How about some honest feedback of B or 2nd tier club teams. For example B teams at 24, Force, Igloo, S2S, Express, 91, rebels and A teams that aren’t AA, Recon, Outlaws, Empire, Hitmen, True Blue, Turtles.
There are only 2 top teams in this age group on LI. Express and 91. Every once in a while they'll lose a game but they are heads and shoulders above. Everyone else is playing for third. ROAR continues improve and consistently beat tems like Igloo, TB, Force, etc. IMHO most of the second tier teams are no better than B level squads. The real B teams are disasters. I've seen Express B and Igloo and they are terrible. To think people pay real money for any B team is unbelievable. The talent pool is so diluted there aren't enough players to field quality teams at the A level.
Agreed, kids should quit the sport, or the parents should pay in fake money since it's unbelievable to pay "Real Money". Come on dude, get over yourself. If kids want to play and parents have the ability to pay then so be it, dont be a snob
Exactly. I don't get the mind set that unless a 6th grader (and I repeat, a 6th grader) is an elite athlete destined to play D1, such that he gets to play on a top team, summer lacrosse is a waste of money and time. What should the kid do instead, play video games?
Town/PAL is a very short season. From the time the snow gets off the field, until the very beginning of June when it ends, there is what, at most, 9 weeks of lacrosse? And a lot of rain outs as well. Why not allow the kid to keep playing in June and half of July. Its usually just an extra six weeks of practice and maybe 4 tournaments. And if it is a full year team, and the kid has the time and interest to play, than why not.
My older son has played several years on a travel team that was worse than his town team. So what, he loves it. My younger son is better and plays at a higher level. That's cool also. Neither of them will be the next Paul Rabil.
If club and tournament directors were smart, they would a do a better job marketing towards the more mediocre players (of which there are a ton - for every great player, there are 10 plus ok ones), by doing a better job delineating teams into AAA (really teams that can complete on a national level), AA, A and B, and by switching to birth year as opposed to grade (which would capture more kids by evening out competitiveness across regions/states). The B team's kid's money is just as green as everyone else's.
Those who are involved with travel hockey see how this can work. There are a ton of kids playing travel hockey who are horrendous. So what. The kids love it, and it is just about the best way to occupy their time.
