Anonymous
Post 01/12/2026 17:46     Subject: Re:Local Clubs — Let’s Create a Glossary
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:To add on, I’m just wondering if there are real differences between say M&D and Maryland United or Coppermine and Maryland United or Hero’s and Coppermine or Coppermine and Skywalkers (besides ranking).


-M&D Black- great program, top 3 overall club every single year for a reason. Good director, recruiting coordinator, and mostly awesome coaches. The downside is they demand success and will bring in recruits to replace marginal players.
-M&D Shore and Red- usually not great teams but their kids end up at decent colleges.
-Heros- Exact same write up as M&D black, but the program seems to put a lot of into the White team and doesn’t just ignore them for Green. White is probably the best “B” program around here.
-Coppermine- massive potential as a program, but hit some hiccups with the at one time #1 2028 team. Doing pretty well from 2029 down, but the B and regional teams usually aren’t great.
-MDU- completely dependent on year and what local kids stay in annapolis area for club. Director is a nut job, and some teams are just allowed to disintegrate, like their at one time top 10
2029 team. B teams (the West, East is their A) are usually pretty decent.
-Skywalkers- dinosaur program, director is a pyscho, and the current program lives off its reputation from previous teams. Will also replace kids quickly, but unlike M&D, the replacements aren’t really recruits as much as they are cast offs from M&D or Heros.


Good write up and I generally agree. Not sure "great" is enough of an adjective on M&D Black and their historical success, but the write up is solid. It's the flagship program in the region, if not the country. Other M&Ds have no track record of success and probably not worthy of commentary, including DC.

Kind of harsh on Sky Walkers. They have avoided extinction and still get good recruiting results for their top tier players.

MDU does stay consistently relevant. Deep talent pool out there. Just look at Archbishop Spalding, St. Mary's, Severna Park, etc.

On the DC teams, pre high school, the shake out and ultimate hierarchy of BLC, M&D DC, Pride, Stars, etc is still unclear and seems to diverge year to year. The BLC partnership with Capital on the academy would appear to have been an effective counter to M&D DC's moves, and may put them in the driver's seat.

For high school, the only game in town is Capital. 2025s finished #2, and 2026s were ranked as high as #6, but finished #11.

As for a couple of sentences to describe: Best HS club in the DC area; very successful program on the field, with top 10 recruiting results annually, especially to high academic schools. Coaching is generally strong, but club is a bit of a my way or the highway operation. The fact that Capital doesn't start until high school with one make or break tryout for teams has pushed a lot of top local talent to the best Maryland clubs starting in Middle School.



Anonymous
Post 01/12/2026 17:18     Subject: Local Clubs — Let’s Create a Glossary
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Wouldn’t you want to add BLC, M&D DC, Rebels to this list? Or are you just focused on Baltimore/Annapolis?

BLC in particular are highly ranked in many years.


I didn’t seem them when skimming the rankings, but I was focused on top clubs honestly. I do now see M&D DC at #98. Rebels #136. Hoco is #83. I don’t see BLC but maybe because they aren’t eligible for the rankings like Capital….

Integrity and CC Lax are above all of those.


BLC is 3rd through 8th. 5th through 8th grade teams are generally top 20 sometimes top 10.

The other programs (M&D DC, Rebels, Hoco) seem to be stronger at earlier ages than later ages.


I think you can’t quality if you don’t have high school teams. Or it immediately kills your overall club ranking to be missing teams in the calculation.

HoCo has a killer ‘34 team whereas M&D’s ‘34 is not at all strong. I think some of those younger strong teams will have some parents, coaches and the club fighting to keep them together (primarily to try to finally elevate the club). Time will tell. HoCo’s ‘33 team is better than the ‘33 Hero’s and M&D teams. Also will see what happens in a few years. HoCo, from my outside perspective, is trying a lot to create teams people won’t leave (like having girls get a wardrobe of gear and making the flamingo an idol haha). M&D and Skywalkers are realizing it would behoove them to get strong younger teams so Hero’s and HoCo don’t nab and keep the girls long-term.

