US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums MID-ATLANTIC LACROSSE MARYLAND FORUM MadLax Lacrosse

Very few Montgomery County kids are going to go to Madlax. Fewer kids in that area will opt for BW (though some still will). Crabs? They will still get some kids from that area.

Madlax is the big loser if NL and DC Express can grow. Right now both clubs only have one good team.

I think Madlax will have to look to go NOVA heavy. If they work on a plan to pull the best 2 or 3 kids off the 2 tier clubs in NOVA they should be able to stay at or near the top at each age level. My suggestion to them is to lower the 2nd State teams fees to the same as the 2nd tier NOVA clubs. This way kids will have the price point of the lower clubs but if they get better as they get older they will be able to move up to the Capital team where the cost in my opinion is worth the money. Can someone provide the total year cost for VLC 2021. I have a way older son and would like compare what these two clubs are costing these days. Oh just do not put the cost, list what that money gets you. I think VLC is a fine club and is on par with Madlax depending what position your son plays and how much playing time he will get on each team.

The problem with trying to go NOVA heavy, is two-fold. First, your average family in Fairfax or Loudon can't foot the exhorbitant Madlax fees. The private school families in DC and MD have more disposable income. If in fact Madlax is losing the DC/MD market, that's the beginning of the end. Second, VLC has a strong corner on the public school market in Fairfax and Loudon. On my kid's 2021 team, there is one private school kid I'm aware of and that kid does not live in VA. Everyone else is public and lives in NOVA. VLC's costs are 1/2 of Madlax's.

Madlax's strength is McLean and Alexandria. Almost all the top youth kids from those areas play for Madlax, although many of them leave Madlax when they hit HS. Alexandria is very important to them which is why he lets that one Alexandria dad do whatever he wants including coaching his son's Madlax team. VLC seems to be very strong east of those areas, especially Fairfax and Loudoun. BW seems to get kids from random areas who don't mind the drive because they want to play for that guy. Cavalier has the Loudoun kids who can't make Madlax or VLC. 3d is dying because they can't put together a strong team.

Madlax and 3d are really expensive, much more than BW or VLC.

Madlax is done in Maryland. There CASE fee is BS. MD parents don't want to drive over the bridge. It's not convenient D.C. express is the new kid on the block. THERE IS NO NEED TO PLAY FOR THE CRAZY MAN. coaching is nothing special. Find a club close to your house.

So how are the Madlax summer tryouts looking? Do we have numbers and talent?

The top 2 or 3 Madlax 2023 players have decided to move onto the Crabs, (Tired of loosing).

They lost their best player last year to the Crabs too

Ok we get it Madlax 2023 is weak. The really good point it why did these 3 or 4 players decide to pass up VLC,Next Level,91, Club blue, DC express, Hawks or any of the other clubs closer to the house? My guess is all of the NOVA 2023 teams are weak and these parents are looking out for the best of their sons. My son is not 2023 so I need people to talk to how good the 2023 NOVA clubs are.

Why no rosters on Madlax site yet? They have had 2 or 3 days of tryouts?

VLC doesn't have a 2023 team yet - they play on a combined 2022/2023 team. It might just be perception - when Madlax finally beat a Crabs team a few years ago (different age group) they made a huge deal about it. So they have always used Crabs as a measuring stick in my opinion. These parents must know that Club Blue beat Crabs in the HOCO finals this year, so it can't be that they believe Crabs is "the best" and nobody else is close. Club Blue, Hawks and Next Level were all close if not equal to Crabs this past HOCO season. And all of them were better than Madlax.

I don't think I'd say Hawks and NL were close to Crabs this season. Crabs beat NL 14-7 and Hawks only played one (Club Blue) of the top 5 teams during the regular season and they lost.

i was looking more at the playoffs. NL lost by 1 to the champ (Club Blue) - same as Crabs did that weekend. I believe Hawks lost by 1 to Club Blue during the regular season. I would say they are all pretty close given those results. I didn't see the 14-7 game but it looks more like an outlier given the scores of the rest of games.

