US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums NEW JERSEY LACROSSE NEW JERSEY FORUM Top Boy's Club Teams in New Jersey

Word of mouth is best. Ratings will never work bec they are subjective and easily gamed. And certainly take everything posted in these forums with a grain of salt. Just like anything else, both player and parents must do their due diligence.

Correct. LE players were automatically invited and it was free.

Not treat them well how and at what age?

Are you really comparing runnig a team of aduts to youth sports? Did any of your employees moms or dads call you and compain? My guess you went to gradeschool or have some training on running a team? Outside one club most of these guys are trying to make a living on youth sports. Collage is even worse. Stop blocking for your kid.

Not all LE players were invited

Pretty sure they were, some just didn't go.

Jersey becoming the new hot bed for Tournaments? Maybe some of the NJ teams will play each other. LE & BBL?

September to Remember is set for Sept. 12-13, followed by the September Shootout on Sept. 26-27

LE and BBL will finally play each other this fall. This thread will be buzzing.

Where does everybody see Jersey Express in the scheme of NJ Clubs? Worthy enough to compete with LE/BBL for thread space here?

We can talk about Jersey Express when they put somebody into a major D1 program. still quite a few years away from that.

Not sure anyone cares about South Jersey, its hard enough to get people to talk about the Shore.

I'll bite. Why can't 91 NJ South break out of B bracket at the youth level? Seems like they are are always having supplemental tryouts. They have been around for a while and from a distance appear to be well organized.

What are these teams you speak of? I haven't heard of any of them.

Not enough talent and to many teams. NJLC, Mad Dog & United all pull kids from the area and Birch effect has driven the top players around Manasqan to LE outside the handfull of 2021 that played for Mad Dog National.

Here's the thing, Due to covid, NJ teams will look to play local this fall. Ask your Jersey Express director to enter in NJ tourneys. Honestly, I would like to see all Jersey tourneys this fall so we dont have to travel out of state.

That would be fantastic. We had two games on a Friday night at Apex mid summer and it was really nice. Solid competition and great atmosphere. There was another round robin at a nice park outside of Princeton. More of these type of events against location competition would be fantastic and much easier to handle in fall given its also football and soccer season (given its played). It would also give parents a taste of the different clubs in NJ and the levels of lacrosse that exist. They should try to match up the level of play as best as possible.

Club directors do not want parents to check out other NJ clubs. They want you to play LI and PA clubs so no chance your son bolts to another club in-state. I have always wondered why there is not a state cup type tournament for lacrosse like there is for soccer but every club director I spoke to about it rejects the concept out of hand.

And guess what you'll find out.. that different levels of competition exists statewide, and like you said, you can have good match ups where ALL players can play, improve their games, and all the families here can enjoy watching their sons. With the exception of that 'I can't quit you' dude. He'd be too busy begging people for lube.

'I can't quite you' I don't get it?

It's just a gavone trying to be a comedian in this thread. You'll have to scroll up posts to find it.

I stand corrected either the PA and CT UA teams were not that strong, or the NJ teams are better than I thought...best of luck

How many kids switched clubs in 8th grade and then stay through high school?
Or do they switch going into 9th grade?

Curious what did most 6th grade teams do during covid as far as cuts during covid? I ask because my son’s team cut more than 1/2 the team. We were expecting some cuts but nothing this drastic during a covid year.

Basically the team (which was mostly new) had 1 day a week practices and then were up against teams that had 3 or more.

What was BBL’s approach?

There usually is still quite a bit of movement b/w teams in 8th grade and slightly less in 9th grade as the better teams are usually looking to fill specific needs vice wholesale changes by then. Even in HS some teams will cut players or have players move teams (reclass) for more playing time. As for the post asking about cuts and Covid, I've seen large turnover (up to half the team some years) every single year on my kid's team all the way from 5th grade to HS. It's rare to find a club that will simply develop what they have all the way through the years. Don't let anyone fool you, ALL the clubs will part ways with players to get what the "perceive" as a better one. My kid has teammates from previous years that are on their 2nd/3rd team since the 5th/6th grade years. Bottomline is if they aren't playing much, you're better off finding a team where they can contribute and grow vice wait for the cut to happen in 8th/9th grade.

How is COVID relevant to cuts? Clubs will fill their rosters with the best players willing to sign on. Always. COVID or no COVID.

What's going on at Leading Edge? They used to have the strongest teams at the high school level. Now they only have 1 ranked in the Top 20 (2022) and they are slipping. Seems like ever since the recruiting rules changed they have lost their edge (pun intended). Are they too focused on getting the early maturing kids in 9th grade while other clubs developed talent to peak later? Are they just poorly organized? Bad coaching? Bad reputation? Seems like Tri-State has made strong resurgence and may be the new king of NJ along with BBL. Thoughts?

Keep poking the bear, maybe LE will start playing NJ teams.

This is my take on Leading Edge. They will always have good high school teams but because there are numerous lacrosse clubs in NJ it is diluted them slightly. With teams like BBL, Patriot, Riot, Shore to Shore, getting put together at much younger ages, the kids are not leaving their teams as easily as they once were. The rankings are a little BS too. I know the 2023's for LE lost a handful of games by 1 goal so they should be a little higher and some teams get to the finals on sub level tournaments and rank a little better. Likewise, they generally play more than half of the teams in the "top 20" each season, sometimes twice a season. Other teams only play the really good teams in Naptown; this was the first year things were mixed up a little because the directors were just trying to get games in and were playing tourneys anywhere they could because of COVID.

