This thread will be used for conversation related to the Looney's Boys Lacrosse Club.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What exactly is the Looney�s Lacrosse Club?

The Looneys Lacrosse Club is a not-for-profit lacrosse club based in Harford, Baltimore, and other surrounding counties, consisting of boys ranging in age from 10 to 17.

Is anyone eligible to try-out?

All boys currently in grades 4 through 9 are eligible to try-out. Your geographic residence, school, past club affiliations, or years of experience, do not preclude you from try-outs. You must attend at least a portion of try-outs on the scheduled dates to be evaluated.

How are try-outs conducted?

The coaches and officers of the club make selections. To ensure that evaluations are as objective as possible: 1) we will seek the assistance of select knowledgeable third parties; and 2) if an officer/coach is a parent of a player on a team, that coach will not participate in the evaluation of the players on that team. Among the factors on which players are evaluated is speed, athletic ability, strength, stick skills and scrimmage play. All boys who attend will be notified of the results shortly after tryouts are complete. Placement decisions are final.

How do I register to try-out?

The dates, times, and location of try-outs are outlined in the Registration section of this website. Registration is to be completed online. You may pay by credit card or check. Any changes due to weather or unforeseen events will posted in the announcements section of this website. There is a $30 non-refundable fee for trying-out. This is used to pay for non-reusable materials and facilities required for try-outs.

How are your coaches selected?

The best man�s lacrosse player in the world is not guaranteed to be able to teach an 11 year old boy to play lacrosse and the best teacher in the world can�t teach a boy how best to scoop a lacrosse ball in traffic if he�s never done it himself. Based on this, each Looney�s team will be coached by an individual who has significant personal experience in playing lacrosse AND has significant experience coaching/teaching children and young adults. It is our view, that this is the best way to ensure that our players will have the opportunity to actually take in and retain the knowledge imparted to them.

If my son signs up for Looney�s and makes a team will he have to stop playing for his recreation/MYLA team?

No. All players should continue with their current program. Club lacrosse season starts after the LAST recreation/MYLA weekend.

What does a season consist of and when/how much will you practice?

The club lacrosse season occurs from June through November, with at least three tournaments in June and July, and the entire month of August off. Teams will practice occasionally in May when rec teams schedules allow, and one or two evenings per week starting approximately the first week in June. This schedule will last throughout the summer tournament season. Fall practices will be infrequent and will vary. There may be only one or two prior to each tournament.

Where will you practice?

All of our teams practice at either Friends or St. Paul's Schools

How do I join US Lacrosse?

Log on to www.uslacrosse.org and click on 'membership info.' You will receive a confirmation e-mail with your membership number.

Why is a US Lacrosse membership required?

For insurance purposes, the sponsors of many of the tournaments in which we play require that each player be a member of US Lacrosse. We therefore require all players to join US Lacrosse. US Lacrosse membership information is available at www.uslacrosse.org. The membership fee also includes Lacrosse Magazine for one year and possible discounts on any US Lacrosse tournament

How did you select the tournaments?

These tournaments are known to be very well organized, host competitive teams and have an emphasis on college recruiting activities for the older teams.

Within all tournaments, do all the kids play equal amounts?

All athletes will receive a fair opportunity to compete but this does not guarantee equal playing time. Our teams will play to win with increasing emphasis as the teams get older. Playing time will be earned, with hard work, attitude, coachability, attendance and on-field success playing a role in determining the amount.

How many boys per team will the Looney�s teams carry?

We will carry approximately 16-22 boys per team. That is the maximum number of kids our volunteer organization can handle and ensure the highest quality and best experience for all.

How do you communicate with the players and family members?

Communication is primarily via email and website. We expect that you will access an email account on a daily basis to receive and reply to updates and announcements and to check this website for general less time-critical info.

What is your refund policy?

In general, no refunds will be permitted once a boy has made the team, accepted the position and his deposit checks have been cashed. If there is a very special circumstance, it will be evaluated by Board of Directors of Looney�s Lacrosse Club for Boys.

Once a child is a member of a Looney�s team, will they be required to try out again each year?

Yes. Our youngest boys may be as young as 10 years old when they try out for the first time. It would be irresponsible of us to assume that they will all remain great lacrosse players until they are 17! In order to ensure that a boy�s game and character are successfully growing, he must try out and make the team each year.

When are the Looney tryouts for next year?

Their tryouts are always the weekend after Labor Day weekend. Check their website in August for dates, age groups, times....

Quite a lot of disparity among these teams...some good, others not well coached. Very expensive club...buyer beware!

agreed but you can say the same of any club. There are so many clubs now for the most part the parent and kid should judge the actual team they are playing for first, then the club. It is team by team with most clubs anywhere these days.

How much is it for the Looneys summer season ?

every team is different since some play in more tourneys and practice more than others but for the whole year (fall tourneys, spring league, and summer tounreys) they range between $850-$1,050.00 total. Again, depends on the team.

They are about avg. compared to others and have a good product. Other clubs are much more $$. In our experience it has been very good value.

Damn those prices would put them as one of the lowest priced teams on LI if they were from here.

Are the Looney's doing anything to get more competitive at the younger levels? I have heard that they focus on the 2015 year and let the other grades finance that group...seems the club changed since the board turned over

Older age-group team and younger team are competitive...not so much for the middle-school age teams. Club costs are typically about $1,200 for the year.

Dear Readers : The three e-mail sequence regarding Looney's Boys Lacrosse has just been purged - the discussion was related to their upcoming tryouts which turned out to be accompanied by a commercial fee. Please read and familiarize yourselves with the rules regarding the posting of tryouts which are on the Tryouts Forums for both the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions. BOTC does not permit commercial tryout advertising (fee-based) without having a commercial agreement in place with the individual club. Contact us at cagesage@backofthecage.com if you have any additional questions.

Looney�s Recruitment Workshop

Looney�s Lacrosse Club will be hosting a Recruitment Workshop on Wednesday night, October 2nd from 7:00 � 9:00. The workshop will be held in the Minnegan Room at the Towson University Field House. Shawn Nadelen (Head Lacrosse Coach - Towson University), Paul Cantebene (Head Lacrosse Coach � Stevenson University and Andy Hilgartner (Head Lacrosse Coach � McDonogh High School) will be on the panel that evening.

This workshop is for High School boys and their parents.

If you wish to attend, please register on our website, https://leagueathletics.com/UserForm.asp?RegID=107989&org=looneyslacrosseclub.com and RSVP if possible so we may be prepared for the number attending (there is NO charge to attend).

What happened with Looney's 2017 Orange team? At fl$ in 3d they went 0-3 and were outscored 32-6 with one shutout. My son's team had faced them in prior years and they were competitive.

Unfortunately many of their better players left for other programs. I believe their older and younger programs are more competitive. The 2017 talent in Baltimore has shifted to Breakers, CA and Crabs. We'll see if the new coaching at the Greene Turtle can bring talented players back into that program.

Rumor has it that the entire koopers 2022 team left for Looney's. Any truth to it?

the coaches for the 2022 and 2023 went to Looneys.

does Looney's have better wings than Koopers?

They sure don't have better lacrosse......

you are saying Koopers has better Lacrosse than Looneys????

Koopers has been around for 1 year so I don't think anyone is saying that

But considering who the team is connected to, don't be surprised if they eventually are on par with the top tier teams

Who will be the top 2022 team?

Looney's is an organization on the decline. They may have 1 or 2 competitive teams, but they epitomize the daddy ball philosophy at several of their age groups. People who are trying to get away from at the REC level won't be well served there.

Completely false. Make your own judgments but they are one of the top programs in Baltimore. Crabs is number one top to bottom. After that it is a mixed bag depending on the grad year. All of the other clubs are basically even after crabs. Good team this year, avg the next etc

All the Looney's resources are poured into the 2016 team...the director's son plays there. That is why there were so many defections a year or 2 back.

BS. he has 2 other kids the play on middle school teams and coaches 2021 team. they have non-parent coaches on the HS teams. look at the website, coaches bios are there. all dad coaches have had significant playing careers and experience coaching youth lacrosse. most clubs have parent coaches at younger levels.

emergence of FCA 2 years ago hurt Looneys as some of the coaches went there and kids followed. Really effected Green Turtle. I'm sure some the FCA kids would have ended as Crabs or breakers too. FCA btw has mostly parent coaches

In other words, daddy ball around.....

Saw looneys team 2021 team loose to a younger 2022 this summer. I think The program is on the decline.

Probably the 2021 b team. They have a and b. By the looks of their results this summer they are hardly on the decline. Be real. All of these programs are pretty much the same beyond crabs. Good grad years, avg ones, poor ones. After crabs in baltimore looneys, breakers, turtle, roughriders, rock, fca are all about the same.
http://www.looneyslacrosseclub.com/Page.asp?n=35270&org=looneyslacrosseclub.com

The 2021 team didn't do well at all this summer
1 - 2 at Green Turtle
2 - 3 at Blue Hen
2 - 3 at NXT Cup

Looney's started their club with a bang. That team (which is now the 2015 team) had some great talent. They followed it up with another really good team (2016s).

Since then, the subsequent grade-based teams have been pretty marginal. The 2017 team, for example, is really non-competitive. The magic they caught in a bottle for the first two teams has escaped them subsequently.

Overall, it's not a great club.

Crabs is still the best club top to bottom. FCA is on a tier below, followed by Breakers. The other clubs are much farther down the foodchain.

Agree with your assessment totally. 2018 & 2019 "A" teams are horrible. 2020 is decent, but will loose their players when reality hits....

Where do you put Madlax or do you see that team as a VA team.

Madlax is the closest to the Crabs from top to bottom

Fca hurt the 2017 and 2018 teams. Took both coaches and a lot of kids followed. They have recovered ok but definitely are still hurting from it. Other younger teams are strong, kids are having fun, older kids committing to good colleges. Overall a very good program.

Top to bottom crabs only have 2 teams last year add 2021 team that was .500 at best.

Hawks have a pretty strong program across the board.

Here are the combined win % for all top level teams in their age brackets for the spring Npyll and HoCo seasons.

These are games played on real fields with real refs using standard rules with consistent players (unlike most tournaments).

These are only the teams through 8th (going into 9th) grade.

Club. Win %

Crabs 92.0%

Annapolis Hawks 85.4%

FCA 72.4%

Bethesda 68.0%

Madlax 65.9%

Baltimore Breakers 65.4%

Greene Turtle 58.3%

Club Blue 57.5%

Looney's 55.6%

Arden Diamondbacks 52.2%

Kooper's 50.0%

Rough Riders 50.0%

Next Level 48.8%

Storm 44.4%

VLC 42.9%

API Select 41.7%

Cannons 38.6%

Zingos 33.3%

Rock 30.4%

MD Elite 23.1%

No. They are good at capturing the youth market in DC, but the HS program is pretty weak. Most of the best kids peel off for Blackwolf, Crabs and VLC when they reach HS.

FCA is building a very strong program top to bottom. They have been able to attract a lot of MD kids and DC kids.

I would have to disagree that Looneys 2019 A team is horrible. We played them twice in MVP Blue Hen, tied once and we did beat them in the final. Seemed to be well coached and had some talent. You sure you arent speaking of their lower 2019 team?
They had a goalie and a pole that could easily play for better teams.

Anybody who has the time and inclination to produce stats like this seriously needs a mental health examination.

Does all of this really matter? We could have the same conversation with any club. This year is good, this year is bad. Move on. Enjoy it.

Let me guess, MD Elite Dad

2019 A team or Orange team is the worst of the daddy ball bunch. Not good. Several games below 500 for the season.

You're right. Why bring facts into an argument about which club has a better record top to bottom?

A very high level college football coach told me that the best players will be found, You just have to get them on the field. So lets stop acting like any of us Dads care about the name on the front of the Jersey we only care about the name on the back. We all use the club programs as much or more the the people running them. Everyone should move there kid until they get to play/start.

Very good point! There are very good players on some of the premiere teams looking for the opportunity to have a more prominant role on a 2nd tier team. Still good coaching and good quality of play, just slightly less talented and less depth. The depth of talent often separates the premiere teams from the 2nd tier teams.

One, these are stats, not facts.