But my overall point was those teams are close enough (given the multiple 1 goal games) that i doubt anyone would be headed to the Crabs because they are "the best" team at this age group. They didn't even win the league playoffs.

Now they might be the best team after adding the top players from Madlax! I guess we will find out this summer.

Madlax.com is not posting the rosters but tryouts were bad. Issue is more and more kids leaving for Crabs, NL, BW, VLC and DC Express.

Rosters are posted on the website now. They seem to have numbers on every team. We will see how good they are but they have the numbers. So until they do not have the numbers to field 2 teams they will keep moving along. For another 20 years.

I don't know what they expected but most clubs are committed for the year in August. Who has Summer only tryouts?

They have 3 tryouts a year. In spring for all the 8th grade and below kids. Then a Summer tryout and a Fall tryout at the same time as the other clubs. These two other tryout dates give the kids a chance to change clubs after a bad spring/summer or fall season with another club. It also allows the parents who are not locked into the travel lacrosse scene to tryout in the spring or summer. This would be the common sense time to tryout for a outdoor spring/summer sport. But to be honest it helps the parent/kid who is never happy with the club they are on a chance to change teams 3 times a year. But what I will promise you and I know some will argue but they do move and add or subtract kids from the top team at each of these tryouts. Madlax will always take the best players for the top teams. All travel sports have politics and I have seen first hand many sports and other travel lacrosse programs and Madlax by far does the best with taking the best and not who they like or who the kids parent is. I have seen them put a child of a stud former All-American player on the second team.

They also gave 2 dad's coaching their own kids. Just like rec ball.

delusional... MADLAX about the money and only about the money...They will drop a kid to bring another kid for the MONEY...club blue coming to town in Virginia it will be a mass exit from madlax.

I do not understand how dropping one kid and picking up another makes them more money? wouldn't that be the same amount of money in Madlaxs pocket. I agree Madlax should do the right thing and just drop the 2nd team for all ages. But if you are making the Capital team and picking another club you are making a bad choice most of the time. The Capital teams are being seen and all playing at a high level across the board. True they are all not top 5 but I would argue they are all top 10 in the country at each age level for sure.

They are not a top 10 team in the 2020 age group

Country???? Bold statement

Just guessing that them winning the Black card this weekend does not put them in the top 10? And just for fun lets say they are only top 15 or top 20 in the US. Can you agree all 70 plus D1 schools watch the top 20 club teams play games at a very good rate? And can we agree the 70 D1 schools do not care if you are on a 10th rank or 20th rank team. But can we agree they do not spend the time watching the clubs out side the top 10 or top 20 teams at a very good rate. My point is there is a value to playing for a top 20 or so club but to argue about 1 vs 9 is not worth it.

No. Here is a list of Madlax teams that are not Top 10 material:

2017
2020
2021
2023

2018 and 2019 are very good and am told their 2024 team is too. But your statement is not true. If you go back further, their older teams that graduated were not top teams, either.

U can add 22 to the list.....see the trend........20, 21, 22, 23.......Cabell Team at 24 (outlier) .........25.....more kids staying with their clubs as they grow thru systems.

Madlax 2021 in the past has not been all that competitive, but that team is much improved and has beaten some very good teams in the last year and has had 1 goal losses to teams that most would consider to be top 5. Madlax 2021 may be top 10, and it may not. This summer likely will shed some light on that.

I think this a fair assessment of 2018 through 2024. Not so shoddy. I know a lot of programs that would kill for this track record.

2018 Top 5 in Nation
2019 Top 5 in Nation
2020 Not Top 10
2021 Top 10 in Nation (3rd in HoCo Elite)
2022 Top 10 in Nation (5th in HoCo Elite)
2023 Not Top 10
2024 Top 5 in Nation (1st in HoCo AA)

who cares...ranking youth teams and HS club...delusional...HS teams will become more important then clubs... and youth clubs, its about getting the tee shirt from the tournaments, the kids don't care.

