Originally Posted by Anonymous
Originally Posted by Anonymous
Originally Posted by Anonymous
Originally Posted by Anonymous
Originally Posted by Anonymous
Is Looney’s still around? Did everyone pull up stakes and leave?

I believe the Looney's club has three teams, 24, 25, and 26. Seems a small number of teams compared with other clubs.

Not to divert from talking smack about Looneys, but this is generally the pattern when clubs "go away" in a saturated market like Baltimore/Towson.

1. 1-2 older rosters blow up or mass-defect because of a conflict with a specific coach or "the club" in general.
2. Even if roster is back-filled, it is usually a downgrade. Not as much positive PR for the club's brand.
3. Becomes harder to recruit new players at the youngest level. Koopers, Looneys, MESA-MD, Breakers, and others have nothing below the 2027 class. Looneys youngest is 2026. Breakers only remaining teams that can even sort of compete are the 2024 and 2026. 2025 and 2027 are awful and 2028-2031 folded.

Honestly I think it's just a function of age and branding. I'd expect some of the next to go will be Looneys, Arden Diamondbacks (owner has said this is the last year....folding), Crabs (purchased or folds in next 4 years tops), Zingos (will fold, as they have downgraded so much as to not even be able to compete with the HoCo rec league teams).

On the bubble (have 5+ years left): Roughriders, Sidewinders, Rock, Koopers.

In their place I expect:
1) More True teams that nobody wants
2) Some new-branded clubs out of Harford and Anne Arundel Counties
3) Some new club to hitch their wagon to Loyola Blakefield with the next head coach in the next 12-18 months (following the model of FCA-CHC and dare I say, Predators-St Pauls / McD).

Wrong about Zingos. With Roughriders basically dead (2026 is youngest team), the only club teams based in HOCO are Zingos and HOCO. With no club team in Carroll County, Zingos gets it fair share of those kids. They have 2 2026 teams, 2 20027 teams, 2028, 2029, 2030, and 2031. They will be fine in the space they compete in.

Koopers has a 2029 team, but no 2028.

Breakers, Roughriders, and Rock don't seem to be long for this world though.
Koopers won't have a 2028 team as Predators has a ton of kids at that age and I anticipate a lot more trying out in July forcing an A and B team or one solid team. Rock and Roughriders will be gone.

Oddly specific but OK. I think those young Predators squads will continue to pick up FCA and Crabs kids who weren't getting playing time, and Team 91 kids who get tired of losing all year long, with 30 player rosters. Koopers lucked into that 2029 roster of theirs but whatever, good for them and good for those kids. The exodus of good rec club players after 6th-8th grade is always an interesting source of new players for various clubs. 91 is a destination for a lot of them, the marketing and packaging is perfect for the parent and player who haven't been snookered by a corporate club before. "We develop players! (*from Texas*)!"