US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums NORTHEAST LACROSSE BOTC MAIN FORUM (LI, CT, WC) Boys 2027-9th Grade Fall 2023/Summer 2024

Use this thread to discuss lacrosse pertaining to 9th Grade Boys (2027 Grads) for the Fall 2023/Summer 2024 Season.

Posted this in 2025 and 2026 forums. Again shocked there are zero posts in this thread which is probably appropriate as club ball less important in high school except for recruiting. Just trying to be helpful with an opinion but trolls, feel free to troll

This is long so feel free to scroll on by.

For those interested in 2025 recruiting this post is only my opinion as everyone’s experience is different. Background: 2 kids who just went through this. One got into a top 30 D1 academic school without lacrosse and is not playing lacrosse at that school. Other got into a top 40 academic school and will hopefully play MCLA. Both had a good amount of recruitment but none to their liking as academics were more of their focus.

First decide if what is more important, academics or lax. If it’s academics then high d1, high d3, high MCLA is the way to go. If it’s lax, you have plenty of choices with the rest of d1, all if d2 and low-mid d3 and a plethora of MCLA. If your interest is:

High D1 (top 20): it’s never too late but times running short. Coaches always keep 1-2 spots open but your chances of getting in are low. The name of the game is connections: if you aren’t from a top lax High School (or less important a top Lax Club) your chances are low. If you look at the rosters of these colleges, almost all of them have come from a powerhouse High School. Since all these schools are also excellent academic schools, you have to have the grades. Don’t think that lax will make exceptions for you. You have to be an exceptional player to be that’s exception and they have already made their commitments. Otherwise, your grades have to be in the ballpark.

Mid D1 - not too late but now is your go time. Good news, with the exception of Dartmouth and Colgate, the academics needed to get in are not as rigorous

Low D1 - academics are usually not a concern. My kids were still getting interest through March of their SENIOR year

D2 - really not on par academically but some great lax programs. I believe they are are able to reach out to you starting June 15 after your sophomore year.

Really High d3 (NESCAC, Swarthmore, washLee [am I missing any others]) - again, academics are a necessity to get in. They used to start making offers June/July after your JUNIOR a year but NESCAC pushed their back to august, presumedly while awaiting the Supreme Court decision. Don’t know what will be this year

Slightly less high d3 (centennial, chris Newport, Salisbury , colorado college, liberty, MAC, ODAC) - some are better schools but there is some great lax programs where academics are not as competitive

Mid-low d3 - tough to be these schools recruiting. Spots are always open. You may have gotten letters accepting you without even talking to you. It lax is your focus and academics not so much? Then you can always find a spot here

MCLA - 3 divisions with D1 being the best (they have tryouts for some as the rosters have kids from great lax high schools). Such a good under appreciated option for those kids where academics are important. How much more fun would it be to play against Clemson, BC, Stanford, Northeastern, VaTech, Florida, BYU, USC, UCLA, Texas, GaTech, The down side is you ain’t playing on national TV and you have to pay your own way. But on the flip side, A LOT less practice. D2 and d3 more like true club but they do travel.

A couple other points:

Don’t despair by the amount of social media commitments since Sep 1. My kids were getting recruited up to the day they set foot on campus. It’s obviously not too late to get recruited. With 80 D1, 75 D2, 250 D3 programs there is a spot if lacrosse is your main priority.

Most lax players seem to go into finance. But if you are STEM focused, don’t tell them you are STEM focused. A lot of schools don’t want someone tied up in labs and missing practices.

Be wary of prospect days. Many are done just to supplement income for coaches. You will get a ton of invites. How to distinguish? If they mention something in their letter that your kid did specifically (not the rando “we saw you at ‘x’ tourney and were ‘really impressed’) or if they contacted your coach who recommended you to go. That being said if your kid really wants to go then by all means, they should go.

Don’t count on a full scholarship. As one coach said they would rather split the scholarship money amongst 12 recruits rather than give someone a full ride.

Enjoy the process but don’t make a lax commitment and sacrifice academics. I’ve seen too many kids go to a “lesser” school just to commit. College lax is just four more years. College itself is a lifetime decision.

Again, just an opinion and trying to be helpful and not anecdotal because there are always exceptions. Everyone has different priorities. Please post if there are any gross errors. I’m sure I missed a lot so please add on because I wish we had better guidance when we went through it. Good luck to everyone.

