Back of THE CAGE Forums NEW JERSEY LACROSSE NEW JERSEY MAIN FORUM Top Boy's Club Teams in New Jersey

Not from NJ but I agree. It all depends on the quality which varies per grad year. For HS level players, if the team is going to top 'Recruiting Events' then paying in between that rate is Fair. Here on LI though, there are a couple teams that charge 4k which is insane. Do you due diligence to see what events and like the previous poster wrote, also check the quantity of practices in the Fall, Winter & Spring/Summer however, from what I have seen changed over the past 4 years, more teams are not really offering Fall practices and are primarily charging for the Winter-Summer with an option to pay for the Fall.

Not sure if NJ teams are doing the same but would be curious to know.

Some sell it as a complete package, others offer it a la carte for the off-season. Having to buy into the whole year seems contrary to the concept of wanting to encourage multi-sport athletes. As stated earlier, the biggest push has been with respect to competitive box, the number of clubs participating is growing fast. NJ has a lot of talent, but not the participation numbers like LI - competition is more fierce for spots on top LI clubs, so the top LI clubs have more leverage to push a costly all-in year round package.

Excellent perspective however, LI is saturated with teams so with a plethora of alternatives, I can't comprehend why people pay some programs like fl$ & Igloo 4k when there are teams significantly cheaper and better

People tend to get sucked in by the big name instead of what may be the best situation for their kid. 91 recently made a push into NJ, I'm curious to see how that plays out. The 91 model has not had close to the same success in markets outside of LI, but people hear the name and think that their kid will be the next Bandits all-star.

Anyone know anything about Thunder Lacrosse? My 2024 is looking for a team and his friends suggested Thunder.

What part of NJ are you in, and what level does your son play at. If your son is an A or AA level player, I do not think that Thunder is a club that you should be looking at, otherwise, peer recommendations are always a great start.

Have you seen Igloo's uniforms? Fire!!!! That's where the money goes. But seriously, their unis are straight fire.

Probably a fair estimate, maybe higher in a few instances, but the real issue is value for the money. While every team does their standard 4 summer tournaments, the question is what are you getting for that money off-season. Fall tournaments are few and far between, so more a means to keep the lacrosse skills sharp. Winter is the big factor because you have some clubs that are very active playing competitive box, while other clubs simply run practices in a indoor facility. Spring is really the same as the fall unless your club is getting involved in a competitive spring league like NXT MId-Atlantic. [/quote]

Not from NJ but I agree. It all depends on the quality which varies per grad year. For HS level players, if the team is going to top 'Recruiting Events' then paying in between that rate is Fair. Here on LI though, there are a couple teams that charge 4k which is insane. Do you due diligence to see what events and like the previous poster wrote, also check the quantity of practices in the Fall, Winter & Spring/Summer however, from what I have seen changed over the past 4 years, more teams are not really offering Fall practices and are primarily charging for the Winter-Summer with an option to pay for the Fall.

Not sure if NJ teams are doing the same but would be curious to know. [/quote]

Some sell it as a complete package, others offer it a la carte for the off-season. Having to buy into the whole year seems contrary to the concept of wanting to encourage multi-sport athletes. As stated earlier, the biggest push has been with respect to competitive box, the number of clubs participating is growing fast. NJ has a lot of talent, but not the participation numbers like LI - competition is more fierce for spots on top LI clubs, so the top LI clubs have more leverage to push a costly all-in year round package. [/quote]

Excellent perspective however, LI is saturated with teams so with a plethora of alternatives, I can't comprehend why people pay some programs like fl$ & Igloo 4k when there are teams significantly cheaper and better
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Have you seen Igloo's uniforms? Fire!!!! That's where the money goes. But seriously, their unis are straight fire.[/quote]

The uniforms cost $50 at best...now you just need to account for the remaining $3,950..but glad to have your in-depth persepctive

NJ is a mess, too many teams and not enough good coaches. two and half good '21 teams, one '22, 2 if you include Mountain Lakes and one '23 team. younger teams are even a bigger mess.

I would be curious to know what '21, '22 and '23 teams you are talking about, and not sure where ML as a town program enters the discussion, but yes, the market is saturated right now and there are a lot of bad, or simply inexperienced, coaches out there, but the top teams at there respective age groups are very good

ML beats every '22 team but LE Elite.. that is how they enter the discussion.

What are the options in Northern Bergen?

Interesting, didn't know that ML plays club programs...who are the '2l and '23 teams

ML is a great town team that beats sub-par club teams in lower level tournaments. No way does it beat LE Elite, BBL Black, Tri-State or South Jersey Black Storm. Laker Future even got beat by Red and Black (new Team 91 West team).

ML is a good, not great, town team...and I have seen a few teams handle them pretty easily in the town tournaments...definitely no match for LE, BBL, Tri-State or SJBS