Two, these "stats" are skewed. Not every club listed here fielded the same number of teams. Some fielded teams in NPYLL. Some in Hoco. Some in both. Some fielded teams at the A level. Some only in B. Some in both.

There is a wide variance among these teams in terms of number of teams fielded, teams in HoCo, teams in NPYLL, teams in both, teams who played NPYLL A, NPYLL B, etc.

Thus, the winning percentage stats are rendered meaningless. The only thing you can draw is that the author of the "study" is weird.

I didnt realize that the only guideline for a successful club season was winning percentage. Interesting.

Correct your Kid should care about his high school team winning or losing, and care about becoming a better player anywhere and everywhere else he plays. I am sure those AAU Basketball kids do not care if there teams are winning or not. They care about how much they scored, who saw them play, and if there Jumper or free throws got better.

These stats are only for the top level teams at each grade level. No B or C level league results were included. These are the very top teams representing each club at all Grade levels (a win for the top 2rd grade team counts as much as a win for the top 8th grade team). The information came from the NPYLL and HoCo websites and about � hour of effort was taken to put them all together in a spreadsheet. The stats/facts are only as good as the NPYLL and HoCo websites.



In some cases, the clubs chose not to field a team at the top level in each grade. Some clubs only fielded 2 top level teams total. Other clubs had as many as 7. The top level HoCo leagues may not be at the same level as the top level Npyll leagues, but I think they are in the same ball park. - so yes the results are skewed, but I don't believe they are meaningless.

I was at a loss on how to evaluate the multitude of clubs out there today to justify the significant cost (Paying these costs for youth sport may be the real reason for a mental health examination).

All clubs "build character", "improve a player's skills", "win championships" and put out D1 players � just look at their websites. But as everyone points out, most clubs are inconsistent top to bottom having good and bad teams and coaches within the organization. Depending on who you are talking to, the same team/coach could be good or bad. So I crunched the numbers.

I am open to any suggestions on a better way to compare the clubs top to bottom.

Is using tournament records any better? The overall tournament competition is very inconsistent especially with teams using �guest players� and playing down a grade level or teams just hitting the weaker tournaments.

Is listing D1 commits better? D1 commits really only come from the older teams and you don�t know if the club that now has those players did the development of them.

Even talking to the coaches and attending many tryouts can't give a complete picture on how well your kid will fit on a team.

In general, I believe good coaching does translate into improved skills and therefore wins.

As for the weirdness, you can lump me in with the fantasy football and rotisserie baseball players. Guilty as charged.

The best way to "evaluate" a club is:

do the kids get better?

do the kids enjoy playing with their teammates/coaches

does it match my kid?

what is the reputation of the club in terms of developing impact HS players?

if my son wants to play in college, how successful is that club in getting their players recruited


Any of the above is much more important than wins, losses and/or tournament finishes.

And no, the work you did took a lot more than just 30 minutes. Come on.

Look, I agree with you 100%. It is not about the wins and losses and being on a club that struggles makes those Ws that much sweeter when they are the result of the time and effort put in as individuals and as a team. I realize most kids (mine included) will never play D1, D2, or D3 ball so trying to ride the coat-tails of the dominate team is no answer.

Also - some of these clubs are in regions without a large rec program feeding them. MD elite (Emmittsburg), MD Xtreme (Olney), and Storm (Eastern Shore) don't have nearly the same number of rec clubs (and lacrosse dads) getting the kids ready at the youngest ages as the Baltimore and Annapolis area clubs.

The big question is : Where do you go to get honest unbiased answers to your questions.

A lot of these questions can't be answered by the club or the families associated with the clubs - they will all tell you the same positive responses. They can't be answered by the families that have left the club (willingly or otherwise). You can see by reading this forum, for every post praising a club, there is a response bashing it.

Unless you spend a couple months with the club, you really can't tell if it is a good fit.

Do you think the high school coaches would be the best place to go for unbiased assessments of the clubs? I'd love to see a poll of the high school coaches ranking the different aspects of individual clubs.

Love the BOTC and most discussions, but I am tiring of these dubious arguments supported by misleading stats. There are 3 strong clubs in DC area: Madlax, VLC and Blackwolf. Madlax is the best top to bottom. Period.
Real Madlax youth stats: 23-10 at all AA levels in Spring NPYLL. That's a 70% win percentage BTW (23/33=.6969). Then dig a little deeper--U15AAA at 7-2 and U13AAA at 8-1. Losses to Crabs and Hawks, Baltimore and Annapolis teams respectively. Pretty good by my standards, and best teams at this critical age in Washington DC. To be fair, Crabs are still better top to bottom, but gap is closing. As a Baltimore club, Crabs are not a real option for us DC parents. Hawks (Annapolis) were awesome this past year, particularly at youth, but again too far for most DCers.

The Madlax U15 team won Dicks national title at Christmas (U13 then) and the current Madlax U13 team won the World Championship in Denver this July. Look it up, and confirm. The U13 team won 4 out of 5 tournaments this summer, losing in finals at Young Gunz to a loaded Dukes team. This team has lost only 2 games since it was formed in Fall of 2013 and is clearly one of the best, if not #1 U13 team in country (sorry LI). Won Next Level Fall League, all 3 Fall Tournaments, 2nd in Spring League after losing to Crabs in final by a goal. 2-1 v. the Crabs too, after beating them in fall NPYLL championship and in Young Gunz this Summer. There isn't a youth team in DC that can compete with these teams. In fact, VLC enters its U13 in B brackets to avoid Madlax, haters check Fall NPYLL and Summer Greene Turtle before responding. As you may know, Blackwolf doesn�t do youth, VLC only u11, and Madlax .500 at U9 and U11, although the Madlax U11�s had a great summer.
Madlax will continue to be stronger at 2018, as rising Freshmen will be the U15 AAA moving up -- including first 2018 commit to John Hopkins. Go watch them play � a very skilled and entertaining group. VLC not is same zip code and Blackwolf is in formation.
U15AAA will be best team in youth lacrosse in Washington DC, as it will be rising U13�s. Players are getting tremendous national exposure. Google them if you doubt me. VLC will continue to avoid this team.
Madlax is also very strong at 2017, as is VLC to be fair. Madlax stronger at 2016, VLC at 2015. Blackwolf is a ?? at these levels for me, although awesome reputation. As VLC�s really strong senior team dwindles, it will be left with 1 good team, at 2017. Further, this VLC team is loaded with Madlax defectors. Despite repeated efforts by coaches, VLC has been unsuccessful at recruiting Madlax players at other levels.
While change is constant, Madlax has consistently been the top program in the Washington DC area.

oops, I thought I clicked on the Looney's lacrosse thread, not Madlax's. My Bad!!! I also though this was the Maryland Main Forum...not DC's

Agree, 2020 talent will catch them. Lost to a few other Md clubs and may continue. LI concerned

what does this mean? Who is Long Island concerned with? Looney 2020, madlax from previous post?

UMMM Every time we played Crush we got blown out. We have a long way to go. 15-0 12-1 those are bad losses

my kid is not on the 2020 team. I think coaches, parents and kids know that 91 is on another planet. how about giving them some credit for being one of the better teams in their grade and going to the same tournaments as crush and other top teams.

Rec teams faired better than those scores.

Which rec teams?

Mary Dobkin All Stars for one....

Second that, half those kids from the older teams play for fca and crabs when they can

Looney's had a great 2015 team and a very good 2016 one. Every other team is marginal. The 2017 team is horrible.

2018 and 2019 too

If you're going to make a statement like that, about these "horrible teams", can we assume you have some kind of statistics to back this up??? I hope you realize they have multiple teams at these ages, not team....so when you say their 2018 and 2019, what are you referring to????

Anyone who has seen any Looney's team knows that the program has crumbled. The rise of FCA, Breakers and some other clubs have really hurt them.

Any looneys team? You are a joke. Make an educated statement with facts. Anyone can post meaningless posts like this. Fact is looneys is right there with breakers and fca in most grad years.

Have you seen Looney's 2017? LOL.

Yes they are horrible. This would be their Orange Teams which are supposed to be the first teams. Organization in shambles. Daddy Ball all the way

Because of fca btw. Only affected 17 and 18 teams. All other teams are competitive

Here are their records in the top levels of Hoco:

2018 - did not play in top level
2019 - 2-3-1
2020 - 5-1-0 (HoCo Champs)
2021 - 3-3-0

So they were a combined 10-7-1 playing in AA, yeah, they should just give up now.

They were on the brink of folding and had to run to fca and crabs for help.

how did fca and crabs help?

I just have to hear how Looneys were on the brink of folding, please do tell. You seem to have so much knowledge.

Sounds like a disgruntled parent. his kid probably didnt make Looneys, or he thinks his son is a blue-chipper and he switches programs every year because none are good enough. Keep dreaming Dad.

Any kid who can't make a Looney's team needs to give up the sport.

ouch! That Hurts!

true that. write the check and your in...daddy ball at its finest

I had heard half the 2016 team contacted FCA to start a '16 team, tied of "Daddy ball"

pretty sure you are referring to Breakers too! $2K and you're in!!

By Daddy ball are you referring to special treatment, or kids making teams when they wouldnt have otherwise?? If so, what teams are you referring to? Not arguing, asking. If you are making a claim like that you certainly must have facts to back it up.

daddy ball is in full swing at FCA!

No doubt FCA parents are the worst. They cry about every single call.

fCa parents r bad, looneys parents could be the worse. At least crabs has a mission statement.

Not with that talent. Find a way to pull my kids in from li express. Only way

Let it go express, looneys come and get us. 91:)

Greene Turtle - new leadership, let's see if the can revamp the program...no rosters posted yet

Looney's - same old story..'16 pretty good, all the club really cares about, rest of club mediocre, need to invest in younger ages

FCA - pretty solid across the board, '17s missing 1 defender, solid at midfield, 18's among the best around...strong beyond, will get better

Crabs - 17s losing their luster but still strong, need help at midfield, FCA may have passed them at '18 though Crabs pushed down a number of players...best days behind them...all about the $ there

Breakers - like the 17's, best defense in MD... younger ages fall off a bit but still solid

Looney's have become the "fallback" plan for Baltimore area kids

Your "analysis" is way off.

Not entirely accurate. SEE IN CAPS BELOW....

Greene Turtle - new leadership, let's see if the can revamp the program...no rosters posted yet
THEY WILL BE A B/C PROGRAM. HURT BY FCA AT OLDER YEARS

Looney's - same old story..'16 pretty good, all the club really cares about, rest of club mediocre, need to invest in younger ages
YOUTH TEAMS WILL BE STRONGER. HURT BY FCA AT '17 AND '18


FCA - pretty solid across the board, '17s missing 1 defender, solid at midfield, 18's among the best around...strong beyond, will get better
BELOW 2018 INCREDIBLY WEAK; GLORIFIED REC PROGRAM

Crabs - 17s losing their luster but still strong, need help at midfield, FCA may have passed them at '18 though Crabs pushed down a number of players...best days behind them...all about the $ there
CRABS STILL TOP TO BOTTOM #1 CLUB PROGRAM

Breakers - like the 17's, best defense in MD... younger ages fall off a bit but still solid
BELOW 17'S AWFUL. THIS PROGRAM IS NOSE DIVING

Crab daddy dipping too deep into his red solo cup. Maybe your
17 yr old freshman will get committed this year

Different take

Greene Turtle - new leadership, revamped and ready to take on the big lap dogs. Stronger than a hairless chiwawa.

Looney's - 16 Hercules strong, Orange teams are as strong as a manicotti filled with ricotta cheese.

FCA - Pound cake solid across the board, '17s missing 1 defender, solid at midfield, 18's stronger than any banana pie could hope to be,among the best desserts around, will get better

Crabs - 17s lost their luster but still stronger than Roseanne Barr after a Ten mile run, FCA may have passed them at '18 though Crabs pushed down every player at every age, still didnt help...best days behind them...all about the greenbacks there

Breakers - like the 17's, best defense in the MD city of Dundalk.. younger ages fall constantly on field but still solid as a sponge cake made by Uncle Ryan MC.

Good stuff, The joke is on the parents.

Wheels coming off!

coming off of what??? org or team??

Db

Db Cooper??