Great information. After having gone through the process I totally agree. I found the most frustrating thing to be that if you are not coming from a known powerhouse lacrosse school- which are all predominantly private schools- it can be very hard to get the right attention. I committed sending my son to public school because it is excellent academically, better than the private schools, and I wanted him to have an education in a diverse (in several ways) environment, much like the real world. The problem is that it is not a “known lacrosse” school and even though they are good, some coaches won’t even look at kids or have a significant bias. This issue has gotten so much worse in lax over the past 10 years. Rosters were much more diverse years ago. This is such a disservice to lacrosse because it is making the community more elitist, less inclusive and limiting access. It’s gets so tiresome when you see all the old “lax bro” stereotypes being fulfilled right before your eyes.

I hear you. Equity and access is an issue in lax and I think you are right that the gap between haves and have nots is getting larger. Connections are the name of the game. I will say that many of these prep schools are hopefully creating fine young athletes. I’ve seen less of the lax bro culture compared to previous years, still there but seems less prevalent. I’m sure it all worked out great for your kid though!

Diversity in lacrosse? It’s never been a diverse sport, ever, not 35 years ago and not now. If anything it’s far more diverse now than ever before. But it’s still a sport for rich kids. Lower income kids have no interest because there’s no scholarship money

Unfortunately for the most part the recruiting at the higher programs has moved to older kids who play one sport that are in private/boarding schools. Kids that come from wealthy families and are completely overtrained.

The amount of public school kids that play multiple sports and who especially are on age, has declined significantly over the last few years and will only continue. So many kids are playing in the mid-west.

Long Island is really the only area that puts the latter out so keep it up!!! Also these coaches are complete clowns in many ways, I just don’t think they really know how to evaluate any talent speaking from experience.

Cannot wait to my kid absolutely pounds on these types of kids at the next level.

Not only that. Where is the diversity in basketball and Football? Seems the diversity you seek is alive and well there. In fact, your so-call 'lax bros' are underrepresented in these other sports. But you dont seem to have a problem with that.

And by the way.. When did AOC take over this 2027 chat?? Save the woke non-sense for somewhere else..

Are you an actual adult or a 14 year old?

Good to see snowflakes just aren’t a term for the left because it looks like we have easily triggered anti AOC snowflake right here who seems to be easily offended not sure what AOC has do do with any of this, did she play lax?)

Access to lacrosse is an equity issue and has been problem because the demographics don’t cater to allowing for entry into the sport. If you have any interest in growing the sport (and I suspect you have no desire to do so) the sport will have to expand out of its current club lax and prep school dominated demographic.

Nobody is crying about basketball and footbal because it’s not an equity access issue that has prohibitive barriers from including participants. Soccer also doesn’t have the same problem. But sports like rowing, squash, fencing, skiing also have those issue and lax and other sports that are similar like tennis and hockey run the risk of being relegated to the country club demographic.

It’s really ok to have these conversations without being triggered. Or do you prefer the normal “this club stinks” “reclass” conversations?

Agree with all of the previous poster’s comments, except I think soccer does have an equity access issue. Not as bad as lacrosse for sure, but a lot of families can’t afford the travel and private coaches, so their kids (who may be bettter athletes and better natural soccer players) never get to move up to the next level. It’s why US soccer [Censored] on the world stage.

As long as the current club model for lacrosse is in play, I can’t see how anyone but upper-middle class and above can afford to keep up.

My bad. You are right about soccer. I was too quick to judge it as the universal sport that everyone has access to around the world but yes, in the US, the club year round soccer model and pay-to-play model is bad and does hurt us on the world stage.

Sorry to offend those who are worried about too much competition, but I actually was thinking that it would be great to have more kids playing lacrosse because it would increase the competition and ultimately lead to a better game… more creativity, more fun to watch, larger fan base, not to mention the more kids that play sports the better off they are and they are our future leaders… There are actually fewer kids playing sports today than 20 years ago because of the club model creeping in and pricing many families out. AAU in basketball has shut down many rec programs as well as the club program in soccer, etc.. The only sport that is relatively untouched right now is football because there is not a strong club/ off season option. I was a three sport athlete and 2 sport athlete at the collegiate level and know how it benefitted me. I guess I was hopeful that people were sincere in wanting great opportunities for kids today.

Be careful. Your insightful well reasoned opinion might be interpreted as “woke” and may trigger some people. I agree current club lax and prep school model doesn’t keep some, it keeps most of the gen pop out of lax. That’s why growth has flattened and likely declined.

Looking for a good Winter Showcase for my son. Any suggestions? Would like to stay local...

Very quiet LI. Tough weekend?

Lol....I guess they found out what happens when they don't control the tournament brackets and play top competition

What happened?

Long Island teams were 2-10 overall at NAL.

