Not true, maybe 2, 3 kids at most before the sept 1st birthday. They will do well at WSYL
They might do OK. Going 1 or 2 games over 500. WSYL will forever be a Long Island dominated event. They start building for the event in 5th grade and have two years of year-round practice so everyone can watch two Long Island or NY/CT team in the finals. Express CoachS will win, they will either play the Wolfpack or Primetime in the finals.
Parents and kids love the event but have realistic expectations. You are going to Denver to play a little lacrosse, eat Mexican food and drink. Not a bad 4th weekend.
Get your team into the NLF Club National Championship next summer and bring your summer birthdays. Rumor has it they are cutting out the "national teams" so it should be a good test for your full team.
Just out of curiosity, if most teams, if not all, that play in the NLF championship will have holdbacks/reclasses, why does the NLF have an issue with the national teams playing, is it because they are just make-shift teams that do not typically play together. While I have no love for the national team concept, why are they singled out. I am not trying to be controversial, just curious as to the rationale. For example, the DC Dogs team at the 2023 Millon national championship last summer included a few kids pulled from Next Level, and they also ended up in that NLF championship game against True national. Under the above rationale DC Dogs would be eligible, but True national would not. But that also begs the question, how would this be enforced, teams like True would just bring True "Illinois" and have a bunch of add-ons like DC Dogs. As we all are well aware, there will be no actual enforcement, and if there is, the effected teams will probably claim that the NLF "founding" clubs are just scared to play the top teams. I can definitely see teams like Express and 91 not being happy when they are excluded from the championship games.
I can't speak for the NLF. My guess it is because West Coast Starz, Sweetlax National & Ture were in the finals last year with players from multiple states on their rosters, taking spots away from NLF teams. I don't think anyone is scared to play the top teams but they are running a business. I would bet their customers were pissed so they are making adjustments. DC Dogs could pull in Next Level kids without anyone knowing. All live in the same area. Love them or hate them, the one thing you can say about Dynamic Sports Management (the brains behind the NLF), it's not a bunch of lacrosse players that don't want to get a real job after college. They manage things like a real company.
Lurking DMV person here but the comments about DC Dogs are not accurate. While it is true that some NL kids played in WSYL and DC Dogs in the same summer, that is very different from a National or even regional team. There are many teams in the DMV area and if they put together an all star team like True it would be interesting to say the least. My son plays with and is friends with many of these kids. At 2023 the Madlax Capital team was not an elite team and would not have done well at WSYL but did not even try to qualify. Most ML teams do not. The top teams in the area last spring were Club Blue, Next Level, and Bethesda. Next Level did field a team for WSYL. Madlax folded the Capital team and at the same time merged with Club Blue. This was in the spring. Madlax DC Dogs was formed and had an open tryout. Some of the Next Level kids attended the tryout. They had also committed to play at WSYL which they had already qualified for. Those kids are now part of the new team DC Dogs. They are not "borrowed" from Next Level. It is not accurate to compare the DC Dogs team to a National team like West Coast Starz, Sweetlax National, or True. They are a local group of kids who have played together for a long time. Most even attend the same middle school.a2
Either way, I do not understand the problem with the national team concept. Again, while I do not like the national teams organizationally, I think that you made a very interesting point about DC Dogs vs. a national team. The DMV area is flooded with lacrosse players, therefore, it is easy to put together an elite level team like DC Dogs, Hawks or Crabs with local product. However, the rest of the country, outside of the Northeast, is not equally flush with elite level players or elite level teams. Perhaps the national team model serves the interests of the kid from Utah or Minnesota that does not have an option for elite level lacrosse locally. Kids flying in from Texas and Florida to play for Maryland clubs supports this demand just as much as the national team does. My guess is that the national team concept will fizzle out at some point once the sport has grown to the extent that elite level tournaments are being held on a more regular basis nationally, Once the kid from Utah or Minnesota can play regionally, there will be no incentive for parents to pay top dollar to fly their kids to a tournament in Maryland.
I also do not have a problem with the national team concept. I was reading a post in the NJ section and it mentioned that NLF would not allow national teams at the event. Just wanted to clarify that DC Dogs is neither a national team or an all star team. Mad Lax has a national team.
Reply
Quote