Anonymous wrote:What about team 91

If looking for a Baltimore team go to Crabs. They end up with the best recruiting. T91 is daddy ball

What about team 91

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a specific question for the 2026 boys lacrosse community. What are clubs good for getting recruited. And winning games

They tend to fluctuate year to year and none of the teams are perfect. Most MadLax starters have left for either Next Level or VLC so that is still shaking itself out. That said, here is one Dad’s perspective of how the 2026 teams in the DC area currently stack up:

1. Hawks
2. DC Express
3. Next Level
4. VLC
5. MadLax
6. Top Caliber
7. TRW Wolfpack

If your son wants to be recruited for college, I would be leery of any team besides these 7. But if he’s a good player (ie a starter on one of these 7) and has good grades, he will do fine no matter which team he is on.

Maybe but Hawks is not really a DMV team they do have some DC area players. Top Caliber and TRW do not have any recruiting history so I would not bank on them teams 2-5 are a safe bet.

Anonymous wrote:I have a specific question for the 2026 boys lacrosse community. What are clubs good for getting recruited. And winning games

They tend to fluctuate year to year and none of the teams are perfect. Most MadLax starters have left for either Next Level or VLC so that is still shaking itself out. That said, here is one Dad’s perspective of how the 2026 teams in the DC area currently stack up:

1. Hawks
2. DC Express
3. Next Level
4. VLC
5. MadLax
6. Top Caliber
7. TRW Wolfpack

If your son wants to be recruited for college, I would be leery of any team besides these 7. But if he’s a good player (ie a starter on one of these 7) and has good grades, he will do fine no matter which team he is on.

In MS, You have to win enough to keep your good players, attract a few new ones so you can continue to improve. In HS and club, you have to win enough to keep your good players and attract a few good ones so that other people will pay attention to you.

I have a specific question for the 2026 boys lacrosse community. What are clubs good for getting recruited. And winning games

Anonymous wrote:I think that club ranking and wins/losses have less to do with a clubs ability to attract coaches to sidelines than the previous recruiting does. Most of these clubs send multiple players each year to the same schools and have lots of alumns and history. Of course that is also a reason why they attract top players at tryouts and yes this does lead to winning. If a low level club wins a bunch of games v other clubs of equal talent they still will not attract coaches on the sidelines v a reputable club that was 1-2 in the last tournament. Again it is not the team record bringing the coaches but the reputation.

This is incorrect. The college coaches know exactly where the best girls at each age group are, or better said, the best girls that fit their school. Campbell University isn't going to camp out at every M&D Black vs Yellow Jackets game for the entirety. They're going to go to the games that have girls that fit their program.

Wins and Losses don't matter that much, but rankings do. You can lose every game by one goal to all top 10 teams and be a top 15 team in the rankings. That team will and it's players will get a LOT of attention by top programs.

There are small club programs out there, that for whatever reason have one great year, and all of the others are comparatively weak, and the year that has the great results will get heavily recruited. Top clubs have a little bit of influence, but they don't try to sell a weak graduating year as great or they'll lose the trust of college coaches.

You can definitely get recruited from a weak team, it's just harder because you aren't seen nearly as much. You'll need to rely more on film, prospect camps or other showcases because you aren't going to get seen at most tournaments.

Anonymous wrote:The college coaches do not follow the club rankings.

And you are wrong about VA Metro (NL IS a bad example b/c I think they have ever had a recruit). VA Metro has top tier recruits, including a 2023 to JMU. Everyone knows they are not M&D or SW but their players find success. Again it is about development.

let us be realistic here NL is barely more than rec and one recruit does not make a club a success story I think everyone but you got the comparison that was being made .

The college coaches do not follow the club rankings.

And you are wrong about VA Metro (NL IS a bad example b/c I think they have ever had a recruit). VA Metro has top tier recruits, including a 2023 to JMU. Everyone knows they are not M&D or SW but their players find success. Again it is about development.

I think that club ranking and wins/losses have less to do with a clubs ability to attract coaches to sidelines than the previous recruiting does. Most of these clubs send multiple players each year to the same schools and have lots of alumns and history. Of course that is also a reason why they attract top players at tryouts and yes this does lead to winning. If a low level club wins a bunch of games v other clubs of equal talent they still will not attract coaches on the sidelines v a reputable club that was 1-2 in the last tournament. Again it is not the team record bringing the coaches but the reputation.

