US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums MID-ATLANTIC LACROSSE MARYLAND FORUM Boys 2028 Grads - Mid Atlantic Region

I wasn't going to post but heck with it, these posters are so myopic in their thinking that they are not looking at the totality of factors; instead they want to maintain their victimization as if the larger community cares. The clubs don't care, middle and high school sports don't care, colleges and college coaches don't care. There are lots of factors that make some of these clubs just plain better so I'm going to break it down to you like a small child and hold your hand:
1. The best kids (and over zealous parents) gravitate to the best teams with the best reputations. It happens in all sports.
2. The push to join these clubs really begins in earnest going into 8th grade as kids and parents try to jockey for positions going into high school because wearing a Crabs, FCA, Hawks helmet gives them a perceived advantage and a "known kid" factor prior to trying out for varsity.
3. These programs likely practice more than the other teams and offer additional higher-level training opportunities and coaching that other teams do not. Which in turn drives kids to those top teams.
4. Steel sharpens steel so getting better and elevating the kid's lacrosse IQ, foundational skills and playing at a faster level/game speed again (which is critical considering how fast MIAA games are played), another key driver. I know parents at a lot of different clubs in the area and there is a wide disparity of practice drills and practice tempos amongst the different club teams.
5. Playing in better, more recognized national venues becomes really important as they are about to enter high school, again another driver bringing players to these clubs in 8th grade and beyond.
6. Lumping every kid that is playing at a high level on those teams as a double holdback or single year holdback, pre-first, etc. isn't always a factor. If a kid missed your age cut-offs by a few months I hardly believe those few months were such a game-changer; especially if kids grow and haven't necessary grown into their legs or size. There are also psychological factors that are not necessarily coachable like aggression, confidence, grit and other EI indicators of success.
7. If the kid is 15 and playing on a 28 or 29 team, I agree 100%, there are issues; now that kid has potentially 2 years of growth, development and additional lacrosse exposure.
8. All of this is a mute point in middle and high school when these kids have to try-out and play against older kids so again, an issue within the club programs and again another reason why kids and parents could gravitate to the other teams in 8th grade and beyond.
9. Specific to Crabs, they didn't start promoting younger teams until around the 2027 grad year; prior to that it was primarily started with kids going into 8th grade and preparing to play high school. Undoubtedly a money making decision and possibly to start building teams to be competitive earlier since everyone else was doing it, it eventually resolves back to Game Theory.
10. Same theory applies here to the whole holdback pre-first, PG issue, you don't do it so you find yourself at a disadvantage then you complain about it and stew on your victimization mindset to justify things. Most teams, if not all the "elite (I say this only as a general reference)" competitive teams, have them so now it goes back to previous bullets of the better holdbacks going to the better teams for all the reasons (and more that I didn't list) listed above.
11. Lastly, the club programs in MD/DC/VA have exploded over the years so the area suffers from dilution which is why the area can't seem to organize a truly MD-centric national team. Kids and parents want more playing time so a few join those teams which has a trickle down affect on more established and successful programs at the 7th grade and below where high school, MIAA and college recruiting isn't as big a factor.

So I think the old tired excuse of "well if they get rid of their holdbacks they will @ChillLaxin or that's why they @ChillLaxin now" excuse has been put to bed with Elvis and Big Foot but I will sit back and await your creative retorts that amount to nothing more than excuses for mediocrity.