It’s Fall ball, so it’s likely some kids were missing and/or rusty, and Machine played played in the premier pool, but it was still surprising to see them go 0-3 and get blown out by BBL and Mad Dog.

LI Express (Haugen) went 0-3 as well. They played some pretty good teams, but are obviously not in the same form they were in last summer.

S2S managed to win a couple games and Express North goes 0-3.

The people posting in here have NO idea what they are talking about with regards to coaches and recruiting.

If you think college coaches won't recruit your son because they play for a public school, maybe your son just isn't good enough. Coaches will always find the talented kids.

LI Teams were 4-11 Overall at NAL.

Agree to a certain extent. Those pipelines between colleges and private school are becoming tighter. More and more too college rosters are littered with prep school kids. Sure there are public school kids but it’s becoming less and less. It’s not to say that aren’t just as good. It’s just easier to buy your groceries where you’ve been shopping lately.

Your High School has little to do with it. Maybe some
Unique cases. Speaking from experience. The club your son plays at means everything. And I stress “plays” not bench cheerleader.

All club teams should be required to "show" their rosters before each tournament. If its a 17 year old playing a 14 year old, then so be it. But at least its a known risk. Tired of seeing 2027 games that look like Michigan v. the local the high school. Why the guessing game?

Gonna have to disagree with this one. Look at the rosters of the top d1 / d3 rosters. The vast majority are from really good lacrosse powerhouses. Your high school has almost everything to do with it. In the Northeast and Mid Atlantic alone you have the Founders league, Lawrenceville, ISL, MIAA, Massachusetts Hugh Schools, St Anthony’s, Chaminade, etc to begin with

I would say high school is way more important than club to get into a top college. Club is definitely a good supplement but not the deciding factor. Club probably more important for lower. Lax colleges

Okay, we can disagree. But speaking from experience.

What's going on with Machine - Not winning like they used to. Time to fly in the mid-west players soon!!!!!

Things change when you get to HS and everyone has hit puberty. Being a student in the youth lacrosse ages doesn't always translate into being a student HS player.

Why? You realize you don’t have to play club right? Don’t like it stay home, but no one really care that you’re tired of it.

I care. Keep fighting the good fight!

I'm guessing this is a 91 parent complaining about older kids on rosters . That's what usually happens when they get spanked . Machine went down to Delaware for the NAL and went 0-3 in embarrassing fashion . I bet they never step foot onto the field at another NAL where they can't control the brackets . Stick to NLF where you can control the brackets , go 3-0 and then you won't have to complain about older kids .

Backtracing this to June when BBL & Machine played at NAL and 91 won 9-8. And now this November BBL won 8-0. That’s a 17 goal swing in 5 months.

In your opinion, what was the on field difference to cause that type of swing?

Teams make adjustments...they also add a few players that are difference makers after tryouts and possibly one team hungrier then the other . Happens all the time in sports. But according to social media 91 is " so back" after controlling their bracket at the NLF and beating down bad teams , so I guess they worked out their kinks lol. Guess we will see what happens at the next NAL in the spring ...that's if 91 goes back .

So you didn’t see the game then? Just an axe to grind with 91 and NLF. Thanks for the insight.

Wrong 91 dad .....was absolutely there and watched . Typical brainless 91 response " axe to grind" " you're jealous of 91" etc......i could write the script for your sad responses. Go back to crying about older kids ...that what you do when you lose

Love how the conversation gets diverted to 91 haters. The original post was about holdbacks, and playing teams that have many of them that look like double holdbacks. It would be good for coaches/parents to know the ages going into tournaments, so that they could decide "you know what, let's not put our 14/15 yr olds in a position to play multiple 16/17 yr olds." Sprinkle in a little HGH, and it looks like they are playing against The Rock and friends, in what should be freshman lacrosse. It just gets IAmInsecure notIntelligent

My friend ....nobody wants to hear you whining about holdbacks ...that conversation got old a year ago and unfortunately you're still at it . Move on already and think of something new when your son's team loses . Or just gave the fact that possibly your son and his team just aren't that good . But take your crying elsewhere....maybe one of the other parents in your son's team can lend a shoulder to cry on

It's so strange how lacrosse players are so much larger in other parts of the country. You're right, they must have different diets there or in those programs. We'll have to get their nutritional plan.

I suppose it's the season of excuses . Have heard it all now . Teams with 30 man rosters lose and say " we are missing a few kids " lol.....teams lose and I hear " the kids drove their own car to the game "...it's really unbelievable. Just look in the mirror . Perhaps your coaching isn't that great when you have 30 kids but still lose badly when you have 3 kids missing or maybe your kid can't hack playing with a few kids older than him ....which will be the case in the spring anyway if he's in high school . Way too much whining and excuses in lacrosse.

in all seriousness, do you think there are parents that give there kids HGH in their teens years to get an advantage in athletics? I've heard talk about that in football.

