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

Glad you were trolling. No one cares about middle school.

I don't think he was trolling. There is a fair amount of astroturfing going on in this thread and in others from Blue Star or Blue Star parents promoting their up & coming youth teams. When people are making posts about "pulling all the Westfield kids" (which they definitely are not, that would be 3d) or being "top 3 in NJ," I think it is only reasonable to comment on how they are actually developing and performing.

I hear you though, it's middle school fall ball. No reason to get bent out of shape about it one way or the other. Since we are all here reading about it, and others were asking, I think it fits the discussion.

LE with 7 commits already. Another one to Lehigh today.

TriState has 4 and Blue Star 2. Why does everyone keep talking about BBL being so great?

Blue Star has 3

NJ Riot has 6, BBL has 3, STEPS has 1, 2 Knights has 1.

I’ll give it to LE. They have gotten kids who are not really that good into D1 schools. It’s impressive.

Let’s be honest. That’s a bit of a shocker.

It’s a very good program for the B level player that needs constant programming and clinics and ultimately ends up playing decent D3 lax.

There is nothing wrong with that.

First of all the majority of LE's early commits are very good so you don't know what your talking about, yes I am sticking up for LE on this part of the quote, however the statement "7 commits already" is overstated. I included below my educated guess based on their skill sets from 8/18/2021 where I stated LE early commits would be the their 3 poles, face off kid, their top attackman and maybe the goalies and that is how it has played out. With that being said, in regard to those top 5 field players, LE had minimal work to do to get them to the schools they chose. Those kids had numerous opportunities and a good amount of schools to pick from. They could have went to the same schools they chose even if they played for Joe Schmo as long as Joe Schmo got them to decent tournaments, which basically every club can do now with so many other options out there.

The Lehigh signing is good work, whether it was the kid doing his due diligence on his own or the director doing his job. Either way, well done.

First of all the majority of LE's early commits are very good so you don't know what your talking about, yes I am sticking up for LE on this part of the quote, however the statement "7 commits already" is overstated. I included below my educated guess based on their skill sets from 8/18/2021 where I stated LE early commits would be the their 3 poles, face off kid, their top attackman and maybe the goalies and that is how it has played out. With that being said, in regard to those top 5 field players, LE had minimal work to do to get them to the schools they chose. Those kids had numerous opportunities and a good amount of schools to pick from. They could have went to the same schools they chose even if they played for Joe Schmo as long as Joe Schmo got them to decent tournaments, which basically every club can do now with so many other options out there.

The Lehigh signing is good work, whether it was the kid doing his due diligence on his own or the director doing his job. Either way, well done.

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I would agree with this. The only big surprise is the Lehigh commit (would not have expected that) but good for the kid.

It has been said multiple times on this forum....2023 BBL and LE were not that good of teams.....LE has the better talent pool and will end up with 12-15 D1 commits.

BBL 2024 is where they as a club start to significantly improve in talent....they will have about 15 D1 commits, LE 2024 should be right around the same number, as well as TRI State....2024's have a lot of talent spread out over the NJ teams, not sure why 2023 class as a whole does not seem to have the same numbers.

Man, I don't want to discuss a specific player on this thing any further so please no one else comment on it. I do think the kid is legit. Watch his highlight reel. And remember he was playing next to an attackman who would shoot the ball from anywhere and everywhere (not saying this in a bad way about the Navy kid just pointing out the less touches) so he had to fight for his goals; and he was getting subbed out.

Hahaha, "B" level players.

BBL is the top youth program in the state and it's not close. Look at US Club Lacrosse rankings. Look at their performance at the World Series of Youth Lacrosse. Look at the tournaments they go to and how they perform against the top clubs in the country. No other NJ club is in the conversation for best program 8th grade and below.

If you're talking HS club lacrosse, well then LE has been the top dog for sure, but the gap between them, Tri-State, BBL, and the rest appears to be closing. If BBL successfully holds onto their youth talent, they will be on par or pass LE at the HS level before too long.

Agreed with everything you say except the rankings. Rankings are all fluff and not perfect. Madlax and Mad Dog have like two teams in the top ten because they list national wheras both their regular team are essentially the national teams. US Club should probably take the National Teams out but True and Sweetlax would complain.

