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

I do not like that I actually agree with this.....

You can't put Crabs above Hawks at this point. Until someone beats them in Hoco they are Top Dog.

Beat the Hawks and then you can claim this. See ya later Crabs dad.

Tiers:

Crabs, Hawks, FCA

[Red Hots??]

NL and DCE

91 and Madlax

More like Tiers:

1. Hawks
2. Crabs, FCA , Red Hots
3. NL and DCE
4. 91 and Madlax

Having seen all of these teams in the fall other than the Hawks, I’d say this:
FCA, Crabs, NL, and DCE are all pretty close. DCE still a work in progress, but they have the pieces to be great and to challenge these other 3.

I don’t see Red Hots getting into HoCo, but if they do— they will finish near the bottom. Many of those kids from their “big” team are from top HoCo teams, ie the goalie from NL. A lot of the others are from all over the country, and I can’t see them traveling to MD for 1 game, 7-8 straight weeks. That’s insane. So, if they bring the Pittsburgh based team, they get trounced.

Hawks are still the cream of the crop around the Mid Atlantic. No, my kid does not play for them. They’re just very good.

Madlax will roster 50 kids and see who they can bring in each week. They’ll battle with 91 and the 8th team (red hots B or Team MD) for the cellar position.

So, here’s my prediction:

Hawks

FCA, Crabs, DCE, NL in no particular order, perhaps a slight edge to FCA.

Madlax
Red Hots/ Team MD
91 Maryland

AAA
Clippers
Team Money
Team Maryland
Hawks Black
FCA White
Blue Claws
Prostart
Crabs Blue

Being entirely serious here...trying to put fair numbers to it. Even if you combine D1, D2, D3, and other options like JuCo, Comm College, more lax players from any given private school (from DC to Philly) will continue playing at the next level than any county's entire list of college commits from EVERY public school in the county you chose. You can set the statistical filters however you want, when it comes to college lax recruitment, it's very simple (note...this does not mean the success translates to the rest of life....plenty of private school grads are maintenance alcoholics managing the Self Storage facility where they bought 10% ownership, 20 years ago).

Back to prospecting for lax....... not to be a Debbie Downer, but at some point (really, 9th grade) if your son is not truly an elite prospect playing on one of the top 4-5 teams in DC/MD (ML, NL, FCA, Crabs, maybe Team MD if you're in the mountains), it's time to help him figure out how lax fits into the rest of his life. By that I mean that schools like Christopher Newport are NOT good schools and do NOT have solid alumni networks that will help your son succeed in life. Canisius does.....but it is only good for business majors. Manhattan College is not a good school and costs $50K, insane cost of living off campus, and offers weak scholarships, and who wants to take bus rides repeatedly over the GW Bridge just to play ball every week. Mt. St. Mary's is really cool, but not a school that will help your son if he ever wants to leave Frederick, Carroll, or Baltimore Counties. And of course 28% of MSM students fail to return for their second year at MSM.....sounds like fun? These are all D1 lax schools. And unless your son is so good that he'll attend for free (true for 25-30 kids, nationally, per grad class), they might be bad investments for your family.

DC Express Orange will contend in AAA. Better than 2/3 of the teams yku listed here

Easy there on the college info. You could say that to just about any college except maybe a 100 colleges. Most [Censored] at something or another , some more than others. Most D2, D3, and majority of D1 schools arent really that good an investment

DCE parents were the most delusional parents to close out 2023.

Crabs parents have narrowly surpassed in delusion to start 2024.

Games will be played soon enough….

You really put ML in your top 4-5 teams in the DMV for 2028? I honestly would like to know why?

If this guy had any idea what he was talking about, he would not have listed ML. They are barely AAA at this point. They have kids on their team who didn’t make DCE Orange and NL Red teams. It’s a joke.

Clippers are likely angling for the last slot in Elite. Maybe they’ll have a play-in game to determine who takes the spot?
And as someone previously posted— DC Express Orange will figure into the AAA playoffs. They smoked FCA White and played Team MD tough in the fall.

How were the DCE parents delusional? Everything I saw resembled pretty measured outlook in their team as one that is “talented, but a work in progress.” I think they beat Next Level at the end of the fall? And also beat 3d Georgia, who is a top 10 team from fall?

Crabs vastly improved w one of the top FCA players and several holdbacks. Reasons to be very optimistic.

