US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums MID-ATLANTIC LACROSSE MARYLAND FORUM Boys 2022 - 8th Grade Fall 2017/Summer 2018

This list is obviously wrong, API is #3 in the world and you don't have them listed.

Where is Crabs and API?

DCE is a joint venture with BLC. BLC ends 7th grade and DCE starts 8th grade.

DCE 2022 is stacked. Best BLC kids from last year and 8 new boys from other clubs

DCE 2022 added top kids from club blue - next level- Madlax - and crabs to the top kids at BLC who played 2022 last year and cut several blc 22's - fair process

HOCO LEAGUE

-Koopers
-Hawks
-Express/BLC
-RR
-91
-FCA
-Madlax
-API/National Rank #3
-Crabs
(not sure of any others playing in Elite)

BEST LEAGUE IN THE COUNTRY

Duke Nationals in mix during summer tournaments

This team will win Hoco going away. A great team for sure and the number of holdbacks on this squad is staggering. Basically a freshman high school team.

The "B" team is also loaded with holdbacks and they will be very good.

It's not the existing Koopers 2022 team playing in HOCO. It's a combination of the 2021 Koopers kids and other Dukes Nationals players from PA, NJ and NY. They also picked up a kid that left Crabs

LOL.....give me a break Dad!! or is this Ray? Bobby?

Crab's at the bottom....really?

There is no way the 2022 Crabs end up in last place. Their 2022 coaching staff has been coaching varsity level club teams successfully for approx. 15 years. Are enough of the Koopers 2021 players from last year dropping down (or playing within their correct grade) to make them worthy of a #1 preseason ranking? To win, you'll need 12-16 elite level players including a very strong FOGO and keeper or two.

Crabs lost 4 or 5 of their top players from a team that finished middle of pack last year. So probably accurate to predict a step down.

I find it amazing that the elite teams are mainly elite due to holdbacks,,
This is exactly how youth sports was meant to be.

hoco won't allow api to play in the elite division this year. its generally invite only at this age and api was bad last year, and they lost players this year.

Correct. They only won 2 games last year and one of those was against Next Level who won't be in Elite division this year. They lost some of their better players to Hawks, DCE and Koopers. RM seems to pick his schedule as they have never played Hawks in HOCO but there are no easy games this year. They will be lucky to win a game in HOCO.

Is it really that amazing to you? It is exactly how this Elite division is and it's not changing for any daddies whose kid did not make a team that plays it .It has not changed in years for the rising 8th graders. Every single team in this division will have at least 1 holdback for many different reasons. Every parent,player, coach and team all know this and will sign up just the same. HOCO has 5 other divisions to play in for those that don't like the current format.

That's funny. Do you honestly think that teams in the AA division don't have holdbacks too? Looneys may have more than anyone at this grade.

Whats so elite about playing against kids that are younger than you are? Better name would be Holdback/prefirst division..Dont you think?

The DCExpress "B" team has more

"Top players"...according to who? Everybody is a top player to somebody. Weather or not that person has any credibility is another matter entirely.

And what about the skill set, size and speed of the boys they kept or picked up. Does your crystal ball tell you all that too?

These postings are all hot air. It will all come out in the wash come spring.

It's 5 kids from Koopers 2021 including the leading scorers and goalie. The Philly/nj all stars will fill out the rest of the team.

Basically, it's the core of kids that killed Hawks at Naptown. They may runaway with Hoco this year no matter who BLC/DCE and Hawks add.

-Koopers
-Hawks
-Express/BLC
-RR
-91
-FCA
-Madlax
-API/National Rank #3
-Crabs

They may be hot air but whoever posted it knows what's going.

Hawks and Express may swap spots.

Madlax may be above 91 also.

Duke's National shouldn't be in any conversation. The team is not built from kids in a specific area. It's let me grab the 25 best kids from Virginia to Maine. The fact that their team does not win every tournament it is in is a travesty. I laugh that they boast of winning tournaments playing against localized clubs. I they played and won a tournament against some National club teams with their best kids (91, Madlax,FCA,LB3, 3d,...) then they could talk, but they would probably be missing part of their team.

