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

Thanks again for the math lesson - granted anyone that took the time to read your post actually got dumber in the process. You make no sense. But you are trying to make no sense, just stir up reactions. So you win.

So I’m the math major. NL 3-0 means they have to beat fca. Hawks 2-1 means they lose to hawks and beat fca. That’s two loses for fca. You have fca 1-2. Everyone needs to learn bell curves and basic math.

Where’s Madlax

I am not the age/grade/Mayan Calendar obsessed Dad. Your tourney predictions won't pan out with the actual schedule match-ups. Besides, Talk of the Town Dad is sure to chime in with a Predators line of 3-0 for the day.

You got that right ! Talk of town is in the Hunt !

Mayan Calendar Dad ahahahaha

Care to revise your "Talk of the Town" comments after Preds was formerly introduced to the ELITE division today?

Lost 3-11 to NL
Lost 1-12 to True Chesapeake
Lost 5-10 to Crabs

Haven't played Madlax or FCA yet....

Going to be a looooong Hoco season for Preds. Turns out all those new pieces were just the same as the old pieces.

Not to shabby with the predictions. Results are:
NL 2-0-1
Hawks 2-0-1
True 2-1
FCA 1-2
Crabs 1-2
Talk of Baltimore 0-3

Fair assessment on the predictions. I will say it's a good baseline for each team. I noticed that most of the teams were missing key pieces and may not have been playing their best ball. Interested in seeing how they will adjust going forward now that most of the elite teams have seen each other, Out of curiosity (because of the discussion here). I did make it a point to see both A and B preds teams.

My assessment on preds (Not ment to bash the preds but an observstion)

Preds seemed to really struggle. They are in for a ride.

Technically they are a step behind, even for fall ball, All the teams I watched struggled with this but not as much. Lots for dropped passes. Ground balls where an issue. Off ball movement was non existent. It's apparent the boys handn't played together.

The difference between the A and B teams are minimal.

The A team has one or two players that have skills to keep up however, it's a team sport.

If none of the teams they where playing were firing on full cylinders and had this much trouble, I can't imagine what the season will be like.

I hope if they decided to play in the elite division they coaches due their due diligence and develop a plan to handle the skill level, speed, and talent found in the HOCO elite level.

I watched most of a game of Preds A and maybe a quarter of Preds B.

I have to respectfully disagree. Preds B appears to be a sizeable distance behind A. They were totally exposed against BLC... a AA HOCO team that has lost most of their top talent. Frankly, Preds B might struggle in AAA this year.

Interesting that after a full play day with 6 elite HoCo teams (yes, like it or not, Preds will be there in Elite), the only conversation is on the Preds. Nothing at all on the epic match between Hawks and Next level. Or FCA's improvement. Or True Cheseapke's new look (True-haters are not going to be happy this year watching the TC 2029's.) Or Crabs obvious step back/struggles. The fixation on Preds might have to do with the fact they have the only non-parent coach (who is highly respected in the lacrosse community), the thought that they develop their kids better than anyone else in Baltimore outside of FCA (and probably on par with FCA), and that they are the only Baltimore team able to pull together two teams which speaks to them doing something right in the eyes of parents (i.e. developing their boys). Anyone who has watched them can see they obviously took a large step forward from last year. Does that mean they will compete with the top tier of elite? No. But I don't think anyone was expecting that. Not many teams nationally can compete with those guys. And Baltimore probably doesn't have the boys to support two truly elite teams at this 2029 level. FCA is the one Baltimore elite team at this age group.

There is a clear division between True Ches, Hawks, NL, FCA - and then everyone else (will be interesting to see where ML falls on the dividing line this year.) Crabs has 6th place in elite locked down - but they dont look like they will be competitive against the top dogs - they clearly have taken a step back, especially in their midfield. Will be interesting to see if Team MD, 91MD, True Baltimore (or anyone else) is competitive versus Preds.

But please keep talking Preds instead of all the other awesome things we saw yesterday. It was a great tourney and a great day. Great seeing so many friendly faces and so many talented kids.

It’s impressive that parents know what their kid wants out of a college experience the moment the child is born. Top tier parenting

Hawks had two epic games, one vs NL and than one vs True C. Up 3 on True C, True came back in 4th to tie and go up 1. OT game. Hawks came up on top. Great lax for a fall tourney. Going to be fun watching all these teams battle out next Spring.

I think we saw it for the first time last year in Hoco Elite. The gap between the top teams and others is closing. This weekends games showed even greater parity. Having said that, it's fall season and there's a lot of training and practice to be had before spring. Still lots of fun games to watch this past weekend.

It was a fun play day for all except Preds. NL improved, True improved, FCA went backwards, Hawks stayed the same, Crabs ehh but will get better.

