US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums MID-ATLANTIC LACROSSE MARYLAND FORUM Boys 2026 Grads - Mid Atlantic Region

Agreed! Cannons 2026 is a great team. FO guy is solid. They will be a force in AAA, as HoCo 2026 will be. HoCo barely lost to TRW by 1 in tournament this summer. Say what you will. Cannons & HoCo 2026 will be standouts in AAA. Both strong teams with very strong coaching….. which at the end of the day, is the most important thing.

We’ve heard for years that parents aren’t holding back for lacrosse. I believe them. That’s why they won’t care when it moves to age based again.

Lax used to be age based before the early recruiting push a few years ago.

Now early recruiting is gone, time to go back to age based. Once the Clubs realize that will have better hs enrollment and make more cash by running it the way soccer does. But let’s be honest, these former lax players running the premier programs aren’t the brightest bulbs when it comes to business. The extent of their business “acumen” is up-charging parents 5% more in the team store.

Next Level and FCA had tough years. TRW & Top Caliber move up. HoCo & Cannons will be AAA and very justified as both are solid contenders. Roughriders lost both goalies and top players, so they are in rebuild mode, but who knows.

They don’t see an issue with it, because they are benefiting from it! It’s not about when a kid hits 9th grade! It’s about what’s going on in youth lacrosse and the unfair advantages holding back gets them for development purposes. It needs to change. A kid Should only be able to play up and not down.

OMG WE KNOWWWWWWW[/quote

OK , GREATTTTTTTTT! So, are you ready to sign the petition to US Lacrosse?!

How does Kooper's keep creeping in here?

Does US Lacrosse have to power to do anything about it? Up to now I haven’t seen any sweeping changes that come from them. Just suggestions. Do you remember when they were pushing their development model where there was no contact until U12?

USL lacrosse is run by Baltimore lacrosse people. They have or are friends with many private schools parents/players. Dont expect anything from USL.

Change will only come from youth clubs, which is an uphill climb

Strong teams in AA, not AAA. They may move up, but they will not be standouts unless they cut a bunch and reloaded with talent.

Money talks! As it stands now, It benefits the people with money and influence in the LAX circles. The Prep school families. They don’t really care to see anything change

Little Johnny actually works hard and pushes himself. Your kid repeats grades so that he can have a soft landing at his dad's company when graduates at 25 years old after some one else did his papers for him.

So True. The schools that constantly talk about Character Education show little when it comes to this or other issues of this type.

Not sure if you’ve ever heard about something called coaching? Just moved my kid from Elite to AAA for the coach. I don’t care if you fly 10 kids (15 years old) .in to win games. I want my son to developable actually play. And I learned….. the coaching is #1. My son will develop more in AAA than playing Elite and fighting the team politics. So re-evaluate your coaching staff.

I hope you did your homework on the coach before you “moved” your kid down. AAA is worse than elite in many ways, not just talent level. And if you don’t think politics are front and center in AAA as well, you will be shook by game 2 of spring league. Good luck.

Care to share which AAA team your son joined? If there is a AAA coach who is so good that players are choosing to move down a division in order to play for him, that would be great data to share on this board.

Not true.
More scare tactics and patting oneself on the back by the parents who are justifying the elite craziness. Lots of fantastic options at AAA and AA.

Koopers is the place fir development!!

Agreed. FCA and looneys falling. Koopers rising

I think you made a good decision. I made a similar one with one of my sons a few years ago. Moved him down so he would be developed and actually play. It was the best decision we made. He got better, started in high school, and played in college. You can’t get better riding the bench.

Is Koopers moving to elite?

After the summer Koopers had hard to keep them from elite. Team is basically the future Gilman varsity team in 2 years

Never saw them at a tournament. Name the ones they played in.

Please.. Predators is the new place to develop with first class coaches.

Along with new team that is talk of town... Predators. For the long haul, I know who I would bet on.

True. With Koopers feeding Gilman and preds feeding St. Paul I really don’t see how other teams especially hawks and crabs stay viable

If true, Doesn’t bode well for Gilman.

I think you're delusional if you think those kids will be starting at Gilman as sophs...I know every kid on that squad and I don't see those kids contributing as sophs. And if they do, Gilman will be horrendous. There are a lot of Gilman kids in that class on 91, no?

Not a whole lot of difference in AAA and AA. Good players and teams. Just no holdbacks. Cannons might have one of the best 2026 middies in any division.

TRW lost to AA Swarm in summer tourney, ouch.

Look for Koopers to make a late push in the next few years, and work their way up.

Thanks for making "other programs" relevant.

Tired of the Hawks, hawks, hawks, and what not taking up the whole board. Plenty of other talent and teams out there to discuss.[/quote]

You appear to be the only one bringing them up. Hawks dads have been quiet in here.

Good for him. My son jumped from AAA to Elite years ago and it has been the best thing for him. Better teammates, better coaching and no struggle to fill a roster out for game days. There is no one formula. Lots of different directions for the kids to go.

Same. I had to look on USCL. Hershey, Meltdown, Blue Hen and Summer Exposure. No wins all that impressive. You can look for yourself. Ranked 157.

☝🏻

The only time Koopers were relevant when the Petro twins were there and they left for other clubs lol

Obviously at this age there are no more parent coached teams. What makes for a good 8th grade coach coming in from outside.

That was years ago. Predators will contribute to the down fall of Koopers. They were counting on StP players.

Guess you havent seen Hawks

Or almost all of the AAA and AA teams!!!

I thought that the Hawks model is to have a paid head coach and parent assistants, known as "daddy ball lite." Is the 2026 Hawks head coach a team parent too? I honestly don't know, but I am sure one of the Hawks parents on this Board can confirm one way or the other.

With that one possible exception, you will not see elite teams with parent coaches. It is more common at AAA and AA. But generally, the stronger the team, the less likely you are to see parent coaches.

“Not really on the team”
It sounds like his kid is “on the team” just like the other kids.
Your reply makes you sound like your kid’s spot might be threatened by an out of state player who doesn’t even have to be at practice to be able to take his place.
THAT’S hilarious stuff. And if the out of state kid helps the team win, it seems like that might help morale.

Guess you havent seen Hawks[/quote]

Comparing WSYL roster (of on-age boys) with the 2026 coaches on the webpage, these are father/son: #1 (Head Coach), #4 (Asst), #9 (Asst), #44 (Asst). Don't know if the Asst Head Coach has a son on team, but someone does!

Or his reply could be spot on............