So here is the recap. Teams are ranked from strongest to weakest.

Hawks - they are the gold standard and will likely win HoCo (again), but may be a trek depending on where you live, rude parents, and they won't take your son at this point in the year unless he is truly a super-hero.

NextLevel - great team, well coached, but the roster is huge and playing time is political. If your son is good they will add him to the roster, but he will have trouble getting on the field.

MadLax - toxic environment and parent coaching, but at some positions they do have openings

DC Express - well coached but the team is still developing; will probably attract players from MadLax and Next Level over the next year, so not a bad option; but they have to win a play-in game to make HoCo elite for this spring.

Hammers - up and coming team; good group of kids; probably your best bet if you live in Loudon county; but they will not be in the top HoCo division this spring;

You will likely be disappointed with any team other than those five. Good luck!

Anonymous wrote:OP here. He’s not looking at lower tier, and he has an age advantage. I’ll have our current club director make calls. I should have thought about that so thanks for that advice.

Depending on where you are going to live, the 2027 Hammers team in Loudoun County is pretty solid. used to be the Cavs 2027 team and left before that got folded into VLC (which doesn't have a 2027 team but a good brand in the market). If you are in MD/beltway then Next Level or BLC.

Anonymous wrote:Oh please. DMV lacrosse is good, but top players come from all over the country now. Look at any D1 roster. If this kid is an athlete and coming from a decent club he can make any of the area teams.

Yea that is funny! So many kids filling D1 spots that are not from the DMV let alone the east coast.