I guess the real question is how many teams get the most chances to be seen by the D1 coaches. I would say top 20 teams for sure and as high as top 30 club teams get seen the most. So I would say being "ranked 2" or "ranked 25" in the country is really the same when it comes to being seen by D1 coaches. I would also say the cut off is being on a top 30 team at any grade group is a near must to be seen by multiple D1 coaches at a high rate. Any D1 kid that signs from a none top 30 club I would call a true standout athlete. I would bet he would fit the 6 foot plus stud, stands out no matter what the game looks like. I think the best way to prove my point is to look at Ty Xanders commitment list for 2018,2019 and 2020. This list has the club teams next to the names. So using this list of kids you can see there is about 30 club names that pop up double digit times on all three lists. So these are real numbers someone with lots of time please count it up for me and post it here.

While I agree with the above the key is what tournaments the club plays at more than the ranking. Even top D1 programs really have little in the way of recruiting resources and the tournaments provide easy access to a large group players looking to play at the next level. The coaches do not watch for the score and rarely watch the entire game. However, they may not attend a tournament if it does not have many of the top teams participating.

I think you are still inline with my thinking of a top 30. Because in my research of tournaments for each weekend of the summer I would say there is 2 maybe 3 worthwhile a weekend. So if each one has 10-15 teams per grade this would give you a top 30. So just to be safe lets try to come up with a Ranking of clubs for a top 25. This top 25 list for each grad year does really not need to be a 1 through 25, We as parents really just need a, "this club at this grad year is a top 25 team". Then once your son gets on this team just start to work on his game and getting better.

https://recruitingrundown.com/commitment-center/2018-commitments/

The following lists the 2018 class by clubs and I do not think the facts fit this narrative. You say we as parents really just need a confirmation that the club is top 25? "MadLax in my opinion is top 25." Does that work? I think rankings as they relate to recruiting however is a far different story. I know several college coaches and they are interested in recruiting players and not clubs. Parents should consider what they want or expect from a club carefully. In my opinion coaches do not go to tournaments not to "find" players but to watch a player they are already interested in. This interest in generated by a recommendation, a camp, or in most cases a player can email the coach directly. Even with the new rules it does not violate the rule for a player to email a coach and let them know "I am very interested in your program here is my summer schedule." With the limited resources, coaches do not want to waste time go after a player that is not interested or not a good fit for the school. If a player shows interest and is at the right tournament they will go and watch them play. This is where the club should be considered carefully. If a player is a third tier player on a strong club v. a star player on another club will this help or hurt? I see in many cases players choose a a club but they are there to help other players get recruited. It is fun to be on a top rated club but it may not be the best way to get recruited if you are a third attack or second line middie. Then again maybe that is exactly what the coach is looking for. There are some clubs with multiple recruits because they attract great players. The numbers do not support the idea that getting on a top 25 club is a sure fire way to recruitment.

I think I understand your thoughts on recruiting. I agree its better to start on club ranked #25 and turn down the spot to be the 5th attackman on club ranked #4. I really like the point you made that our sons should be emailing all the schools still they want to play for. Even if they can not write you back tell sept 1st.
But I guess my question to you is my son has been offered 5th attackman spot on team ranked #25 or he can be a starter on club ranked #45 or lower? What should I do?

Another large factor in this guessing game is what is the size and speed of your son. My thoughts are if he is larger and really fast he can play for club ranked #70 and still go D1. But what is your thoughts on the best plan for a High IQ, high skill but smaller slower player? I would say this player needs to go for the highest ranking club he can get. He will have to prove he can play with the best players in front of the scouts as many times as possible. I would even say this kid should take the 5th attackman spot on the top team.

And why I got you here what are your thoughts on the committed kids skipping tournaments as related to the kids uncommitted on his team. I have heard two ways to look at it. The committed kid not being there gives another kid playing time to be seen. Or the other thought is when the committed kid skips the tournament in theory the team will do worse and the scouts will watch another game.

