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

A lot, but not all of them by any means.

1. Unless your son is an elite-level playmaker who his club director (who the HS coach might call) knows by name/sight, there's no realistic lax-specific path.

2. This means surviving the admissions path, and for 9th grade the acceptance rate at these schools is anywhere from 10% to 40%. Many 2028s got a rude awakening last spring when their "sure fire" acceptance to MIAA was denied for 8th grade. Bottom line, if he's getting a 3.1 at public school, McDonogh has no faith he'll keep a 3.1 at prep school AND play high level sports at the same time. Of course if he has a 2.4 and has a 110mph shot, that's different. And if he's a very average lax player with a 4.0 and the president of his MS class, that's different too. And if dad is an alumnus donor, that's different as well.

3. I detest to be the bearer of bad news, but for the MIAA-A schools that have middle school programs, their enrollment is already stocked with 20-30 "serviceable" lacrosse players from 2028 AA to Elite. Aka an insurance policy if the 30 lax kids accepted to 9th grade don't fully pan out. So, walking around with a big sign that "MY SON PLAYS LACROSSE REAL GOOD" won't get you very far.

4. As John Carroll Dad loves to moan about, a legit reason to not go MIAA-A could be that your son wants to PLAY BALL more than he wants to be part of a top-25 national school team and the #5 varsity FOGO on the team in 11th grade. That's a serious consideration too.

If this is your attitude just go to the b conference and have fun.

A lot, but not all of them by any means.

1. Unless your son is an elite-level playmaker who his club director (who the HS coach might call) knows by name/sight, there's no realistic lax-specific path.

2. This means surviving the admissions path, and for 9th grade the acceptance rate at these schools is anywhere from 10% to 40%. Many 2028s got a rude awakening last spring when their "sure fire" acceptance to MIAA was denied for 8th grade. Bottom line, if he's getting a 3.1 at public school, McDonogh has no faith he'll keep a 3.1 at prep school AND play high level sports at the same time. Of course if he has a 2.4 and has a 110mph shot, that's different. And if he's a very average lax player with a 4.0 and the president of his MS class, that's different too. And if dad is an alumnus donor, that's different as well.

3. I detest to be the bearer of bad news, but for the MIAA-A schools that have middle school programs, their enrollment is already stocked with 20-30 "serviceable" lacrosse players from 2028 AA to Elite. Aka an insurance policy if the 30 lax kids accepted to 9th grade don't fully pan out. So, walking around with a big sign that "MY SON PLAYS LACROSSE REAL GOOD" won't get you very far.

4. As John Carroll Dad loves to moan about, a legit reason to not go MIAA-A could be that your son wants to PLAY BALL more than he wants to be part of a top-25 national school team and the #5 varsity FOGO on the team in 11th grade. That's a serious consideration too.

Word to the wise.....tell your son to get good grades and have fun with his club. I have 4 kids in a wide age range....all solid players but I wouldn't say absurdly solid. One is in HS and plays at a good, but not top, northeast boarding school. My next is a 28 and is sniffing around for his landing spot. EVERY coach for my eldest -- and even more so with my 28 (who is 3 years younger) -- asks if you can meet the academic standards. The sport has grown so quickly that the advantage an average student, but elite player has over a high GPA earning/very good player is narrowing. And I expect it to continue to narrow. Why? Because the schools around the DMV and boarding have become so absurdly competitive academically they want both. If your kid is both....you are set...but I would wager the kid walking into Taft or Lawerenceville with a 4.0 and can contribute on the field (and of course pay the tuition) is going to have the advantage over a dominant player who can barely maintain a C+ average.

At the end of the day, lacrosse is a dead end sport for most kids post high school. Use it to your advantage to weasel your way into the best academic schools you can because they do care, but it isn't basketball, hockey or football on the priority scale.

My two cents.

Word to the wise.....tell your son to get good grades and have fun with his club. I have 4 kids in a wide age range....all solid players but I wouldn't say absurdly solid. One is in HS and plays at a good, but not top, northeast boarding school. My next is a 28 and is sniffing around for his landing spot. EVERY coach for my eldest -- and even more so with my 28 (who is 3 years younger) -- asks if you can meet the academic standards. The sport has grown so quickly that the advantage an average student, but elite player has over a high GPA earning/very good player is narrowing. And I expect it to continue to narrow. Why? Because the schools around the DMV and boarding have become so absurdly competitive academically they want both. If your kid is both....you are set...but I would wager the kid walking into Taft or Lawerenceville with a 4.0 and can contribute on the field (and of course pay the tuition) is going to have the advantage over a dominant player who can barely maintain a C+ average.

At the end of the day, lacrosse is a dead end sport for most kids post high school. Use it to your advantage to weasel your way into the best academic schools you can because they do care, but it isn't basketball, hockey or football on the priority scale.

My two cents.

Are there any teams that only practice during the week this fall?

Yes, this commentary is way too serious and informative for this board. Can the NL and DCE parents please just start bashing Madlax again? That's fun and makes me feel good!!

I agree with this.

