US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums MID-ATLANTIC LACROSSE MARYLAND FORUM Boys 2027 Grads - Mid Atlantic Region

Agree with the pp. madlax and crabs might be interested.

Hey Sherlock, 2027 BLC wasn’t in Elite last year either. They’ve always been a step below, but doesn’t mean they wont pick up a few new players and compete for Elite spot as DC Express. The DCE teams typically pick up a few new kids every year during that transition.

Looks like Next Level has jumped into the money grab and guest player business for the 2027's. 4 out of state players and 29 on the roster.

What is the benefit of playing with DCE?

Wow. The out of state players are part of the game nowadays so no surprise there. Nice to pick up a second goalie. But 29 players? What are the parents of the last 10 on the roster thinking?

Here's what you need to look at for DCE. https://www.dcelacrosse.com
Take a look at the site and let me kow if you want to spend several thousand dollars a year pre-paid for the year.
Only 2 coaches listed and I'm not sure they coach anymore.
Tryout information is old.
Prep Camp information is from 2021.
The league information is from 2 years ago and they list men's leagues for a HS and MS club
Last social media post is August 21
FB pinned post is for tryouts for 2021 and never responded to request on 2022 tryout dates.

Do you have a better option for those 10?

Usually when a kid is bottom 10 at that roster he won’t play much. His parents will complain and next year be at different club. There is a real problem with bringing kids from out of state. The crabs are famous for this on 26 cause they were good but doubt much draw for 27 other then try board at BL. So the rumors are madlax NL and also true is going to bring out state kids.

Sadly the landscape for 2027's is not great, but any option is better than never getting to play.
So if my son were 20 to 29 on the NextLevel roster, here are the options I would consider:

MadLax Capital, if he is an attackman, middie, or goalie. They are thin at those positions, so the bottom 10 on NextLevel could probably make MadLax fairly easily.
MadLax DMV - their roster is huge too, but somebody on the bottom of NL 2027 would still be an immediate starter
DCE - they have a black and orange team, so he would get to play on at least one of those
Hammers - if we lived in Loudon or Fairfax County, I would probably go here.
I would stay away from True.
It is too bad that NextLevel 2027 does not have an A and B team; they had a zillion kids at tryouts.

Making attack on ML27 would be harder than expected even though I agree they are thin. Head coach's son plays lefty attack and shouldn't be on the cap team at all never mind the starter who plays 100% of the game. It's been a huge issue the last couple of years (same on 28s where the coach moved his kid to attack and is average compared to their original starters) and has led to some of the original ML kids leaving for other clubs.

Daddy ball happens everywhere in lacrosse, I know, but it is very prominent on ML 28, 27 and 24 age groups to the detriment of better athletes and boys who have been loyal to the program from the beginning. Just ask the kids/parents (they all talk) and they will tell you the same thing....especially the kids who have left or the large groups of them thinking about leaving because of it. They are not a happy parent group.

Surprises me that NL is going down this road. It always appeared to me that the NL owner was more loyal to the long time customers than ML. It's an unfortunate development. I don't have a dog in the fight because my kid plays for a different club now but I know a lot of ML parents across a large swath of age groups. It's an oft discussed topic. Maybe some sour grapes here, but doesn't mean it's not true...fwiw

Agree with the PP that an attackman should not go hear ML 2027, because you are competing against two excellent righties players, and on the left side the most extreme case of daddy ball imaginable. Other teams know it and exploit it. Poles should stay away from ML too, because they are stacked there and they seem to keep adding. But if your son is a middie or a goalie, and you don't mind a toxic culture, then MadLax is an option.
But Hammers and DCE are closing the gap on MadLax talent wise, because the demise of VLC sent players to both teams, and both are more healthy environments.
So if my son were no. 20 to 29 on NextLevel, I would go to one of those two.

Interestingly, NL 28 just picked up the old ML27 goalie who reclassed. He is a really-really good goalie. I do know NL28 already has a solid kid in the cage who has been there since day 1. Be interesting to see how that shakes out because it will be a real test of loyalty for the organization. Something tells me if one is playing more than the other DCE (or someone else) could be getting an ace cage-guy who was disappointed about playing time.

My son plays for 2027 Madlax Cap, and there's nothing toxic about the culture. Great kids, great parents and great coaches.

If he's really really good why then why did he reclass to play against younger kids?

Probably because they aren't younger. Most of the teams in the elite division have plenty of reclass or holdbacks of their own.

Maybe he needed to repeat a grade for academics?

Ah that makes much more sense--he was so dominant against 2027 players, that he's seeking out a new challenge in the 2028 division, and while it may seem may seem like he's playing against younger players, he in fact isn't, because all the 2028 players are really 2027s who also held back.

This has to be one densest things ever read on here. Did you proof read this before hit post? People stop making excuses for holding you kids back to make them look good at sports. You look pathetic !

