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

So you finally admit there MIGHT be a holdback on the team...lolz

What 2-3 teams will beat crabs. Hawks and that’s it

Show me a roster in HOCO that doesn’t have 4-5 holdbacks??

Hawks lose by 5 to Crabs this year. Crabs are stacked. 8th grade is King Crab time !

What 2-3 teams will beat crabs. Hawks and that’s it

New and Improved 91 will beat Crabs.

NOW you've admitted it's 4-5...

Keep going and we'll get to the truth.

91 Certainly cant get any worse than last year's team.

Just assume it’s the entire Crabs team and move on. You both are right. Every elite team in the country now has 8th graders born before the NY date of 9/1/2007. This is a grade based league in a grade based sport. Although Crabs are likely the oldest team, they are not doing anything wrong. Settle it on the field and take the comments to the holdback board please. That being said, no team will go undefeated in Hoco this year and it will be fun to see who emerges as they transition to high school.

☝🏻

I don't understand why no one has really caught on to the fact that 91's teams after 2025 are not developing.

Soon as the two golden Childs graduate , everyone will.

Picked up plenty of new blood. Better athletes. Speed. But be a hater. All good.

What tournaments is 91 playing in this Fall or is it too windy this time of year?

Unless they got 5+ holdbacks, no shot in my book.

Little too windy.

But they are playing this weekend and playing in FLA in Dec at IMCLA - enjoy hating on all the teams except your sons. Plenty of good players and teams out there. Easy to find if you know how to operate your phone on tourney machine. Good luck with the APP store.

They said "developing", not "recruiting new kids". Can't be much longer to wait for your kid to be atrophied off of the roster.

With these 12 teams, the elite division is basically crabs and Hawks, and then everybody else. There is not any real differentiation from number three to number 12. Number 12 deserves to be there at least as much as number five does. Everybody else is just filling out the schedule for number one and number two. Last year's bottom of the elite division and top of the AAA overlap quite a bit. Having two divisions and a 12 team league seems much more equitable and makes a lot more competitive sense. AAA will be filled with a lot of improved teams that catch a lot of 2026 cast offs that are on age as the elite teams pick up 20-25 kids. Both divisions should be very entertaining to watch. There will be very good ball played in aaa. And there will be some stellar ball played in the elite division.

News flash….. my kid is on a solid AAA team with zero hold backs and incredible coaching. In my opinion, good coaching trumps everything else. Sure… fly a stud or two in from TX or FL…. Hold 1/2 your 2025 team back. No thanks…. I’ll stick with my solid team who support each other and are valued. In 10 years what is your son going to say to you about these years? I loved my team and coaching and I grew as a player and a person? You might wanna check yourself. This is but a incredibly small moment in time, folks. The life lessons will live on. Think about your son, his well-being and his future.

I’m not sure if 91 has gotten any better but they sure have gotten bigger .

Thanks, Hawks Dad

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News flash, AAA has tons of holdbacks too and I bet there are a few on your team. But keep riding that AAA high horse. You sound happy up there.

Spoken like a dad of a kid who plays on a AAA team! If your son was invited to be on a Elite team you’d jump on the chance in a minute.

There are holdbacks on B division teams.

And every other division in between.

Lies, as a former coach in the know, who knows the majority of coaches in HOCO, all divisions, this simply isn't true. But go ahead with your fake news. I'm sure it makes you feel better.

Hilarious - 'coach' you can not be this naïve?? May want to check those rosters again!! I know for a FACT there are kids in both AAA and AA that are not on age!!!

+1

Can corroborate.

holdbacks go from highly prevalent in the Elite to nonexistent in the B.

Lots in Elite, a few here and there in AAA, almost none in AA and below.

Mehhhhhhhhhh sure. Academic holdbacks. And"We started Jimmy early and then had to academically reclass to his proper year" holdbacks. Maybe even a football holdback who happens to play lax, but doesn't really think he'll play lax in college.

Not lax holdbacks. True lax holdbacks require a specific ecosystem:

1) Parent and player squarely focused on playing D1 in college from at least 6th grade.
2) Contact with elite coaches at club and schools to have very pointed conversations about the benefit of a lax specific holdback.
3) Talent level boost from holdback year would boost the kid from elite 3rd line to elite starter (again, for D1 looks) or (RARE) from AA/AAA to Elite.
4) School administrators, counselors, coaches, and club coaches all approving this approach for the student-athlete.

There is about a 0% chance that the parent-teacher-coach system of a lower level athlete (The 60% of 8th grade players who are still rocking Rec/B/A) will come to the conclusion that holding a kid back for lax is a smart call. For those boys, lax (and maybe all sports) are starting to move into the background already.

You don't need to call me coach, but I'm in the know pal. There are ZERO in AA and maybe a few in AAA and not for athletic reasons. Get a grip, only reason your son in elite is because you held him back and you're all for it, if not he would be a bench warmer. Good luck though! Crabs 2 years ago ZERO HOCO wins. Now talk of the town and everyone knows why.

I bet you are fun at parties. It's youth lax not the Warren Commission. That was a lot of words to say you hold them back pre-k or before for academic or development reasons and then after that for lax glory.

Jumping in on this conversation. I have a hold back son on a AA team. He is playing the sport for fun not for a D1 ride. So Pal, you're wrong.

if you equate not being “on age” as a holdback - then yes, there are not on age kids on probably every team - just do to the prominence of prefirst private school kids in this area.

If you are only considering a holdback as a kid who intentionally repeated a grade for lax purposes than yes there are many many less as the lacrosse levels go lower.

But either way, not being on age is all over the place.

Sorry my son is on age and playing in the elite division because he works his Meanyoff Coach and sees plenty of playing time. See there are kids capable of it so Coach stop making excuses and trying getting better at what you profess to do......COACH!!

He likes beating younger kids…for fun.

kinda funny that a Dad would admit (boast?) that his son is a holdback, but still playing at just the AA level.

I don't care what this guy does at parties, but his assessment the system is spot on.

You are not in the know and should really think about the statements you make about things you say you know. In the world of fact checking, I’m here to tell you there are players who live in my area on different HoCo AAA, AA and A teams. They have birthdays prior to Sept 1 because my kids go to the birthday get togethers. There are reclassed for whatever reason kids in AAA, AA and A. So your ZERO is misinformation. Hope you knew more about the game of lacrosse when you were a “coach“ than you think you know about all the teams in HoCo. It’s a way of life in club lacrosse. It’s not just in the elite and AAA levels.

You need to jump into some Reading Rainbow like you jumped into this conversation. The comment before yours says "not for athletic reasons."

OK Boomer.

Crabs will still lose 2-3 HOCO spring league games

Since hooked on phonics worked for me, my son is in the AA. That person said ZERO are in the AA. Maybe you should work on your reading comprehension.