Yes, why cooper yes

Philly freedom here. You all are all going down.

Same hotel, that's crazy. Go red!

How'd the game against Looney's go?

Lost by two. Missing kids.

Which Looney's team did you lose to? And by the way, EVERYONE is missing kids.

BTW, I am pretty sure the score was 13-5 Looney's

For all the hype, not very impressive.

What the heck is going on with the 2022 team? Outscored 45-5 in three games Sunday.

I heard 3 or 4 kids are leaving 2020 after the fall for a new team forming.

what new team is forming?

Are they going back to Koopers?

Nice rumor. Give it a rest and get a life

They should go to FCA...FCA 2020 will be tops in the area soon

That doesn't make any sense. That's their best team. Its the 2022 team that I won't be surprised if people start running for the hills after the showing at the Greene Turtle.

why badmouth a group of 5th graders? they didn't have a 2022 last year so it's a new team. so they aren't elite, big deal, one bad tournament and they should fold? classy thought

I agree, let the little ones play the game. Next people will want the coach fired. Parents get a grip

I coached against this team. There is talent on the squad. Give the kids and coaches time and they will compete at a higher level. Team chemistry doesn't happen over night, and not everyone can be on hawks or crabs or...whatever team.
Keep the kids together, coach them up and get some quality wins along the way. Plenty of lessons in losing to better teams and striving to beat them over time. Perseverance being one of them.

Great points! There are some advantages to being on a lessor team on the defensive side. Constantly being challenged and working hard. Being on an elite team on the defensive side can present limited opportunites to be challenged.

You're right. They didn't have a 2022 team last year. But, most of that team, including the coach were on the 2022 Koopers team from last year. They had a very rough year last year and I know some are the parents are wondering if it's worth the money when the second payment is due.

The Looney's had a fantastic 2015 team which is now done. The 2016s used to be excellent and are still very good. But the rest of the club is terrible. Perfect example of them having a strong nucleus in the 2015s, parlayed that into 2016s, but couldn't sustain it.

Looneys 2023 looking really good.

Like a lot of clubs these days they are strong one year and so/so the next. As long as the kids have fun and develop who cares. For the record 2016 is still very strong. 2020 is very good too. 2023 is young but good. Other teams are still finding their way but most are competitive and again having fun which is what matters.

Well said. Looneys are like most teams in Baltimore area.
It amazes me some of the things said here about U15 and under teams.

My son plays for a Looneys team and I have been happy. However, I have noticed that a certain rec council(Carroll Manor) seems to have taken over some of the teams. There are a large number of CM coaches and they are bringing their players instead of having kids from all over the area.

Hey looneys 2020, how did you do this fall? On the island we heard you are still average.

Yes, average. Undefeated in three fall tourneys

So average you are asking about them

NO Comp

Post the teams you played and the scores.

you figure it out sherlock

afraid to admit

Sherlock here - Nice looking record - even by LI standards.

Brandywine
P1 10/26/14 09:40 AM Brandywine Polo Fields - Field 01 Fusion 2020 2 12 Looney's 2020 Orange
P4 10/26/14 11:20 AM Brandywine Polo Fields - Field 02 Looney's 2020 Orange 8 1 PA Roughriders 2020 Elite
P8 10/26/14 01:00 PM Brandywine Polo Fields - Field 02 Looney's 2020 Orange 12 3 Low & Away
P10 10/26/14 02:40 PM Brandywine Polo Fields - Field 02 Freedom 2020 White 0 10 Looney's 2020 Orange
B1 10/26/14 04:20 PM Brandywine Polo Fields - Field 01 Looney's 2020 Orange 14 0 Brotherhood Lacrosse 7th
B3 10/26/14 05:10 PM Brandywine Polo Fields - Field 01 Looney's 2020 Orange 6 5 Freedom 2020 Red



Autumn Classic
Division Round Team 1 Score Team 2 Score Location Time Field
2020 A 1 Looney's 2020 Orange �11 Leading Edge �5 Carsins Run 08:00:00 AM
2020 A 2 Looney's 2020 Orange �8 LWLC 2020 �3 Carsins Run 10:30:00 AM
2020 A 3 Looney's 2020 Orange �9 Behtesda LC 2020 �2 Carsins Run 12:10:00 PM
2020 A Semi Red Division Winner- Looney's 2020 ORANGE �10 Green Division Winner- FCA �3 Carsins Run 02:40:00 PM
2020 A Final Red/Green Winner Looney's 2020 Orange �5 Blue Division Winner- Crabs �4 Carsins Run 03:30:00 PM


Summer Slam
1:00PM 12 2020A A Looney's 2020 Orange 7 v Orange Crush 2020 Orange 2
3:30PM 12 2020A A Looney's 2020 Orange 7 v C2C 2020 Denver 1
5:10PM 11 2020A A Looney's 2020 Orange 10 v PA Roughriders 2020 0
10:30AM 13B 2020A A Looney's 2020 Orange 7 v Tri-State Gold 4
1:50PM 14 2020A A Looney's 9 v Orange Crush 2
3:30PM 14 2020A A Looney's 5 v C2C Denver 4

Now thatsa good record!

It's okay overall. I hear Fca and crabs are the teams to beat at 2019 and 2020.

Crabs 2019 will not lose in 2015. They are loaded with talent.

Don't leave out our 2020. We only practiced twice and lost to our rival in OT.

They cut 10 off of really good U13 team that won NPYLL

10 got cut? Yep Holdbacks

Crabs, mad lax, hawks, all ahead of fca at 2019. 2020 fca is ok but looneys, crabs, hawks are all better

FCA 2019 pretty average. Leftovers and a bit of daddy ball creeping in

Agree that Crabs is the best 2019 team. FCA 2019 beat Hawks and Madlax at GT Tourney. Far from avg.

Now that Looney's 2015 is done, their 2016 is their only decent team. That club is about to crumble.

You are so wrong and insecure that you have to come here and slam them. They have other years that are very strong. Check your facts before making stupid comments.

Wrong. Many decent teams in the program, some very strong ones. Keep trying to slam them grinch.

Where does rock 19 rank? They have to be in the conversation.



quote=Anonymous]

Agree that Crabs is the best 2019 team. FCA 2019 beat Hawks and Madlax at GT Tourney. Far from avg.[/quote]

Have you seen Looney's 2017? Dreadful.

Rock 2019 will be very good, as will MLC 2019.

Put Rock 2019 and MLC 2019 together and they would be a third place NPYLL team. I'm sure they will do well in that [lacrosse] Co thing they play in.

2016 and 2020 are decent. Some will go to crabs from the 2020 next year.

Wrong. Both teams are very good and will be very competitive this year. They might not be able to beat the 2019 Crabs but will give everyone else a good game.

False rumors again. Go back to your cave troll


uote=Anonymous]2016 and 2020 are decent. Somwill go to crabs from the 2020 next year. [/quote]

Agree. Love how people think every team in npyl
Is better than hoco. Take the top three from each league and that would be strong. All other teams ftom both leagues are weak in any year. Hocos best can beat many of the top npyll.



quote=Anonymous]

Wrong. Both teams are very good and will be very competitive this year. They might not be able to beat the 2019 Crabs but will give everyone else a good game. [/quote]

Looney's really is a club on the decline. They caught lightning in a bottle with their 2015 team and their 2016 team used to be among the best in the country. But they haven't parlayed that success into other teams.

Kids in MD want to play for Crabs and FCA before they even think about Looney's. Looney's are just another club in the mix on the same tier as Breakers, Hawks, etc. Nothing special.

Daddy ball krept into Looney's. Its Carroll Manor and LTRC leftovers. REC level. There is room for lower level clubs as well. Just don't claim your upper level.

dont forget Freedom. Some Freedom coaches I believe left for FCA.

Kids in MD want to play for Crabs and FCA before they even think about Looney's. Looney's are just another club in the mix on the same tier as Breakers, Hawks, etc. Nothing special. [/quote]

putting Looney's in the same "tier" as the Hawks is a bit of a stretch

Fca? Their youth teams are awful and their h.s. teams are ok. Crazy you would put them in the same category as crabs. All other clubs are the same outside of crabs. I don't care who you are. You'll have a good team here or there.

Well said. Crabs are unstoppable. I am tired of all of these weak programs comparing themselves to Crabs.

Blow your horn on the crab8s board

FCA has a very good 2017 team. They have an excellent 2018 team. You have no idea what you're talking about.

Are those youth teams? I think they are hs Years

Yes, but the previous poster said "their h.s. teams are ok". Crabs is a better club overall, but FCA's HS teams are not just
"ok".

Any good winter tournaments in the area that play 10v10?

King of daddy ball.

Come on, no way. We have some of the best coaches

putting Looney's in the same "tier" as the Hawks is a bit of a stretch [/quote]

totally agree, Looney's in the conversation with some of the other Maryland teams, but certainly not the Hawks

Name one club program where dads don't coach.

Best at what? Great place to watch a game...not so great lacrosse. they had the right idea originally...but lost their mojo

you are right they are not in the same tier as the hawks. The hawks are a joke and are a good tier below. They over charge their players and are forced to play in their owner's own tourneys where he doesn't have to pay entry fees for his teams. That is called good profit. The only reason the hawks are any good at all is they have no competition in Annapolis. All of their good players leave for crabs anyway. Hawks have one of the worst reputations around.

Funny how those jokes made it to 7 of 8 NPYLL championship games. Sounds like someone is bitter.

Other Annapolis clubs include PLC, Sidewinders, Diamonbacks, Prime, API, & Hornets.

All are good clubs. Chill. It is almost spring. Be appreciative that there are many places for kids to play and enjoy the sport.

It used to be rec. now it's about some silly club name on their jersey promising looks for a verbal commit. If u r good they will find you

So it was a conspiracy?

Here are the combined records of all of the clubs that fielded 4 or more teams at the very top levels of competition from last year's Hoco & NPYLL seasons (no B or C teams). This season will be a lot of fun.

Crabs 23-2
Annapolis Hawks 35-6
FCA 21-8
Bethesda 34-16
Madlax 27-14
Baltimore Breakers 17-9
Club Blue 23-17
Arden Diamondbacks 24-22
Next Level 20-21
Cannons 17-27
Zingos 9-18
Rock 7-16
Thunder 5-16
MD Extreme 0-32

Wait, where's Looney on this list? Lol.

Looney's on fielded 3 teams at the top level last year. Here are the clubs that had 3 top level teams.

Looney's 10-8
Rough Riders 9-9
Storm 8-10

[quote=Anonymous] you are right they are not in the same tier as the hawks. The hawks are a joke and are a good tier below. They over charge their players and are forced to play in their owner's own tourneys where he doesn't have to pay entry fees for his teams. That is called good profit. The only reason the hawks are any good at all is they have no competition in Annapolis. All of their good players leave for crabs anyway. Hawks have one of the worst reputations around. [/quote

I don't care who you are, that's funny right there

Where?

I

So The Crabs are the only top tier club?


If you include 1 more club in the top tier, it has to be the Hawks. (Unless wins and losses don't matter to you)

Crabs is the best everyone. U all know it. Their r plenty of fakes out there. Most consistent across all years. Other clubs in md may have one or two teams that r competitive. Funny thing some practice year round

Come out and play!

Looneys the team to beat at 2020 in MD.

They lost to the Sons from PA how are they the team to beat?

[quote=Anonymous]They lost to the Sons from PA how are they the team to beat?

Crabs 2020 smoked the Sons. Looks like the Crabs have restored the rightful power rankings.

Sons also have beaten crabs. I think these two, loonies and crabs, are the two best in md. Need to play each other before anyone claims power being restored.

Crabs crushed Hawks today. Looneys lost to hawks.

Looneys head to head hasn't lost to crabs. If you want to bring up last year crabs lost to roughriders, looneys crushed them today. This won't be settled until they play each other if they do.

It's coming. You won by one twice and in OT in the fall. out coached this time.

Smoked? First of all Sons played back to back and Crabs are very very good. Sons played even for 3 quarters, actually the Sons won two quarters just had a really bad 3rd quarter that Crabs won 5-0. Score was 10-5. Smoked? I don't think so. 2000 birth years playing our 2002 birth years.

