Originally Posted by Anonymous




Hard to say what is A. Clearly Taz and WP are AA but they take 22ish players and do not play the other 6-8 kids. If those other 6-8 kids formed another team then another team would exist that could beat Express A Schwalje.

Those 4-12 teams are probably A players outside of Long Island or Maryland.

Taz and WP cause a serious problem to every tournament director because no one wants to play them. So all teams try to go into other brackets.
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To say LI has very few A teams is ignorance at best - while other areas have come a long ways towards the quality of lax talent out there, LI and MD still are the primary locales for the sport. To extend that "there really are very few "A" caliber teams on Long Island" concept to its logical conclusion, what you are actually saying is that there really are very few "A" caliber teams ANYWHERE". Which, when you think about it, is a ridiculous statement![/quote]

I think you are making a general statement, which I'm sure anyone would agree with. However, the discussion is in reference to the 2024 grade, only. You must not be familiar with the AA teams. That's the only explanation I can think of, for your assessment. To this point, and admittedly this will change to a greater or lesser degree over time, the AA teams could make the score what ever they want to make it against any of these teams, excluding Express and maybe Igloo. If there are no teams that can remotely compete with them, how can you say they belong in a bracket with 10 or 12 of them? That is a "ridiculous statement". And, there are other teams that can compete with them, and give them a good game, at that. Those teams just aren't on L.I. Not trying to bash L.I., but this is the current situation for 2024. Conclusion: There are one or two A teams on L.I.[/quote]

I hear what you're saying, but my reasons for discounting some of that is that your sentiment for 2024 is echoed for every other age group here on BOTC, so there is no consensus that anyone would agree with my statement, even as a general one. I have other sons playing in different age groups besides 2024, and if you read those boards they all basically say the top 2 - 3 teams are A and everyone else is B. Again, since we're talking LI, that cannot be the case. Maybe it truly is the case with 2024, and all of the other age groups are wrong, but until I see people approaching club lax from a rational, unbiased POV about how to assess teams and tiering, I am skeptical that beyond Taz and WP that there no other teams on LI are A.[/quote]



Your view is definitely a very logical one and I'm sure the notion of two AA teams and one or two A teams appears somewhat absurd, especially in a hot bed area like L.I., unless you are very familiar with the teams in question. It's odd, I'll admit. Doesn't make sense, but for now that's the way it is with the '24's. That will undoubtedly change over time, and every year is a do-over, so we'll see what happens this year...