Anonymous wrote:Both the Madlas 25s and the 26s looked good down in Florida this weekend. Hopefully this will translate into success at the WSYL.

What did the brackets look like? Any good Long Island, Maryland teams there? Are Madlax tournaments really representative of national talent?

Both the Madlas 25s and the 26s looked good down in Florida this weekend. Hopefully this will translate into success at the WSYL.

Anonymous wrote:I wonder if the boys are as wrapped up in this as the parents.

Doubtful

I wonder if the boys are as wrapped up in this as the parents.

ML if that even matters

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Adding on. Based on the tryout participation at ML, they better send out invites and give free registration. There were no top players at the tryout from other teams. And that goes for BlackOps too in that there were no top tier Madlax payers there

I agree, from what I saw at black ops tryouts the ML kids were ok but not standouts. It’s conceivable some get an invite, but I would be surprised.

Not ML, but there was one really solid non NL, VLC, DCE attack or mid at Black Ops tryouts,. couldn't see which position he was trying out for.

Ok I will bite. Which team does your son play for?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Adding on. Based on the tryout participation at ML, they better send out invites and give free registration. There were no top players at the tryout from other teams. And that goes for BlackOps too in that there were no top tier Madlax payers there

I agree, from what I saw at black ops tryouts the ML kids were ok but not standouts. It’s conceivable some get an invite, but I would be surprised.

Not ML, but there was one really solid non NL, VLC, DCE attack or mid at Black Ops tryouts,. couldn't see which position he was trying out for.

Anonymous wrote:Adding on. Based on the tryout participation at ML, they better send out invites and give free registration. There were no top players at the tryout from other teams. And that goes for BlackOps too in that there were no top tier Madlax payers there

I agree, from what I saw at black ops tryouts the ML kids were ok but not standouts. It’s conceivable some get an invite, but I would be surprised.

Adding on. Based on the tryout participation at ML, they better send out invites and give free registration. There were no top players at the tryout from other teams. And that goes for BlackOps too in that there were no top tier Madlax payers there

HaHaHa what a joke. If Madlax had to send out invites it's because most of their 25's and 26's are too old for the respective rosters and what's left of the rest of the roster isn't good enough to get out of qualifying. Madlax might get 1 or 2 players from off their roster willing to switch and same goes for BlackOps but only if they switch clubs by paying full registration up front. NL was burned by this 2 years ago and they aren't falling for it again by Madlax.

You're right that I do not know Cabell M, but I do know the program's reputation, so I assume your point is that he would not allow MadLax players to play for Black Ops and remain in MadLax. I get what you are saying and that is exactly my point - there will be movement among all four teams in the coming weeks and months. Boys frequently change teams in 7th or 8th grade, and based on sideline discussion with other parents, all four of the 2026 teams seem to have their issues. Aligning with the "right" WSYL team, whichever that might be, is one more factor that families will consider when deciding whether to switch clubs.

You apparently don't know Cabell M.

I don't think that the prior poster's assessments of "zero chance" are accurate. Consider this:

(1) Exceptional, non-MadLax players definitely were offered Monument spots, without paying $75, and without attending a tryout; in fact almost every non-MadLax travel player within 100 miles (including my son) received an email out of the blue that he had been "scouted" and invited to try out for $75; but the best players received a different email, inviting them to ahead and register for Monument team itself; whatever anybody might say, there is no time limit on those offers - if one of those players called MadLax in February and asked if they could still be on the team, the answer would be "absolutely."

(2) Nobody is being asked to pay $1,300 to Monument now; the cost is $390 at registration; $400 in February; $400 in May;

(3) if a dominant MadLax player expressed interest in joining Black Ops at any time up to the roster deadline, they would take him; that is one reason why so many players were invited to return for another tryout January 26 but not promised a spot;

There will be movement because some players will migrate to whichever team looks more likely to advance out of the qualifiers. Some will go in the other direction in order to be a starter or get more playing time, especially if the teams are likely to stick together beyond July. Being one of the bottom five players on the Black Ops roster surely will appeal to some families, but not others.

Even players who have paid the first installment of $390 to one team or the other could be up for grabs until the last minute. Plenty of families would be happy to walk from 390 in order to get on the better team; and, each team would probably credit a family $390 toward enrollment in order to steal a good player that meets a position need or is an upgrade.

There is zero chance Madlax players were offered no-tryout-invites to blackops. There is zero chance other club players were offered Monument team spots without paying the $75 tryout fee and committing the $1300 by now.

Don't assume that offers are 100% correlated to tryouts. It is typical for exceptional players to be offered roster spots outside of the tryout process.