Whatever sons. Drinking the koolaid

Just appreciate the good lax between all these teams. No one will go unbeaten which makes it fun

Smoked? First of all Sons played back to back and Crabs are very very good. Sons played even for 3 quarters, actually the Sons won two quarters just had a really bad 3rd quarter that Crabs won 5-0. Score was 10-5. Smoked? I don't think so. 2000 birth years playing our 2002 birth years.

Here comes the whining, right on que....and a one and a two, everybody now....waaaahhh

2000 is 9th grade 2018; 2019 at worst.
Do you have proof.? Why do families do that.

Score Hawks/Crabs 2020?

So why aren't the coaches of Looneys and Crabs 2020 setting up a game since they both claim to be the best 2020 and are playing with 2 different leagues this spring?

The bigger question is why does Looneys play in such a weak spring league instead of playing teams that may actually have a chance to beat them? Have fun in Lax Splash beating up on rec teams Looneys. Oh that's right, you didn't even make the finals last year

Looney's was in the NYPLL 4 or 5 years ago. I think there was some bad blood between crab guys and former directors of Looney's. Don't know deets. Looney's 2020 doesn't duck anyone. They go where the best competition is as often as possible. They'll be in crabs tourney 4th july weekend. Played crabs in fall. There are many good teams, several very good teams and one exceptional team (91) in the 2020 grade. Should be fun year for all the boys/teams if the parents can contain themselves

the top teams in each league are about equal to each other. All others are very weak in that year. pretty sure loonies played up last summer in lax splash and lost by one in the semis against an older team from LI. 91 was also in it. Get your facts straight hater

Who would you identify as a "top team" in the Hoco league that Looneys Orange is playing in for 2020? FAC depends if they bring the 4 kids down who have always played 2019 like they did for tournaments in the fall. Roughriders is no longer considered a top team. Who would be the competition in that age group if Hawks, Breakers and Crabs are all in NYPLL?

Looneys got brought back down to earth. Express gave us a wake up,call.

I actually think Looney's looked good but just had some sloppy stickwork at times. A few dropped passes in unsettled situations and the outcome vs. Express and/or Legacy might've been different.

There was sloppy stick work and dropped passes on both sides. They lost to both teams. Stop with the excuses.

There was sloppy stick work and dropped passes on both sides. They lost to both teams. Stop with the excuses.

Time for those 2020 Looney parents to start looking for greener grass....or would that be greener astro turf

What's difference with Looney's 2021 Orange and Green teams? Both play Hoco 2021A. A and B teams or pretty evenly split but only Orange has some older kids? I saw GT beat Orange 17-6 and Green 9-4.

Give Sons our fogo and they destroy both express and legacy. I watched both games and Sons controlled the game just couldn't win face offs. Express first 4 goals were on fast breaks off face off. It was worse vs Legacy, Sons had the ball the entire first half. I think legacy had 2 ground balls, both in front of the crease for goals. Sons need to go find themselves a stud fogo and they will be very tough to beat. They get after it.

I wouldn't read too much into this weekend. All of these teams will play each other again later in the year. We'll know by the end of the summer who has what. Having said that there is clearly more competition at the 2020 year than last year which is great to see. After all,that is how the boys get better.

Ridiculous post - Sons has never beat express and it's not because of face off differences.

Pretty sure a sons person posted that since looneys was long gone when sons played legacy. Pretty weak sons...

Maybe they made a mistake and put 2021 Green in 2021A division instead of 22 Orange who is in 2022B. Seems they should have their top teams in A and lower teams in B.

Really, i'm sure no Sons parents posted this. This is someone just throwing unneeded fuel on a fire that doesn't exist. I know our coach and Loonies coach are close. Stop the drama, it was a great day, great teams, and some great lacrosse. ugh

Most of the good FOGO kids are accounted for. It may be easier for you to hold back a few more 2019 boys to get that win. Good luck.

Add one from out of state like looneys did. They are always one step ahead on their thinking process.

[quote=Anonymous]Add one from out of state like looneys did. They are always one step ahead on their thinking process.

C'mon dude. Just a matter of time until daddy ball takes over with this team as well. Its in the DNA. One step ahead? TOO MUCH.

Right. Looneys is always ahead of the curve. Funny I didn't see them in the National Lacrosse Federation announcement.

I would have to agree.

The Long Island teams (express and legacy) held there own down here last weekend. Looneys extremly sloppy with a lot of unforced turnovers. FO kid much better than express kid. Left him in the dust multiple times. Sons solid but do need a FOGO. Bucks needs a lot of work and help. Legacy middle of the road- some talent there but some glaring weakness. Crabs will beat both Long Island teams handily- no question. That fl$ team sucks! They need to start over.

Looneys need to start over as well. Sons are cheaters! Will do whatever they can to win. Crabs should win, they are stacked with holdbacks as well.

I have to agree with all above.

U have to chase the hardware.

Looney's had a great 2015 team and an excellent 2016 one (at least for a while). Besides those two teams, the club is terrible.

2020 is one of the best in area. 2023,24 off to good starts. Like most clubs they have some years better than others. For any individual team, whether elite or not, if the kids have a great experience than kudos to kids, parents and coaches. Why someone would feel the need to anonymously characterize groups of kids as terrible is beyond me.

Many good Teams still. Crabs is good at every year. Outside of them looneys is the same as any other club in Baltimore

The system is very clear with all travel youth sports. Start with the biggest and oldest programs first. Try to make them first. And then go from there until your kid makes a team. The worst thing you can do is go for the new upstart club. They never hold up. And even if that club can have that one team that is really good they never can keep it up with the younger ages. The next trick is the club should have as little Parents involved as possible. Look for the club to be linked to a big private school,store, or something that does not say I got my son and I am building this so he has somewhere to play. I agree new clubs do work out and become great clubs but you only have so many kids is the risk worth it?

Because the adult has no life

That's harsh. Not a bad guy. May have lost the focus or chasing something he missed.

Lets just teach and play ball. It will change every year

Big game Friday night. Fla flying in for bragging rights at 2020. Crabs vs looneys.
Then again FCA beat looneys.

[quote=Anonymous]Big game Friday night. Fla flying in for bragging rights at 2020. Crabs vs looneys.
Then again FCA beat looneys.

2020 Crabs are strong. Unfortunately this Looney's team is on the down swing. Crabs 12, Looney's 7.

it will be closer than that but it will happen. Crabs gets one here.

And rough riders beat FCA but were beaten easily by Looney's. One game does not mean anything.

Looney's are losing steam. Crabs will dominate with older boys tonight.

I agree, I am here and am not impressed at all.

Crabs 6 Looney's 5

With who? Crabs? The fact that Crabs have at least 8 holdbacks and can only beat Looney's by one?

Times r changing. Fca and now crabs.

Fun game to watch under the lights on a Friday night. The score could have been much higher -- hats off to the goaltenders on both sides!

Yes, both goaltenders looks great.

Looney's FOGO was good, but not lights out good. From what what I saw the Crabs won their share too.

Fca is not there. Keep trying

I think some of the Crabs 2020 players drove themselves home.

Who where the strongest players on crabs 2020

Who where the strongest offense of players on crabs 2020?

No way those kids were 12/13 years old. Ridicules.

Really fca has beaten you the last three years. Face it overrated and have poor coaching. Fca is better- looneys dad. Is this the dad that has no neck

What tournaments has fca won? I haven't seen them around much

They beat you, so they must be cheating, right? Pathetic.

No they are old enough.They must be driving.

They are all good!

Ridicules, what I think is ridicules is that adults is on a forum bashing 12/13 year old kids and spells like a nine year old kid

Crab parents, it's pathetic that you feel the need to hold your kids back because they cannot play with kids there own age. For the legitimate parents of correct age kids, how does it feel to have your boys play on a team that cheats?

The sad reality is that alot of these kids that hold back and are on the elite teams actually are very good players, but their parents want them to look like great players. So it really screws the very good players that are not hold backs, but now are pushed down from prominant starters to role players. Where is the justice in that? Yes, shallow victories knowing that your team had more and better hold backs than the other teams.

looney toon parent, i'm sure there is a hold back somewhere in that roster, how does it feel to "cheat" and still lose.

All of you are crazy. It was a great game that either team could have one. Be thankful baltimore has two good 2020 teams. Enjoy it. They will play each other a lot more over the years. Now go spend time with your mama on Mother's Day.

When Crabs go to World series of lacrosse they have to present birth certificates that support actual 2020's that'll be fun

All the kids on crabs 2020 can go to Denver

They have already figured that one out. Won't be an issue for them.

More than 2 in Baltimore. Fca,breakers Hawks are rt there too.
Baltimore 2020 rankings in order.
Crabs
Fca
Breakers
Looneys
Hawks.

Try as of now, crabs, looneys, fca, breakers, roughriders, hawks

You mean to tell me there isn't one crab kid that was born before 5/1/2000? Not one?

Breakers beat FCA 9-4 in league play. The order is Crabs, Looneys, breakers, FCA, Hawks. There are several kids on Crabs 2020 that are not 5/1 or after. FCAs tourney team brings several kids down from 2019 - some true 2020s and some hold backs. No sure about Looneys. Breakers are all 5/1 or after. Currently no holdbacks.

Being able to go to Denver and being a legitimate 2020 (born after 05/01/2001 - for this tournament) are not the same thing. I have seen these kids close up, no way they are 13/14.

Being able to go to Denver and being a legitimate 2020 (born after 05/01/2001 - for this tournament) are not the same thing. I have seen these kids close up, no way they are 13/14.

Yea right, they are 15 -16 year olds. No wait, they only paly like their 15-16 year olds. Get a grip. Appreciate good players and good lax and move on.

Agreed-not only their size which there is a possibility that they could be tall for their age but their physical development is beyond a 13/14 year old. Unfortunately nothing anyone can do about it - teams that play them just have to accept the fact that at least 1/2 the team is a year to two older. Just their way and when you take that into account they are not really that good. Ryan just needs to win by manipulating the system.

Just how big are these kids? If you are pulling from a fairly wide area it wouldn't be that hard to have several kids approaching 6 feet.

Well, look at it this way...statistically, how many 13 year olds are 6' tall or more, probably not many, right. Given that, how could they have 4-5 of them in one group of 20?

Glad you finally fessed up but to be fair would say they are more like 14 and 15 year olds. Nothing to appreciate when they need to manipulate the rules and
are not thatgood when legitimate 2020s are within 1-2 goals.

There are usually one or two at each middle school that play lacrosse. Pull from several middle schools and it wouldn't be hard at all. My son's 2020 team doesn't have any holdbacks and it has several kids that are 5'10 or taller.

He did not perform as one would have thought in their game against crabs this weekend for flying him up from Florida. A shame what 13 year old lacrosse has become.

Not sure what middle school you are looking at but there are no 6 footers in our middle school much less 6 footers in 7th grade that play lacrosse. Maybe if they are holdbacks but even then the likelihood of all of the tall kids being able to play at an elite level it is a long shot. Crabs prides itself on holdbacks and encourages it -no judgment but let's not deny it either. Several of their 2020s tower over their coaches who are not small men.

5'10' sure, 6'1,190' and singing baritone in the Crabs choir, um...no.

As usual, your simpleton attempt at stats fails. Kids who are playing athletics are not the same as a normal sample of kids, let alone athletes playing at a high level. It is easily possible for an elite youth team to have kids larger, faster, stronger, etc. than most kids at that age.

Keep on crying, dad.

My son is a 2018 that played on the Crabs U13 team two years ago and half that team was between 5'9" and 5'11". They could have passed as a basketball team in comparison to most teams and there were no holdbacks on the U13 level two years ago. If you are attracting most of the best players within a 50 mile radius, they typically are going to be more advanced than the average kids. "Bigger, Faster, Stronger!" Then you throw the holdbacks into the current class based scenario, having 6' kids in that class is understandable.

I guess it's ok to fly in a player from Florida but not to have kids that are 6'. What does US lacrosse have to say about recruiting players from 1000+ miles away for your youth team?

Remember, it's only cheating if someone else does it.

Not crying, just SMH. The CDC publishes data on this. At the 95th percentile a 13 year old boy is approximately 5'7 145#. A 6'+ 13 year old is off the charts - 99.999999 percentile. Four of them in a group of 20? Don't think so.

