US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums MID-ATLANTIC LACROSSE MARYLAND FORUM Boys 2028 Grads - Mid Atlantic Region

I don’t know these parents at all. I don’t care about holdbacks and care even less about the “but my kid has a July birthday so he’s not really a holdback” argument. One is an excuse to lose. The other is an excuse to holdback. But both are excuses.

Haaaa! Isn’t that the truth. They couldn’t beat anyone pre-Covid. Nobody. Then they reclassed 7-8 kids. So be it. Have no problem with that. But don’t gimme this “we just work harder and play more disciplined.”

First they’ll have to beat out the Predators!!!

Both things can be true. The Hawks to play a brand of tough lacrosse. The kids run it extremely well.

The hawks also probably have the fewest on age starters out of any team in 6th grade in HoCo.

They are very good and disciplined and skilled. They are also old.

I also expect they will get older next year and the year after that.

They’ve lost twice in nine months, but only because all their players are a year older than everyone they play. That’s why they’re good.

Honestly, all this talk on here is pretty sad. Whether your son wins or loses right now has very little influence on their future. It’s just about your ego. Chill out.

Word on the street about the crabs is they recruit hard but the coaching is weak which leads to players leaving and going to other teams. But, they are still an elite team so there will be 100+ players at the tryouts and they only carry one team at the 2028 unlike other teams.

Crabs had no more than 35-40 kids at tryouts last summer. 100 plus? What are you talking about?

As parents you should teach your kids to overcome obstacles in life instead of complaining about things you have no control of like holdbacks and shotty officiating and other kids on the team that are selfish. Teaching your kids that with hard work and determination they can compete with and beat the holdbacks or any other obstacles. They will thank you for this later in life!!

This year you are going to see a lot of holdback due to covid. Unlike most of the parents that are commenting on this Forum, most parents care more about school then sports and had a hard time juggling work, school and other thing so instead of letting their kids get behind they held their kids back. Please take a minute and look at the amount of hold backs on the not so highly ranked teams. I think you will find that there are just as many there.

It's because we PAY for BETTER coaching !

There were at least 35 - 40 Attack at the tryouts but either way Crabs is just like the other clubs was my point. Good Lacrosse and plenty of parent drama. The thing that I think sets them appart is they don't have as much "daddy ball" as the others. I like crabs but don't think it's any different than the others

At least you get better coaching. You could be paying the same to be on a team like 91 and watch the coaches' son play the entire time and still loose.

No Daddyball at Crabs?
Their staff is posted on their website. Almost every team has a dad/kid combo on their team.

Do you know if Crabs pays their coaches?

No way there were 40 kids trying out for just 5 attack spots on Crabs last year. Fake news.

Guess you were not at the tryouts.

Crabs had low 50 something kids at tryouts.

The only people with 100 was FCA.

And FCA is famous for picking their teams before try-outs begin so don't bother to waste your money. Or you can buy a used Hawks helmet, try-out and are guaranteed a spot. Blue team is solid, white team seems to be struggling.

Odd. Crabs ‘27 had 63 kids at tryouts. Didn’t look like a larger number for 26s.

Well we know crabs 29s tryouts were not packed

So there 50 kids at Crabs tryouts and 40 of them were attackmen? That would explain a lot. But if that that were truly the case, wouldn't their attack unit be the best in Elite?

They are only allowed to coach their kids until 6th grade, come 7th grade they are not. And the head coach of 2028 is not a parent of any of the kids on the team, the 3 assistant coaches of the team do have kids on the team though . Not sure about the other teams, we are new to crabs

that's what they are saying to you? good luck with that. you are in for a big surprise

You could have the best kids, but maybe not a ton of success without the right coaching and offenses/defenses, etc. You could also have lesser kids and better coaching and have a lot of success. If any team at this level is having issues, the whole picture needs to be looked at. I have to think that teams like Hawks and NL have good enough players AND know how to coach them. That’s what separates the top from the bottom.

Having too many kids on a roster will ruin a team. If you have over 20 players start a B team. Keeps the talent level relative.

NL was not a great team last year, let’s not forget…

NL has proven they can beat anyone and also lose to anyone. Would not be surprised if they ended up with a few more losses. Would not be surprised if they won every remaining game.

Agreed but if you have 27 on your team that's not enough to start a new team and for most of these programs "getting that money" is more important than child development. If you cut kids you can't use their money to hire daddy ball coaches to ignore your kid in favor of their own.

This is what lacrosse in Maryland has become for most clubs!!

No doubt you are a 91 2028 parent. LOL.

I would never put my kid in that program. And if I was and they told me there were going to be 27 kids on the team I would leave. Just saying. I don't need to be on a team to see what the problems are. I love lacrosse and think it's a shame. Those kids could be cut and moved to a team where they would play.

Folks, this love affair with NL may be a little premature. They pulled one out against Madlax down 4-2 with 4 minutes remaining, and had Hawks on the ropes. It’s early Spring. Eeeeeasy….

Lot of truth to this. Far better off starting on a AAA team than itnis to ride line at ElIte level. These kids are 6th grade, they need game experience.

I’ll look it another way, the kids on Next Level appear to have found joy in a sport where it may not have been as fun last season. Madlax on the other hand, have kids that have had to deal with a coach who yells constantly and when they get off the field calls them embarrassing, disgraceful and worse while barely playing some kids. When the wins are coming, the boys are buzzin’ and the social media is rolling, it’s all good but the flaws are exposed. Somewhere in AAA or AA there is kid who is having a blast and getting better and that kid will find his way onto a team at a higher level when a handful (not all) of the ML kids burn out by 8th grade.

Also, holding Madlax to 4 goals is not much of a feat. Hawks held them to 5. And Madlax couldn't even put up double digits against True.

Games in fall? They don't count, best players were playing football.

Games in "early" spring? They don't count, too early. Chill.

Games in summer? They don't count, best players were on vacation.

it never ends........

Exactly, it never ends, and for good reason. these are sixth graders, and they play a zillion games all year round, and players constantly come and go. No one game or even one season is the final verdict that your son's team is great and the others are falling behind. Enjoy the times with your son, be proud that he is playing at a high level, and hope that he is improving and growing as a player.

Nah, roster was full in July when they steamrolled Hawks 7-2

Love this. Counting out Madlax after two games. Tight ones at that.

which 2028 team has the best coaching out of NL, ML, and Hawks?

NL has played 2 games in the past 5 months…they haven’t hit their full stride just yet.

Hawks. Even their coach is a holdback.