Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess if all you care about is where your kid plays college lacrosse, then yes it’s impressive. But if you care more broadly about raising a decent man, impressive college commitments don’t really make up for teaching boys to cheat in a fifth grade lacrosse league.

I don't know how you know that these aren't decent young men. Merely playing for MadLax doesn't count. I know some kids who joined MadLax, and I know some kids who came from MadLax to my son's club. All perfectly nice young men.

Pp here. I didn't say kids weren’t decent. But what happens when you take a decent kid and teach him that cheating is normal? At the end of this process, is he still a decent kid if his coaches and parents have taught him that cheating is okay?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess if all you care about is where your kid plays college lacrosse, then yes it’s impressive. But if you care more broadly about raising a decent man, impressive college commitments don’t really make up for teaching boys to cheat in a fifth grade lacrosse league.

I don't know how you know that these aren't decent young men. Merely playing for MadLax doesn't count. I know some kids who joined MadLax, and I know some kids who came from MadLax to my son's club. All perfectly nice young men.

Not PP, the kids aren't bad but the Madlax winning over everything else culture ain't good either - which is probably why their parents pulled them. I saw a Madlax game where their best player (and a great kid) came out of the game after getting checked while scoring a goal, still down 5 goals w/ about 5 minutes left in the game. In front of the team bench he was on his knees holding his head in pain while his two coaches and teammates ignored him - I guess that's not the worst concussion protocol I've seen.

Anonymous wrote:I guess if all you care about is where your kid plays college lacrosse, then yes it’s impressive. But if you care more broadly about raising a decent man, impressive college commitments don’t really make up for teaching boys to cheat in a fifth grade lacrosse league.

I don't know how you know that these aren't decent young men. Merely playing for MadLax doesn't count. I know some kids who joined MadLax, and I know some kids who came from MadLax to my son's club. All perfectly nice young men.

Anonymous wrote:I guess if all you care about is where your kid plays college lacrosse, then yes it’s impressive. But if you care more broadly about raising a decent man, impressive college commitments don’t really make up for teaching boys to cheat in a fifth grade lacrosse league.

+1

I guess if all you care about is where your kid plays college lacrosse, then yes it’s impressive. But if you care more broadly about raising a decent man, impressive college commitments don’t really make up for teaching boys to cheat in a fifth grade lacrosse league.

Source of the above:

https://www.insidelacrosse.com/recruiting/club/team/Madlax+-+2019/3019

Say what you want about MadLax, this is impressive:

Madlax 2019

Scott Bower D Virginia
Connor Shellenberger A Virginia
Robert Schain A Penn
Emmett Barger M Notre Dame
Michael McGraw A Dickinson
Brian Wilmans FO Colgate
Timothy Marcille G Johns Hopkins
Jonathan Bender M Towson
Stevie Jones M Villanova
Dodson Piotrowski D Air Force
Will Cory A Uncommitted
Douglas Brooks D Denison
Leo Cowie A Kenyon
Devin Craven G Richmond
Michael Grogan D Duke
Jacob Himeon A Belmont Abbey
Johnny Hodges M Navy
Connor Kiichle A Illinois Wesleyan
Mitch Laughlin G Gettysburg
Taylor Musa A Uncommitted
Marcus J. Needham A Embry-Riddle
Jackson Reynolds M Penn State
George Schlesinger D Colorado College
Miles Tonkel M Colby
Andrew Tyeryar FO North Carolina

Anonymous wrote:Generally asking for thoughts (head examinations aside). Question is whether if your child is up for it and on par with others whether club should just be avoided until 3rd or 4th grade?

It's insane to do club lax in 3rd grade. Wait until 6th, 5th if you really feel the pull.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Generally asking for thoughts (head examinations aside). Question is whether if your child is up for it and on par with others whether club should just be avoided until 3rd or 4th grade?

I would say even later in my humble opinion 5th grade at the earliest. If you look at the current 8th grade team for Madlax you will find that they had a really strong capital team in 3rd and 4th grade. Maybe second grade but my son started in 3rd. There is maybe one player from that team still playing for Madlax. That is not a fault of the club. I think kids need to play many sports at an early age and year round should not start in first or second for this sport.

Um, there is a reason only 1-2 2023 players still play for Madlax. The team wasn't very good as 6th and 7th graders, so Madlax decided to buy the Club Blue 2023 team, rename them DC Dogs and then kicked the rest of the players to the curb.

