Originally Posted by Anonymous
Originally Posted by Anonymous
WSYL has the South qualifier taking place this weekend. There are a whopping 4 teams total vying for a trip to Denver. I’ve heard of Sweetlax Florida and Stealth South Florida but never heard of the other 2 teams (Carolina Gold, Valor LC). This is the challenge with WSYL, for better or worse, crowning a “true” 13U champion (not grade based), means you don’t get the same competition as, say, an NLF tourney. After all, grade-based competition is all your son will see after the WSYL - I understand it’s a nice experience but it isn’t close to the best overall competition at the 2025 level.


Carolina Gold is decent at the older ages. But it’s evident that the tourney is losing its luster. The fact is most teams from around the country have no interest in flying to Denver to play in a lacrosse tournament that has been one by a club from LI every year. Outside of the LI clubs, there are very few competitive teams at this event. I went with my 2023. I’ve seen it. The competition is mediocre at best and terrible at its worst. Go back and look at some of the scores. There are several reasons for this, not the least of which is that many clubs have holdbacks. Honestly, I’m fine with holdbacks. Those are the kids that our boys will be competing against when they get to recruiting age, so why not play them now? But I don’t want to get into that right now. My point is, when you take out Maryland, Boston, Philli, etc... you dilute the talent pool so much that it kind of bring the whole experience down.

Carolina Gold is not even a real travel team. Its a team put together exclusively to qualify for the WSYL. You will never see them at a summer or fall tourney. They hold tryouts and do their best to field players from in and around the Charlotte area for a one-time team. I personally do not have a problem with the age restriction. I for one think its good to have at least one event that attempts to keep the playing field level. I think the bigger issue is the 100 mile radius that the kids have to live within. This is not an issue for hotbeds like the northeast, however when you get outside of those parts of the country there are fewer kids playing the sport. This isn't to say that there aren't high level players in non-hotbeds, but certainly not as many and they are spread out. I think that in non-hotbed areas WSYL should allow certain regions to expand the radius so that they can field more talented kids and better compete if/when they make it to Denver. I know of some very talented kids in the South and other non-hotbeds who will never have a chance to go to Denver simply because there are no teams near them (within 100 miles) that are attempting to qualify. And I can't blame them for not trying because they know that collectively they do not have enough high-level players to field a competitive team. I think if they allowed an "All-Georgia", "All-NC", or "All-Florida" team to compete- regardless of where in the state the kids live- they would have a better showing. One, if not two, of the 4 teams competing this weekend at the South qualifier will be in Denver...and they will likely get waxed and leave with a sour taste in their mouth and not wish to attend in future years.
With all that being said, I believe the intent of WSYL initially was to have actual, pre-existing teams compete to see who is best. If you start "manufacturing" teams then it defeats the purpose of the WSYL....and it looks like this is happening even up here.