There are a half dozen or more really strong ‘35 teams. Just so many more girls playing and getting training.
Anonymous
Post 01/12/2026 17:15     Subject: Local Clubs — Let’s Create a Glossary
I would add that hero’s recruiting is not as top flight as mnd and even capital. I’ve heard stories of families having to go it alone.

I’m not sure if mnd actively recruits as much as people are drawn to the club because of the top notch success they have.
Anonymous
Post 01/12/2026 17:11     Subject: Local Clubs — Let’s Create a Glossary
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:

M&D:
Hero’s:
Maryland United:
Coppermine:
Skywalkers:

All are 1.5-2 hours from Northern VA depending on traffic. Pass


NOVA people, ignore!


Go back to BOTC....oh wait.
Anonymous
Post 01/12/2026 17:08     Subject: Local Clubs — Let’s Create a Glossary
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Wouldn’t you want to add BLC, M&D DC, Rebels to this list? Or are you just focused on Baltimore/Annapolis?

BLC in particular are highly ranked in many years.


I didn’t seem them when skimming the rankings, but I was focused on top clubs honestly. I do now see M&D DC at #98. Rebels #136. Hoco is #83. I don’t see BLC but maybe because they aren’t eligible for the rankings like Capital….

Integrity and CC Lax are above all of those.


BLC is 3rd through 8th. 5th through 8th grade teams are generally top 20 sometimes top 10.

The other programs (M&D DC, Rebels, Hoco) seem to be stronger at earlier ages than later ages.
Anonymous
Post 01/12/2026 17:05     Subject: Re:Local Clubs — Let’s Create a Glossary
That is amazing info and exactly of the type I was hoping to hear.

Goodness re: MDU Director. Can you say more? That’s a club I know nothing about (besides that they have some strong teams, including younger teams) but made some pretty positive presumptions (based on who knows what). Are their teams primarily made up of local St. Mary’s and Severn School girls?

How is the Coppermine director?
Anonymous
Post 01/12/2026 16:56     Subject: Re:Local Clubs — Let’s Create a Glossary
Anonymous wrote:To add on, I’m just wondering if there are real differences between say M&D and Maryland United or Coppermine and Maryland United or Hero’s and Coppermine or Coppermine and Skywalkers (besides ranking).


-M&D Black- great program, top 3 overall club every single year for a reason. Good director, recruiting coordinator, and mostly awesome coaches. The downside is they demand success and will bring in recruits to replace marginal players.
-M&D Shore and Red- usually not great teams but their kids end up at decent colleges.
-Heros- Exact same write up as M&D black, but the program seems to put a lot of into the White team and doesn’t just ignore them for Green. White is probably the best “B” program around here.
-Coppermine- massive potential as a program, but hit some hiccups with the at one time #1 2028 team. Doing pretty well from 2029 down, but the B and regional teams usually aren’t great.
-MDU- completely dependent on year and what local kids stay in annapolis area for club. Director is a nut job, and some teams are just allowed to disintegrate, like their at one time top 10
2029 team. B teams (the West, East is their A) are usually pretty decent.
-Skywalkers- dinosaur program, director is a pyscho, and the current program lives off its reputation from previous teams. Will also replace kids quickly, but unlike M&D, the replacements aren’t really recruits as much as they are cast offs from M&D or Heros.
Anonymous
Post 01/12/2026 16:55     Subject: Local Clubs — Let’s Create a Glossary
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:

M&D:
Hero’s:
Maryland United:
Coppermine:
Skywalkers:

All are 1.5-2 hours from Northern VA depending on traffic. Pass


NOVA people, ignore!
Anonymous
Post 01/12/2026 16:54     Subject: Local Clubs — Let’s Create a Glossary
Anonymous wrote:Wouldn’t you want to add BLC, M&D DC, Rebels to this list? Or are you just focused on Baltimore/Annapolis?

BLC in particular are highly ranked in many years.


I didn’t seem them when skimming the rankings, but I was focused on top clubs honestly. I do now see M&D DC at #98. Rebels #136. Hoco is #83. I don’t see BLC but maybe because they aren’t eligible for the rankings like Capital….

