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

Define legit

91 has picked up zero new elite level players and few kids on the team have been there to be "developed" for more than 2 years. They are a great AAA team and could be competitive with any team ranked about 50-125. Coach getti g settled at Towson HS so theres your pipeline. But Legit compared to other MD elite teams? lol no.

AA/AAA players that go to 91 thinking they are Elite. You can only blame the parents. And have fun playing 10 minutes every Saturday.

Even worse, as is the case with a 2028 team in the DMV— the coach’s son is not the superstar, but rather, near the bottom of the roster, yet, plays every minute. THAT is a problem.

They could certainly finish middle of the Elite division in HoCo. 4-5th.

yes. daddy ball is fine for rec teams, which are lower cost and community based. don't get me wrong, Dad coaches are great in many ways. I happen to be one. I played D1 lacrosse and have coached my sons' rec teams for years. But I would never coach my sons' travel teams, and I would never allow my sons to be on a travel team coached by another player's Dad, no matter how great the Dad's playing resume or his coaching ability. it doesn't matter how good or how bad the son is, there will always be favoritism of the son, and the son's friends, and that has a ripple effect through the whole team. buyer beware!

Tell that to the Holmans (PLL cannons), deskos (Cuse), breschi’s (unc), and danowskis (Duke). All daddy ball offenders at the highest level. Depends on the coach- clearly some can manage it successfully.

100% true.

This whole Daddy Ball is way overblown. Dad coaches make some of best coaches as the worst coaches. Non Daddy Ball coaches make some of the best coaches and some of worst,,, See a pattern here.

Coaching comes down to the Coach, Dad are not. There are Dad coaches at all levels.

It depends on the dad and the age of the kids too - at a certain point the kids are too old. However, it’s a HUGE time commitment and it’s not like non-dad coaches are constantly coming out of the woodwork. Paid coaches usually have other teams to deal with (sometimes many and high school programs too) which is problematic in another way. Can’t win.

YEP.

Majority of 91 Pickups in the last 2 years:
Swarm (B) (came w coach)
Kelly Post (AAA...yeah I know they had 7 weeks at Elite)
Hoco Pink (A/AA)
Predators (AA)

In terms of total roster skill they're identical to FCA White or Predators.

Nothing wrong with any of that. But....not elite.

are you referring to Madlax 2028? if so their 2027 team has the same problem.

Hawks has all dad coaches, seems to work for them 🤷‍♀️

Most of the best teams do.

Hawks without their holdbacks would still be top 20-30 team. FCA without their holdbacks would be top 30-40 team. Crabs added some holdbacks this year and will be much improved.

Agreed. Holdback Rankings (teams with most skilled holdbacks)

FCA
Hawks
Madlax
Crabs
Next Level
91
True - unkown
BLC/DCE - unknown

What is the definition of a holdback now that U.S. Lacrosse has set a standard?

For 2028 and older the sky is the limit for holdbacks. 2029 and below are adjusting to the new standards.

I'm just glad we can stop talking about it... although I guess we (28) will never stop, but at least 29 can.

Easy:
Kid who should be in HS by now but is choosing to compete against 8th graders instead = hold back.
Kid who should have been in HS last year but was still competing against 7th graders = double hold back.

U.S. Lacrosse set a standard for 2029s and below. But 2028s can be on pace to graduate HS at age 20 and still play vs. kids a full 2-3 years younger. It matters less the older the kids get. But don't pretend it doesn't still matter in middle school.

According to USL, the cutoff is June 1. So for 2028, even though it’s not being enforced at this grade level— a kid born prior to June 1, 2009, would not be eligible for 2028. He would have to play 2027. Unfortunately, it’s not enforced at 2028.

I’m not a fan of holdbacks for sports— but are there really any kids playing around here who are TWO years back from where they should be? Are there kids who should graduate in 2026 playing in 2028?? I highly doubt that.

I don’t doubt it at all. This is likely where a kid started school a year late and then did an additional MS year. Agree less common but there are definitely a handful of instances where this has occurred.

That would be pretty pathetic. And yes— that should carry a stigma for the kid and parents. Well deserved.

Madlax is thinking about rebranding as Madlax Chesapeake for the fall, maybe beyond. It’s quickly becoming a second iteration of True Chesapeake. Scoopers have moved on.

Would it be fair to stop calling a kid born after June 1, 2009 a holdback? If so, the holdback rankings on here would likely shift.

Each DMV regional conference has a rule against double holdbacks (e.g., cannot turn 19 before Sept 1st of senior year) but that only applies to conference games. Out of conference games are open season. That's why players that decide to go the double holdback route (including PG years) go to the New England schools like Taft, Salisbury, Brunswick, Deerfield, Loomis Chaffee etc.or IMG.

Yeah, first of all there's a good # of double holdbacks on the national teams...that I know of....Red Hots, Team 18, Nationals.

And come to think of it, the Circuit highlighted a kid on social media recently on one of the above teams (not a 2028 team), who is a double holdback.

But to answer your question, there's relatively few double holdbacks that I know of in MD, in lacrosse. Many who are holdbacks with fall birthdays (almost double holdback) but technically, just single year HBs.

Correct. I think FCA only has 1 kid who is older than June 1 and it's not someone you would guess.

If they were held back 2 years they couldn't play their senior year of HS.

It's a minimum of 5 and likely higher.

Yep. That’s fact. Won’t name names or numbers, but they were playing 2027 last year and they were not playing up.
-FCA Dad

Lacrosse needs to follow soccer model and you play with kids born in the same year regardless of grade. None of the soccer kids are friendless because of this model and it will eventually force people to stop holding their kid back.

The June 1 cutoff for 2029 and below makes way more sense than January 1. Either way you group kids into 1-year age-groups which is all that really matters. You will still have plenty of holdbacks though - just not until high school. Elite club tryouts going from 8th grade to 9th grade will be brutal as holdbacks displace on-age kids.

You’re not going to name them because they don’t exist. Playing on 27, doesn’t mean before June 1. Check your facts. Still holdbacks but somehow the rule has moved to June 1 now.

None of us have access to birth certificates but it seems HIGHLY unlikely that all the 2028 FCA kids seen in previous seasons playing 2027 just happen to have birthdays from June 1 to August 31. That's a nice thought though. It's a team dominated by holdbacks - just own it.

Who is entering the World Series this year? Don’t give me the excuses. When you watch the kids there every year you can see it’s a great tournament and the kids love it! Come on Maryland, put an on age real travel team in the tournament. No “Team Maryland” [Censored], put your name on it. Crabs, Hawks etc!!!

Couldn't agree more but this should be in the 2029 Thread!

Baltimore is the epicenter of Holdbacks. All those MIAA schools promote it. And it’s real.

All the best players in the past are holdbacks