US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums MID-ATLANTIC LACROSSE MARYLAND FORUM Boys 2029 Grads - Mid Atlantic Region

We know why they holdback, just think it’s a losers mentality and that they are cheaters.

This is why we need age based lacrosse and a company like Player Authenticate or similar to oversee it.

Interesting marketing campaign.

Not marketing, just tired of the holdbacks and kids who play down in age. Wouldn’t care what company is used to enforce this, just enforce age at tournaments.

You know what, that's all good and fine, but all it took was a Southwest Airlines computer meltdown, and suddenly the Circuit event in FL was full of double rostered kids, kids who showed up on game day who the coaches had never even heard of or met (, kids playing down (actual 2028s playing on 2029 rosters, 2029s also playing on 2028 rosters), etc. Some of the teams had to combine age groups just to run a full practice and 6v6 drills the night before. The integrity of that setup was crashed, totally. The only thing fair about it, was that each team seemed to be substantially affected, and the best run teams were in constant contact with the tournament folks about "how to handle it."

Until directors/coaches/holdback parents stop clutching their pearls over the embarrassment and indignity of a roster verification ("how dare you ask! get me my fainting couch!") before each game AND pre-season roster authentication, this sport will remain the wild west of athletics age compliance.

And before anybody starts, I don't mind holdbacks and my son is comfortable playing with and against them. But it's amusing how evasive the holdback parents are about what age their kid is, sometimes when directly asked. If it's no big deal, then shouldn't it be no big deal?

Safety is a marketing campaign?
Is integrity a marketing campaign as well?

Look at the teams at these “National” events in Texas and Florida. Texas had 3 age groups (2027-2029) playing one another. Half of the teams in that bracket were Team 91. 91 has multiple “National” teams of the same age. Save your money. Tournament in Florida had much better teams and better attended but still it’s really for the clubs that have a hard time finding good competition within driving distance of their homes. The east coast have a problem finding great competition. I think the National teams are a huge waste of money and devalue the main clubs they represent. If the AA team isn’t playing the top competition they get rid of it and just have a national model. It’s a money grab. The AA teams can find tough competition all along the eastern seaboard. In my opinion National teams are the club’s way of trying to open up a new revenue stream and kids have been getting college scholarships without ever needing this in the past.

I bet your one of those parents that sees a kid that's 6 inches taller than every other kid and immediately concludes they're a holdback. People like you shouldn't be allowed around sports.

Exactly. National teams make sense for good, athletic players who live outside of lacrosse hotbeds, and whose families are willing to make a pretty big investment of time and money, so that they can get elite level coaching, teammates, and competition several times a year. But for kids already playing on elite level east coast teams who have good local lacrosse 8-9 months a year (or more), playing on these teams seems a bit much.

I would even argue that the standard for "elite" lax is so high from MA to DC and so low everywhere else that AAA players in this region can have a whole boatload of fun on a national team. But it's just fun and money. I don't think they're getting any substantial benefit that they don't already receive by having FCL, Inner Circle, and so many others available locally, and good coaching/teams to play from March to July (whether AAA or elite).

This. The fact that "West Coast Starz" needs to pull from 30-40 states per age group to assemble a top 25 national roster is a good reminder that your AAA son will have a "just fine" chance of at least making rosters in HS and college.

Honest question… outside of the obvious (madlax, hawks, next level) teams… using hoco as a benchmark, what would you define as AAA?

LOL. This is awesome.
This is the same holdback dad that wont play his kids his own age.
You are soft.

And you have a Napoleon complex.

Your double holdback kid is so bad that my on age 6th grader is forced to play up with the double holdback 8th graders in the winter. So while your 8th grader is playing 6th graders the top 6th graders are playing double holdback 10th graders. Don’t go feeling too good about your choices.. Haha…

Everywhere else in the country, basic standards are

NLF (generally top half of HoCo elite)

AA Ball (covers HoCo AAA and lower 1/2 of HoCO Elite)

A Ball (covers HoCo AA and maybe some A teams)

B Ball: Lax Federation and A-Ball at Aloha events: rec-club, rec all stars, teams you've never heard of generally. Aka "who knew that 3D had a team in Mississippi?"

I haven't heard of "AAA" level except in baseball, and the "elite" thing is of course, made up.

Saw that MYLA is trying to market more and push as they run their own MYLA "Club League"

Anyone know who is considering playing it in?? Trying to get my son's team to play so they could get 2 games a weekend.

Last year it was most of the HOCO AAA bracket with a few others such as Baltimore Swarm.

I hear FCA and LTLC will be in MYLA this year on Saturdays. FCA beat LTLC to win MYLA 29 division last year. Both should also be in top HoCo division on Sundays. I'm not sure the cost for MYLA - although do know it's pretty dirt cheap compared to everything else, especially considering all the extra games.

Last year MYLA 2029 Club Division was Carroll Manor, Kelly Post A, Kelly Post B, LTLC, Forest Hill, FCA, Hoco, Swarm.

$950 for 7 regular season games. Top 4 teams make the playoffs.

Any word on when HOCO division will be announced? Curious who is making the 2029 Elite Division

It should be:

Madlax
Hawks
Next Level
VLC
FCA
LTLC

And pick two from this list arguments for and against all of them

BLC
91
Predators
Team MD
HoCo

Should be the same lineup as last year but swap Team 91 for FCA.

It’ll probably be leaked on this board 1-2 weeks before the schedule is released.