A few points:
Your number is an exaggeration even given the numbers you use. See http://reference.medscape.com/calculator/height-age-percentile-boys for yourself.

Holdbacks or not the age of an elite team is going to skew higher so 13.5 or more is a better age to use. Older kids are simply more likely to make the team.

The lacrosse demographic is wealthier than average so it probably skews taller and the CDC table isn't reflective of the actual players

A player in helmet and cleats is going to look taller than he is.

Using the CDC tables approximately 1% of 13.5 year old boys are going to be 5' 10 or taller. Using 14 as an age it is more like 3.5%.

Given that the teams are selected by tryouts from a well nourished demographic, it doesn't seem unreasonable that an elite team would have several players that are as large as grown men when they are playing even if they were all 13-14 years old.

A few points:
Your number is an exaggeration even given the numbers you use. See http://reference.medscape.com/calculator/height-age-percentile-boys for yourself.

Holdbacks or not the age of an elite team is going to skew higher so 13.5 or more is a better age to use. Older kids are simply more likely to make the team.

The lacrosse demographic is wealthier than average so it probably skews taller and the CDC table isn't reflective of the actual players

A player in helmet and cleats is going to look taller than he is.

Using the CDC tables approximately 1% of 13.5 year old boys are going to be 5' 10 or taller. Using 14 as an age it is more like 3.5%.

Given that the teams are selected by tryouts from a well nourished demographic, it doesn't seem unreasonable that an elite team would have several players that are as large as grown men when they are playing even if they were all 13-14 years old.

Badda Bing!

A few points:
Your number is an exaggeration even given the numbers you use. See http://reference.medscape.com/calculator/height-age-percentile-boys for yourself.

Holdbacks or not the age of an elite team is going to skew higher so 13.5 or more is a better age to use. Older kids are simply more likely to make the team.

The lacrosse demographic is wealthier than average so it probably skews taller and the CDC table isn't reflective of the actual players

A player in helmet and cleats is going to look taller than he is.

Using the CDC tables approximately 1% of 13.5 year old boys are going to be 5' 10 or taller. Using 14 as an age it is more like 3.5%.

Given that the teams are selected by tryouts from a well nourished demographic, it doesn't seem unreasonable that an elite team would have several players that are as large as grown men when they are playing even if they were all 13-14 years old.

And the 2 - 6 Footers that Looney's has will be Crabs next year. If their smart.....Oh and if they can play.

I would suggest having your boys not use molded cleats, instead have them opt for 1-1/2 screw ins

I just know what I see when I see those kids beside any other 7th grade team.

I guess we'll just have to see who's on the roster in Denver.

This is comical that you need to go through an entire justification for a club that is well known and openly admits to having a large majority of holdbacks. Not the kid's fault - blame the parents and the coaches who feel they need to do this and then justify it. No need to argue - it is the team's way and the rest of the clubs simply need to understand it is the coaches and the parents choice to teach their kids this mentality.

Crabs and looneys are Waaaay behind the LI teams and light years behind crush

Denver? Why would anyone waste their time and money for that farce of a tournament?

Being able to go to Denver and being a legitimate 2020 (born after 05/01/2001 - for this tournament) are not the same thing. I have seen these kids close up, no way they are 13/14.

Yea right, they are 15 -16 year olds. No wait, they only paly like their 15-16 year olds. Get a grip. Appreciate good players and good lax and move on. [/quote]


Well, look at it this way...statistically, how many 13 year olds are 6' tall or more, probably not many, right. Given that, how could they have 4-5 of them in one group of 20?[/quote]

As usual, your simpleton attempt at stats fails. Kids who are playing athletics are not the same as a normal sample of kids, let alone athletes playing at a high level. It is easily possible for an elite youth team to have kids larger, faster, stronger, etc. than most kids at that age.

Keep on crying, dad. [/quote]

Not crying, just SMH. The CDC publishes data on this. At the 95th percentile a 13 year old boy is approximately 5'7 145#. A 6'+ 13 year old is off the charts - 99.999999 percentile. Four of them in a group of 20? Don't think so.[/quote]

A few points:
Your number is an exaggeration even given the numbers you use. See http://reference.medscape.com/calculator/height-age-percentile-boys for yourself.

Holdbacks or not the age of an elite team is going to skew higher so 13.5 or more is a better age to use. Older kids are simply more likely to make the team.

The lacrosse demographic is wealthier than average so it probably skews taller and the CDC table isn't reflective of the actual players

A player in helmet and cleats is going to look taller than he is.

Using the CDC tables approximately 1% of 13.5 year old boys are going to be 5' 10 or taller. Using 14 as an age it is more like 3.5%.

Given that the teams are selected by tryouts from a well nourished demographic, it doesn't seem unreasonable that an elite team would have several players that are as large as grown men when they are playing even if they were all 13-14 years old.

And the 2 - 6 Footers that Looney's has will be Crabs next year. If their smart.....Oh and if they can play.[/quote]

This is comical that you need to go through an entire justification for a club that is well known and openly admits to having a large majority of holdbacks. Not the kid's fault - blame the parents and the coaches who feel they need to do this and then justify it. No need to argue - it is the team's way and the rest of the clubs simply need to understand it is the coaches and the parents choice to teach their kids this mentality. [/quote]

The claim is that to the extent there are holdbacks on the 2020 crabs team they meet the 5/1/2001 requirement for the warrior tournament and are thus just turning 14. To me that wouldn't be that big a deal. A lot of parents start boys with summer birthdays late. Is that actually the case or do they really have 15 year olds on their 2020 team?

Cut off of 5/1/2001 is a joke and not a true 2020 team. A kid born 5/15/2001 should be a 2019 player. This was done to accomadate someone or some team.

Actually there are many summer birthday kids who are legitimate 2020s in Maryland. 2019-2020 was the year there was a change in Maryland law with respect to school age that took effect the year the class of 2020 was to begin kindergarten. Some opted to send their kids and have them on the young side and some opted to give those who were not socially ready yet because they did not anticipate the change in age to have some more time and seemed to affect kids born the summer of 2001. Our team is not going to Denver but has 3-4 kids born in the summer of 2001 that did not do pre-1 and were never held back.

Would agree that Crush is the leader but on any day the other teams are a toss up on who would win.

It will most likely be a mix of current rostered 2020s with a back fill of 2021s that meet the 5/1 date. No question they will send a team all age verified but the question is whether it is the team currently rostered for league play.

The claim is that to the extent there are holdbacks on the 2020 crabs team they meet the 5/1/2001 requirement for the warrior tournament and are thus just turning 14. To me that wouldn't be that big a deal. A lot of parents start boys with summer birthdays late. Is that actually the case or do they really have 15 year olds on their 2020 team?[/quote]

MIAA has a rule that you can't turn 19 prior to the start of school year and play sports. So any 2020 who is 15 would be sitting out his senior year of lax in the league that one would presume that most Crabs are interested in playing in. Not to say it has never happened or will never happen but the double holdback is largely a myth, unless you consider holdback and then PG. I'm sure a few that push the limit, meaning fall/winter '00 that are in 2020. I was 17 in fall of freshman college. Boy times have changed

That is a great point. For some reason the parental mindset is the kindergarten kids get a "pass" whereas a middle school holdbacks are labeled as cheaters.

It's crazy that you don't see a 5 yr old that still needs a nap at 2 , can't articulate, sit still for more than 3 minutes or separate from his mother the same as a kid that wants to play with younger kids in lacrosse. Really??? Yes, let's hold our 12 year old back now so that he can fit in with the younger kids. Craziness! If the kid is failing 8th grade- time would be better spent studying than playing sports.

USA Lax is a terrible organization. How they allow the disparity in age groups is unreal. Don't understand why they can't come out with some type of firm bylaws holding clubs, leagues and tournaments to firm birthdate that are enforced.

As a new parent to Lax, it seems as if the rules change per team / season. Kind of reminds me of young kids playing games, each changing the rules of the game as they go along to accommodate their respective strength and weaknesses. You don't see this in other sports!

OMG this age crap is getting ridiculous. AAU basketball is far worse than lacrosse. Girls lacrosse has the same setup in terms of grade based and has for years. What is even considered a hold back in your eyes? Is a late spring/summer birthday going to prefirst a holdback? Or is it just if the kid repeats a grade sometime after he starts middle school? In 90% of the cases where a kid is older for his grade, it's because he went to prefirst. The older format of U-11 and U-13 had bigger age gaps than the current system. So it just sounds like your pissed because A. Little Johnny got spanked by Crabs or B. Little Johnny got cut from Crabs or C. All of the Above.

This is coming from a parent of three on age kids. This is the way the system is. If your child is a good player, they will be fine wherever they play. Wins and losses in these games mean absolutely nothing in terms of college coaches. They don't even pay attention to the scores. So what's your goal here? To have bragging rights because your son's team beat Crabs, or to have your son become a better player and play in college? Hopefully it's the latter which can be accomplished at many clubs.

It is about many things but given your text, you would miss the point. Let's just say, folks who manipulate the system for their own benefit (or in this case to make their little Johnny "bigger, better, stronger" or better than other kids in the appropriate grade) do not have the quality of true sportsmanship. AAU has strict age guidelines and the girls side of lacrosse does not have the same issues as boys. Girls have always been grade based. Boys have not been and one club in particular saw the change as an opportunity to manipulate the system. The kids who do not manipulate the system are put at a disadvantage in several ways

You are incorrect on both AAU and girls lax. AAU is going all grade based as well. My son was in a 4th/5th grade tournament last weekend and there were kids that should have been in 7th grade but had repeated a grade twice.

Nearly as many girls go to prefirst as boys. While you don't have the girls transferring in 8th grade like the boys, you still have teams that have a lot of girls that are a year older than the rest.

Again, you single out Crabs with this. If you think that FCA, Breakers, etc don't have any of these kids you are mistaken. I agree, the parents are taking advantage of the system, but are you saying Crabs should turn them down and let them go play for FCA or Breakers?

This is a misleading post. The Crabs encourage and promote holding back and have worked hard to insulate themselves from age appropriate competition. Any reasonable person would view this as manipulating the system, e.g. cheating. It is no different than steroids, videotape and underinflated balls, except USLacrosse is no NFL.

Only an unreasonable person believes that it is cheating to break a nonexisting rule. These teams play grade based and then find the biggest fastest most mature players that meet that criteria. Some of those players will be holdbacks. They then enter tournaments and schedule games against teams following those same (lack of) rules. What npyll or tournament rule have they violated? If there wasn't a rule against filming other teams or deflating balls than the patriots wouldn't have been in trouble. The teams the holdback teams play obviously don't have a problem with it or they would put in age limitations. Nobody who attends young gunz had any illusions about the age of the players in the AA division. Just because someone doesn't play by the rules that you wished existed doesn't make them a cheater. It may make them someone you don't want to play or associate with but that is your choice.

No, only a narcissistic, immature person would think you only do things if there is a clearly defined rule telling you to do it. There's no rule demanding people be kind, charitable, brave, caring, sympathetic, charitable, fair, etc. Mature adults can recognize right from wrong without having to consult a rule book. Shallow, weak individuals like yourself just search for the most convenient excuse to defend your selfish decisions. Always looking for the loophole that benefits you. All the excuses won't change the simple fact that every holdback just couldn't cut it at their own age level. That has to be a painful admission for both parents and kids alike. There just has to be a cringe of embarrassment every time he steps on the field. There goes my "winner". What a joke!!

Well said. These hold back apologists either don't get it or do but could care less. Holdback MIAA school kids along with Crabs and a few other clubs have been the driver of this youth grade based club system. Only a select group get to play down and that is mainly MIAA school holdbacks.

I think everyone thinks it is unfortunate that a child is held back for whatever reason. Some people are kind, charitable and sympathetic enough to feel for the child and their kids are brave enough to play against the holdbacks. Narcissistic immature people become jealous and angry and call the kids a
"Joke". Which are you?

Looney's had a great 2015 and very good 2016 team. Rest of the club is a disaster, especially the 2017 team.

Well that's over now. Now they only have decent 2020 but they too are on the decline.

