Pretty weak overall field. Lots of 2nd national teams and okay clubs. Mad dog division is the weakest.
Anywhere the Sewer Rats play you can bet its a third tier tournament.
So what is the deal with Sewer Rats? I assume the name is satire but who pays a ton of money to go to Florida over the holidays and play for a team named that? Bizarre.
True actively trying to poach other programs players:
The purpose of the Sewer Rats Program is to bring players and coaches together from various clubs across the country to compete in elite events and provide players with high-level coaching through our training camps and Zoom strategy sessions leading up to each event.
The Sewer Rats teams also serve as an evaluation hammerhead for players who are not already on our True National teams. These players get to compete at a higher level and get evaluated by more coaches. The emphasis of this program is on education; players get hours of training, both virtual and in-person, and they get to connect with other players and coaches from across the country to expand their network and compete on a national stage.
So, I like to dunk on True every chance I get, but this sounds like they are trying to assemble teams for the Circuit for next year. Kids on True National (the real one in IL) play for Team 18, Red Hots, and other Circuit teams already. So.....business yes, money grab, probably.
Back to dunking on True.....one thing I continue to find is that anyone promising "evaluation by coaches" is never going to give you an actual evaluation of your son's performance.
And "virtual training" - Team 18 just announced something like this as well (subscription based, mainly pre-recorded content). I'm sure both are trying to replicate the FCL model, which has proven useful for some players. Generally OK for HS kids who have the attention span to really watch and learn from film sessions, fine. For MS kids - it's hard enough just to get them to watch relevant film at all. Money grab.
