Anonymous
Post 05/01/2025 20:30     Subject: Does club or team matter for the littler ones ('34s and '33s and upcoming '35s) and why/why not?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:If your girl has been playing rec and then in the 8th grade decides to try out for an elite club, they have little chance unless they are some phenom of an athlete. Even then, they won't be playing a lot because they will be so far behind the other girls.

The advantage to doing club early is to develop the skills and get on these elite clubs at an early age. Getting in on an elite club when older is not easy unless your kid is so much better than the incumbent players.


Pretty big difference between a 35 and a 32 or 33. Most coaches will tell you that 6th and 7th grade are most critical years for development. You want to be on a top club by then. Other than that, play a bunch of sports and focus on athleticism before that.

There is some 'lighter' travel options out there as well. BLC has great instruction but much less commitment and cost than top clubs (at least at the 3rd-5th grade level)


You’re not getting on a top team at 6th grade if you haven’t been playing that level for a couple years before that. The girls who have been playing at that level will just be so far beyond you.


Disagree. Last year BLC took a girl who had only played rec before on their 6th grade team. Admittedly, a freaky athlete, but it can happen
Anonymous
Post 05/01/2025 17:37     Subject: Does club or team matter for the littler ones ('34s and '33s and upcoming '35s) and why/why not?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:If your girl has been playing rec and then in the 8th grade decides to try out for an elite club, they have little chance unless they are some phenom of an athlete. Even then, they won't be playing a lot because they will be so far behind the other girls.

The advantage to doing club early is to develop the skills and get on these elite clubs at an early age. Getting in on an elite club when older is not easy unless your kid is so much better than the incumbent players.


Pretty big difference between a 35 and a 32 or 33. Most coaches will tell you that 6th and 7th grade are most critical years for development. You want to be on a top club by then. Other than that, play a bunch of sports and focus on athleticism before that.

There is some 'lighter' travel options out there as well. BLC has great instruction but much less commitment and cost than top clubs (at least at the 3rd-5th grade level)


You’re not getting on a top team at 6th grade if you haven’t been playing that level for a couple years before that. The girls who have been playing at that level will just be so far beyond you.
Anonymous
Post 05/01/2025 17:05     Subject: Does club or team matter for the littler ones ('34s and '33s and upcoming '35s) and why/why not?
Anonymous wrote:If your girl has been playing rec and then in the 8th grade decides to try out for an elite club, they have little chance unless they are some phenom of an athlete. Even then, they won't be playing a lot because they will be so far behind the other girls.

The advantage to doing club early is to develop the skills and get on these elite clubs at an early age. Getting in on an elite club when older is not easy unless your kid is so much better than the incumbent players.


Pretty big difference between a 35 and a 32 or 33. Most coaches will tell you that 6th and 7th grade are most critical years for development. You want to be on a top club by then. Other than that, play a bunch of sports and focus on athleticism before that.

There is some 'lighter' travel options out there as well. BLC has great instruction but much less commitment and cost than top clubs (at least at the 3rd-5th grade level)
Anonymous
Post 05/01/2025 16:27     Subject: Re:Does club or team matter for the littler ones ('34s and '33s and upcoming '35s) and why/why not?
Anonymous wrote:If you live in a town with a good rec program, playing in a travel program is a waste of money until 5-6 grade.

And, getting into a "good" travel program like Madlax at a young age means nothing. Starting in middle school they rebuild their teams with stud athletes and holdbacks, and don't think twice about cutting a kid with average ability who has been in the program since first grade.


Sure, they will cut the average kid, but the new kids aren't coming from a rec league. They are coming from other top club teams (often out of the area). A kid who does rec up until 6th grade has almost no chance of making a top club team. I'm sure it's happened, but it's exceedingly rare and would only be true for absolutely amazing natural athlete.
Anonymous
Post 05/01/2025 15:43     Subject: Re:Does club or team matter for the littler ones ('34s and '33s and upcoming '35s) and why/why not?
Anonymous wrote:if you play rec in the area, its very clear that most of the top teams of rec leagues are dominated by kids who also play club.


This is not a prevalent thing in my county rec league but does occasionally occur. I think it's icky. There's a young girl from one of the top ranked NGLL teams playing on a rec team with (and surely against) girls who have never played lacrosse before. Like why.....???
Anonymous
Post 05/01/2025 15:40     Subject: Re:Does club or team matter for the littler ones ('34s and '33s and upcoming '35s) and why/why not?
if you play rec in the area, its very clear that most of the top teams of rec leagues are dominated by kids who also play club.
Anonymous
Post 05/01/2025 15:12     Subject: Does club or team matter for the littler ones ('34s and '33s and upcoming '35s) and why/why not?
If your girl has been playing rec and then in the 8th grade decides to try out for an elite club, they have little chance unless they are some phenom of an athlete. Even then, they won't be playing a lot because they will be so far behind the other girls.

