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

Sounds like another jealous dad whose kid either didn’t make a team or whose team got waxed… there are 2 age exemptions available per team at the 29 level. And those exemptions allow players born after Jan 1, 2010.

As for roster size…. Last time I checked there were only 10 players on the field. How exactly does that fourth line midfielder or 11th pole help a team?

The Red Hots team has one player who is a difference maker. He’s in 8th grade so couldn’t play on the ‘29 team in Orlando as the tournament was grade based. Without him the ‘29 team is still a pretty good team but not world beaters. Based on conversations this weekend I think you’ll see some of those kids drop prior to Circuit finals. A team built around only one player that dodge isn’t for others. Not to mention the negative reputation of the team after said player was ejected a couple weeks ago.

Anyone who can’t see through the smoke and mirrors is likely partaking in this foolishness. Red Hots is a team from Pittsburgh that couldn’t compete in the lowest levels of rec in NY, MD, Philly, etc, there are like 5 kids playing lacrosse in Pittsburgh. So— they go out and create a traveling circus of kids from all over, with a flashy Instagram page, and all of a sudden, they have money pouring in (evident by their branded Sprinter Van).
Good for the guys in Pittsburgh who saw a marketing opportunity, and monetized it. Parents are starved for opportunities to see their kids perform. They’ll pay for it.

But to think that this is anything more than an Instagram marketing ploy that will vanish when these kids get into high school (in lieu of the real club teams and showcase events) is fooling themselves. But heck, enjoy it while it lasts, and parade around that championship ring in the meantime!

Your comment about the van tells us that you know nothing more than what you’ve seen on social media.

It’s odd how people get so twisted over this. National teams are simply an additional opportunity for your kid to play at a high level. (if he has the talent and your wallet can tolerate it)

Anyone here how the HOCO teams are lining up? Figuring 8 teams in each division.

You have NO idea what you are talking about. Red Hots Circuit team has literally 2 1/2 lines of midfield and 2 Attackman that could start on any other Circuit team.

The team that went to Club Nationals was missing 90% of their midfield, one attackman and half the defense.

Yes, the 2028 midfielder is a difference maker but so are 6-8 other kids on the club. In fact, when they drilled Mojo, the 2028 midfielder had maybe 2 goals out of the 13 that they scored.

You have NO idea what you are talking about. Red Hots Circuit team has literally 2 1/2 lines of midfield and 2 Attackman that could start on any other Circuit team.

The team that went to Club Nationals was missing 90% of their midfield, one attackman and half the defense.

Yes, the 2028 midfielder is a difference maker but so are 6-8 other kids on the club. In fact, when they drilled Mojo, the 2028 midfielder had maybe 2 goals out of the 13 that they scored.
You're exactly right... Red Hots National has virtually zero kids from Pittsburgh. Their roster is comprised of top kids from elite programs around the country. They play for RHN when their local club is off. It's additional playing time with other elite players. The only people complaining are the ones who either A. can't afford the cost to play on a national team or B. have a kid who didn't make a top national team.

I will say that I do feel that National teams playing in local club tournaments is an issue. National teams shouldn't be playing events like NLF, NAL or Naptown. That's why the Circuit is such a great idea.

You are right national teams should be playing only national teams and be ranked completely different than club teams. On the US club Lacrosse ranking they should have their own category. There are national teams on that ranking that have nothing identifying them as national teams thus causing for confusion and frustration. I completely agree if you have the wallet and they want your money you can play on a team. Pay to play. In the end this Nationals team stuff isn't going to change minds. You either have it and are wanted by a coach/team or you don't.

Please stop. You couldn't be further from the truth. They're 1-2 against Nationals.

Well said!

You also have quasi-national teams like West Coast Stars, Futures and Two Way that recruit from multiple states to build out a top roster. In Maryland, Crabs, 91 and True Chesapeake all play similar games.

So with the Hybrid teams versus local team discussions, who is truely a representation of a better team. IMO, it's not the team that patches together a winning team, with recruited players ,at national tournaments but rather a team that is consistently playing as a complete group and can travel anywhere and compete to win.

I think it's apples and oranges. So hard to say what is a "better team." And most of the top kids do both, so they're getting the best of both worlds.

ELITE DIVISION IS LOOKING LIKE.........
1. HAWKS
2. NEXT LEVEL
3. TRUE CHESAPEAKE
4. FCA
5. MADLAX
6. CRABS
7. PREDATORS
8. TEAM 91

Not sure Talk of Baltimore or 91 are ready for this.

Is your list also rankins??

Agreed. If these are projections, I think 6-8 are spot on and the top 5 could shuffle. We’ll just need to see what Spring brings

I think the list justa list. the biggest question would be middle of the pack. That makes for exciting lacrosse. Questions. If this is the elite list. What match up might havr the biggest upset. Last year it was LTLC over madlax.