The "B" level comment is obviously somebody trolling for a reaction....no skin in the game, but I have seen the BBL 2024 team play, they are certainly not a B team...As for LE, I do agree that the gap is closing, but it will take some time to see how things play out with the 2023 class. I think that the talent at 2023 was a bit more spread out, so you will see good commits from a lot of clubs.

Maryland
Norte Dame
Navy
Brown
Fairfield
Lehigh

Isn’t that 6? What is the 7th?

Rankings are a joke. Dude in Point Pleasant trying to make a buck. He will never remove the National Team especially Mad Dog because he has ties to them.

Villanova, LSM

LSM to Villanova

Not to stick up for LE but you have 4 or 5 very smart kids on that team. They are not going to commit to schools just to play lacrosse. I wouldn't be surprised if you don't see an MIT or some other very high-level academic commitment.

I think that this is a good point, there are definitely kids out there, whether on LE or other NJ teams, that are holding out for the right academic fit. Also, the early commits are exciting, but as any college coach will tell you, this is a very long process. Top D3 commits won't even happen until the spring or summer. In general terms (and not talking about LE as their early commits are all good schools), I think that some kids start to feel the pressure and end up committing early to places that are not the best fit. I know that a lot of people do not believe in prospect days, but they are great for getting a feel for a school and the team, especially if they have a few players helping out.

No more WSYL, as predicted.

Baltimore Fall Classic today, LE 2023 winless. 2024's went 1-3 in last place. Just reporting facts. Don't kill the messenger. Oh and Tristate did much better. No surprise here.

I appreciate the humor! Much needed around here. Congrats to tri state 23s on big wins over jersey thunder and team lacrosse

winning games is overrated. just show up to the tournament and you should be guaranteed D1. am I right?

Not an LE parent, but calm down. It’s the fall. Consider every game a scrimmage.

No on cares about the 2023's anymore....and its fall ball...LE 2024's played all good teams...wins and losses do not matter right now.

2023 played number 2,3 and 10 ranked teams. That said, the team has gone downhill over the past 11 months. Not sure if it's the addition of new players or losing players but they aren't even close to the same team.

All good teams? that's a stretch. I detest to break it to you but wait until you play legit top teams from LI, NE, MD and DC (91,Express,Eclipse,Madlax). I suggest you tell your director to put them in the B bracket. Oops.. never mind, they're already there. More humor for you.

Whoever you are, you do not do not know much of what your talking about. Just like the dude said about the 23's they played 3 top 10 "ranked" teams. They were all well known teams. The 2023's are a mess but once they pull their 2022's studs down to start playing with them they will significantly improve, which by the way is some BS to the existing 2023's. The 2024's played the Crabs, West Coast Stars and Acension. Crabs and WCS are both top 20 and Acension is a fall all star team of Freedom, Brotherly Love, MESA and whoever else they can grab. Stop playing up how good LI and MD teams are.

Stud??? Can't wait for the spring chants from the student sections.

This couldn't be further from the truth. I just checked the scores. Lost 1 goal games in the fall to good teams. If they played those teams last year, those scores would be much different. That team has gotten much better.

Tri-state lost to the same team that the 2024 LE team beat. Im no mathematician but I would probably do my homework before I made comments to compare teams. (I also understand it is not always a direct correlation. I just would not try to compare teams if they had a similar opponent and lost...)

2023 Tristate played Jersey Thunder, an unnamed "Lacrosse" Team, and Lost to VLC.

2025 Tristate team didn't play. BBL 2025 and LE 2025 are far superior.

Why are the Tri-State 2025s not attending any of these Tournaments? Do they have a team?

Word on the street is that their Director is DMing kids on instagram to see if they would want to leave their programs to go play for that team. Is that weird or is that a normal "business" practice?

That's the LE model. Copycat league.

Kids approach LE and actually jump ship. That’s the difference I guess.

Tri-state plays fewer of the “top tier” tournaments. They still go to some and do well, but they aren’t there all the time. Could be why their commits aren’t rolling in like BBls 2023… Other than the NLF super conference, BBL hits the same top tournaments as LE

Tri state had a good amount of very good 25s. They all have since left and ended up with LE.

LE 2023 is simply overrated and new players are there to fill the directors pockets with $$$. Buyer beware.