You are both right, and what you are saying are not inconsistent.
If two great teams (top 10 nationally) play each other, there will be plenty of college coaches watching and scouting players . And yes, the coaches will not notice nor care who wins that particular game.
But, the reason why those teams are ranked high is that they do win most of their games, which means that they have the best players, and thus coaches watch.
A team that loses most of the time and has a low national ranking will get far fewer coaches coming to watch. Maybe a few, especially if a weaker team has a certain great player (often a goalie) worth a look. But there typically will be fewer or no coaches attending games of teams that don’t win most of the time.
I hope this helps!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So many points in this article from 2015 apply today to club lacrosse.

Maybe more on the girls’ side as there seems to be so much chatter on scores, especially in MS.

“Next time you’re watching your son or daughter play, forget the result at the end. The result only serves to guide your player on what they need to improve on, nothing more.”

http://thecoachingjourney.org/blog/winning-vs-development

You must learn to lose as well as win but here is the issue. If your DD wants to play on the next level wins and losses matter. If don't think so go to the showcase tournaments find a field with Heros Green or M&D Black and see how many coaches line the sidelines. Then walk to the edge of the tournament where the lower-ranked teams who do not win as often are and see the difference for yourself. then come back here and tell me wins and losses don't matter.

Sorry you don't get. I would not recommend this but ask a coach in the parking lot which team won the game between Hero's and M&D or Capital or YJ. They may not be able to tell you. They are on the sidelines watching players. I bet they could open a notebook and show notes about particular players they saw. In HS winning is important as well as learn to handle losing. However at high level club, showcasing is more important than winning and some coaches get that. The reason the coaches follow past teams is because they have rosters full of players that played for these clubs.

let us play this scenario out here.

I'm a mid to high level D1 coach and it's showcase day let's go find our recruits hmm what game should I go see? I can watch M&D play SW which both teams are full of D1 recruits or I can watch VA Metro take on Next Level where there are zero D1 players where would go? Personally, I'm at the field watching where the most D1 talent is. And how did I choose one over the other because the first two clubs win and the players on those teams play the best of the best every week? So is winning the all-end all no but winning in MS against quality opponents increases your ranking and with a higher ranking comes higher-level schools watching.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So many points in this article from 2015 apply today to club lacrosse.

Maybe more on the girls’ side as there seems to be so much chatter on scores, especially in MS.

“Next time you’re watching your son or daughter play, forget the result at the end. The result only serves to guide your player on what they need to improve on, nothing more.”

http://thecoachingjourney.org/blog/winning-vs-development

You must learn to lose as well as win but here is the issue. If your DD wants to play on the next level wins and losses matter. If don't think so go to the showcase tournaments find a field with Heros Green or M&D Black and see how many coaches line the sidelines. Then walk to the edge of the tournament where the lower-ranked teams who do not win as often are and see the difference for yourself. then come back here and tell me wins and losses don't matter.

Sorry you don't get. I would not recommend this but ask a coach in the parking lot which team won the game between Hero's and M&D or Capital or YJ. They may not be able to tell you. They are on the sidelines watching players. I bet they could open a notebook and show notes about particular players they saw. In HS winning is important as well as learn to handle losing. However at high level club, showcasing is more important than winning and some coaches get that. The reason the coaches follow past teams is because they have rosters full of players that played for these clubs.

Anonymous wrote:So many points in this article from 2015 apply today to club lacrosse.

Maybe more on the girls’ side as there seems to be so much chatter on scores, especially in MS.

“Next time you’re watching your son or daughter play, forget the result at the end. The result only serves to guide your player on what they need to improve on, nothing more.”

http://thecoachingjourney.org/blog/winning-vs-development

You must learn to lose as well as win but here is the issue. If your DD wants to play on the next level wins and losses matter. If don't think so go to the showcase tournaments find a field with Heros Green or M&D Black and see how many coaches line the sidelines. Then walk to the edge of the tournament where the lower-ranked teams who do not win as often are and see the difference for yourself. then come back here and tell me wins and losses don't matter.

So many points in this article from 2015 apply today to club lacrosse.

Maybe more on the girls’ side as there seems to be so much chatter on scores, especially in MS.

“Next time you’re watching your son or daughter play, forget the result at the end. The result only serves to guide your player on what they need to improve on, nothing more.”

http://thecoachingjourney.org/blog/winning-vs-development