really clicks, this is not a girl who will be playing in college. She does want to play on her (public) HS team if possible, though, which we are under the impression it may be.

MC Elite is better in terms of skill/talent than Next Level at all age groups. Next Level is okay at the really little ages, but then the majority leave for bigger clubs after a year or 2. Their 27s seem to be a promising squad but haven't had the best results recently (which is not at all saying ignore past results especially in the current climate).

One positive to Next Level is the consistent coaching. MC Elite, from my experience, is spotty unless you were on 22 Midnight or 26 Carolina. Those 2 teams have had consistent coaches. The rest of the teams, not so much. This leads to a revolving door of players. Next Level has okay coaches but they do not play in good tournaments and the coaching ability isn't that great. They are a strong boys club that tacked on a girls side, like MadLax did.

For skill development you need consistency with coaches - ones that will actually show up and spend time developing a practice for the players. I recommend trying out for MC Elite, Next Level, Bethesda, and Rebels and seeing the coaches live and how exactly they work and the overall environment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks to both of the people who replied.

We are not at the level in terms of skill or interest for one of the far-away clubs. The two clubs in question are MC Elite and Next Level. I don't want to say which my DD is in and which she's considering moving to but welcome feedback on the two, including any perceived difference.

Also, regardless of club, it sounds like so much depends on individual coaches. My DD is good and wants to develop, but has trepidation about being the worst on a good team vs. best on a bad team (not unusual, I know). Unless something really clicks, this is not a girl who will be playing in college. She does want to play on her (public) HS team if possible, though, which we are under the impression it may be.

MC Elite is better in terms of skill/talent than Next Level at all age groups. Next Level is okay at the really little ages, but then the majority leave for bigger clubs after a year or 2. Their 27s seem to be a promising squad but haven't had the best results recently (which is not at all saying ignore past results especially in the current climate).

One positive to Next Level is the consistent coaching. MC Elite, from my experience, is spotty unless you were on 22 Midnight or 26 Carolina. Those 2 teams have had consistent coaches. The rest of the teams, not so much. This leads to a revolving door of players. Next Level has okay coaches but they do not play in good tournaments and the coaching ability isn't that great. They are a strong boys club that tacked on a girls side, like MadLax did.

For skill development you need consistency with coaches - ones that will actually show up and spend time developing a practice for the players. I recommend trying out for MC Elite, Next Level, Bethesda, and Rebels and seeing the coaches live and how exactly they work and the overall environment.

This is a pretty good analysis and good recommendation. I would also just monitor how your kids grad year team fares at each club. Due to year to year variability across all of the clubs you never know. It will give you a good idea of which team you might want to try out for. It is very rare for a grad year team at one club to dramatically improve year to year. They might get marginally better or marginally worse, but no team goes from poor to excellent for season to season.

[Anonymous]

From what I hear Next Level has some great coaches and the kids seem very happy. We left MC Elite but went to Bethesda. I think it depends on the year of your daughter as well. Some years have great coaches while others do not. If she leaves will she be on the team with her friend or will she be on a B team? Make sure you get the coach you want before leaving. As PP said coaching is absolutely the most important thing. I know Bethesda is not one of your options but we have been happy there and they are building a great program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You ask great questions. I don't have great answers but no one on this board does. Lots of "silly" ideas out there and blanket statements that come from biased, often ill-informed people. As such, this is my opinion and informed by having coached in the area on boys side and having daughter in the HS process now. Without knowing what year your daughter is it's tougher, but here goes.

The coaching is the place to start. Every club is different according to the year and there are wide variants from staff to staff. if you have good ones, do everything in your power to keep kid on team and keep coaches. One crappy relationship can mess a kid's love of the game up. a few seasons with good coaching can turn a decent player into a potential college player. Most if not all programs have an A and B team. Realize that A teams get more/better resources than B, so the coach for B is more important. Read "B" as developmental and "A" as more advanced - often MUCH more advanced. B can be great for a kid who needs to build confidence or mature physically. Amazing things happen over the course of a year!

In general, the older the player is the more club "matters". Youth club reputation matters some in relation to HS club, but far less than how fast, strong, big, skilled kid is. Bottom line the stronger athlete the kid is less team matters. most youth travel teams have an affiliation with HS clubs, so get a sense of that. Familiarity matters to people and programs. People want to view it as a greedy conspiracy but it's more human nature. Again, that matters more to average athletes, less to stronger.

If recruiting is your goal, look at program and where players go, but there are ALWAYS individuals who go D1/hiD3 from decidedly average programs. They are athletes (see a theme here?). The stronger programs go to better tournaments and play in front of more coaches, but because of NCAA rules they really focus on 10th/11th grade summer nowadays.