The advantage to doing club early is to develop the skills and get on these elite clubs at an early age. Getting in on an elite club when older is not easy unless your kid is so much better than the incumbent players.
Anonymous
Post 05/01/2025 14:36     Subject: Does club or team matter for the littler ones ('34s and '33s and upcoming '35s) and why/why not?
Doesn't' matter unless you kid have a passion to be a goalie. In that case, good early coaching matters ALOT. I've seen lots of player unable to overcome bad habits learned as a 4th grader
Anonymous
Post 04/30/2025 23:12     Subject: Does club or team matter for the littler ones ('34s and '33s and upcoming '35s) and why/why not?
My experience is Maryland and more BALT focused vs DMV. For the main clubs up here for ES ages, the teams are not at all comparable to rec. Rec is far inferior. Could be that in other areas their rec programs are better and clubs worse such that they are closer than what we experience here. Is that what you are saying for MoCo or NOVA? That clubs and rec are close to the same or are a baby step from each other?
Anonymous
Post 04/30/2025 23:01     Subject: Does club or team matter for the littler ones ('34s and '33s and upcoming '35s) and why/why not?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:This has been asked and answered before. Keep your kid out of club for as long as possible. Tons of clinics and camps daily, weekly, weekend, summer, whatever. They don't need to be on a club to participate and it will be cheaper and your kid will get better coaching and more reps. Maybe in 8th grade, show up to a tryout and the club will gladly sit or cut the kid they've coached for the shiny new object.


I do not think this is in any way a reliable plan. Possible but rare for it to work this way. Shiny new object isn’t going to be a thing but if the kid happens to be more skilled somehow coming out of years of rec and more athletic, okay.

Tons of clinics and camps daily, weekly, weekend, summer is not going to be cheaper—in fact it’s likely to be more expensive—or necessarily more reps.


Nice try Cabell. It's absolutely cheaper deducting out the cost of hotels, gas, meals. You also definitely get more reps rather than the club team watching the same 3 kids play attack and pole and everyone else being slotted into middie. The reason you created DMV/NL Red teams was specifically to push kids down or to build revenue. Stay away from club until 8th grade. All of the camps and clinics will have great game play and if your kid is any good, they can go to a higher level. There are always more than a few plain white helmets at any BIC "showcase."


I honestly think it would be better if the club teams kept these younger teams practicing but not going to multiple tournaments. they should strictly focus on developing the skills of all the girls and maybe end the season with one tournament until their coach thinks they are ready. Its rough to see some of these kids go out there and not know what to do.


Our club does just a few tournaments (two local and I think one is just a day and the other you go both weekend days; the other is a few hours away at the beach which I personally would nix but apparently everyone loves it) at year end for the younger teams. I think this is the norm.

Tournaments end up a nice bonding thing for the young girls and a fun way to spend the day or weekend. When we did a developmental team, it was a thing that got the kids stoked about being lacrosse players and they all wanted to get to go again next year.
Anonymous
Post 04/30/2025 22:46     Subject: Does club or team matter for the littler ones ('34s and '33s and upcoming '35s) and why/why not?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:This has been asked and answered before. Keep your kid out of club for as long as possible. Tons of clinics and camps daily, weekly, weekend, summer, whatever. They don't need to be on a club to participate and it will be cheaper and your kid will get better coaching and more reps. Maybe in 8th grade, show up to a tryout and the club will gladly sit or cut the kid they've coached for the shiny new object.


I do not think this is in any way a reliable plan. Possible but rare for it to work this way. Shiny new object isn’t going to be a thing but if the kid happens to be more skilled somehow coming out of years of rec and more athletic, okay.

Tons of clinics and camps daily, weekly, weekend, summer is not going to be cheaper—in fact it’s likely to be more expensive—or necessarily more reps.


Nice try Cabell. It's absolutely cheaper deducting out the cost of hotels, gas, meals. You also definitely get more reps rather than the club team watching the same 3 kids play attack and pole and everyone else being slotted into middie. The reason you created DMV/NL Red teams was specifically to push kids down or to build revenue. Stay away from club until 8th grade. All of the camps and clinics will have great game play and if your kid is any good, they can go to a higher level. There are always more than a few plain white helmets at any BIC "showcase."


Who’s Cabell? Most younger club teams don’t really travel out of area for tournaments. How much did you spend a year with your sign up for everything and do daily, weekly, summer clinics and camps? How many camps and clinics did you do in a year?

What are you talking about with the same 3 kids on a roster of 20 playing attack and pole and everyone else a middie? You clearly are not be familiar with what clubs actually do at the younger ages since your kids are riding rec until 8th grade.
Anonymous
Post 04/30/2025 21:57     Subject: Does club or team matter for the littler ones ('34s and '33s and upcoming '35s) and why/why not?
More important to get in early for boys where there is more demand, though not essential if you kid is athletic and wants to put in extra work. For girls, most younger years have at best 2 good teams in the entire DMV that are a meaningful step up from rec. Rec until 4th-5th works totally fine especially if you can find a coach who played (drills are not rocket science) .
Anonymous
Post 04/30/2025 21:49     Subject: Does club or team matter for the littler ones ('34s and '33s and upcoming '35s) and why/why not?
And white people call Asians grinders for focusing on academics and STEM camp. Y'all are talking about ten year olds playing lacrosse.

Anonymous
Post 04/30/2025 21:31     Subject: Does club or team matter for the littler ones ('34s and '33s and upcoming '35s) and why/why not?
^this!!! Horrible advice
Anonymous
Post 04/30/2025 21:11     Subject: Does club or team matter for the littler ones ('34s and '33s and upcoming '35s) and why/why not?
For the people saying to wait until 8th grade, what is your experience trying this? I highly doubt an 8th grader who has only played rec has a chance to make any of the top club teams in 8th grade.