I think the preds converation is interesting because of the discussion on this board. A fact about being able to have two teams. From the coaches mouth. "We have two teams because our second team is True baltimore that folded and was moved over." Yes there is interest in the boys continuing to play, but it wasn't really recruiting it was just a shift of where the boys will be. I saw a lot good play and fun being had by all the 29 teams. Emphasis on fun. I think if coaches are smart they will use this tourney to evaluate their own players and systems rather then their competition. Every team will continue to improve. Some more then others. Only time will tell. I predict a similar finish to last year in hoco, but I think the gap between top teams will get smaller.

Any word on Madlax? What happened to BLC or VLC?

NL will win it all this year! During the Hawks game I noticed Hawks kept in there starters for most of the game, playing to win, where NL played 50-50 like you should in the Fall. NL will have a much improved squad come the spring because of it! Beware of the daddy Coaches!

Yeah a couple other teams where playing their 2nd lines more often and trying players indifferent positions. FCA ran their starters the entire game,

Not buying the comment about NL. In the 2 competitive games Hawks/FCA, starting attack didn’t come off the field and big #3 played as much as any midfielder. Plus, Hawks relied heavily on the fly in goalie. That said, Hawks and NL have a thin advantage against the next tier…TC, ML, and FCA. If a 2nd tier team wins, I wouldn’t call it a big upset. All of those team are talented and play hard!

Puberty will play a much larger role in who beats who next spring and summer, this is the winter when 7th graders start growing like weeds. Some of the best players in these teams will look average next summer.

There was a lot of experimentation with new players / roles with FCA.

Coach was not prioritizing winning. He was definitely focusing on giving the new players opportunities in different situations to see where they will best fit in.

A great Next Level Invitational - Fall Event. Weather was great for a fall event and everything seemed to run smoothly. Referees at these events will never be perfect, but all in all was okay.

It was great to watch six of the eight elite level HOCO teams play each other (no Madlax or 91). There were some great games and as much as we know it was just a "fall event"....teams / coaches were playing to win especially in the close battles. Love the field layout as it allows you to watch a lot of different teams play in a short amount of time. I got to float around and watch my son's team (Next Level) along with many other teams. My analysis from what I saw................

Next Level (2-0-1):
11-3: Over Predators.......Predators was the weakest team in attendance.
5-5: Great battle between two teams. Both teams were playing to win, and I thought Next Level was about to pull away, but Hawks responded in true Hawks fashion. Game played a quick 4 minute overtime and ended in a tie.
5-4: Another great battle and one that I thought was headed to overtime as well. FCA had several possessions with the game tied at 4-4 in the last 4 minutes of the game, but couldn't find the back of the net. An incredible goal with 30 seconds left sealed the deal for Next Level.

Overview: Loved seeing how much pressure Next Level put on the ball all over the field. They have great athletes at midfield and defense. #3 - Midfielder continues to be a man amongst boys and generated a lot of the offense in games I saw. Great team that should continue to be a top 10 team in the country and could be top 4 depending on how things continue.

Hawks (2-0-1):
6-4: Over FCA. Another dog fight. Was the first game of the day and definitely sloppy at times. Two very good teams, but Hawks seems to always find a way to be on top at the end.
5-5: with Next Level (see above)
8-7: Over True Chesapeake. A really good game. True Chesapeake has definitely improved with the merger with VLC.

Overview: Was curious to see if Hawks had many new players and didn't see many. There staple players seemed to still be the same. Lots of people were talking about their goalie situation on the sidelines, and from what it sounds like they will continue to fly in their goalie from last year as much as possible (he's a difference maker). Hawks has that compete factor and was down a few times, but showed the will to battle back each time. Very impressive team, who will only get better. I think you still have to say they are #1 until they are dethroned. I see them as a top 5 team in the country.

True Chesapeake (2-1):
9-5: Over Crabs.....not close at all. Started to display new weapons on offense.
12-1: Over Preds.....dominated them.....could have been even worse.
7-8: Loss to Hawks.....

Overview: Would like to have seen True Chesapeake play another team like Next Level or FCA, but they clearly have added several new pieces with the collapse of the VLC elite team. There offensive firepower will need time to gel, but they are going to be very good. Several great attackman and midfielders. They could definitely be a top 10 team in the country.

FCA (1-2):
4-6: Loss to Hawks. Very good game.... (see above)
10-4: Over Crabs......not close at all. FCA won almost every face off and could have been worse.
4-5: Loss to Next level. As a parent my favorite game of the day. Very physical and fun game to watch. (see above).

Overview: FCA looked to have several new pieces on the field, but will it be enough to push them to the top? They might just need some time to gel or it might be the same as last year where they are the last team out looking in on the playoffs. They definitely ride their strengths at goalie and defense. They could definitely be a top 10 team in the country once again, or could slide to top 20.