For my money, a happier kid is a kid who wants to put in time and effort to get better. If she's views it as more social, then stay with the friend group and have her enjoy it. If she is driven to get good and the friends are holding back because they are less serious, then it's tougher - so good luck. If aligned on expectations, then awesome!

Alrighty, clubs...Everyone wants to "rank" clubs - on what metrics? how do you rank apple juice to orange juice? So, having said that here is my decidedly less than perfect opinion on things:
Youth - too many options to really comment on all and lord knows I don't want to know all of them anyway. Everything depends on coaching. MC Elite coaching varies wildly from year to year. Our personal experience was less than optimal but other friends had great experience. Their HS teams are not the top of the competition scale but individuals have different results. Bethesda is good for developing player, most have parent coaches or at least more parent coaching exposure, most teams are less competitive than others the older they get. Our experience was great but no illusions that parent coaching can be a nightmare. Madlax - I mean why? Stars was considered best for a long time, but St. James is far away from Bethesda and the whole crossing the river thing is traumatizing for some. Pride - McClean so some of issues with Stars. Program has good reputation on development side on youth level. The whole M&D, Green Turtle, Skywalkers thing is beyond my geographic patience but there are those that swear it's the end all be all - whatever. Assume that VA Metro, 3d are all a bridge too far (...sorry about the awful pun)

HS - First off, this is where parents seem to lose their minds. Every single one of these programs have questionable parent dynamics. Seems to come with the territory. MC Elite: not top tier but individual results vary. seems to have coaching inconsistency. less advanced. Pride: young program so next couple of years will be interesting. Some radical divisions on leadership, but coaching seems a positive for a very young HS program. advancing but relatively new. Capital: Considered most "advanced" in DMV, but will competition for players change that? Coaching seems to be a plus for them. not formally affiliated with Stars but leans that way. Madlax - I mean why? A vocal minority will say that one club or another is best and trash everyone else - some will argue that VA Metro is far and away the greatest program on the planet or that if you want real HS club lax you have to go to Baltimore. I don't believe either, so this is MY opinion, and I offer it because I wish someone shared this with me whether I started.(...and I had 45 minutes to kill)
Plus, there are more and more programs popping up every year, so good luck.

Remember, enjoy this time with your kid because it ain't coming back.

Shout out to whomever wrote this out...thanks for the info

[Anonymous]

One small caveat to Bethesda is that it ends after 8th grade. So that should factor into decision making if you are thinking of moving depending on the age group. So 2025s are done at Bethesda after this year.

For my DD, that is part of why we chose Rebels over Bethesda when leaving MC Elite. And we are definitely happy with our decision as DD loves her coaches and teammates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One small caveat to Bethesda is that it ends after 8th grade. So that should factor into decision making if you are thinking of moving depending on the age group. So 2025s are done at Bethesda after this year.

For my DD, that is part of why we chose Rebels over Bethesda when leaving MC Elite. And we are definitely happy with our decision as DD loves her coaches and teammates.

Good point - where do Rebels practice? Aren't they based out of Olney?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One small caveat to Bethesda is that it ends after 8th grade. So that should factor into decision making if you are thinking of moving depending on the age group. So 2025s are done at Bethesda after this year.

For my DD, that is part of why we chose Rebels over Bethesda when leaving MC Elite. And we are definitely happy with our decision as DD loves her coaches and teammates.

Good point - where do Rebels practice? Aren't they based out of Olney?

Yes but the drive isn't bad at all and most practices are right off of 97 or 270.

Coaching, at least for our team, is quality so we will drive a bit extra. And carpooling is great and was easy to arrange with new teammates.

[Anonymous]

I don't mean to ask you specifics about your age group etc. So instead can you tell me what years have coaches that are well received?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't mean to ask you specifics about your age group etc. So instead can you tell me what years have coaches that are well received?

DD is on a middle school team. And we know the 25/26 and 27 team have solid coaches that actually get to know the girls individually. The current 23 team is coached by Haight himself now and he previously coached the 21 team that were very strong (same assistant from 21s is with him on 23s now and she works with goalies from all teams).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't mean to ask you specifics about your age group etc. So instead can you tell me what years have coaches that are well received?

DD is on a middle school team. And we know the 25/26 and 27 team have solid coaches that actually get to know the girls individually. The current 23 team is coached by Haight himself now and he previously coached the 21 team that were very strong (same assistant from 21s is with him on 23s now and she works with goalies from all teams).

Problem is there is no 26 team - as you said a combo team with the 25s. Bad situation to be in moving to high school IMO. The 27s seem like a solid group though. Haight needs to focus more on his club than his tournies...

[Anonymous]

my take for what its worth

- MC Elite tends to play in high brackets in tourneys, but usually get blown out

- Next level plays in lower levels and is often more competitive

MC Elite is likely more competitive, but know of lots more kids leaving program.