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

They beat all the other jersey clubs this year, whats with the death grip on players? Doesn’t add up. United has some talent that will definitely break into their top team

You will usually see lots of kids start to leave BBL in 8th/9th grade. The 2024 and 2025 teams will likely stay intact but that is not the norm. many of the better 2026 and younger players will likely head to LE eventually.

Interesting comment. There is much more than just "beating other clubs". Players have a million other reasons that they may leave and find a different home. If they are putting the death grip on their guys, it could be as though they are worried some kids may leave. Just because they won a couple games against different clubs doesn't necessarily mean kids are going to stay.

No amount of summer practices will take a team from getting "ROCKED" to being competitive.

On their 2025 team, the offense went through just one kid. If you are not that kid, and you play the offensive side of the field, you may want to leave, no matter how many games the team won.

Was this said to you directly? Were you told to not have your son tryout for another team or there would be consequences?

Totally valid, I think my comment was rather narrow-sighted. Just strange to see kids leaving a successful place from an outside POV

What is success? Winning games for finding a club that can get your son into the best school?
Parents, myself included, get caught up in how many goals my son scores and winning the game. Based on what I'm hearing from parents with older kids, we might have it all wrong.

Did they tell you this directly? Or is this heresay?

2025 only had 3 WSYL practices before going to the World Series. The only practice that was cancelled was one because 2025 was in Maryland on Thursday of that week? And 2026 Helix had practices the week before 4th of July. What team are you referring to?

Well see fellas that's what I'm talking about!!!!!!!!!! A piece I had also taken from the 14U game, "one man band"!!!!!!!!!! That rarely gets'er done!!!!!!! They say they build lacrosse players but I'm concerned they are more focused on how many teams and regions they can rep. All while losing sight of the quality of player and teams they have. I have a feeling we will be moving on come next summer. Not going to jump the gun and make a rush decision.

To the fella that missed the point on "practice". I never said nor implied practice or any amount in that time frame would have changed the L to a W. My point that obviously went over this gentleman's head and I use that term lightly is that in the absence of ANY practices leading up to a tournament of which the parents were ill informed of is NOT how a leading upper esh program should operate!!!!!!!

Again, what team (year) did not have practice for 3 weeks prior to a tournament?

Told my son directly. We have a decision to make.

The party is just getting started my friend! Wait til they acquire a couple more mediocre clubs in jersey so that they can completely water down the brand that was trending in the right direction.

Mine as well... I’m sure any other reputable club could get them the showcase invite they’re threatening to pull. I get this is a serious program, but I don’t think its right to give teenagers ultimatums

Your paying BBL to get help get your son into college, not showcases. They don't have the best record of getting their 5-20 players into college. So unless you are the top 5 kids run!

Is it normal for clubs to allow guest players late in the season?

Team may have been short-handed, or perhaps a kid that they are trying to bring on to the team. Definitely not unusual.

This is right on point, it did not go well for Tri-State, especially when some of their top coaches left, I think that the SHP thing is the saving grace for the moment.. Also, many kids/parents do not want to be on the B team, so dangling the Elite team carrot only goes so far. If a kid is serious about playing in college, they are not going to be satisfied playing for BBL North, Shore or whatever other region BBL tries to conquer. United has always been successful because they are good at what they do and they play in the right level tournaments. Top kids at the shore play elsewhere, so they are not going to pull kids into United with the hopes of climbing the BBL ladder. The only time an "expansion" at the Shore was successful was when Tri State was handed the 2023 shore team, and they completely blew up that up within 2 years.

Most of the time it is probably a club trying to get a look at a player outside of a tryout setting.

I thought Mad Dog owned the Shore. What happened to that program?

At this point the majority of kids who are playing on summer lax teams will never play in college and will never even try to play in college. There is nothing wrong with this. The idea behind expansion for a club like BBL is $$$. That is all. The BBL Norths, Team 91 Wests, etc, all contribute greatly to the profits of whoever owns these clubs. Its called scaling your business. While I am sure that they would love BBL North to turn into the greatest team in the history of lacrosse, they are most likely fine with it being just a team full of kids who are having fun, getting exercise, getting better (so they can contribute on their Town and HS teams) and playing some lax. There are a ton of tournaments where teams like this can compete. There are many teams out there that will get smoked by any half-decent Town team. Their parents money is just as green as that of the great players. Again, there are more kids playing summer lax that have no interest in college lacrosse than there are kids who are chasing a D1 scholarship.

Same issues as every other club that starts to fall apart. Obviously 2025 team is very good, but last talented team was 2021's

preach! this is the most realistic, spot on post I've seen on BOTC. kudos. for real.

I do not disagree, some kids just play, with no future agenda. However, if a club scales and cannot manage the day-to-day, the parents will get frustrated and head elsewhere. The real issue is for the kid that wants to play, at whatever level, in college. If the club scales, is mismanaged and the experience is subpar, there is much less flexibility to move in high school. So if BBL is mismanaging things now, according to some of the posts on this thread, then what are they going to do as they grow. Despite every intention, BBL is not 91 LI or LI Express where the parents will donate a vital organ to be on the top teams. Outside of the success at the WSYL, BBL is just another NJ club.

My son went to UA tryouts yesterday in Hillsborough. Most of the club teams regularly discussed here were there. It's nice to watch those players all on the same field. You can see the talent in this state. Interested to hear your take.

[quote=Anonymous]My son went to UA tryouts yesterday in Hillsborough. Most of the club teams regularly discussed here were there. It's nice to watch those players all on the same field. You can see the talent in this state. Interested to hear your take.[/quote

It would be even better if the best players actually went to the UA tryouts, or the National tryouts for that matter, and made the team. Having certain clubs run the teams hurts the final product, and the teams do not compete well. I would estimate that at least 10-20 of the top players in NJ do not show up at either tryout due to politics.

The reality is that certain clubs control the roster selection for each event. It is not a true tryout. Just be mindful of that when you pay/sign up. They already decide ahead of time.

The first 3 are accurate with Bluestar, obvious coaching connection, but Rumson/CBA is more of a one-off from the Tri State 2023 shore team.

For LE once you get into 8th grade an above don't they generally know who they want?
Unless a kid is total "lights out" at a tryout? Just wondering if it is worth it for a kid to go to a "call-back".

I would say if you made the call back that there is still a chance that your son has a shot at making the team. I don’t think they would waste their own time calling back someone that has been written off already.

With no context on how good your son is, if he wants to play/compete at that level then by all means attend the tryout. Their teams haven’t been dominating so I would imagine there are some spots up for grabs

For the most part, the call-back is a scam, they already know who they are taking, just a way to make a few more bucks. Unfortunately, you don't figure this out until you attend the call-back tryout which is a total joke.

Unfortunately, this is not the case for LE, they hit you for another tryout fee for the call-back

No they don't

BBL's AH working the phones and bashing other clubs in text and while on the phone. Threatening players and parents. If you are that great of a program why so unprofessional?

They did in the past.

Threatening players and parents is the number one sign to run as fast as you can

Sounds like your kid is leaving BBL

Its a repeat of tri state’s downfall. BBL announced fielding two national teams at each age level. Even if you make BBL National, you could still end up on the B Team!!!