Agree....I see different tier's in the Elite Division

Top Tier: Hawks, True Chesapeake, Next Level

Middle Tier: FCA, Madlax, Crabs

Lower Tier: Predators and Team 91 MD. Predators will learn and continue to at least develop. It's going to get ugly for Team 91 MD.

Is this a joke? True was outscored 46-8 against Hawks, NL, and Madlax last HOcO season and 6 were against NL! Be honest with yourself True cheerleader

Agreed.

Most be a new drive in mom. This team got better with their 2 hour drive ins. Which makes them a regional team and no longer a local team, so they should do well against the local teams. If this doesn’t work, hello fly ins that are waiting in the wings.

You clearly missed the memo on True Chesapeake taking on VLC's top players.....they are much improved. Played Hawks to a one goal game in the fall.

I hear the Hawks are flying in their goalie from Michigan. I guess that makes them not a local team or a regional team.

How important are these All-Star Showcases for 2029's? I saw the USClub Lax ad for the National All Star games and was checking it out. $225 to tryout? I lol'd when I saw that and immediately thought of, "that a fool and his money are soon parted". Sure if you've got the disposable income, why not, but give me a break. That's the thing that drives me nuts about youth lacrosse...folks running these programs sure think highly of themselves. And I thought AAU was bad for being not much more than a money grab. And yet, we all pay it. At least our kids could actually get money some money for school with Bball. We are most definitely the fools.

You need to every showcase and any other recruiting events if you want to be ranked. Getting ranked gets you recruited. Don’t forget you need to pay Inside Lacrosse to get them to evaluate your kid. The sport is a money grab for a few select guys!!

Can anyone share what Shuckers lacrosse is? A new club coming to Baltimore?

They are the new “talk of the town”

Shuckers is something started by two Loyola Blakefield Fathers that will put a team together to play in Naptown........with the purpose of trying to recruit kids to Loyola Blakefield. That's how it was explained to us, but we are not participating as my son is not interested in Loyola.

Sad to say I agree with Talk of the Town Dad.

The club is hosted by Ryleighs Oyster (a Towson area seafood place / bar) whose owners are big Loyola alums/donors. It would appear that they have convinced the new Loyola HC that he should be involved and/or be a part-owner in it (like Hilgy and Sett at Predators, and many other older examples). They are assembling some kind of 2029 team for Naptown but also trying next year to build 2027 and 2028 teams.

If I had to guess, it's to continue to TRY to replace the market share that was Koopers, Green Turtle, etc, Looneys (all bar-supported clubs owned by MIAA alums); Koopers blew up as a result of Predators and True making a play for A-AA level / non elite Towson area kids (the 2029 Predators team is a bit of an outlier).

Will it fail any less ingloriously than Koopers, Green Turtle, and Looneys? I guess we'll see. Then True Baltimore will gobble them up as they gobbled up the others, with a pre-tryout message of "we're keeping the same identity and culture, just under True" , and the first post-tryout message being, "You're now True Orange, here is your True logo, we only do True drills, with only True coaches."

PREDS ARE THE WORST. If they were a bar they would be out of business after serving diluted drinks and only being open half the day.

Loyola is a trainwreck and has been for years. I see another dumpster fire laying on the tracks as a train crashes into it..

You’re over thinking this, at least for the 29s. A few years back Crabs and 91 failed spectacularly with this age group, and have not yet recovered. Things remain in flux in the area and probably will at least through the summer. Great for whoever pulls the best team together … but it sure as heck won’t be True Baltimore!

Out of 1300 or so HS programs nationally, Loyola is consistently ranked #20-#40, and i believe had 2022's #6 and #11 national recruits and 2023s #16....so maybe possibly this is all hyperbole. . In terms of how effectively they use their resources and athletes compared to expectations, yeah, you could call that a train weak aka "doing the least with the most."

Yeah....this tracks. IIRC the infamous Crabs coach who blew up the 2029 team is in fact the True Balt 2029 coach these days.

Any kid that wants to play Elite and actually wants to win games and not just be in Elite will need to find a team south of Balty to play on. Only time I see that changing is in high school when kids of other places come to board at private schools.

Coach Vanilla Ice is rocking the mike like a vandal at a different club after True banned dad coaches last summer. Baby Ice needed Dad's elite coaching to keep him relevant and starting.

Top Baltimore kids need to coalesce on a single team in order to compete with TC, Hawks, NL and ML.

FCA appears to be the closest to that level of play.

I agree with this. FCA had a rough fall though. Not sure what happened.

Yo VIP, let's kick it. Thanks for the intel, I'll make sure to continue to stay away from anything he touches. BTW Coach Ice has switched up his hair cut to the mushroom top favored by all the 14 year old kids. You have to admit, he is on top of the teenager hair style game.

And like most dad coach's kids, his kid can play "fine," no need to beat up on a 13 year old. He may turn out to be above average or even better if coaches can keep him away from Daddy Ice's weird influence.

They lost their dominant ATT to age verification, still a solid team but that was a huge blow.