I predict Express takes home the WSYL next year and 91 gets knocked out in a semi-final without making it to the ship. All other LI teams lose in pool play.
Express and Express North are the top teams right now, obviously. And the gap is fairly comfortable. But it's impossible to predict because 91 or Igloo or rebels, etc.. could, and very likely will, add 5-6 new players next year. They may be enough to change the landscape of the division. Unless Express does the same.
Everything will change for the WSYL next year. Almost no team will go with their regular roster. Completely separate WSYL try-outs. Clubs create WSYL-only teams just for this tourney. They use all of the Fall babies from their older team, which this year would mean their '23 team, and next year it will be the '24's. They'll also grab kids (again usually Fall babies, ie younger holdbacks) from teams that aren't going, if they think they can help them. This practice was started and perfected by the Express organization. Now, almost every team does this, to one degree or another. They are all pick-up teams, so they really aren't "teams" at all. As far as I know, there is only one '24 team that is not doing this, meaning they are playing with the same team all year long, from Fall through the summer and the WSYL, and that's 91 Wolfpack. But that is literally the only team doing this. Coincidentally, they are the favorite to win this year. So when you think of "teams" that are going to compete for the WSYL next year, they are not teams as you know them today. They are pickup teams.
Agreed. I know a few '24's with fall 06 birthdays that would easily qualify for the WSYL next year. If they chose to go that route, they would be total game changers for the '25 team that they play for. Any above average '25 team would become the best '25 team anywhere, literally overnight. No exaggeration. And that could actually happen with these kids that I know. So don't get too hung up on what your kids team has done in the past, next years WSYL is completely different.