In terms of Dukes, the team doesn't practice from May through August. They just get together and play for the fun of it. The fact that they are able to play as well as they do is a testament to those boys skill levels. If they have to play a top team early in a tournament they can and do struggle which would be expected when playing a team that has been practicing together 3-4 days a week for months on end. But as you saw against Hawks, if they get to play 4 or 5 games first, they can run any team off the field.

Who put out this ranking?

It is the based on winning%, SOS, coaches voting, score dif. USL ranking it is a very complicated algorithm but the BOTC ranking is the most accurate and up to date on and should be the standard used when seeding teams as well as a guide club owners can and should use when deciding the annual tuition fees to charge parents.

Yeah...and the 2022 Crabs will be at the bottom of the wash.

91 is going to drop down. FCA picked up quite a few kids too.Should be a fun spring.

Agree. Fine with losing to local clubs, including Millon's frequent flyers, but the idea of a mercenary all-star team from out of state competing against local clubs seems like trophy hunting.

I completely agree with this post. What I can tell you is the Crabs will outwork everyone in the League to improve. Their coaching staff has more experience recruiting, developing and coaching elite 8th grade teams than any other staff in the Conference. Don't count this team or staff out. Look for a much improved team (including the Win Loss Record) under RM's leadership. Ryan's teams never finish anywhere close to last place.

Does anyone think a group of kids from PA, NJ and NY are going to drive down to Bmore for one game early every Sunday morning? I've coached teams that have run the table for multiple years and they were all local. Even then you had kids miss games due to other commitments. Good luck lads....

AP

A HOLE Parent

LOL. Thanks Ryan.

BLC feeds into express they don't have a 8th grade A team

Rising Sons 2020 was in hoco 2 years ago and it worked for them.

They did play two games a weekend and skip other weekends.

that same yr Looneys and T91 2020 played in the philly league with the same kinda every other weekend deal.

Last year proved there will not be a Dominant team from start to finish. It's a very long year and hard to grind out every tournament . HOCO league was very competitive with the Hawks going undefeated. That is hard to do and it will be tough to repeat that. All other clubs got better and better as the summer tournaments started. Its hard to grind out 4 and 5 games every weekend. Talent and teams are too good. All the big tournaments proved that last summer including the WSYL,NLF,2022 Championship,HHH,Naptown etc.. Even an ALL STAR team will not be able to run the table. Teams are too good.

I think if you are just talking about teams with kids all living within 50 miles of each other, Hawks were fairly dominate. Losses to Dukes east coast all stars and Team 91 MD & TX were examples of how far you have to go to beat them.

It's debatable whether the Duke's National team even qualifies as an eligible team per hoco bylaws. Do they promote tryouts open to all or is it select invite only tryouts? And yes, I'd be perfectly ok with the Duke's not playing because of a technicality. An all-star team does not belong in a local club league anymore than a club team belongs in a local rec league.

"Independent Clubs application to the league for membership require its team(s) to promote and conduct open tryouts to assure equal access to all players that meet the age restrictions of the team(s) being organized for play. All Independent Clubs must meet the ‘multiple teams’ stipulation under the Membership section of these bylaws."

Duke's Nationals exists only as long as other club coaches allow their players to play for a second team. When they start beating their chest about beating local clubs, it might be time to check them by scheduling practices and play days on the same days as their mini-camps. You can't really tell a kid what they can and can't do on their own time, but you can create scheduling conflicts.

Is it really a Dukes National team or is Koopers just importing some ringers from PA,NJ and NY? It all comes down to numbers and team chemistry. Plenty of talented high school teams have failed to win a championship because they had 4 stars and 2 B- players on offense or defense. Opposing teams were able to shut off or slide fast to the top four offensive players and the remaining two couldn't finish. On offense, if the opposition has a more balanced offense, they can isolate the two weak links using off ball movement and/or a two man game and get quality time and room shots. If teams get a lot of film on this super team, they can be exposed by a talented team with better chemistry and coaching.