There seems to be some changes going on within this age group. Any insights?

What do you mean?

What changes?

nothing important

Based on the current group of Maryland/VA/PA 2031 team. What do you think is the ranking of the girls' team currently??

Here is my take on the teams that I've seen. Please feel free to post yours and share your thoughts.

M&D Black 2031
Heroes Green 2031

Further away:

MD United East 2031

Much further away:

Coppermine Black Central 2031

Much much further away

NEMs 2031
Integrity Green 2031
Aces Elite 2031
Pride Red 2031
Limelight Green 2031
Skywalker 2031
NXT Black 2031
HoCo Black 2031
Heroes White 2031
etc.

It's M&D and Heros. Then everyone else. Heros has the best player in the age group and she was able to get them to a 7-7 tie with M&D two weekends ago. M&D was up 5-2 and then 7-4 LATE before she took over. This weekend will be the game that shows who is on top. M&D is deeper and more talented overall, can they put it all together?

Can't disagree with above. Super talented teams. Sadly, this weekend won't tell us anything. Nearly half of M&D's team are missing the Hero's game on 11/11 at 12:00 PM due to soccer tournaments. That'll make for an easy win for Hero's.

The tourney format gets top 2 teams into playoffs from the bracket, and Maryland United doesn't have to play either Hero's or M&D in bracket play. Hero's and Maryland United will both go 4-0 in bracket play and we won't see a 2nd Hero's v. M&D game this weekend, barring something unlikely and a lot of tie-breakers going M&D's way. It'll be fun to see Hero's v. M&D in 2024! Great players on both Teams!

Couldn’t disagree more with this comment. M&D has a deep and talented roster. Maybe some kids missing will allow others to showcase their skills! Heros will be a tough game no matter what but, I wouldn’t count “your” team out just yet.

M and D is so good. Is the heros player who you say is the best the one who is very tall?

Ah, good news that the games have changed. We'll actually get to see that this Sunday. The games have been pushed back on Saturday with two games and other two regular games on Sunday along with 20-minutes semi-final and final. I think if all things aligned, M&D 31 will play Heroes 31 for the championship game. It'll be an exciting game and best of luck to both teams. I'll be on the side line video taping.

Sorry, I forgot to add BLC Bethesda Blue 2031 up there. Another solid team and program that'll produce good players. I believe they're along the same as MD United East 2031.

Congratulations to the Heroes Green 31 team. They won MidAtlantic Championship on a nice pick play with the score of 3-2 Great job to both M&D 31 and Heroes Green girls. They fought very hard and put all their heart and soul into that final match. The Heroes' 31 goalie was on fire that game. M&D goalies did well too, considering both sides only gave up 2 goals each during 24 minutes of back-and-forth rumble.

Both teams are on top of their games, so we can be sure more exciting matches will be played between these two.

See everyone in the Spring. Until then, please be safe and continue to excel!

Are there any camps people recommend for this age group? Not UMD please but anything else!

Not much in the way of teaching camps anymore for young and lesser skilled players. First class has a young player camp. Look for small group trainings.

At this age, the focus would always be stick skill with both hand, run and gun, pass/catch on the run, shooting form for attacker/mid-attack or defense skill for defense/mid-def.

If she's more dedicated, then weekly private coaching session to improve on any skill gaps. More importantly, she needs to have stick in hand every day with wall bounce, etc.

Great tournament games this weekend. Shout out to all the top teams for fighting hard and competing. It was great to see MD United 31 East going up against Integrity 31 Green and got an early 3-0 lead, holding off the onslaught and winning a close 6-5 victory. BLC 31 Blue won over Coppermine 31 Black, cruising to victory with a score of 10 to 6. In the semi-final round, MD United East lost to M&D 31 Black to a score of 14 - 6. MDU East was not able to win a lot of draws, possibly due to having already played a full game beforehand. On the other hand, BLC 31 Blue was able to hold off Heroes 31 Green and win in a back-and-forth match with the final score of 8 to 7.

On Sunday's championship game, M&D 31 Black was up 3 to 2 against BLC 31 Blue before the game had to be delayed due to lightning strikes; 45 minutes later, after the game resumed, BLU lost a bit of momentum and trailed 7 to 2 before scoring back-to-back goals. M&D 31 Black held off BLC 31 Blue after scoring another goal to win the regional championship with a final score of 8 to 5.

Once again, happy Mother's Day to all the moms and grandmoms who attended the championship game. All the girls played their best games, and they deserve to be recognized. Congratulations to all the girls at the playoffs and those who missed it. We will see you again next NGLL season. Let's go back, work hard, and practice more for the upcoming summer season tournaments, and best of luck to everyone.

Best wishes, play hard, and stay safe.


A Goalie Dad walking around with his camera