Long Island Lacrosse Forum | BackOfTheCAGE Forums NORTHEAST LACROSSE BOTC MAIN FORUM Westchester NY/Fairfield CT Youth Lacrosse

Here is a new thread.

If your son is the 2022 age bracket, what are the best club teams in Westchester and Fairfield counties? Are they Primetime, Predators, Chargers and Eclipse? Or some other Ny or Ct team?

Which ones will give him the best training and ultimately the best recruiting opportunities? Thanks in advance for your help.

Express North should be a consideration.

I thought that long express north and team 91 tristate were too new and needed a couple more seasons for the teams and organizations to gel. The younger LIE north and 91 tristate teams seemed to play only in B level tournaments.

Any of these organizations play year round? Hard to compete against the top Long Island and Maryland teams when the Westchester and Fairfield teams really only practice together as a team in the summer.

That is a lame excuse! My son plays on a couple teams as an invited player we never know which kids will be there, yet they usually win the tournament or come very close! If the talent is there, you will win.

problem with northern westchester right now in general is a shrinking pool of players and a growing amount travel organizations. Superstars out of ridgefield has changed their whole offering. combination of box and field lacrosse, not sure how that will workout , but it is supposed to me more of a year round offering. I have heard fair number of complaints out of the younger Prime time parents this year, Apparently the 3/4 team, won 1 game, and got pretty much destroyed in every other. not sure if that will continue or if that has always been the case.

Thanks for the comments about Northern Westchester. Seems like the same thing is happening in Fairfield County. Chargers used to be strong but the talent pool is now being divided up as more teams enter (i.e. Eclipse).

I think the participation in lacrosse has slowed down. At the high school level, if you are not starting at one of the really competitive teams like Primetime, Express North or Eclipse and either starting on varsity or getting significant playing time at least by sophomore year, you're probably better off improving your skills at camps then watching others play from sidelines at both games and practices.

Should be interesting to see how things play out for the Fall 2015/Summer 2016 teams in Westchester. Seems every organization is having tryouts on August 30th. If kids can only go to one and don't make the team may be out of luck. Of course there probably will be one or two teams without enough boys at tryouts to take the other's leftovers.

Generally yes, but North 2019 made finals at last two tourneys of summer, all the big boys were there. 3d Tristate was better at end of summer than the start.

I am hearing that Primetime, which is based in Lewisboro, and has been traditionally very strong, is no longer going to be able to call John Jay HS their home. It seems like they are scrambling for field space and have not let anyone know where that may be. This could change alot of the dynamic as I am hearing Express North is calling the Harvey School in Katonah, their new home, Does anyone know where Prime Time will be going? some are saying down County but not confirmed

Express north beat crabs and dukes this summer.

On. 8/15 A new location for tryouts was announced. Don't know where practices will be held.

Not sure where practices will be, but second day of tryouts are at Purchase. The SUNY must be making some good coin as it seems nearly every travel team is having tryouts on campus on the 30th.

sounds like Primetime is scrambling- should bode well for the EXPRESS NORTH which is setting up shop in Katonah-

Is there not an inherent conflict of interest between Express LI and North? at the same age level, how can the Express organization get both teams into the best tournaments? I grant you that so far it appears that they've been successful, but isn't that only because the Express North 2018 team is very good and the means by which they are growing the Express North product offering. It would seem Younger Express North teams may be at a disadvantage. There are only limited spots in the best tournaments. Thoughts?

zero conflict of interest

There is always room for more teams! More Teams = More $!

but does weschester have enough talent at each age group to field that many "A" teams? I think not , therefore we are looking at multiple B level teams

Conflict of interest because they share the same name? They are 2 different teams serving 2 different geographical locations. If they are both good teams and can compete at a high level why shouldn't they be able to play in the same tournaments? The higher level tournaments want strong teams, they aren't going to say no to one Express team for a lower level team just so they don't have 2 teams with the same name.

The North 2018, 2019 and 2023/24 teams all had great summers, I don't think conflict of interest will be a problem.

There may be a huge disparity in talent this year. Many of the Westchester teams are having tryouts the same day, Aug. 30. A couple teams will likely get the bulk of talent with the teams with light turnout getting the boys that didn't make those teams. PT is 9a, 91TS is 1030a and Express North is 1230p. Preds 2nd day is also Aug. 30 also at Purchase right after 91TS.

did the 23/24 team compete in the higher brackets? will they be able to this year?

Six clubs are having tryouts on Aug. 30th. The best you could do is pick three that don't overlap and are geographically close, and try to hit those.