You guys are all nuts. Their youth program is doing well this year. Like any other club every couple of years they have good teams. Honor the game and appreciate the commitment of every club in developing kids. As long as the kids have a fun and memorable experience that is what club is about. Stop bashing every club hiding in your dark cave anonymously.

Bingo- "The Crabs...have worked hard to insulate themselves [and their holdback competitive advantage] from age appropriate competition" Crabs are pushing this grade based competition over the easily verifiable age based standards USED BY EVERY OTHER SPORT AT THE YOUTH LEVEL!!

No reasonable person can defend this practice in this context.

Bingo! Well said! Unfortunately folks like this will never "get" it and will continue to justify their decisions to themselves and everyone else.

"Honor the game" would be rostering kids that follow the spirit of the rules - not placing kids 1-2 years older on the field so they look better than the kids that are truly honoring the game. Holdbacks affect everybody not just little Johnny. Realizing that fact would "honor" the game.

I would just like more transparency on which kids are older and which are not. As a 2019 avg. size april birthday 2001 kid. Its hard to know if he is a avg. player or a great player playing with older kids. As a parent you have to know if you are setting your kid up for failure or not. Or wasting your money. Some parents do not look at there kids like they do no wrong on the field. But not knowing if they are playing in a game with 20, 15 and a half year old kids its hard to now where your kid stands skill wise.

previous poster was responding to troll that comes on here every so often and bashes Looney's for have great 2015 and 2016 teams and so-so teams afterwards. For better or worse club lax has replaced rec travel for most AA, A & B players. So now there's more than just a handful of clubs and the talent is spread out. Most clubs won't have elite teams at every each group. Looney's does at 2015,2016,2020. a few younger teams dong very well too

2023 doing very well

"Only a select group get to play down and that is mainly MIAA school holdbacks."

Hmmm. MIAA kids are priviledged because they get to repeat a grade and play for the Crabs. Better get rid of all of the structural inequities in Baltimore before all of the other lacrosse parents start looting the local Starbucks as protest.

Seriously, you guys need to realize life is good if a few holdbacks are all you need to worry about.

[quote=Anonymous]"Only a select group get to play down and that is mainly MIAA school holdbacks."

Hmmm. MIAA kids are priviledged because they get to repeat a grade and play for the Crabs. Better get rid of all of the structural inequities in Baltimore before all of the other lacrosse parents start looting the local Starbucks as protest.

Seriously, you guys need to realize life is good if a few holdbacks are all you need to worry about.

In that light, my MIAA holdback is playing for Club Team CVS next year.

The 2020 have some of the best coaching around. :))))

2022 not so much.

All true. Somebody needs to email this post to the Madlax dads on this forum.

Let's be real. Most of these club kids are not having fun. Only a few actually learn something. It's the same rec(dads) coaching the clubs except CRABS.

Let's be real. Most of these club kids are not having fun. Only a few actually learn something. It's the same rec(dads) coaching the clubs except CRABS. [/quote]

That is a pretty inaccurate statement, Hawks for one have a handful of coaches that don't have players on their teams. The fathers that are coaching include a list of coaches with college playing experience. I'm sure with some research, this is true with a lot of other clubs as well.

Correct the only Dad coaching for any Madlax team is the head guy has his sons on the U9 team. And they are studs. But I do agree most of the B and lower A clubs have lots of dads coaching.

are you implying the only kids playing club lacrosse that have fun and learn something are on Crabs?

fca with another big win this weekend over looneys.

Do they play this weekend? Dont see that on the schedule....

2020 AA's would play in finals if they both win semi. i think that's what is referred to

Nobody cares about HoCo.

And we can beat every team in npyll so what is your point?

Can or have? Do not remember you beating Crabs 2020. In fact you lost again to them last week by 1 even after flying a FOGO in from Florida. Crabs plays classy - even with your style of play they still won.

Didn't you just lose to Crabs?

Lost again? Uh, that was the first time.

That rough riders team is coming together. They could surprise today. Looneys losing steam in MD

What a great game today. Looneys up 6-1 to lose 10-9 to FCA again. Twice in three weeks.

Team 91 Maryland coming in the fall

Not true. Rumors

Good luck with that. Welcome to an already overcrowded market.

I would assume they will only accept age appropriate kids, no holdback for the Lawn Gislanders

i'm sure they would draw from the top clubs in the area, program has a great reputation.

New sherriff in town. Crabs will be fine, they have enough hold backs to stay strong. Fca is on the upswing and will add to their teams. The rest out there, it will be a yard sale.

Wait, didn't Crabs and 91 just join the National Lacrosse Federation together? Now 91 is in their back yard? Has is that going to sit with RM? This should be interesting

Does 91 start up on their own , or does an already existing club merge with them?

They stole the jr Lizards team...,,

Won't be looneys. 91 thinks they are a bunch of crazies.

For sure buy/merge to get immediate scale. Did this in westchester ny when they expanded there

There was no jr lizard team. Saw jr lizard teams very embarrassing

May take them a season or two but I don't think they'll have trouble attracting talent, only so many kids can play for the Crabs and the rest of the clubs are very inconsistent grade to grade.

Long Island staffing or local staffing? Pull the non-starters from the good clubs? It will take a while to be competitive! Too many clubs now in the DMV.

Staffing will be key, need to minimize daddy ball. While there are lots of clubs the quality falls off pretty quickly once you get past the top 3-5. A lot of that is coaching or lack thereof.

They also have brand recognition, this isn't another pub club. Anyone who has played tournaments for the past few years knows who they are already.

not a rumor since they have something on their website and apparently had a tent at NCAA games at Navy. BTW - they have plenty of dads coaching the current teams. wonder where they'd set-up camp. Balto, annap, dc suburbs? not so easy to even find fields to rent with so many clubs, lax and soccer...

which is why they will probably merge with some already established club. they will reply on said club for their connections to filed availability as well as a pool of players to form teams.

speculation which club would sell or merge with 91?

Just like Team United (with Marechek) and 3D Select (with Brooks) tried to crack the MD club scene a year or so ago - and look what happened to them.

I would guess that Rock would be willing to join forces. Rock is excellent at the older ages. Rock was all set join with Madlax until Cabell sent that disgusting email to one of his former players and Rock realized who they would be dealing with.

I can see them setting up camp in Annapolis to work some of Brian Spallina's (#91) connections from when he was a Bayhawk. Or possibly in Howard County - I believe Brian has some family in Ellicott City.

91 won't merge with anybody else. They have a great reputation in the club scene, go to any tournament they are at and their top teams normally win it.

Don't see either of those scenarios playing out. They are going to have to pull from the top clubs, there are none in Howard county and only the Hawks in Annapolis.

Rough Riders would probably get hit the hardest if they set up in Howard County, but I really don't think they can come in and make an immediate impact, regardless of their reputation on Long Island.

don't see them hitting the Howard county area, they will set up shop in the Baltimore area. Pull players from the Looney's and FCA second teams and probably kids from Crabs who don't see much playing time. People will be attracted to the full program they offer your round.

I'm up in New [lacrosse] and my nephew plays for the north carroll youth lacrosse program. it's his second year. just looking out for him Nd wanted to know if it's a good lacrosse program

Don't think they will be limited to pulling from second teams - many first team kids may be looking for a new home especially the younger set who are not quite high school age yet. Also depends on who they bring on to run the program locally and the recognition of that name and the coaches. Hopefully, there will be at least one coach per team who is not a daddy coach and who will be a professional coach especially for the kids approaching high school age. People do not want to pay club fees for daddy coaches or coaches that just moved over from Rec programs.

I bet they are a top 3 club in Baltimore next year. It's going to be interesting to see how this plays out over the next few months.

For that to happen they would have to pull some of the better players and coaches from Crabs and FCA, at every age level. Seems like a tall order in one year....

Got it FCA dad.

Looney's SHOULD sell if offered. That club is about to fall apart. No good teams and the best kids have been leaving in droves.

[quote=Anonymous]Looney's SHOULD sell if offered. That club is about to fall apart. No good teams and the best kids have been leaving in droves.

$500 or best offer.

Looks like the troll is back. Go back to your pathetic club board.

They would be better off teaming up with one of the MIAA coaches from Loyola, MSJ or Gilman...Rock has SP & Brocato, FCA has Kelly from CHC and Crabs have McD with Hilgartner and Ubriaco from BL...coaches benefit from recruiting kids into high school and teams leverage MIAA relationships...who says recruiting begins in 9th grade...watch how many MIAA coaches patrol the sidelines at local rec games!

how's the north carroll youth lacrosse program!?!?!

What's that have to do,with looneys

Loyola runs MD Wolfpack.

not sure loyola coach has much to do with wolfpack other than maybe coaching one of the older teams. Not sure Crawford Matthews have a great interest in club scene.

I predict that it will be tough sledding for a for-profit team like 91 to charge enough to make a profit and attract talented kids from other clubs. Balto is a fickle market...

Surprised the 2020 Orange is not going to Beachlax with so many top teams on the slate

2020 Orange heading to Vail....

wolfpack at Liberty Shootout this weekend?

A tourney and a great time for the kids and families. That is what this is all about right?

Terrible club. Terrible competition. Terrible tournament.

Their playing the Sons 2020 and a stars and stripes 2020 plus one 2019 game vs a Ridge Futures? Mesa 2019 is in their bracket but they play the Sons 2020 and Mesa 2018? WTH

Hey looneys parents, crabs 2020 looking for a few good men to add.

LI dads are obsessed with finding excuses why they losem

Yeah MEN

Easy to say, but I'd love to hear what MD parents would say if LI teams all of a sudden added 8 kids to a roster that should be heading into HS or 10th. Why not stack the team with the biggest, oldest and toughest allowed- it's legal right? Who knows- there just might be enough crazies to join you and rock the boat! Can you imagine? Then let's see who cries foul.

I love the "MD Parents" part. For clarity the "MD Parents" who allow holdbacks are private school "MD Parents". The public school "MD Parents" do not. Your ignorance amuses me.

Example. "L.I. Parents" act like clowns and fools on the sidelines during games.

1. The number is nowhere close to 8

2. Some of the "new" kids were always 2020, but had been playing up last year

3. A handful of their 2019 kids decided to reclassify and they are now playing with kids in their grade

4. You are simply mad because, after losing to this team, some parents of rival MD clubs are trying to stir the pot, so now you have your "well, THAT'S why we lost" excuse


It's youth sports. It doesn't matter who wins a random tournament. All this ranting just makes you LI parents look like lunatics.

to the LI argument though, a 2020 player should be born between September 1, 2001 and August 31, 2002. Any players born before September 1, 2001 should be playing in the 2019 bracket regardless of graduating year, this should be their actual graduation year if they weren't left back, held back, or went to pre-first.

Kids in first through 8th should be playing against kids their own age, unless good enough to play up. Under no circumstance should kids be allowed to play down against kids younger than themselves.

Oh, and the argument of they play older kids in high school doesn't really hold up much either. Most schools have a freshman team, or a fresh/soph team along with JV and varsity.

AGREE INFINITY %

Please stop this rational thinking! We need holdbacks for a select few parents and clubs. It just isnt fair that they would have to compete on a level playing field at the youth level Come on..Go Holdbacks

[quote=Anonymous]to the LI argument though, a 2020 player should be born between September 1, 2001 and August 31, 2002. Any players born before September 1, 2001 should be playing in the 2019 bracket regardless of graduating year, this should be their actual graduation year if they weren't left back, held back, or went to pre-first.

Kids in first through 8th should be playing against kids their own age, unless good enough to play up. Under no circumstance should kids be allowed to play down against kids younger than themselves.






What is so magical about 9/1? The reality is that tournaments attract teams from all over and each school district or private school has its own policies. 9/1 is the worst possible cutoff date to pick if you want people to buy in to an age limitation because it attempts to mimic school class while while leaving out large numbers of kids who have never reclassed. I understand the [lacrosse]'s or World Series dates of 6/1 and 5/1 are not perfect but they stop the worst of the abuses while actually having hope of being accepted.

the 9/1 cutoff is ideal kids to compete against kids their own age and in their own grade, it creates as level of a plying field as you can have. The only kids that would be affected by this (not playing with kids their age and grade) are the kids that were held back or went to pre-first.