I think it happens. I had a conversation with a lax dad recently where they made reference to it. I thought they were joking at first but thinking about it later I it seemed like they were serious. I've heard it discussed multiple times by parents with kids on the smaller size who were contemplating if/when they should have their son start taking it.

We've all run into our share of parents who unabashedly will do anything to give their kid an advantage. It's only natural that this would include HGH.

Yes. Far more prevalent than you might think.

Please stop this insanity. Every parent of a kid who isn’t as good as his competition makes excuses. That’s the real problem with lacrosse, parents who cannot accept the truth. Always an excuse as to why their kid isn’t the best player on the field. Ridiculous

That's very sad if that has in fact become "only natural". We are taking about lacrosse.....with the exception of posaibihelpjng a kid get into a school they otherwise would not it is a dead end sport with no future in terms of professional careers with money making ability like other professional sports . So first we accepted hood backs etc ...with parents justifying their kid getting an advantage and graduating at 24 years old from college ...now we're at the point where we are accepting parents pumping their kids full of substance to get an advantage.....again ...all for a sport with no future. Very very sad

So to recap.
Reclass your kid in K, 8th grade or both.
Then put them on HGH.
Prep school for a PG year.
Redshirt their first yr of college.
Brag about them playing in College.
Then they take a job working for one of their peers who graduated on time 3-4 yrs before them.
See a Dr for side effects of HGH use. Diabetes, heart disease and blood clots.
Have them talk to a therapist weekly about how their parents screwed up their lives.

It is sad but unfortunately it exists. The "dead end sport" is a moot point though. It's never been about a future career in lacrosse for these families. It's 100% about getting into an elite school or being able to brag about their kid playing D1. It's basically the Varsity Blues approach but cheaper and legal.

Where in that statement is an excuse? I accept that other parents will go to extremes I won't and I'm 100% content with my decisions. I always tell my kids that the playing field is never level in sports or in life - you'll have advantages over some and others will have advantages over you - get over it.

Is there any way to point out and acknowledge a serious problem in the sport that isn't "making excuses"?

Holdbacks, reclasses, HGH use .....what's next ?

To expand on the above posters point ....what happens after college ? In the real world and this is from a real experience that was passed on ....a kid goes to hey an interview at a job and the interviewing manager asks " what did you do in college besides play lacrosse"
...and that kid didn't make it oasg the first round of interviews. So if your kid will be content running lacrosse clinics when he graduates....start to focus on the grades and what matters most ..which is a good education that can help you with whatever you decide to do as a real career in the future .

There’s no HGH use, just disgruntled parents whose kids aren’t as talented making excuses for them. First it was holdback keeping their kids down, now it’s HGH, which if anyone knew anything about, would understand the difficulty of even obtaining it, keeping (needs to be refrigerated) and the insane cost, which is about $3000-$5000 a month on the black market. It’s a notIntelligent sad claim. Your kid [Censored], get over it.

Guess this topic hit a little too close to home!

Guy knows a lot about HGH but no one is using it. Just believe him and bury your head in the sand.

Your son is neither athletic nor very good at lacrosse. Therefore you make up excuses, I don’t, my kid either gets it done or doesn’t, he’s better than some and not as good as others. I don’t make excuses for him like you do for your son. That’s it.

lol.. Sounds about right.. Living the dream... haha.

Sounds like the 91 way!

Can someone in the know list the top 5 showcases

Pssst....no one cares about wins and losses anymore. Or rankings. It's about recruiting now. Being seen and being the best possible player.

Time for parents to lose their brand name club egos and focus on helping their boys get better.

pp didn't ask about clubs, he asked about showcases.

Sounds like the rantings of a parent of a subpar athlete.

I can’t believe we’re still talking about reclasses in high school.

In the know, not sure but my opinion based on navigating 2 high D1 kids through the process over the last 2 years.

1- Showtime- it’s the grand daddy of them all. All Star teams pre ordained but getting in alone adds credibility
2- Main Stage- Great event. Felt it was less pre ordained and venue is terrific.
3- Juniors Open- Philadelphia is not a place for a showcase
4- Inside Lacrosse- Get on their radar at their event.
5- OnePercent- Dont like it and didnt do it. Completely pre ordained but there are coaches there and it is NLF heavy.
6- Prospect days if you are not the pre ordained may have just as much value. One coach told us there is getting in to the showcase which is great but they are watching the all star game which are kids they request to see or that club coaches influence having on there.

