I read this site now and again because my kid plays 2022 and I like to hear what is going on and what is being said. It seems very 'angry' for reasons I don't understand but there were two observations I would like to make from the Long Island Lax Festival.
The first is parity. A very good United team tied twice in pool play; they are well-coached and the goalie is the best I've seen. Superstars had some very strong / big players and represented very well. Prime Time played extremely strong and is moving in the right direction. Igloo did not lose in pool play but lost by 1 to Smash, which lost by 3 to Mad Lax, which lost by 4 to Igloo. Express was not there, unfortunately. As the kids get bigger and stronger, the talent will continue to improve and ALL teams should benefit.
The second was the officiating. Evidently there were many tournaments on Long Island over the weekend and not enough referees to go around, which really hurt the tournament in my view. Many games got out of hand because no calls were made and several kids had to be carted off the field. That is terrible and needs to change as the game grows. There is no excuse for bad parenting but it is no surprise that tension was high as the games got chippier and there was no discipline. That was the only real issue in an otherwise great weekend with great weather and great teams.
Long Island should be very proud of the 2022 Class. There is a ton talent at this age group. These teams are traveling up and down the east coast and winning almost every tournament against MD,PA, MA teams made up of mostly older kids (born in 2003). I for one love the parity at this age and and look forward to when my son's team plays one of the other good teams. Let's stop the name calling and enjoy the quality of lacrosse we are watching because it's going to be over in blink of eye.
Let's also stop the chip on the shoulder about the "mostly older kids." You have no idea how many of the kids were born in 2003. And, even the ones that were... it is at most, a four-month difference. Get over yourself.
I do know because I talk to the MD Parents who are usually very nice and they tell me that more than 50% and sometime as much as 75% are born in 03. It's not 4 months many of their kids are born mid to late 03 and most of our kids are born mid to late 04. Look at the Size difference and watch them run, i guarantee they are more than a year older than our kids. That being said I am very proud of the LI Boys for basically winning every 2022 tournament.