Maybe where you live. By being myopic in your choice of dates you are eliminating any chance of of any real progress. Move the date three or four months and you get a chance of enough clubs and parents buying in to the rule to make it happen. The best example is the Crabs going to the World Series of Lacrosse which has a May cutoff.

Take this to the age verification or 2020 board

What is progress??? Letting select group of children play down in youth athletics???? Not to most normal people. Youth sports is for youth athletics and a fair playing field...Not the chosen ones or the Crabs or whoever.
How about just change dates in youth lacrosse to May 1 for anyone that wants to play. Then you are doing the right thing.
Letting select parents and children get an advantage goes against just about everything you ever hear in youth sports.

Please - the team has more than 8 holdbacks. Regardless of when the "new" players decided to hold back - they are still hold backs. The newly graduated 8th graders should have at least waited until after the current 7th graders graduated from non-private schools. With respect to #4, all I have read is that the opposite is true - all of the teams they tied or had close games with are pretty proud of themselves for playing kids 1-2 years older and being more than competitive. Keep trying to convince others but Baltimore is a small world and everybody knows the kids and their history. Interesting will be how many of the Beach Lax 2020 Crabs kids can go to Denver.

For their 2022 team

In this case, the LI dads associated with Crush do have something to complain about. As a Marylander who watched that game the Crabs stacked their team. Everyone from Maryland knew it as these kids are all known in the area. No fan of Crush and some of their player;s behavior this weekend, but they would have won that game if they had been playing kids their own age and deserved the Championship.Crabs would not have gotten to the Championship with their regular 2020 team.

How is that eliminating progress? Going by the school birthday cutoff you are ensuring kids are only competing against their piers, rather than kids playing down and creating an unfair and unsafe atmosphere for the kids on the field. This also allows more kids the opportunity to play on some more select club teams

Funny! but sadly probably true

No worries we will bring our "I promise to pg kids" onto our teams and match you age for age. You can be a lunatic then too.

What I do not get- kids all over the US are fighting hard to get spots and be brought up to JV in MS or Varsity as a freshman and the prestige is being able to play with the older kids. Who told you that playing 1-2 years below your grade was prestigious? Great- it will get you looks, maybe a spot on the bench- but when a coach is recruiting- do you not think they are going to be looking at the kids that can play with the older ones, rather than run with the young ones? Eventually all kids catch up- and grow a beard. Won't it be sad for the big 8th grader that reclassed to find that he is among a group of men 2-3 years later and no longer a stand out. He got a spot, but will that coach still want him? I'd be wary. No crazies over here- staying within your grade sounds a lot more sane than crazy which would be taking that gamble. GL to all these kids because in the end- no one cares if your 8th, 9th, 10th grade team wins- they are looking at individuals, with skill, perseverance, determination, heart and soul. It will not matter if you reclassed or not- if you have the skill, they will want you, even if they offered someone an earlier spot.

If you don't think a college recruiter is going to look favorably on whoever looks impressive for his grade - regardless of his birthday - you are really trying to convince yourself of some alternate reality.

Sorry your team lost. Get over it.

9/1 isn't the cutoff everywhere. When you try to make up a rule nationally that only makes sense where you live than the rule loses its legitimacy. If you use the [lacrosse]'s or World Series date than enough momentum can be developed to actually get something done. One reason the 9/1 date hasn't worked is that too many boys get pushed up unnecessarily.

We all know that, but if we make enough noise about holdbacks who knows, maybe something will change.

Luckily, we now have the Looney's forum for that.

This discussion is not about winning or losing - it is about doing what is right for all the kids, the sport and teaching our kids to be good sports but would not expect a holdback/win at all costs supporter to understand that. Your win is empty - playing kids younger and much smaller than you just means you are bigger and older - not a winner.

Except my son didn't repeat a grade nor was he involved in the tournament in question. I'm just an observer who likes to see the ridiculous commentary here, primarily from distraught LI dads.

The good thing is you guys consistently deliver incredible material. Time and time again.

Sorry, your kid couldn't get noticed among his peers. Sucks to have to play down.

He's not. God, you are going to be pain in the rear when your son plays kids in HS older than him. Are you going to complain to the principal then?

In MD- private school. You can complain if you donate money. If you are a serious booster or have family money you can buy playing time.

Or you could go with US Soccer August 1-July 31. This still allows the majority of the kids to play with others in their grade.

My kid already plays up, it's good for him. I'm more concerned about the kid choosing not to play up because they weigh 85 pounds and now are being attacked by a 140 lb kid on the field because they chose to play down. Once kids get to HS age- all bets off- you want to play varsity- go for it- you feel you aren't ready- there's JV or pick another sport.

Start a petition, and send it to US Lacrosse. Seriously,if you write one up and pass it around at tournaments, 90% of the parents there will sign.

PLEASE walk around the next youth tournament with your petition. That will be pure gold.

good idea and after all of the lawn gislanders spill beer and coppertone #4 all over it you won't be able to read it

If it were to change? All you mighty clubs will be hurt. You all are not teaching the game. It's scheming to get notice by The amount of wins.

Actually it is a great idea. But I doubt anyone has courage to do it. If I was more tech savvy..I would start a website addressing this issue with a signature and USL# to petition the USL to try to do something. Not sure what USL can do or even if they are interested in actually going after this issue. This is a Northeast problem that will only get worst and spread as time goes along.
Soccer had serious issues with age and so forth , but they cleaned it up with a simple card for every player ..and endorsement of age base youth teams.

This is actually a very good idea and there are online petition apps available. I am not sufficiently tech savy to figure out the apps out, but if someone is, I will happily sign.

The blatant and becoming normalized use of hold backs is destroying youth lacrosse in the ages 11 - 15 on the east coast.

Looneys does it too. Now they see it worked for crabs so why not join them

Quit whining. Go to another forum to complain about the rules and how to enforce them. Let's use this forum to talk about what Looney's does right and what they do wrong on the field.

Ok. Have it your way. What they do wrong on the field is that they put holdbacks on the field.

Congrats to 2020 and 2016 on winning Vail!

It's a tournament nobody cares about. Every year, there are 2-3 decent teams and the rest are awful. Fun for a family vacation, but a complete waste of time.

2020 beat the FCA national team, still a good experience for the kids!

US Lax can do something if it wants, they provide insurance at a discounted rate, wonder if age makes a difference to the actuaries?

Congrats it's kids from all over the country who for the most part have never played together

2020 beat the FCA national team, still a good experience for the kids!

WOW FCA National team, 6 kids from Carroll County and the rest Metro Baltimore.....very NATIONAL

Two from Alabama, 1 Georgia, 1 PA, 1 Texas, 1 Florida, think there were 8 states in total

Give Looneys credit. They beat fca national but can't beat the local fca.
Decent team losing a little steam but will rebound.

My exact thought....from what I heard it was a great game both teams played hard

How dare those 12-13 year old kids from Looney's go out to a beautiful part of the country, probably enjoy beautiful weather, probably go white water rafting, have a little vacation time while playing a handful of lacrosse games against whoever they were lined up against and actually win games. How silly are they? Don't they understand at that age they should be in the heat and humidity of Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania or New [lacrosse] going through the driving and parking grind, sweating it out like the rest of us so that they can attend the college of their choice and then read ridiculous comments about their performance in an "approved tournament" from a bunch of tired, frustrated old men. When will these kids ever learn what the game of lacrosse is all about. They should be ashamed of themselves.

How dare those 12-13 year old kids from Looney's go out to a beautiful part of the country, probably enjoy beautiful weather, probably go white water rafting, have a little vacation time while playing a handful of lacrosse games against whoever they were lined up against and actually win games. How silly are they? Don't they understand at that age they should be in the heat and humidity of Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania or New [lacrosse] going through the driving and parking grind, sweating it out like the rest of us so that they can attend the college of their choice and then read ridiculous comments about their performance in an "approved tournament" from a bunch of tired, frustrated old men. When will these kids ever learn what the game of lacrosse is all about. They should be ashamed of themselves.

Nice try coach. Next

Then the OP should have mentioned all of those things you did instead of just saying "Looneys wins Vail!"

Ever listen to Looney's parents on the sidelines? If so, this fail of a post shouldn't surprise.

I live in Anne Arundel County, have nothing to do with Looney's and I wrote the post, I just find it ridiculous that grown men would come out and just bash kids and a program because they didn't to a tournament that in your mind is not worthy. People that make comments like these are what is ruining this game. Why can't kids enjoy an experience, if you had ever been to Vail, you know this is part of the whole package. There was a time when it was the only premier tournament. I understand that times change and everything has to be bigger, faster, stronger. People with comments that are constantly bashing children and adults alike are ruining the greatest game on two feet.

I bet that FCA National Team didn't have any of the 2019 kids play down to 2020 like they did the two times FCA beat Looney's this year.

Here go again. Both those kids are 2020 kids and everyone knows it. Enough

What about the 2019 goalie that played for the 2020 team in the MPLL?

what about him? He just completed 7th grade. Everyone knows who that kid is. He has been playing up all year.

Ive watched fca a couple times and they have two of the best goalies in 2020

what about him? He just completed 7th grade. Everyone knows who that kid is. He has been playing up all year. [/quote]

Ive watched fca a couple times and they have two of the best goalies in 2020[/quote]

So he is dual rostered AND meets the generally accepted U13 age guidelines for a 7th grader? If he meets the guidelines of age and grade then good for him (and FCA), but most on this board who know of him, believe him to be older than most true 7th graders as well as the situation with several (not all) of the 2019 players that are brought down for special occasions.

4 of the players on FCA 2019, the team that has wins (and losses) vs Madlax and 91 Orange and wins against LI Express N and Laxachusetts this year, are on-age rising 8th graders. These kids play and contribute significantly in every game. How many other good 2019 teams have kids playing up on them?

Is a late August 2001 birthdate older than most 7th graders?

Ive watched fca a couple times and they have two of the best goalies in 2020[/quote]

So he is dual rostered AND meets the generally accepted U13 age guidelines for a 7th grader? If he meets the guidelines of age and grade then good for him (and FCA), but most on this board who know of him, believe him to be older than most true 7th graders as well as the situation with several (not all) of the 2019 players that are brought down for special occasions.[/quote]

The goalie is(was) a true 7th grader. He will be entering 8th grade on age this fall. I agree that there a numerous holdbacks all over, this particular boy is not one of them however.

Ive watched fca a couple times and they have two of the best goalies in 2020[/quote]

So he is dual rostered AND meets the generally accepted U13 age guidelines for a 7th grader? If he meets the guidelines of age and grade then good for him (and FCA), but most on this board who know of him, believe him to be older than most true 7th graders as well as the situation with several (not all) of the 2019 players that are brought down for special occasions.[/quote]

Will the rising eighth graders who play on the 2019 play 2020 at Madlax this weekend?

FCA National had 8 states represented... Alabama, Texas, Georgia, FLA, PA, Virginia, CO and yes.. MD

yes, 7th grader starts September 1, 2001 - August 31, 2002.

So he is older by a few days... you are right! he should be banned

The question was, is he older than most, to which the answer is, yes. That's all.

that is what guidelines are for, to determine the proper age group kids with. you don't have to agree with them, but they are there for a reason. the kid is a great 2019 goalie, where he should be playing, and even better as a 2020!

So now we've gotten to the point that if a 7th grader is 13 this summer(as most 7th graders are) that is not acceptable either? Maybe we should break the year down into quarters and you can only let little Timmy play against kids born in the same 3 month span as he was. Good grief.

[quote=Anonymous]4 of the players on FCA 2019, the team that has wins (and losses) vs Madlax and 91 Orange and wins against LI Express N and Laxachusetts this year, are on-age rising 8th graders. These kids play and contribute significantly in every game. How many other good 2019 teams have kids playing up on them?

VLC apparently has several 7th graders playing up, they are a very, very good team(ask them, they won the Richmond Rumble). Due to the proliferation of 7th graders, they chose to play down during the NPYLL season. They(supposedly)are opting to play one tournament in the A division. Look out for the Baby Blue Crabs

FCA, a Christian organization, should lead be example. In their mission statement they state that integrity is part of their mission and vision. How does playing kids down support their mission and vision...unless their mission is to be crablike!