Supreme ML is going to have trouble finding players if their history of national teams is any indication. While BOTC liked to beat up on ML for flying in players the rhetoric was completely overblown at least in re to the 2028s. There was typically only 1 to 4 players at the summer events. Sometimes there were zero. The traditional ML national team was made up of 85-90% CAP players. Several sets of ML CAP parents -- across multiple age groups -- have told me there is no way they are doing Supremes. First, the schedule is insane. Vegas in December, FL and CA x2 in January and then the Vail tournament again (which CM got kicked out of last summer for fighting a ref). That's a long way of saying if a large percentage of the CAP players don't buy into it, they aren't going to have teams. While there are several regular solid flyins, I can only think of 1 that will probably continue to play for ML on the 28s. The tension and team meltdown has turned everybody off. Of course, they could probably get some players, but the quality players won't be there as they are already committed elsewhere.

There's your daily dose of ML drama for Friday.

are the Supremes part of the Circuit?
and please forgive me for an uninformed question, but what exactly is the Circuit and how is that different than other national tournaments?

Clainbridge All Stars are just a group of friends from different clubs (DCE, NL, ML) that play tournaments here and there. Typically it's been McClean box, Sixers.....etc.

Yeah, I always thought of it as a loosely affiliated McLean team. Vienna kids from different clubs play together at some events as well.

We played the Chain Bridge Stars in the Mclean Fall Box league last fall. They were really, really good. Small, but they were very skilled. I think they’re all VA kids.

We played the Chain Bridge Stars in the Mclean Fall Box league last fall. They were really, really good. Small, but they were very skilled. I think they’re all VA kids.

DCE28 parent here. We just received notice that CM from Madlax is trying to block us (and only the 28s) from playing NAL this fall. Guess he's replaying the NLF model he has used on Next Level for years. If your kid plays for an NAL member club, you should light them up for blocking a team that wants to compete. Pretty weak sauce taking out your failures as an owner and coach on a group of 8th graders....but I guess we should have assumed this would happen given the fact several players on the new 28 DCE team is made up of old MLers who saw the light.

Thought I would just put that out there for the salty BOTC community to digest. It's weird he is focusing on DCE, though, given a sizeable percentage of existing ML players -- across several age groups -- are playing for MOJOs this Fall. The guy can't even control what happens in his own house as it is collapsing.

That is mortifying for him and that club. What a little baby.

Another DCE parent here. I'm going to advocate we enter every tournament ML is in hence forth simply to destroy them and the titanic ego that is somehow contained in his tiny body.

DCE28 parent here. We just received notice that CM from Madlax is trying to block us (and only the 28s) from playing NAL this fall. Guess he's replaying the NLF model he has used on Next Level for years. If your kid plays for an NAL member club, you should light them up for blocking a team that wants to compete. Pretty weak sauce taking out your failures as an owner and coach on a group of 8th graders....but I guess we should have assumed this would happen given the fact several players on the new 28 DCE team is made up of old MLers who saw the light.

Thought I would just put that out there for the salty BOTC community to digest. It's weird he is focusing on DCE, though, given a sizeable percentage of existing ML players -- across several age groups -- are playing for MOJOs this Fall. The guy can't even control what happens in his own house as it is collapsing.

DCE28 parent here. We just received notice that CM from Madlax is trying to block us (and only the 28s) from playing NAL this fall. Guess he's replaying the NLF model he has used on Next Level for years. If your kid plays for an NAL member club, you should light them up for blocking a team that wants to compete. Pretty weak sauce taking out your failures as an owner and coach on a group of 8th graders....but I guess we should have assumed this would happen given the fact several players on the new 28 DCE team is made up of old MLers who saw the light.

Thought I would just put that out there for the salty BOTC community to digest. It's weird he is focusing on DCE, though, given a sizeable percentage of existing ML players -- across several age groups -- are playing for MOJOs this Fall. The guy can't even control what happens in his own house as it is collapsing.

He already does block NL from playing in ML events. That was 2 to NL though and I think 9 to DCE.

I am pretty sure a few kids from ML also went to NL. So is CM also going to try to block them?

DCE28 parent here. We just received notice that CM from Madlax is trying to block us (and only the 28s) from playing NAL this fall. Guess he's replaying the NLF model he has used on Next Level for years. If your kid plays for an NAL member club, you should light them up for blocking a team that wants to compete. Pretty weak sauce taking out your failures as an owner and coach on a group of 8th graders....but I guess we should have assumed this would happen given the fact several players on the new 28 DCE team is made up of old MLers who saw the light.

Thought I would just put that out there for the salty BOTC community to digest. It's weird he is focusing on DCE, though, given a sizeable percentage of existing ML players -- across several age groups -- are playing for MOJOs this Fall. The guy can't even control what happens in his own house as it is collapsing.

Capital area 2028 lacrosse has become a soap opera of mediocre lacrosse teams and general ridiculousness.

If you have watched DC play, and this is true, then he should get a medal for helping make the tournament better! Keeping it real yall, you know it.

Capital area 2028 lacrosse has become a soap opera of mediocre lacrosse teams and general ridiculousness.