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.