Anonymous wrote:Why is the Virginia side of the river so light on clubs during the early years? Is it just that the sport is not as big there? You have Madlax, but they bring in kids from all over the DMV. VLC starts having clubs a year later but seems to draw more from deeper into Fairfax County and on into Loudon. True seems mostly super disorganized with the occasional solid team here or there from a parent that pulled a group from a bigger club. Why isn't Top Caliber more of a thing? Is TSJ even trying any more?

Anonymous wrote:Get them on the best team they can play meaningful minutes. That might be an elite team, it might not. Being on elite teams and not playing is not good and it happens a lot.

Anonymous wrote:IMO the experience will depend heavily on the coach/coaches and other parents/players on the team, probably more that than on what helmet they wear. You see this all the time where a program will have a great 2029 team and a terrible 2030 team or vice versa.

I would try to figure out who will be coaching each team and see if you vibe with them. (And accept that the entire team will probably move or fall apart at some point between now and 9th grade.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IMO it's so much more nuanced than meaningful minutes or good coaching. Meaningful minutes all while playing bad lacrosse? Not meaningful. And, yes, coaches are definitely important but defining "good coaching" is akin to defining cereal as a soup or whether socks with sandals is acceptable.

I have no idea what you're trying to say here with cereal as soup. Do you just mean that it's hard to define good coaching? If so then you could just write that without weird, tortured analogies, but I think you'd still be wrong. A good coach is one who is organized, clear with expectations, and focused on long-term development.

Having had multiple kids go through the club scene with the oldest mow in the thick of college recruiting I can emphatically say it’s not that black and white, it never is.