5th can be debated but if you look at generating views and the ranking systems IL and the NLF 1% have their own value.

just went through the process last year and these were my takeaways

1- Showtime- its is what it is, but do not panic if you dont get the look - plenty of kids going to top 10 lax programs that did not attend
2- Juniors open sidelines were absolutely packed, i would say as much as Showtime- Philly is tough, parking was tough , hotels were pricey - but 1000000000% worth it
3- main stage was awesome, except day 1 of the 2 day event was a dead period , so no coaches
4- One Percent is a waste unless you already ranked and your just looking to stay on Chandiks good side , not a ton of coaches- most parents just checking off that NLF Box
5- NLF 120 - it was good event - saw a fair amount of good coaches , but only 2 games,

6- Nike all star , last year it was absolutely packed packed with coaches - it was the day after Main stage and all those coaches traveled 20 minutes north to Nike (this year it may conflict)

one thing to be aware of, some tourneys Sweetlax, NALF, Yale Bulldog prior to the Prime time tourney have pre event clinics that in my opinion are very very good. , lets say your son lights it up, decent chance a coach shows up to watch him the next day

just finish on 2 things

1- if your son is a top ranked player , etc, you can get away with a combination of 2 of these showtime, mainstage , juniors etc plus maybe a prospect camp

2- communicate with your hs coaches, and directors prior to these events as advocate is essential

Best in Class as well -is very very good,. each year it gets better and better in terms of college coaches , but the instruction is A pLUS

I would add "The Show" as a showcase to consider. It really helped my older son get looks from some mid-Atlantic and southern schools that hadn't seen him up here. And it's not pre-ordained at all. My son made the all-star team and was under the radar leading up to it.

I wish more understood the “preordained”
It is alive and well. The parents that hustled and schmoozed know what I mean.

Amen to this.

I do find it interesting that so many are focused on the rich kids. I think it’s more the good ole boy my dad is friends with so and so more than his dad is rich. I watch some lax moms maneuver like nobodies business. It’s who you know for sure. As someone calls it “preordained”
Maybe networking is another word. But if you aren’t networking it seems your kid will get lost in the shuffle.

Someone keeps coming on here

Someone keeps coming on here trying to bait people to say something bad about high school players. As the pp said, coaches will find talent.

Okay, keep believing in your little fantasy. But if you just look at facts you’ll see the truth. Or keep fooling yourself, no one really cares.

Years ago took my kid to a clinic run by a professional lacrosse player. All went well, he was a great guy and taught the kids a bunch. We all leave and the pro gets into his beaten up Hyundai Elantra that he barely fits into. This is not a sport that will make you rich. Graduate on time.

Hey clown, ever think he loves what he does? You’re a typical lax parent, judgmental and an a.h.

You can love what you do and do what you love but you don’t need to reclass to do it. Sounds like we hit a re lass parent nerve though hahaha

Truth

"The Greatest Commodity in the world is Time" - Gordan Gekko

Any thoughts on The Show? It’s in October 2027’s only

Anyone do Excelsior? How was it?

Terrible...the whole organization is a bait & switch. STAY AWAY!!!!!

That means your kid can’t play!

Anything run by LILJ for boys is a joke . The family who runs LILJ ran FLG boys club into the ground and now tries to make money with these "showcases" among other things for boys. They also are trying to do high school rankings now lol.....they know nothing about boys lacrosse on long island and are just fed information from a few coaches that they know in exchange for propping up some of the coaches boys and club teams . Complete joke and money grab .

Do you think it’s the same for girls too?

Agree - LILJ is like a paid marketing firm for mediocre lacrosse players who like to see their names and pictures on the LILJ IG page....

Rosters are out for the LILJ All 91 Games.

They having a paid team practice.

This is true. Did Excelsior last year. Waste of time and money. At least it's local this year.

I can help get your kids on the LILJ watchlists if they care about meaningless Instagram fame.

Even worse....they added a "combine " this year . They keep grasping at straws to be relevant. And of course to top it off they broadcast some games on YouTube....if you happen to watch one and listen to them try to commentate a boys high school game you will probably turn it off after 2 minutes. They don't know a thing about boys lacrosse.on long island . Time to give it up winks .....nobody goes back to your excelsior after the first time there now so they go back to your silly " winter showcases " and the test if your " be seen " events . They have local coaches calling people up to fill these events now because nobody will go back
Stick to your girl lacrosse tournamenta that you run and stop embarrassing yourselves