Back of THE CAGE Forums NEW JERSEY LACROSSE NEW JERSEY MAIN FORUM Club Feedback: Tri-State

Can someone give feedback on this club for their "all-star" team?
This would be for 2026.

Tryout for BBL, Leading Edge and BlueStar. TriState is hit or miss based on age

Agreed. I would lean more towards BBL or Bluestar at this age, LE does not have a strong youth program. BBL and Bluestar also have more options with respect to skill level at each age group. If your son is very good, he would be placed on their top teams, but both clubs also have a strong developmental programs. At this point, I would go to both tryouts and get a feel for the programs and the coaches, I would also seriously consider the practice locations.

2 of those clubs are the usual suspects, one isn't. seeing lots of chatter about bluestar in the last few weeks. Is it just the marketing department doing a guerilla campaign or did they have a great summer?

Not sure, but Bluestar seems to be drawing in a lot of kids. As with every club, they have a mix of teams, some stronger than others. 2021's and 2023's are pretty solid, and I know that a lot of kids have moved from other clubs to the younger teams. As for marketing, I don't think that they are any more prevalent on social media than Tri-State, BBL or Leading Edge, perhaps the program is simply generating more interest.

For the 2026 level, BBL and Tribal (Jersey Express) are the best 2026 in NJ. Those top teams are fairly well established and harder to break into. There are a few other teams like United which are very good and also pretty well established. Followed by a few others like United. Tri-State, Leading Edge and Blue Star are a step below. Blue Star (like BBL) has a variety of teams so kids will likely find a place on one of their teams. LE and Tri-State have good programs especially at older ages but their 2026 teams are not as good. However, unless you are playing for BBL Elite or Jersey Express type team, I would consider factors like coaching, year round opportunities and travel time as bigger factors than prestige of the team.

Towermen have beaten all teams listed above this year. Except Bluestar since haven’t played them.

this must be loud sweaty cursing towermen dad. Hey NL try performance material instead of cotton bud.

Where in NJ do you live? If you live in Bergen county you don't want to be driving to Middlesex for practice 3 nights a week. At that age pick a team that is close and he has some friends/future teammates. You can always change teams as his talent progresses.

This is spot on based on my experience. My advice, be honest in assessing the level of skill of your son (or daughter) THAT YEAR. Most important is he's with a team that fits his level and get appropriate amount of playing time along with having fun with his team mates. You'll do him no favor if you drive an hour for practice for a team where he seldom see the field. My 2c.

I think the poster was looking for advice on teams that have tryouts and are options for his kids. Could be wrong, I do not believe Towermen has tryouts.

Blue Star has a new team called the Devils out of westfield. Does anyone know anything about that team?

My son went to tryout and it was great. The coaches coached the whole time and they filmed the tryout.
Is this the type of club (like LE) that has no loyalty to former players and will cut most for new?

Tri-State (2026) is certainly looking to get new players as their roster size was small last year. I do not think they have a reputation for cutting players like LE. There is more loyalty at Tri-State. You keep developing and working hard and they will likely keep you.

While we left tri-state some time ago for other reasons, they are definitely much more loyal than LE. That being said, they have cut legacy kids form the high school teams in the past.