Isn't there a separate YJ thread, why not take the drama there. Let's talk lax. Does anyone think with all these new "club" teams/programs forming this may result in the talent on Long Island becoming diluted. Instead of having a couple of top clubs, where all the talent ultimately go, you end up with weaker teams? Thoughts?
I think this is an anomaly hitting the 2023 age group alone. 2022 has a strong YJ team and so does 2024 and 2025. In 2023 the talent is spread across multiple clubs but these same clubs are much weaker in the other grad years. Leg-a-C has a strong 2024 team that competes with YJ but the other 2024 teams are weak. Case in point, most LI 2024 teams except Leg and YJ have been beaten by the 2025 YJ team. How that will play out in the long run only time will tell. In summary, 2022 strongly concentrated in YJ, 2023 spread out between TG, YJ and Igloo (and maybe Leg but they have to prove themselves), 2024 YJ and Leg, 2025 is just YJ.
The dilution anomaly in 2023, in my opinion, is mostly caused by coaching and politics. A good coach creates a winning team and talent gravitates to it. Those teams get stronger and stronger every year as word gets out. YJ has a leg up on this because of branding so they start out with a good number of girls to pick from but if you have a crappy, disinterested coach the branding only goes so far. In year one, if Thorn had actually coached, the YJ team probably could have established itself as the leader and talent would have concentrated there like in prior years and the grad years after. That wasn't the case so the talent has gone to other clubs and diluted the age group.
This is a shame because once you get down to the 410 the girls are older and bigger, the officials have it in for the "dirty NY lacrosse" and you really need a team with great skills and teamwork to overcome the size/age difference and officiating bias. Hopefully sometime soon one of the LI teams will be able to concentrate enough talent to head down to MD and give them a good spanking. TG is looking like the leading contender from LI, maybe some YJ people will get off the Cool-Aide and take the plunge for the good of Long Island lacrosse.
You are correct about the talent being spread across multiple clubs. But you are so off base about playing older girls in MD. No girls play down in MD, boys playing down in MD is a different story.