But, how tired is your kid going to be after that first or second tryout -- especially if they give it their all?

so how do people rank these organizations at the younger age brackets in terms of overall experience

The arms race among the local clubs to stage early tryouts on same weekend is going to create a weird situation. It does not benefit players/parents at all. It forces you to pick 1-2 teams to try to make without being able to evaluate options.

some thoughts on the younger (2024-2021) levels:
91 Tri-State will rely on the name but fight for talent ... not pulling best kids yet even with HOS/High Impact consolidation
Predators solid but younger teams start new and that'll be tough
2Way is the quiet name that is in a good spot since they started last fall with some solid squads ... likely just trying to improve in spots.
PrimeTime hurting ... terrible 2023 team and too much competition
LIExpress North had good summer and like 2Way just filling key spots
Eclipse is mainly New Canaan/Brunswick kids ... solid and building

M11, Greenwich, Topside around but don't have presence at normal tourneys

i agree, i think the biggest problem with some of these clubs is that they place their B caliber 3/4 teams into the A brackets and get demolished. when you lose games 20-0 , i am not sure how that can be a great experience for any player. Imagine the 3 attack, sitting on the field, never even seeing the ball after driving to a tourney. or the goalies confidence as he spends an entire game digging the ball out of the net. Tristate was in the B division and they held their own, which is fine for a first year team. I believe, Express North was the same . at the younger ages, just giving players good coaching and reps in a game goes a long way

No conflicts.

Younger Express North teams will do well because coaching is top notch and 2018 North team are great role models and actively mentors younger players.

Harvey School facilities and location is big advantage as well.

Who coached younger North teams last year? (I see that they have added some coaches from Iona. Interesting because the Predators have some connection with Fordham.)

just heard the tuition of those two: Iona and Fordham. How do they compare to Chaminade and St. Anthony's academically.

How do Stepinac and Kennedy Catholic compare (sports and academics) are they like St Marys, St Doms, Kelly, SJB.

who is coaching the younger north teams this year?

Good insight on the younger ages. For what it's worth, here are thoughts on the 2020-2017 ages.
-Seems to be a geographic divide between northern and southern westchester as well as some strong teams/weaker teams amongst clubs depending on grad year. Express North (2018 and 2019 very strong) rule. Express North gets about half their kids from CT. In southern Westchester, Predators seem to dominate (2017 team is top notch). 3d Tri-state has mainly CT and second level Brunswick kids. Chargers and Eclipse rarely have Westchester kids anymore.
-91 Tri-state, HOS, Top Side, 2Way are B/B- level teams and don't compete for the elite players.

When looking at younger teams, find a program with a coach who you know will get the most out of your son.

No one is getting recruited before the 2019 year, so why parents think they need to go with a "big name" club is beyond me. Don't get me wrong, a good deal of "big name" clubs have great coaches at the younger levels as well, but a lot of time you can find great coaches at a lot of clubs.

Also, the final score of your son's 2023 game doesn't necessarily mean he isn't getting better. Is the 18th kid on the best 2023 team getting the same experience as the 6th 2023 kid on a "lower level" club? That is for you to decide.

Rule of thumb...if you think your kid is just being used as a roster filler...it might be best to explore another program. It's your money.

Found it interesting to see that Chargers moved their tryouts to Bridgeport and away from their traditional Darien location. Eclipse is having tryouts at Greens Farm not at a New Canaan location. Everyone is moving around. Primetime too.

Agreed: very few kids from Westchester go to Chargers anymore. I know of a couple who go to Eclipse.
Agreed: there is a north/south split with Predators drawing the best from the south (Bronxville, Pelham, Rye) and Express North and Primetime from north of I-287 and from Southwest CT, including Greewhich and Wilton. Primetime draws from a very wide area don't know about Express North.

Don't see any kids from Yorktown on any of these teams. They have the Ballers to play on, but I don't remember seeing them at any of the big tournaments. Has anyone else seen this team play anywhere? Where do they play?

Maybe other towns should adopt the Yorktown model. Play with your high school teammates over the summer. Seems to work well for Yorktown.

THAT WOULD IMPLY THAT THE PEOPLE THAT RUN THE TOWN TEAMS ARE NOT THE SAME ONES MAKING MONEY ON THE SUMMER TRAVEL PROGRAMS- LOOK AT PRIMETIME, JJ YOUTH LACROSSE WAS ALLOWING PRIMETIME TO USE THE HS FIELDS FOR FREE AND THEN THEY WERE CUTTING ALL JOHN JAY KIDS, CERTAINLY THAT IS NOT THE RECIPE FOR GROWING THE GAME IN YOUR OWN TOWN, AND WHATS WORSE IS THE YOUTH ORGANIZATION ALLOWED THIS KNOWING THEIR OWN KIDS WERE GETTING CUT. REALLY REALLY SAD

I guess it's all about the money.

JJ Youth lacrosse is not responsible for field use in the district. That is the responsibility of the Katonah Lewisboro School district Administration.

jj yl does not say anything to the school district, because its the same people , therefore they must approve of a "for profit" entity cutting their players for kids out of the district, I am told they finally put an end to this .

Starting to explain why the public schools are hosting too many club teams.

Probably why club teams are moving to private schools and SUNY Purchase.