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

Lawrenceville is PG's and competes against other PG schools and not against public and private in NJ.. PG's aren't passing themselves off as something they are not. So, don't have a problem. But, I have a friend at work who lives in a lax town in LI and he says in flag football for 7 year olds...half the kids are a year older. So, the hold back things starts early. I mean if college coaches are fooled I guess joke is on them.. I would definitely be asking when there birthdays are. My son played on the b team for a name brand club team. They would practice on the same field as the A team of the younger grade. The younger grade A team was ranked in top 5 by club lacrosse. Anyway, the point is they would sometimes scrimmage and the older B team would always win. So you take B kids and play them down 1 year and they are the top team in the country.

I get the Lawrenceville argument but to suggest NY/LI is littered w holdbacks and NJ isn’t doesnt pass the smell test. Or, hear me out, maybe that’s why NJ has fallen behind NY, PA and MD for lacrosse supremacy…? Look at the top 25 HS rankings - lots of NY, PA and New England, zero NJ

It is definitely an interesting metric. Outside of the NY/CT public powers, the rankings are mostly made up of non-public programs similar to Lawrenceville. With the exception of maybe Delbarton, and in some years Don Bosco, NJ simply does not have the consistent non-public strength like a Malvern Prep, Haverford, St. Anthony's, Chaminade, all of the MIAA schools in MD and CT/MA preps. Even in good years, Delbarton does not beat Chaminade or St. Anthony's. Also, the prep schools are the only option for a reclass/holdback or PG, so they are naturally going to be better due to the quality of their rosters. The New England preps also get a lot of NJ players, so the NJ holdbacks/reclasses are not as apparent because they are playing out of state, whereas, in MD all of the holdback/reclasses are playing locally.

The good thing is that NJ lax is on the map. In a big way. If some of the best players are leaving to get great opportunities that is a good thing.

Some posters have strong feeling that it is important for NJ to prove itself. It is certainly not a right or wrong issue, it is just a matter of perception. As you note, regardless of where they are going to school, there are a lot of really good NJ players, and it certainly shows at the club level.

Mountain lakes has hold backs just like every high school. The difference is Mountain likes and other NJ high schools have1,2,3 kids that reclassed. Go to other parts of the country they have an entire team in local high school or clubs teams. NJ is one of a few states that still has the rule of you cant be 19 the first day of your senior year of high school. Lawrenceville is in NJ however not in the NJSIAA. they are a prep school that has a lot of PG's. I am talking about kids in 7th-8th grade reclassing for sports.

A friend sons team played the 2032 Towermen a few weeks ago and said that they were really good. I was just curious how they compare to a New Jersey team like the 2032 BBL Black and if those teams have ever play against each other before.

Towerman 2032 are a very good team. I have not scene BBL play at that level, i am sure they will be very good also. Both of those programs are ran very well and I would let me son to join them if he wanted. I made huge mistake this past summer. My son is a 2030 and we switched programs this past summer. What a mistake, we were with a program that practices all year long fall winter workouts spring and summer. We went with a program because most of the team was going to this new program, we were promised the best coaching, tournaments and practice fields. This fall we got to practice on turf..... the practice was 1.5 hours on Sundays with 5 teams on 1 turf field. 0 coaching was been done just a couple high school kids hanging out. Now the director will not return any of my phone calls or emails, when he was recruiting us he was available all the time. Please do research before leaving a good program for a "better one", the new program is completely BS in most eyes of parents that came over. Now we go back to the original program next summer.

What program is this so we know to avoid it? Sounds like a terrible experience

Its a program that just expanded to south jersey. I do not want to mention their program name but the experience has been completely BS.

Sounds like Blue Star . . . we had a similar experience there and the repeated use of "BS" should be a clue. No need to be so cryptic on an anonymous site.

Just because you had a bad experience, you should not infer that the other poster is referring to BS. For what it's worth, my son and his teammates were pretty heavily recruited out of BS. Also, BS has been active in south jersey for quite some time, lots of kids from Moorestown, Medford, etc., so they are not newcomers to the area.

Stop the BS! No one was recruited out of Blue Star.

I feel like Blue Star claims Chris Fake. He’s pretty good

The college commit page says otherwise..

You are either uninformed, a troll or the guy that keeps moving his kid from club to club because each prior club director simply does not understand how great your kid is at lacrosse

I love little guys who repeat 8th grade.

Bingo! BS has crappy NJ school feeders.so no surprise no recruits from it.

So we have narrowed it down to troll or the guy that keeps moving his kid from club to club because each prior club director simply does not understand how great your kid is at lacrosse.

https://www.bluestarlacrosse.com/commits

Oh snap, facts on BOTC? Say it isnt so!

Everybody thinks their son is going big time. BS’s commit sheet is more reality than most are prepared to accept. Lacrosse is fools gold (for everyone except the club directors)

Very true. What also got lost in the conversation is the comment about BS not being successful because they do not have kids coming in from high-level lacrosse high schools. The lack of Delbarton, SHP, etc. kids is certainly not exclusive to BS, it is most clubs in NJ. In fact look at LI as well, outside of 91 and Express, what other clubs are really stacked with the kids form the top LI high schools. As far as powerhouse high school lacrosse programs in NJ, I think that it is important to consider how many kids go to these schools with illusions of D1 greatness who never end up playing in college, or commit to low-level college programs.