Integrity and CC Lax are above all of those.
Anonymous
Post 01/12/2026 16:53     Subject: Local Clubs — Let’s Create a Glossary
Anonymous wrote:

M&D:
Hero’s:
Maryland United:
Coppermine:
Skywalkers:

All are 1.5-2 hours from Northern VA depending on traffic. Pass
Anonymous
Post 01/12/2026 16:47     Subject: Local Clubs — Let’s Create a Glossary
Wouldn’t you want to add BLC, M&D DC, Rebels to this list? Or are you just focused on Baltimore/Annapolis?

BLC in particular are highly ranked in many years.
Anonymous
Post 01/12/2026 16:10     Subject: Re:Local Clubs — Let’s Create a Glossary
To add on, I’m just wondering if there are real differences between say M&D and Maryland United or Coppermine and Maryland United or Hero’s and Coppermine or Coppermine and Skywalkers (besides ranking).
Anonymous
Post 01/12/2026 16:09     Subject: Local Clubs — Let’s Create a Glossary
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Give me 1-3 sentences to describe these clubs. Not looking for snarky or bitter beaver comments, but alas I am sure they will come. Really just looking for how you see these clubs.

M&D:
Hero’s:
Maryland United:
Coppermine:
Skywalkers:

Seems like those are the top local clubs per US Club Lax Rankings. When you get into clubs ranked 30-90, you get lots more local clubs. I know lots of people here talk about Capital and maybe Hoco, but they’re not really ranked highly overall and other mid-tier local clubs are higher. Actually I don’t see Capital so maybe for some reason they don’t submit to US Club Lax to get an overall club ranking or otherwise do not quality to be ranked overall?

Also, which of the above 5 clubs would you prefer (if someone said your daughter would play with one) and why?


Assuming your question is sincere, and that’s a big assumption, Capital is high school only which is why the club doesn’t have a 2030 team (yet). 2027s are ranked #20, 2028s are #17, and 2029s are #12.


It is sincere! And ah okay on Capital. Figured there was a reason it wasn’t showing up. Sounds like it would be a top 20 team then. I won’t add it to my list above still because of how hot the discussions are on DCUM regarding that particular club.
Anonymous
Post 01/12/2026 15:51     Subject: Local Clubs — Let’s Create a Glossary
Anonymous wrote:Give me 1-3 sentences to describe these clubs. Not looking for snarky or bitter beaver comments, but alas I am sure they will come. Really just looking for how you see these clubs.

M&D:
Hero’s:
Maryland United:
Coppermine:
Skywalkers:

Seems like those are the top local clubs per US Club Lax Rankings. When you get into clubs ranked 30-90, you get lots more local clubs. I know lots of people here talk about Capital and maybe Hoco, but they’re not really ranked highly overall and other mid-tier local clubs are higher. Actually I don’t see Capital so maybe for some reason they don’t submit to US Club Lax to get an overall club ranking or otherwise do not quality to be ranked overall?

Also, which of the above 5 clubs would you prefer (if someone said your daughter would play with one) and why?


Assuming your question is sincere, and that’s a big assumption, Capital is high school only which is why the club doesn’t have a 2030 team (yet). 2027s are ranked #20, 2028s are #17, and 2029s are #12.
Anonymous
Post 01/12/2026 14:35     Subject: Local Clubs — Let’s Create a Glossary
Give me 1-3 sentences to describe these clubs. Not looking for snarky or bitter beaver comments, but alas I am sure they will come. Really just looking for how you see these clubs.

M&D:
Hero’s:
Maryland United:
Coppermine:
Skywalkers:

Seems like those are the top local clubs per US Club Lax Rankings. When you get into clubs ranked 30-90, you get lots more local clubs. I know lots of people here talk about Capital and maybe Hoco, but they’re not really ranked highly overall and other mid-tier local clubs are higher. Actually I don’t see Capital so maybe for some reason they don’t submit to US Club Lax to get an overall club ranking or otherwise do not quality to be ranked overall?

Also, which of the above 5 clubs would you prefer (if someone said your daughter would play with one) and why?