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

Reality check - at this point there really isn’t that much more time to develop.

In 6 months the kids with any prospect to play MIAA will all be slotted to their high school teams.

You either can play or you can’t by 8th grade and for these boys that’s in about 60 days.

Does anyone know why Team MD did not get pushed up to Elite considering they won the division last year

True has a habit of no following the rules especially when it comes to it’s roster. Look back to just last year when True was bringing in players that were not registered from VA and got properly beaten in the finals cause someone did a roster check and the VA players could not play. This was in one of the lower leagues like A or AA so I guess that is why it flew under the radar. Also, this may be a rumor, but I think their director is not allowed to get a badge in hoco due to a DWI or something. Not a team I would want my son to play for but when you are a parent and you have to “pay to play” to get your kid on the field I guess you get what you get

What happened to 91 last weekend?

They brought a completely different team, competitiveness-wise, to play this past weekend (vs. Crabs & NL) than they had to play FCA in week one. 9 out of towners from Illinois, Nevada, etc.

Politics would be my guess, if you are taking the 8 best teams they would be in Elite, but as it has been well covered in this and every other age group discussion somehow Team 91 plays Elite whether they deserve it or not.

How many kids are on the roster? Any one want to speak up?

It’s been crickets from the True folks as it’s been asked a few times.

Agree. Team MD has no holdbacks, but would probably struggle in Elite. Pro Start gave them a game in the fall and they are AA. Let's see how they do against FCA White and Team Money. Maybe they should play AA in tournaments instead of playing down all the time. On another note....91 wouldn't win AAA this year and the top AA teams would give them a game.

During last year's reg season game 91 was beating Team MD for the first 3 quarters. They didn't have the depth they have this year and consequently ran their middies into the ground by the beginning of the 4th. It was hot and depth was/is an issue. Last years team was not nearly as good as this year's team.

The 91team this year should be able to handle Team MD with no issue. Although, that's why you play the game and any team can play poorly on any given day.

91 is in limbo between 3a and elite. They really do not belong in either bracket but given the choice, play up or down, most would argue to play up, which they did. Is what it is and no sense complaining this season.

then how did 91 come within one goal of Crabs, who came within 4 of Next Level? No AAA or AA team (except possibly Team MD) would come within a goal of Crabs, right?

This is such an ignorant remark. The kind of attitude they will have you watching five or six student athletes deciding that they don’t wanna play football anymore. Come over and pick up a lacrosse stick and start running circles around your kid. It will happen. These kids are in seventh grade, half of them have not even sniffed puberty yet.

Well, they have proven beyond a doubt that they have absolutely no business being in the elite division.

So just to confirm, losing to Crabs by 1 and up by 1 over BLC before a lightning delay doesn't qualify them playing elite? I know there is a general bias against 91 (still don't understand why though) but you may need to rethink this.

If we're using your logic, by extension neither BLC or Crabs should be in elite either. Maybe that is so but then who would you replace the three with?

91 is better than the teams in AAA.

Stop it.

I know 91 just got annihilated but they played Crabs extremely close.

Crabs stomped Team MD in the fall.

The way the league is going True Canada, Red Hots national, or maybe Freedom.

Here's a lesson........better tell your big, arrogant, slow, hold back kid to hit the weight room because there's a ton of kids that will surpass these types of kids/parents because of people like you. "Rudy, Rudy, Rudy"

When they finish 0-8, perhaps you’ll reconsider. Or perhaps a few more 18-4 outcomes will help you get there.

Fall is completely meaningless

If I look just at my sons elite team it is very clear the separation between the really good players and everyone else. It is why these few 2-4 boys are the ones getting all the looks from the big MIAA schools. Yes puberty will change some of this but based on skill alone these kids are legit. Lots of hard work when nobody is looking! I have now witnessed first hand that schools want a couple of these boys for good reason. If you haven’t had a look from a MIAA school there is a reason it’s not size or speed it’s skill.

Keep telling yourself that. It’s ALL about size and speed. Any MIAA coach will tell you that. If you’re kid is 5-6 and 130– forget it, unless he’s Michael Sowers.

If the statement “you can either play or you can’t” triggers you and drives you to instantly complain about holdbacks - I’ll just say I wish your son the best.

Just because kids are driving 3 hours from other states to play for 2028 Cap, instead of taking 90 minute flights from IL, doesn't mean you get your soapbox time, Clownholio.

Crabs, Hawks and 91 could make your same weak claim even at the HS level, with kids DRIVING in from NY to FL.

I mean, rules exist. Sorry.

IIRC they are undefeated (or close) in two straight seasons at AAA and have refused to advance to elite. I only know one parent there but their story is that the club pushes a "we come from a rural disadvantaged area and we're trying to grow the game and don't want to push the boys too hard" schtick.

In my mind, that actually means, "more championships at AAA and at Aloha events looks better for recruiting new kids."

Here I go with the ever popular (to elite parents) trope of "there's not that much difference between the bottom of Elite and middle of AAA."

Heck, look at the list of AA and AAA teams who have tied or beaten BLC over the last few years.....

