Nationals is more like $4000 and the cost is up front for the year. They will slip in some extra fees for extra stuff. Their weekend clinics are great but if you don't go, it's money lost.
Team 18 charges an up front fee for uniforms and a training camp but everything after that is a la carte.
Red Hots is in survival mode. The actual club was terrible and these guys took over the name and are chargiing a nominal fee per event. They mainly grabbed a bunch of Nationals kids when they screwed up their model, plus Red Hots is way less expensive. It is very appealing to the mercenary lacrosse dad crowd. I don't see how they make any money but maybe they can rebuild the club from the top down. I would imagine their fees will climb based on the all-star model success.
This is mostly correct. The regular Red Hots 2028 "PA" is on par with HoCo A league. Lots of dropped passes, defense that doesn't slide, etc. The 2027 and 2029 Red Hots teams are very good, AAA or Elite level. How Red Hots got their national roster together was primarily doorknocking (email and IG) from the Apex attendance list. I think the regular Red Hots will continue to do OK, as it is one of the few alternatives to True in the Pittsburgh area. Red Hots National will either follow the Nationals business model or the Team 18 model. Time will tell.
We have done the national money-grab, I mean, opportunities, for the last 2+ years and we're doing less, but still doing some these days. Where I'd rank the COACHING of the top 5 2028 national teams:
1. Nation's Best
2. Nationals
3. Team 91 Natl
4. BBL National
5 NXT Gold (if you can call it a national team) or TX Nationals
Common traits: well organized, holds substantial, well planned practices. Players trust each other. Players trust the coaches. Coaches actually show up for games, not just for IG posts (a real issue, sadly). Lose any one of these, and your son's "national" team is wasting your time and money with a "fun and pretty good" product you could get locally at AAA or Elite.
Best roster TALENT of 2028 national teams I've seen play in person.
1. Tie - Nation's Best, 91 National
3. Mad Dog National
4. Red Hots National
5. Hard to judge between Nationals, Madlax Nat, WCS, TX Natls..
Common traits: Rock solid FOGO. Rock solid goalie, and an almost-as-good backup. 2-3 attackmen who can't ever be left unguarded, despite the 6'3" double holdback LSM cruising up the field with the ball. 2 offensive middies who are game changers. Every middie and attackman on the roster rides aggressively. Lose any one of these, and your son's team is wasting your time and money with a "fun and pretty good" "national" product you could get locally at AAA or Elite.
You may notice that many of the "national programs" are on neither list. I say this as somebody who supports the national team model generally......If you live in a lax-dense area like MD, your son doesn't "need" the opportunity afforded by any "national" team that's on neither of those lists. He already has access to quality skills coaching, and opportunity to play against talent as good (or better) than he is, almost weekly from March 28 to July 15.
Also interesting: it was fun to see in FL this past week, all the Crabs helmets.......players who were specifically forbidden to go play for national teams in Naples and Orlando (a Crabs policy that is frequently reiterated/reminded). King Krab is loving those IG posts hahahahahaha!
