My son is fairly new to playing club lacrosse and we are new to the landscape on the boys side in terms of all the teams/levels in the area. Can someone give a general breakdown of local clubs and levels? I know I can look at the GHCL for the 2030s, but as they get older, there seems to be more teams/clubs and what becomes more competitive or is it all age based? Also, are there clubs that don't have parent coaches at some point? Thanks!
What position does he play? Where are you located?
Goalie. Howard county area
If he is a goalie and is really good. Half the teams out here will take him.
If he's not that good yet and still developing and shows potential, the other half will take him.
What are considered "top half" and "bottom half"?
When looking for a team I would suggest you look around and find a coaching staff that you agree with and feel comfortable with. Maryland lacrosse is a garbage show. Seems like new programs pop up and fold every season. You basically have 2 choices:
Real clubs:
Crabs
91
FCA....
Club Rec:
Ville
Balt. Swarm
BlueClaws.....
Real clubs will cost you a bit more but will provide things like Goalie training, nice facilities, and as you get older the Name which will help with recruiting. The negative of Real clubs is the Bottom line is important so if they find better players the existing players get cut.
Club Rec is often times much cheaper because the county recs pay for their field space. Their coaches are often dads and specialty training is usually poor.
Either way at this age group most of the coaches are dads. There are tons of drama in both.
I suggested finding a coaching staff because the kids will jump all over the place because parents are crazy. But having good coaches, dads or not, will encourage you child to learn while having lots of fun.
Remember the kids are 10 so the only reason they play is because the like the sport and want to have fun.