Delbarton, SHP, Ridgewood, Summit, Mt. Lakes produce all the NJ talent.Those kids play in college after playing for LE or BBL. End of story.

I love how you omitted a certain school. LOL.

This person truly truly has know clue...even more telling is the SHP reference without acknowledging the existence of Tri-State...Also, just curious, what ever happened to schools like Don Bosco, Pingry, Ridge, RFH, Manasquan, Montclair, St Augustine...did they just decide to stop playing lacrosse and producing NJ talent

I agree that this guy has know clue, but the OP did make a relevant point about feeder programs. The success of many of these clubs is dependent on their ties with strong youth programs and/or strong HS's. BS used to be stronger when the Montgomery/Princeton youth programs were stronger . . . and when Westfield kids were going there. Westfield kids are now going to 3D and others which is why 3D has improved. Tri-State would take a dip if they lost ties with SHP. BBL would struggle if they burned bridges with Summit youth. If you want to build a strong club, start with a pipeline from a strong youth program and then build from there.

Fair point, but LE has never really depended on any school, so not sure that they can be grouped in with the others. Interesting about the Westfield kids, I was not aware of that dynamic. Agreed that Tri-State would certainly take a huge hit without SHP, it may have been a lifeline for the club, but I think that BBL has a pretty big footprint, so not sure if they live and die with Summit.

Separate note but important question for anyone in the know; what’s the deal w the Barnstormers?
I know the Kirst Bros are behind it, I know it’s a new(er) National team…any thoughts or perspectives?

I just checked the BS recruiting page, looked pretty good.
Not on the level of LE certainly, but there were some pretty good schools there.

Do 3d kids get recruited well, I couldn’t find a commitment page.

How does tristate generally do, I thought they placed kids pretty well.

My experience is that tri-state and BBL do very well with commitments, maybe a slight edge to tri-state, but certainly no downside to playing for BBL vs, tri-state. Not a LE fan, but they do have the best results in NJ. 3D is a newer program in NJ, so probably not a long track record locally, but their New England and National teams have been consistently strong.

Can someone explain the recent shift to all these “national” teams? I have heard of certain kids making these teams when they barely hang on to their spot for the local club team. Seems like everybody and their brother is running a national team. I feel like that takes away from the point entirely. Lots of bad competition showing up …

National teams are a great idea for kids in non-hotbed areas. It's an opportunity for a kid from the midwest to play with and against some of the best players in the country. There's not enough talent in locally in the midwest to put together a traditional regional team to compete with the best teams in the country. So for those kids . . . national teams make a lot of sense.

If you're playing anywhere from VA to MA, there's not much need to play for a national team. There are plenty of club teams at all different levels so each kid can find the right team for them locally. The national team concept in these areas just provides an opportunity to play more lacrosse in the off-season. So if you want to play more lacrosse in Dec and Jan then your local club offers, you can join a national team and play in some fun tourneys in FL/CA. It doesn't necessarily mean that the national teams are any more competitive than regional teams. It varies by club.

Initially, I think that the National team concept gained traction as the sport grew across the county. It was basically a means for a kid from outside the typical lacrosse hotbed areas to play in competitive east coast tournaments like Naptown, NAL, etc. While these players may have had access to local clubs, those clubs were typically not traveling, or being invited, to larger tournaments. Therefore, if a player was talented enough, they had the opportunity to compete at a higher level with teams like Mad Dog Nation, True. West Coast Stars, Sweetlax, etc.

totally get the mad dogs, true, west coast stars, etc. I even understand red hots for that purpose. however, I get several emails a week from no name "national" teams that are advertising try outs. These guys aint playing Naptown, NAL, NLF, or whatever the new league is. I just can't imagine families would fall for that advertising and spend K's on club fees and probably way more on travel expenses. I guess it like when will the money grabs end?

Unless the team is getting your kid into a top tier tournament or recruiting event, the only value is a jersey with "National" on it

What do guys think of New Balance All America team/tryouts over Nike? Nike seems basically all Leading Edge. The New Balance isn't as blatant but seems mostly BBL and Tri-State. IF you aren't on either of those clubs are you wasting your time and money?

Not a either or situation.Nike had hundreds of colleges there for the rising junior.That was good for my boys. At Nike colleges watch the Colsy, Millions and best players so it gets eyes on.Was impressed with level of play at Nike. Team approach made it different from other situations. But there are other summer tournaments, showcases, prospect days. NB my guys didnt do but no detest. Friends kids did do and they had ok. There is value in what is done and in number of events. But limited summer weeks. Cant do it all and who could would be a fortune. Hope this helps and dont listen to detesters. If colleges see your kids why not, hope this experience helps.

Thanks. Interesting that for NJ tryouts are the same day, March 3 rd. So, some people have to decide which tryout to go to..

Naturally club politics comes into play with all of these events, always has, always will. I guess that the important question is whether the event is giving your son the exposure that he is looking for. Sure, it is exciting to play in front of the top tier coaches, but you must do an honest assessment of where your son fits into the college recruiting process. If your son is more in line with D3 lacrosse, it may be better to attend a prospect day at one of those schools where he may have a legitimate opportunity, or a more intimate showcase like the ones Lacrosse Masters offers for high academic schools. Unfortunately, there is no one size fits all answer.

My son was on the Highlight team going into his Junior year - but we skipped the tryouts last year when it became New Balance. He was already recruited D1 and we opted to save our money. If you son is going into his Junior year it might be worth a look - but the same coaches will be at all the summer tournaments.