So yes, that IS the fault of the Madlax club. Are you kidding me?

Good information. Also, most 15 and 16 yo boys are in HIGH SCHOOL now, not playing in 8th grade youth lacrosse tourneys.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Generally asking for thoughts (head examinations aside). Question is whether if your child is up for it and on par with others whether club should just be avoided until 3rd or 4th grade?

I would say even later in my humble opinion 5th grade at the earliest. If you look at the current 8th grade team for Madlax you will find that they had a really strong capital team in 3rd and 4th grade. Maybe second grade but my son started in 3rd. There is maybe one player from that team still playing for Madlax. That is not a fault of the club. I think kids need to play many sports at an early age and year round should not start in first or second for this sport.

Um, there is a reason only 1-2 2023 players still play for Madlax. The team wasn't very good as 6th and 7th graders, so Madlax decided to buy the Club Blue 2023 team, rename them DC Dogs and then kicked the rest of the players to the curb.

So yes, that IS the fault of the Madlax club. Are you kidding me?

Anonymous wrote:Generally asking for thoughts (head examinations aside). Question is whether if your child is up for it and on par with others whether club should just be avoided until 3rd or 4th grade?

I would say even later in my humble opinion 5th grade at the earliest. If you look at the current 8th grade team for Madlax you will find that they had a really strong capital team in 3rd and 4th grade. Maybe second grade but my son started in 3rd. There is maybe one player from that team still playing for Madlax. That is not a fault of the club. I think kids need to play many sports at an early age and year round should not start in first or second for this sport.

Generally asking for thoughts (head examinations aside). Question is whether if your child is up for it and on par with others whether club should just be avoided until 3rd or 4th grade?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let's set some facts:

1. Madlax cheated. HOCO rules explicitly say everyone on a team in a certain grade division must all be students in that grade. If the refs had misinterpreted the rule, the league would have corrected them and did not.

2. The Madlax 2025/2026 B team was not very good and played in the 2026 A division (second to worse in 2026). They had a few 2025s on the team. On a team that bad in a division that bad, having older kids on the team is a big difference maker.

3. Saying "Everyone does it and gets away with it" is pathetic

4. If you are putting your 1st grader on a club team, you need your head examined.

So wrt "4. If you are putting your 1st grader on a club team, you need your head examined." if a boy is born a month earlier and therefore in 2nd grade, does the same statement apply?

not PP, how about not joining club lax until 3rd or 4th grade?

Anonymous wrote:Let's set some facts:

1. Madlax cheated. HOCO rules explicitly say everyone on a team in a certain grade division must all be students in that grade. If the refs had misinterpreted the rule, the league would have corrected them and did not.

2. The Madlax 2025/2026 B team was not very good and played in the 2026 A division (second to worse in 2026). They had a few 2025s on the team. On a team that bad in a division that bad, having older kids on the team is a big difference maker.

3. Saying "Everyone does it and gets away with it" is pathetic

4. If you are putting your 1st grader on a club team, you need your head examined.

So wrt "4. If you are putting your 1st grader on a club team, you need your head examined." if a boy is born a month earlier and therefore in 2nd grade, does the same statement apply?

Anonymous wrote:Let's set some facts:

1. Madlax cheated. HOCO rules explicitly say everyone on a team in a certain grade division must all be students in that grade. If the refs had misinterpreted the rule, the league would have corrected them and did not.

2. The Madlax 2025/2026 B team was not very good and played in the 2026 A division (second to worse in 2026). They had a few 2025s on the team. On a team that bad in a division that bad, having older kids on the team is a big difference maker.

3. Saying "Everyone does it and gets away with it" is pathetic

4. If you are putting your 1st grader on a club team, you need your head examined.

Saying everyone does it and gets away with it is not pathetic it is educational. Many people reading like the father of a second grader might not be aware of the issue. This is not specific to Madlax by any means. Not only do teams have re-class kids (legal) they also bring in guest players not on rosters (illegal.) Hoco league does little to nothing to enforce this. This is not new and not unique. USL needs to step up and become a real organization. They had the money to build a large new HQ with a brand new field. They seem to have some influence over NCAA coaches and they know who runs the clubs and tournaments. They can fix this. There are many ways to do this by verifying DOB's having age based events that matter. If they could get the coaches to attend recruiting events that had age based teams through HS the issue would go away. Blaming Madlax or HOCO will do nothing as no one cares that matters.