Crabs (1-2):
5-9: Loss to True Chesapeake
4-10: Loss to FCA
10-5: win over Predators

Overview: Crabs.....LTLC.......Legends......we will call them Crabs for this event.....seemed to have a lot of new players on the field. Was surprised they just seemed to be "smaller" and less physical then most. #26 - Midfielder was not on the field (not sure why) and most of the goals scored / offense was generated from #89. Curious to see if they go out an find some out of state upgrades, or if this could be a mediocre season ahead for Crabs 29's.

Predators (0-3):
3-11: Loss to Next Level
1-12: Loss to True Chesapeake
5-10: Loss to Crabs

Overview: A step up from AAA to Elite is always an eye opener for most teams. Appeared to have a lot of new players and definitely more talent, but it's going to take some time for them to build and gel as a team. Could be a long year ahead for them in rebuilding.......I'm sure they are thankful that Team 91 will be in Elite as well.

Early Rankins from just what I saw
1stA - Hawks
1stB - Next Level
2nd - True Ches / FCA (wish that True would have played Next Level to get a better sense)
3rd - Crabs
4th - Predators

Thanks for the write up!

Excellent write up. I thought it was very honest and fair. TY. I don’t understand the out of state or flyin stuff at this age. I think it’s a little early maybe next year or two. Just my opinion. What matters now is what players do now until the start of the season. Two observations. 1. It’s was really nice to be able to chat with parents from other teams at this fall tournament. Seemed like most parents supported players on other teams when a good play was made. 2. Is LTLC the last standing rec/club team left at this level? If it is good for them. While I understand they also play as crabs and will switch soon to full time crabs it’s good to see a rec program in the mix. Excited for the season.

Whoa! Rankins!!!!

Great write up and an accurate assessment from what I saw. Thanks for taking the time.

Predators is just what everyone thought they would be,,, Talk of Baltimore !!

Did Ty Xanders attend the event and put that write up out? LOL!

It also plays a role in who gets cut. The elite MD teams have the luxury of looking at two equal skilled players and will always pick the larger one. Roster membership is a one year contract and a kid's potential to get bigger/faster are just not a concern of club coaches.

The kids who were "best in the country" in 4th-5th grade are generally not even starters on their elite teams by 8th grade. Kids who grow quick will move up in the rankings relative to their actual talent, and kids who hit their growth spurt late are in for a couple of rough years aka will have to play down below their skill level to get PT, or play 3rd line AAA/elite. A year later, the tables turn again (as new kids have grown into their size) , until about the end of 9th grade when most things are settled. That said there are a few highly ranked 11th graders every year who were on nobody's map a year ago because they were small.....and now they aren't.

Pretty fair explanation, extrapolating out from 2029. I watched some 2028 games on Sunday next to our, and man, those kids were MUCH bigger and faster. 7-8th is where serious growth happens

This thread is taking a very strange turn. Talking about player rankings and “top” players in the nation.

Daddy’s been watching too much tik tok. I bet your videos are pure fire though….

Easy Preds Dad. No need to take it to negative town.

Agreed. Social media has really done a lot to make "players" look better than they might be. Add a little music and a filter and you can be elite as well. I don't mind great play and highlights but dolling it up for likes, heard colleges are now giving extra credits for the followers you have. Hard work always comes through. Eventually to instagram and tik tok videos will be forgotten.

I do like the positive discussions about the 29 lacrosse that has happened on this page. Because of fall and winter i guess it might quiet for a while.

Also worth noting that the 2028s are the last grad class where "all" holdouts including double holdbacks are being rostered without any concern for age verification. So at the elite level, it's guaranteed that you saw some 15 year olds at the minimum. There are literally 2028s, who are enrolled at MIAA and IAC schools, taking Drivers Ed this fall, who can get their learners permit in early 2024.

THIS!

Didn't get to see there 4th game, but Team 91 Maryland looked much improved going 3-0 at the Jack-)-Lantern Classic with a 4th game to play. Had 3-4 players that were huge in size.

Good for them! Nice to get a few wins under their belt before getting grinded into a fine paste during HOCO because they refuse to move out of the Elite division. It still baffles me they put those kids through this every year.

You get better by playing better competition. Regardless of the outcome you have to respect a team or isnt ducking competition

If it was based on merit I would agree. This team would not have won AAA the last two years, yet they are in “Elite” due to politics and backroom deals. That is just ignorant. Have a fall event with some juice behind it and take bottom 3 from Elite prior year plus top 3 from Triple AAA . Top 3 go into Elite. That would make more sense than continuing to bow down to certain programs for whatever reason.

Not sure kids learn much getting beat 16-0 or 15-3. Playing at the right level of competition teaches them more.