If I'm running 91, and I'm trying to deliver on my promise on "developing the team to Elite players" I know that I need to play my team in elite in 7th grade for the simple purpose of attracting players from other Elite teams for 8th grade, and ditching my former rec club players who were never going to be "elite" anyways.

Really… clearly, again, you have zero clue about Madlax. There is a kid who has commuted from Charlottesville VA for 3 years. The rest— they ALL live within 10-15 miles of one another. Far closer proximity than Hawks (kids from DE), Crabs, 91, etc. you sound like Fauci.

True chest thumping on Instagram.

Self proclaiming true Chesapeake as one of the best teams in the country.

Meanwhile advertising kids from across the country lol.

What a clown show.

Not a ML parent, but what they've been able to accomplish with largely the same roster since third grade is pretty impressive. As much as it will pain people to admit, if there is any program that actually develops talent, it may be this one.

Caveats: (1) it's weird how ML parents seem to think that having had an out of area, holdback player for 3+ years grandfathers him in so somehow doesn't count now, (2) they do rely on fly-in players for at least major tourneys, if not HOCO and (3) while good, their roster seems a little thin, as shown by the Monuments rebrand.

The True Illinois people are under a series misimpression about (1) the number of (1) reclassed kids, (2) kids that wouldn’t meet the age requirements for a World Series type event because they started school laye, and (3) the number of fly-in players on the HoCo teams. There are a few kids in category (2) on each team. There are very few in category (1). Some teams have none. And other than Madlax 47 who drives from Charlottesville and the Hawks goalie from Delaware there are very, very few kids that aren’t very local. All the other Madlax kids are from the DC suburbs. NL is mostly from Montgomery County MD with a couple of DC and VA suburbs kids. Same for BLC. So True is truly an outlier. Other teams aren’t formed like that.

Wait a sec, you were morally opposed to "fly ins" in your last post. Now you're defending a kid 3 hours away as "commuting" to your son's team. If you're against 90 minite flights but all in for 3 hour flights, maybe you just detest air travel. They need to get you on that We Biild the Wall campaign ASAP. You could really help them with your high IQ. Definitely some openings there too.

When did this guy say he was opposed to fly ins? I don’t see that in his post. Maybe he’s just opposed to false claims about Madlax bringing in fly-ins for HoCo. Maybe they’ll start, but they’ve never done so. And yes, the kid does commute 3 hrs, every practice. Can’t imagine doing so, but that is not a mercenary who plays on occasion like the True kids we’re discussing here.
And yeah, Build The Wall. Around Baltimore.

If True would have entered true National Black into HoCo, I don’t think anyone would have cared.

True national black is a nice national team. One of the 5 best actual national teams around I suppose.

To my knowledge, true IL hasn’t beaten anyone remotely considered elite.

But entering True Chesapeake and trying to hide what they are actually doing is the only thing I had a problem with.

It just reeks of the same old true scam we’ve come to know and not love.

And the fact True needs a national roster to compete in HoCo reinforces how terribly lame it is as a program around here.

The most comical part of this entire thing— True Org is promoting True Chesapeake on Instagram as “one of the top teams in the country.” A, they still have yet to beat a top 30 team at HoCo, and B, this is not True Chesapeake. The rea True Chesapeake would have been challenged to win a single game in HoCo beyond 91 MD.

I'm willing to bet Team MD, FCA White, Team Money, Predators and Prostart would compete with the "True" True Chesapeake team. And these are not Elite teams.

91 already competed against and beat True Chesapeake. It wasn't much of a game and 91 played many of their kids who normally do not see much time on the field.

Smacks of desperation from True Natl.

Hawks goalie is from Delaware. Truly “out of state.” And the Hawks have several 2027 drop downs over the last 2 years. Multiple.

But all elite teams have a number of holdbacks, and the Hawks and MadLax apparently each have one full time player who drives a long way for games and practices. That is different than flying in 9 kids from various places around the country, who are not regulars on the team, for big games.

But all elite teams have a number of holdbacks, and the Hawks and MadLax apparently each have one full time player who drives a long way for games and practices. That is different than flying in 9 kids from various places around the country, who are not regulars on the team, for big games.[/quote]

You'd rather stomp some undermanned local squad than have a competitive game that includes out-of-towners?

You should be thrilled that these IL folks are footing the travel bill for you to get an additional competitive game to help your kid get better.

If your kid is truly elite, you should be seeking out better competition to help him get better . . . not running from it and whining on this forum. Weak.

True does not care about growing the game.

They are using families from all over the country to rescue their failing brand in Maryland.

This entering of true national into a local league is purely about the egos of the adults in charge.

Guess what - True will never be respected. You (the leaders of the org we know who you are) will always be clowns.

And the whiny wheezing coach needs to just calm down.

I have no animosity to any of the kids or even the families who jumped at the opportunity to play. Just a shame how they are being sold a lie about holdbacks, the playing field blah blah blah.

It’s solely about True being awful around here.

True will get roster checked. I’ve already heard they have used one kid ont on the initial roster.