The MYLA has to go down as one of the most misguided terrible run orgs ever. Teaming up with the HOCA league years ago was one of the ( fill in blanks) ideas ever.

BLC- will remain in elite div
91- Far and away the worst team in elite last year. will drop to AAA.
Predators- a nice team on the rise but there’s no chance they jump from AA to Elite. They will likely finish middle of the pack in AAA.
Team MD- the only other team that could make an argument for Elite. However, they are a step behind FCA.
HoCo- solid AAA team that would get exposed in Elite.

You also forgot True Chesapeake. They will remain in elite.

Asking about HOCO in January.... you must be new, which is fine, we were all new to this at one point. The initial alignments will be leaked by coaches around mid March. Some of the coaches will then try to get their team moved to whatever division they think they should be in. Final alignments will leaked a week before season starts. Then maybe 4-5 days before the first game, HOCO will release a partial schedule (first couple games). The final schedule won't come out until after the first game has already been played.

Don't expect to see any sort of schedule until March 20th if the season starts the weekend of March 25th. Everyone will [Censored] and moan about how inept HOCO/Ricky is and if the girls league can get the schedule out earlier why can't the boys. It has been like this for the past 5 seasons that my boys have played in this league and I don't see the process/timeline changing. It's frustrating, but you just have to deal with it. Just plan on having a game on Sunday's (or Saturday's for 2028/2027) for 7-8 weeks depending on if you make playoffs.

Oh, then expect all the posts about how the refs are horrible to start coming on Monday after the first weekend, lol.

Accurate take, except Millon will fight hard to keep 91 in elite. 91 2028s have been told they are playing in elite, despite coming in 4th? in AAA last year. Unlike the 91 2028s, who picked up some elite-adjacent players this summer (from Kelly Post and Predators), the 2029 Team 91 squad seemed to have lost a bunch of players to Predators for the 2nd year in a row. And they are having supplemental tryouts for teams as old as 2030s....is this Team 91 or is this Breakers / True Baltimore? LOL.

91 parent here and when coach was asked a few weeks ago he said that we would 100% be in the Elite division of HOCO. Maybe that changes, but that's what we were told. That would lead me to think that the following 7 are guaranteed with

Madlax
Hawks
Next Level
VLC
True Chesapeake
LTLC
Team 91 MD

Which leaves one slot between BLC, FCA, Team MD, and Predators. Didn't a few divisions have to have play in games the week before the season to determine who made elite last year? Pretty sure the 2026's had that.

Yes the older age groups have had play-in games. No disrespect to Predators or Team MD who are not bad clubs by any stretch, but a play-in game between FCA and BLC makes the most sense. And to be honest I could see 91 getting thrown into that mix as well. Want the spot? Go get it.

If it is one slot and those are the teams, it would have to be FCA. This shouldn’t even be debated. What is debatable is whether 91 should be in elite over the teams on the list.

BLC came in 4th last year out of 8 teams in elite and made the playoffs. In what universe does an 0-7 Team 91 team that gave up 85 goals while only scoring 20 get the nod over them?

Moreover, as a Team 91 parent, why would you want your kid's team play in a league where they get drilled every week. Playing against tough competition is one thing. Losing 12-2 every game doesn't develop players.

Agreed. FCA was clearly the best team in AAA last year and just tied VLC during a tourney in the fall.

Team 91 in AAA makes the most sense. Frankly, they probably come in 3rd or 4th at that level as I doubt they are able to beat Team Maryland or HOCO. No disrespect intended.

BLC is a shell of its former self, a bunch of key players left

Teams are slotted in HOCO based on past performance not forecasts of how they will perform. Until 91 shows they can actually hang with the big boys or BLC shows they are out of their league, the elite division should be determined on last years outcomes.

I'm guessing the following teams will be in the HOCO Elite division............and I'll rank them in order as I see them right now after seeing who has added key pieces and lost players thus far.

1. Madlax
2. Hawks
3. Next Level
4. VLC
5. True Chesapeake
6. FCA
7. LTLC
8. BLC

Lacrosse is not a meritocracy. Millon will call Ricky, as I'm sure he has already, and say "91 is top to bottom the best club in Maryland and produces #1 college recruits and makes the HoCo league look good, so you should put the teams wherever I say you should."

91's sales pitch is "developing elite athletes" but their actual business model is to hang around in elite alleyways and start picking up disgruntled elite kids in 7th, 8th, 9th grade who were developed by someone else entirely. Then they fold holdbacks into the batter until the majority of starters are holdbacks in 11th grade, and suddenly it's a Top 10 national team. This is the 91 MD recipe.

This will happen soon enough with the 2029s. A good rec club coach will "come over" with 10 kids and suddenly they will start winning games. Follow the 2028 T91 road map:

2019-2020: 2028 Team 91 team is something like 2W-26L overall. Coach fired. Most kids leave.
2021: 91 Recruits 2028 Swarm coach, brings over 10+ kids who don't even attend tryouts. Team is suddenly about 9W-12L overall at a high level.
2022: Same coach brings over 8 more kids and a dad coach from Kelly Post's elite team. Team beats Hawks in the fall of 2022.
2023: See what happens next. They are playing Elite this spring. They'll win some games too (unlike the 2029s).
2024: Most of the 2028 91 kids are already at MIAA schools where they will stay for HS, or may hold back on Millon's advice, but Millon will brag that he got them "recruited to MIAA."
By 2026: Most of the kids who joined before 2024 will be long gone. Because "player development."

That is the MD 91 recipe. See where you can slide your kid into that, or move on lol.