Help us out. How are these parents at the top of the delusional charts?

Due to fact every year they compete with best and win . They have top talent this year. Sorry your son didnt make ML and you had to run with your tail between your legs in a huff.

You obviously haven't seen the Crabs since last summer. They look like a 2025 team. Unless there's a David in the field they will roll over everyone this spring/summer, as they should.

DCE dad here. We played the Crabs this fall after being an official team for about a month. While they are much better than they use to be, comparing them to the Hawks is just downright silly. Hawks are the best team until proven otherwise. Good players, excellent coaching and team ball.

They literally have taken anyone who will pay the team $ fee. Anyone. They had to roll up their DMV team into the Capital team. The kids who were responsible for the winning in the past? They’re all gone. Sorry, Cabbell

Heard ML is being replaced in Elite division this spring. Clippers and Team MD moving up.

Thanks Hawks dad

You mean the team that snuck off vs Red Hots at halftime, changed tournaments to avoid DCE, and blocked other local teams from playing in the same tournaments as them in the fall? That's the "take all comers" team you're talking about?

You’re not allowed to be complimentary of other teams on here. Now scram.

According to the ML website they are having try-outs starting the 24th. So you might want to make sure your kid is still hitting the wall before you continue with your comments...

We played both the Hawks and Crabs in the fall. It's obvious that the Crabs evaluators/coaches chose size over skill. They are big and athletic but some players lack the IQ/skill that Hawks players have. Hawks are loaded with talent and team doesn't have to rely on older, bigger players. This could be the main difference.

Crabs will lose to Hawks, FCA and DCE and possibly NL. Same old Crabs - just they can drive to games in a few weeks.

They know that larger size forms talent above average size talent , Crabs are the one to beat by summer. Count on it ,And next year,,,forget about it

Did a Preds Dad move his kid to the Crabs? Sounds a lot like talk of the Baltimore dad....

Next year they can drive themselves to practice! It’s a win-win for Crabs parents!

Any one have any rooms to rent out for weekends only?

So there will be NO Madlax at HOCO? I cannot believe that.

Haaa. Isn’t that the truth. He is chief weasel…. Always ducking. And when it doesn’t work, he just changes the team name. Madlax Monuments. Burrito Supremes. Burrito Supremes West.

Madlax has “revolutionary” and “flex” tryouts about every other month throughout the year… they will take anyone they can get. Hoping they might find an unsuspecting AA player from Leesburg

Indeed several Preds went to Crabs and several more went to Crabs Lite, so this theory may have legs.

Not even including the 2028 Pred who held back to 2029 FCA and is now (oops) playing for 2028 Crabs thanks to the new holdback rules.

Two Top Clubs ! Preds are big time talk and Crabs are big time reputation

Let's change the topic. Now that we're moving from the pay-to-play Apex Games, PLL Jr, etc. to actual invitation-only showcases for the 2028 class, what are the true "elite" showcases that players need to aim for:

- Best in Class
- The Spotlight
- One Percent

Anything else for rising HS freshmen? Obviously, Maverik Showtime before their sophomore and junior years and Main Stage before their junior year. What others are truly invite-only? Or what others actually draw the elite talent?

Fact: The average tenure of college coaches is about 3.5 years.

Fact: The Transfer Portal exists (for now at least), and removes all kinds of recruiting urgencies from coaches.

Fact: College coaches are well aware that 2028 is their last opportunity to load up on big numbers of single and double holdback players.

Fact: D2 coaches cannot email these boys until Jan 1, 2026, D1 is obviously Sept 1 2026. D3, JuCo, and PG are loose.

Question: Given the above facts, what high powered recruiters will be looking at any but the national top 10-20 2028s in 2024?

Take a deep breath. Your son has played exactly 0.0 minutes of HS varsity lacrosse, and hasn't stepped foot in a HS classroom, which for many athletes at prep schools, is a "first of its kind" type of academic challenge. And 99% of 2028s will still have played 0.0 minutes of varsity ball by June 2025 (even for the 2-5 per school that make a varsity roster in 9th).

This question gave me vibes of 3rd grade FCA dads talking about how their kids were "on a path to start at varsity in 9th."

That is the talk of someone whose son will never play D1.

On point.

Next comment from someone will be “no D1 for your little Johnny, tell him to hit the wall.”

And they would on point with that comment and assessment .