I do think Leading Edge has to develop their teams earlier. They need to get better on social media and kind of adapt to the building of teams in this changing era.
Their directors have got most of each team to got D1 unless the kid chooses to go D2/D3 and that is a point that is hard to argue. This is where BBL and Patriot still have to develop. BBL is improving but the downfall with them is it seems like everyone has caught up to them since the World Series but their Director, to his credit, is building a strong club. Patriot will probably always be the third wheel. Some really good players but will be missing a little bit. Shore to Shore is an up and comer and speaking of the real shore, Mad Dog and United are flailing. I have heard this is the last run for the Mad Dog 2025 team and most of the good kids will probably end up and Leading Edge.

I am very familiar with all these clubs and this is just my opinion. Do not intend to offend anyone so please respond intelligently.

This sounds like a pretty good assessment. Shore 2 Shore is a long island team though, not NJ. Maybe you mean SouthShore? Also, the quality of D1 programs that LE is getting kids to commit to isn't as impressive as in years past. Will be interesting now that the 2022's are on the clock.

No club in NJ is the King of NJ, including Leading Edge, and not sure where the Tri-State thing came from (maybe 2021's), ridiculous statement. However, I would agree that LE is not really the dominant high school program that it used to be. Several good 2023 teams in the state, those would be some good match-ups, BBL, Tri-State and Riot have played, and Bluestar, Patriot and South Shore have played, but there hasn't been any other cross-over. Leading Edge basically sticks with NLF teams and gets smacked around a lot, but they do play a really hard schedule.

Blue Star?

Why is Tri-State a ridiculous statement? On the aggregate, they are ranked higher than LE and BBL for 2021 - 2023.

Thoughtful post. Much appreciated. As for Bluestar, they are DOA. Already falling apart at all age levels. Ambitious plans. Lack of execution and attention to detail.

Let’s get over to Apex or that place in Tinton Falls, LE, BBL, Tri State, Patriot, Riot, Blue Star, add some teams in each year that maybe solid from other programs like Team 91, True, Jersey Express, Etc. and settle this like the big boy states MD and NY do.

Settle what? Sounds like an insecure BBL dad. Nobody cares about BBL. Keep you knee pads dusted off and stay where you are.

Right. Because that will happen. Can we all acknowledge that not all clubs have a purpose of producing elite players? Certain clubs are much more about providing landing spots for all players (good players and those that need to develop further). keep in mind these are business ventures for the owners. Like any business, they are targeting specific market segments. Some team may only have 1 team per grade, some 2 teams, others may have 3. I'm sure having 3 teams per grade brings in a nice little chunk of change. I'd say that those clubs that are looking to maximize top line revenue could not really care less about who is the more elite club and could not care less about competing at Apex or Tinton Falls to determine the "top" New Jersey team. Their metric for determining that title is different than lax dad's metric.

where am I going with this? Just a little self therapy session. Just felling a bit down about a particular club in that list above, in particular the money and time invested, for not much benefit.

This is not necessary, all you have to do is go to the USCL rankings. Only 2 clubs from NJ are listed in the top 20. Guess who they are.

The statement about Bluestar is simply not accurate. Not only are they not "falling apart", they are carrying multiple teams at each age level. My son has played with several clubs and has never gotten the level of coaching as he has with Bluestar, and the communication with the parents is exceptional. If you haven't done so, I would encourage you to check out the program. Unfortunately, there is probably a false narrative out there with Bluestar because of the history with tri-state, but I think that you would be impressed with the program and coaching. They also have a very impressive list of college commits, especially if you take into consideration the commits from the period when the Bluestar coaches were still with tri-state. Unfortunately, a lot of the opinions on this forum tend to be biased in favor of one's own team, myself included, but I think that if you do a little due diligence on your own, you can get a better handle on what is out there. Simply making a blanket statement about a club is not really a productive use of this forum.

I think that it is healthy to re-evaluate things at the end of the season, especially considering the time and money spent. I went through the same thing with my son and we made a change, in a much better place now for him. And not trying to play on-line psychologist, but is your son having fun, if yes, then perhaps that is what you should focus on. Not directing this at you or your son, but the bottom line is that most of these kids will not pick up a lacrosse stick competitively after high school, so if it is not a huge financial burden, and again, so long as your son is having fun, perhaps it is best to just enjoy it while you can. Our club has had it's up and downs, but just seeing my son on the field this summer after quarantine was great.

Are you really quoting USCL? Come on, its one guy in Point Pleasant.
He has ties to Mad Dog, if they had more teams they would all be in the top 20. Watch their 2025 team won 2 maybe 3 games all year and he will have them raked in the top 20 and one of their wins was vs BBL in 100 deg heat after BBL had just played a game.
More power to him, he keeps people talking.

It is true that Blanket statements are not helpful. It is important to understand what each family is expecting to get out of a perspective club to be able to gauge if the club is meeting the family's needs or falling short. Blue Star might be a great organization for one family and lack luster for another. Same goes for BBL, LE, Tri-state. If your main objective is going to elite tournaments (Naptown, NLF, etc) certain clubs can provide that. Of course you'll have to deal with all the crazy parents and politics that come with playing on that level of club. If you want a more low-key experience where not everyone is gunning for D1 scholarships, there are teams that can provide that. Of course, you will not be winning any bragging rights on this board - but I doubt that matters to you in that case.

In general, I find lacrosse parents to be a delusional bunch that are chasing unattainable standards.