Anonymous wrote:Next Level 8th grade team is dominating thus far. Has killed Club Blue and Mad Lax Maryland!

That's really not saying much ...

Next Level 8th grade team is dominating thus far. Has killed Club Blue and Mad Lax Maryland!

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for today's affirmation, tool. I was just asking why those teams suck, relatively speaking, when the kids seem to quiver when they play them. The mystique is confusing when you watch those kids play. Lots of independent play and show boating, but nervousness and missed opportunities abound.

Talent drain to other top clubs for one reason or another. I heard that both MD and VA Madlax teams are having a rough season in the Next Level fall league. Some lopsided game scores is what I'm hearing ...

Anonymous wrote:The Madlax VA and MD middle school teams seem to be coming up short compared to Bethesda, Club Blue and NL. Any thoughts on what's going on with that? My son plays, but we are cultural outsiders. I just know that the middle school kids ooh-and-ah over Madlax but I can't see why. Am I missing something?

My perspective as a parent who's son plays club ball and is in middle school ... Madlax does a very good job marketing the product, as it is a for profit business. There is the allure of the "National team" and the mythical National Champion. They've got a big following on social media, a professional photography/videographer who's son plays on their team who takes great photos/videos for the kids (and I don't fault him for doing so, it's his business). Their high school teams are also stronger then their middle school program; several D1 committed players.

All that being said, karma is a bitch. Cabell's reputation plays a lot into parents decision whether they want their kid to play for Madlax or not, and some don't like his hard sell tactics.

Anonymous wrote:Mad lax maryland has been pretty bad thus far

Yes. All of their Madlax MD teams are terrible. They had to combine several of the grades with their Madlax VA teams because the quality was so bad and/or there weren't enough numbers to field two teams.

It shows current and prospective parents that they are focused on $ first.

Mad lax maryland has been pretty bad thus far

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Madlax VA and MD middle school teams seem to be coming up short compared to Bethesda, Club Blue and NL. Any thoughts on what's going on with that? My son plays, but we are cultural outsiders. I just know that the middle school kids ooh-and-ah over Madlax but I can't see why. Am I missing something?

Some kids are in to Madlax, some are not.

Their MS program is definitely struggling. Forming two teams in order to bring in more fees appears to be backfiring on them.

That's the read that I got, too. I'm just not a fan of the parent chit-chat so I don't hear all of the gossip.

Anonymous wrote:Our kid left 3d for a lot of the reasons posted here. plus, they are completely disorganized. also, many "coaches" they bring in to lead the team never even played lacrosse. spencer and ford only show up sometimes.

3d has been a disaster. They abandoned trying to build a MD team because they couldn't convince people in MD to join their team. They bought Fuze, but they hasn't worked. And now they practice in Fairfax so they've lost all the former Fuze kids who live in Loudoun. If you look at their roster, it's a hodgepodge of kids from outlying areas of VA and MD.

Anonymous wrote:The Madlax VA and MD middle school teams seem to be coming up short compared to Bethesda, Club Blue and NL. Any thoughts on what's going on with that? My son plays, but we are cultural outsiders. I just know that the middle school kids ooh-and-ah over Madlax but I can't see why. Am I missing something?

Some kids are in to Madlax, some are not.

Their MS program is definitely struggling. Forming two teams in order to bring in more fees appears to be backfiring on them.

Thanks for today's affirmation, tool. I was just asking why those teams suck, relatively speaking, when the kids seem to quiver when they play them. The mystique is confusing when you watch those kids play. Lots of independent play and show boating, but nervousness and missed opportunities abound.

Yes. You are a cultural outsider.

The Madlax VA and MD middle school teams seem to be coming up short compared to Bethesda, Club Blue and NL. Any thoughts on what's going on with that? My son plays, but we are cultural outsiders. I just know that the middle school kids ooh-and-ah over Madlax but I can't see why. Am I missing something?

Our kid left 3d for a lot of the reasons posted here. plus, they are completely disorganized. also, many "coaches" they bring in to lead the team never even played lacrosse. spencer and ford only show up sometimes.

test

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are involved in both and the travel soccer parents are the worst I've ever seen. Especially the one or two 'top 9 year olds' whose parents think Bc their kid is early to develop as a player, they are entitled to say and do whatever they want to subvert the coach and the entire club.

I, too, have been involved in both, though my kids are older. I find the rabid parents in travel soccer to be truly laughable, as there is no real "payoff" for 99 percent of the kids. If your end goal is to play HS varsity soccer I suppose, although many of the clubs in town prevent their kids from doing even that. Otherwise, the odds of playing at the college level, not to mention the Olympic and pro levels, are slim to none.

At least the lax parents have a fighting chance that their phenoms will get a chance at getting recruited to play by colleges. Of course even after getting the brass ring, don't count on any substantial scholarship money, and be prepared for your little snowflakes to be riding the bench for his college career.

I don't think the odds are as grim as you make them out to be for playing soccer in college, especially for girls. There are several ECNL clubs in this area and 3 Development Academies. It seems like most kids who play at that level will be able to play in college, with plenty of spots left over for non-DA or ECNL players. Crazy sports parents are typically crazy either because they have failed to find the line between their kids' lives and their own (or they have other personality disorders), or because they care tremendously about the sport and think they understand it better than anyone else.