First, I think you are asking the correct questions. The answer, however is not one size fits all. Different coaches have varying evaluation methods and the key is to get as much communication as possible with the school and the coaches you are interested in and then express that interest very clearly. Camps may be a great way to do this. They cannot recruit you but you can seek them and speak with players or other members of the staff, they will record this interest. In this way the advantage may be back to the player, with the new rules that prohibit recruiting until JR year. I think it also varies based on the school. D1 is a wide range, JHU probably does not have the same recruiting style as Mt. Saint Mary or HighPoint. The top D1 programs are different from the bottom. The top D3 programs>than bottom D1. You also have to consider private v. public and the academic pedigree some schools need kids with really high GPA to offset the kids with lower GPA. Google AI index for college sports. There is a formula they must average at many IVY and IVY "like" schools such as Colgate and Bucknell.

There is a benefit to being on a top 25 team in that it can get the player access to coaches but there are other ways as well. If they go to watch your son play and he does not get as many minutes or he plays D v. and inferior team does he show well?? I spoke with a D1 coach about recruiting a goalie from a top program and he went to watch the goalie and was more impressed with the other goalie of the loosing team as the winning team dominated and he did not see much in the way of shots on goal. The key is to find the right balance and be realistic about expectations. If we rank the top 45 to 50 teams more kids are recruited from the top half of the lower ranked teams than the bottom half kids from the top ranked teams (if that makes sense)

As far as committed kids skipping tournaments I would be more concerned as a coach that a kid "skipped" a tournament. Even a verbal commitment as now a JR is not official until the LOI is signed SR year. The kids still need to play I would then question their passion for the sport. Committing to a program is a step forward and not a ending. As far as it making the team non-competitive I would think that would not mean much. The coach came to see a player and not the club. Coaches typically do not check tourney machine to see who advanced in the tournament. The key is to discuss playing time with the coaches. If they coach is interested in watching your son play make sure he plays. As far as size goes I would recruit IQ over size.
Some kids are just gamers and this starts with IQ. Look at Matt Ward one of the best local kids ever and one of the best at UVA's history he is maybe 5'7" and I think the starting attackman at Ohio State this year was 5'7" 170 lbs and from Alabama! Good luck to your son

Wow claims that are not backed up. Just because teams compete in a league in howard county means they are tops in the country? I watched the 2022 to 2021 teams and I would not say that either o e of them are top 10 is the country. Maybe top 15 to 20 but not much more than that.

Wow claims that are not backed up. Just because teams compete in a league in howard county means they are tops in the country? I watched the 2022 to 2021 teams and I would not say that either o e of them are top 10 is the country. Maybe top 15 to 20 but not much more than that.

Get a life you while you're at it [lacrosse].

^^^You should give us your top 20 power rankings for each 2022 and 2021 youth club lacrosse programs nationwide. You must be the Peter King of 7th and 8th grade lax.

Get a life while you're at it [lacrosse].

Please back your claims up that either one of these teams are TOP teams. I love how you call people [lacrosse] when people are just making factual points against the post. I can tell you after the NLF 2022 tournament from last weekend the only team missing RR. The madlax team may have won 1 game.

I didn't make a claim and you didn't provide any facts, just an opinion. My opinion is that aside from the Hawks, any of those teams are comparable. We'll see in the 2022 National Tourney at John Caroll. Compile your list though.

2022 National tourney will be a joke . Who can fly people on their team and get the most holdbacks from other teams to play on your team

Well if you read, me and the other guys post above and below you will see that if Madlax is in the top 30 of clubs in the country this is really all that matters when it comes to your sons personal success. The top 30 clubs in the country get the bulk of the eyes on them. So if your son has the skill set he will get that D1 spot. But to argue about who is 5th and who is 8th at the 2022 age level is really crazy. This age group will have full sidelines very soon and they should be worrying about each kids skill set and increasing it as much as possible.