The abyss conversation, holdbacks.

The best player in 27s?
Discuss.

Hawks win HoCo every season, and one player generates a huge portion of their offense. They have a dominant goalie too. Hard to argue for anybody other than those two. Honorable mention to the attackman who left MadLax for NextLevel.

Forgive me, but which player is this?

I've seen them twice, but no one kid stuck out the times I've seen them. Middie? Attackman?

Agree 100 percent

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Agree as well

Curious the reason why the attackman left ML for NL?

I think many people have complained about ML for years. I believe they have daddy ball issues at the 27 age group. NL won’t have that issue.

yes, daddy ball taken to the extreme, combined with culture issues stemming from player(s) who came over in the BLC merger.

NL looks to be following the ML model with bloated rosters and out of state players. They may not have daddy ball but they will have other issues to deal with.

Sounds like every elite team is going to have out-of-state players next year. At this age group should be no more parents coaching.

Correct on NextLevel - 29 players, including some out of state. I would detest to be one of the bottom 8-10 players on that roster.

But MadLax actually has the opposite problem, only 22 players on its Capital roster, including at least 5-6 who are not elite level players, and they play with a very short bench. The daddy ball problem is going to make it hard to get new players for the offensive half of the field, which is where they need help.

What kind of culture issues?

The mom got caught being super snarky regarding the coach and daddy ball. They were asked to leave.

Not the full story, and not a good trade for MadLax. Actually the majority of ML team parents were (and still are) snarky about daddy ball and the culture issues, and for good reason. This team used to be competitive with Hawks and NextLevel, but were shellacked by both this spring.

Daddy ball is becoming a HUGE issue at ML, and I am an ML parent so I am saying this with first hand knowledge. It has killed the 24 and 27 teams. To say otherwise is simply spin. There are also constant stream of complaints with the 28 parents and now the 29s brought on a 2nd dad coach to replace the former dad coach who moved down to coach his kid in the 2030s. It's not a surprise that the most consistent team (and happy parents) in the ML family are the 25 and 31 classes. Why? Because it's one of the few non-dad head coaches at ML.....and he coaches both teams. It will be a shame if the ML28s (or 29s) blow up like the 24/27s -- and it came close to it this past summer -- because they have been one of the better teams in their age group since they picked up a stick.

Parents want to be involved, but they shouldn't be head coaches with the power to play their kids over more talented athletes.

Heard directly from another 27 ML parent it’s more than daddy ball issues. Daddy coaches favoring the politicking and lobbying parents they’re friends for more playing time for their kids. All the while those favorited kids are bullying and demeaning the bottom kids. Also told the 29 ML coach that reclassed own kid to 30 because he was being bullied so bad by the teams best player it drove his own kid to quit. And the coach stayed over the summer and the kid didn’t play until the fall when he reclassed to the 30. That is just nuts!! Instead of addressing the problem the coach, who’s also the kids dad, chose to let his kid quit and not punish and stop the teams best player. All so they could win. Winning over integrity and principles. That’s more than daddy ball, that’s a major cultural problem with ML and speaks how bad this sport has lost its way in our area.

On 2027, there are kid(s) who don’t even belong on the team who demean better players into quitting. The coaches just look the other way.

Looks like a couple people are piling up on ML here. My kid plays for the 27 team and like any team, there are a few kids on the bottom of the depth chart that probably need more development, but I haven't heard from anyone about kids getting demeaned by other kids into quitting or about "daddy ball" issues. It's a great mix of kids from a bunch of different schools who really seem to support each other - win or lose.

A few kids left after the summer, but they were LSMs and defenders who weren't getting the playing time they wanted. ML 27 is pretty strong and deep at defense and LSM, so it's understandable that those kids wanted to seek other opportunities.

As for out of state kids, ML 27has a goalie out of KY who splits time with a local goalie, and there are 2 kids from central VA who chose ML as a more competitive option over their local clubs. To my knowledge, none of them were recruited in any way.

It's easy to pile on ML because we always seem to be out front on this stuff. If you don't think the head coach and his mini-me haven't driven players off the team you aren't paying attention. The problem became so severe, one of the players left the school so as not to interact with them anymore.

At least 10 players have left the team over the last 2 years to either BLC, NL, VLC. This has ranged from playing time issues to personal issues. Then you take the out of state players taking time from kids who go to practice and whose parents pay the team fee and you get more people leaving this summer. KY - really? Richmond - really? How about when 20 local kids travel to out of town tournaments and suddenly 4-5 players show up from who knows where and the local kids land on the bench. Must be okay because the name is now Nationals instead of Capitals. Hey, don't worry. Your kid can play in a DMV tournament and take their playing time.

2027 ML has been an awful experience. We are literally held captive because there are no other options inside the beltway.

Ok, time to move this over to the ML page.