Teams are slotted in HOCO based on past performance not forecasts of how they will perform. Until 91 shows they can actually hang with the big boys or BLC shows they are out of their league, the elite division should be determined on last years outcomes.
Lacrosse is not a meritocracy. Millon will call Ricky, as I'm sure he has already, and say "91 is top to bottom the best club in Maryland and produces #1 college recruits and makes the HoCo league look good, so you should put the teams wherever I say you should."
91's sales pitch is "developing elite athletes" but their actual business model is to hang around in elite alleyways and start picking up disgruntled elite kids in 7th, 8th, 9th grade who were developed by someone else entirely. Then they fold holdbacks into the batter until the majority of starters are holdbacks in 11th grade, and suddenly it's a Top 10 national team. This is the 91 MD recipe.
This will happen soon enough with the 2029s. A good rec club coach will "come over" with 10 kids and suddenly they will start winning games. Follow the 2028 T91 road map:
2019-2020: 2028 Team 91 team is something like 2W-26L overall. Coach fired. Most kids leave.
2021: 91 Recruits 2028 Swarm coach, brings over 10+ kids who don't even attend tryouts. Team is suddenly about 9W-12L overall at a high level.
2022: Same coach brings over 8 more kids and a dad coach from Kelly Post's elite team. Team beats Hawks in the fall of 2022.
2023: See what happens next. They are playing Elite this spring. They'll win some games too (unlike the 2029s).
2024: Most of the 2028 91 kids are already at MIAA schools where they will stay for HS, or may hold back on Millon's advice, but Millon will brag that he got them "recruited to MIAA."
By 2026: Most of the kids who joined before 2024 will be long gone. Because "player development."
That is the MD 91 recipe. See where you can slide your kid into that, or move on lol.