This amazing team only beat the Madlax 2019 Blue team. Which is the second team by 1 goal this last weekend. And if the storm had not come they would of played the next day for the championship on sunday. And they only Beat FreedomLax by one goal. You can take that for what its worth. Point being they scare no one unless they are playing in the B div.

The Christian part ends the sec. they hit the field.

FCA is fielding teams that are grade-based. The goalie just completed 7th grade making him a 2020 graduate. He has been playing on the 2019 team. He does sometimes play for in tournaments with the 2020 team. Exactly how is this in any way against any rules?

Go google fca 2019 and the first link and they indicate which players are 2020s

what grade does a late an August/2001 birthday go to...

just because parents opt to keep a late school year birthday child back a grade or go to pr-first doesn't mean they should also play sports with kids younger than them!

graduation year doesn't necessarily account for the actual age of a child. the private schools offer pre-first which allows a child to start school a year later and the private schools also allow children to stay back a grade. so, a 2020 graduate could be 18 months older than their peers if they attended private schools and took advantage of pre-first and opted to stay back/repeat a grade.

Ummm.....that was kinda my point

FCA- Future Calvert Athletes!!!!

Late August 2001 technically belongs going into 8th grade. You asked....

any holdbacks or late summer birthdays on the Looney's 2020 team?

born on or before August 31, 2001 should be rising 9th grade.

Isn't Calvert a grade school?

The reality is the cutoff date varies by state and individual schools. One of the biggest obstacles to improving the holdback issue are the 9/1 date purists who insist on a date that isn't inclusive of a lot of schools and a lot of families. If us lacrosse went with a grade based model with a 6/1 or 5/1 limit there would be much more buy in from families and clubs. With a pure age system there will be enough clubs opting out into grade based tournaments that there won't be any real improvement.

can't have a grade based model with a 5/1 or 6/1 limit, those kids would be in a grade above the others.

They have about 5 to 6 that are older.

can't have a grade based model with a 5/1 or 6/1 limit, those kids would be in a grade above the others.[/quote]

Depends on where they started school. For example, there are quite a few kids born in the summer of 2001 that are going into 8th grade (for the first time) and have never held back. Same for other grad years - the 5/1 or 6/1 cut off date would allow these kids but would filter out the hold backs. It level sets the grade based model without letting clubs manipulate the system because there is an age based requirement too. USLax proposal of going age based by one year increments is not going to garner much support as the grade based train has left the station but many grade based supporters would get on board if they suggest the grade with an age element.

Depends on where they started school. For example, there are quite a few kids born in the summer of 2001 that are going into 8th grade (for the first time) and have never held back. Same for other grad years - the 5/1 or 6/1 cut off date would allow these kids but would filter out the hold backs. It level sets the grade based model without letting clubs manipulate the system because there is an age based requirement too. USLax proposal of going age based by one year increments is not going to garner much support as the grade based train has left the station but many grade based supporters would get on board if they suggest the grade with an age element.[/quote]

I agree- I'd leave it 6/1 as three months is plenty of time for late starters but would keep the philosophy of grade based with the exception of NY. You'd absolutely have a mixed team as they have a 12/1 cut off- so you could feasibly have a 50/50 split of two grades. People would have to be okay with that as the age limit is what is static. In the end, I wish there would be a system like hockey- they don't care about your grade, just your age and many kids don't play with their friends from school, but isn't that what travel is all about? It's too ambitious of a model right now for lacrosse anyway. We probably won't even garner enough support for any cut off with the way things are right now. Seems like a 16 year old could play with 2021 and someone would find a reason why that is acceptable.

I agree- I'd leave it 6/1 as three months is plenty of time for late starters but would keep the philosophy of grade based with the exception of NY. You'd absolutely have a mixed team as they have a 12/1 cut off- so you could feasibly have a 50/50 split of two grades. People would have to be okay with that as the age limit is what is static. In the end, I wish there would be a system like hockey- they don't care about your grade, just your age and many kids don't play with their friends from school, but isn't that what travel is all about? It's too ambitious of a model right now for lacrosse anyway. We probably won't even garner enough support for any cut off with the way things are right now. Seems like a 16 year old could play with 2021 and someone would find a reason why that is acceptable. [/quote]
You might be pushing it with a 16 year old at 2021. I think we should go after any model that has a kid 18 months older then the youngest kid who is on age. If anyone has ever taken a picture of their kid on the first day of 6th grade and the last day of 8th grade should know that 18 month during this time frame is just nuts. Would you want your 6th grade son playing his 8th grade self in theory? This only makes sense to people with kids 8th grade and older. But this is the first battle we must fight, it must be no worse then 13 months of a age gap for middle school kids. No questions asked. The anger comes from people seeing 3 to 10 kids per team being 18 months older then the youngest kid on age for the grade. As an example this is why they have Freshman football teams. They are as a whole so much smaller in mind and body compared to the sophomores through seniors. I agree playing the bigger and older kids makes the younger ones better, but its still not fair. So it comes down to are youth sports fair or are they like real life and not fair?

You might be pushing it with a 16 year old at 2021. I think we should go after any model that has a kid 18 months older then the youngest kid who is on age. If anyone has ever taken a picture of their kid on the first day of 6th grade and the last day of 8th grade should know that 18 month during this time frame is just nuts. Would you want your 6th grade son playing his 8th grade self in theory? This only makes sense to people with kids 8th grade and older. But this is the first battle we must fight, it must be no worse then 13 months of a age gap for middle school kids. No questions asked. The anger comes from people seeing 3 to 10 kids per team being 18 months older then the youngest kid on age for the grade. As an example this is why they have Freshman football teams. They are as a whole so much smaller in mind and body compared to the sophomores through seniors. I agree playing the bigger and older kids makes the younger ones better, but its still not fair. So it comes down to are youth sports fair or are they like real life and not fair? [/quote]

Agree 100% with the age recommendation along with grade. Winning and losing is a good lesson in life and there will always be those who cheat but this is a safety issue especially in middle school where the size discrepancy exists. Have seen too many injuries when the older kids play younger kids.

I agree- I'd leave it 6/1 as three months is plenty of time for late starters but would keep the philosophy of grade based with the exception of NY. You'd absolutely have a mixed team as they have a 12/1 cut off- so you could feasibly have a 50/50 split of two grades. People would have to be okay with that as the age limit is what is static. In the end, I wish there would be a system like hockey- they don't care about your grade, just your age and many kids don't play with their friends from school, but isn't that what travel is all about? It's too ambitious of a model right now for lacrosse anyway. We probably won't even garner enough support for any cut off with the way things are right now. Seems like a 16 year old could play with 2021 and someone would find a reason why that is acceptable. [/quote]

I agree with everything you said except that a summer of 2001 birthday who is going into 8th grade was certainly held back, they were just held back before they started school.

I agree with everything you said except that a summer of 2001 birthday who is going into 8th grade was certainly held back, they were just held back before they started school. [/quote]

Not necessarily. Depends on the state they started school. US guidelines run anywhere from July to December for school entry requirements so if the plan is to account for different states entry requirements and keep teams grade level, then the date needs to be at least June 1.

Not necessarily. Depends on the state they started school. US guidelines run anywhere from July to December for school entry requirements so if the plan is to account for different states entry requirements and keep teams grade level, then the date needs to be at least June 1. [/quote]

The majority of states use September 1 as the cutoff.

What is the soccer cutoff?

I agree with everything you said except that a summer of 2001 birthday who is going into 8th grade was certainly held back, they were just held back before they started school. [/quote]

There it is folks, a new word for explaining things away, we now have that aren't holdbacks, they are simply Pre-Holdbacks, that solves the problem, i'm on hold with Webster's and Wikipedia right now, hoping to get it in before August 1st, so it wont be next yea. r

Majority yes, but not all. The goal is to gain support from a broad group to get behind a grad year/age restriction combination. That will never happen if it is not flexible enough to consider likely scenarios of summer birthdays who are legitimately not holdbacks.

As long as it says Grade ? must be from Date 1/01/?? to Date 12/31/?? There will always be someone mad.

your broad group will come from the majority of kids with birthdays between 9/1/?? - 8/31/??. This is the majority of school cutoffs, why change it to accommodate a few states?

There it is folks, a new word for explaining things away, we now have that aren't holdbacks, they are simply Pre-Holdbacks, that solves the problem, i'm on hold with Webster's and Wikipedia right now, hoping to get it in before August 1st, so it wont be next yea. r [/quote]

Both of my kids have Sept birthdays and I had both of them do an extra year of kindergarten. Does that mean that we are cheating the system because they are both on the old side for their grade? I had no idea that they would play sports once they were older. Contrast that with the boy that repeats 8th grade for lacrosse only (regardless of what his parents say). To me, those scenarios are completely different.

If they are a year older it means they are a year bigger and stronger and should be playing with kids their own age. Nobody is questioning your decision as a parent but they should not play sports with kids a full year younger - for the majority of the folks on these boards it is a safety issue especially in middle school.

Both of my kids have Sept birthdays and I had both of them do an extra year of kindergarten. Does that mean that we are cheating the system because they are both on the old side for their grade? I had no idea that they would play sports once they were older. Contrast that with the boy that repeats 8th grade for lacrosse only (regardless of what his parents say). To me, those scenarios are completely different. [/quote]

both scenarios are different, however, none of the kids should be eligible to play in grade base leagues since they are older than the rest of the kids.

If your kids are September birthday, what is the cutoff for school in your area? in Maryland a September birthday would make the child on the older side. A child born in September in MD and repeating kindergarten would in instances be almost two years older than the younger kids in their grade

You're right - Madlax Blue does suck, VLC definitely should have beaten them by 10. VLC is also playing in the A division at Younggunz, but Bmore haven't updated the website. But who cares? Either way, it'll be fun to watch Madlax get pounded on by all the "real" teams at that tourney...hahaha - grab the popcorn!

Uhhh ... yeah... my kid was born in Jul 2000 and will be a sophomore next year...

Both of my kids have Sept birthdays and I had both of them do an extra year of kindergarten. Does that mean that we are cheating the system because they are both on the old side for their grade? I had no idea that they would play sports once they were older. Contrast that with the boy that repeats 8th grade for lacrosse only (regardless of what his parents say). To me, those scenarios are completely different. [/quote]

so your kids were 7 when they did their 2nd kindergarten year?
if your school district has the typical sept 1 cut-off they would have been old for their grade w/o repeat. Or you in a dec cutoff like in NY where they would be young the first time around? If the former, what was the rationale at the time?

The schedules are up. VLC is in 'AA'. Play Big 4 HHH, FCA and C2C. Should be great games.

so your kids were 7 when they did their 2nd kindergarten year?
if your school district has the typical sept 1 cut-off they would have been old for their grade w/o repeat. Or you in a dec cutoff like in NY where they would be young the first time around? If the former, what was the rationale at the time? [/quote]

You would hope he is talking about a NY kid? If Md parent holding back a Sept birthday and complaining?? Wow!!.. MD Kid would be oldest by far (1-2 years)than any child in his grade.

VLC is in 'AA'. Play Big 4 HHH, FCA and C2C. Should be great games. [/quote]

I agree, should be great games. Does make you stop and wonder why vlc played down in the spring.

[/quote] You would hope he is talking about a NY kid? If Md parent holding back a Sept birthday and complaining?? Wow!!.. MD Kid would be oldest by far (1-2 years)than any child in his grade. [/quote]

please don't make uneducated comments. MD public school kids don't go to pre-first or stay back to repeat grades by choice.

FCA 2020 is going to have an awesome team next season

why?

I heard Looneys goalie, best middie, face off kid from fla are all going to fca.

Yeah the 2020 age group is getting to that age where everyone is moving and a lot of kids are going to FCA.

And where did you hear all those looneys kids are moving

FCA already has one of the best goalies in the area, why would they bring in another?

The 2020 FCA team already has a great goalie? Not buying it.

Which one? The one who plays up or the shorter one who plays on the 2020AA team

There will be no pointing out of children. Got it?

so your kids were 7 when they did their 2nd kindergarten year?
if your school district has the typical sept 1 cut-off they would have been old for their grade w/o repeat. Or you in a dec cutoff like in NY where they would be young the first time around? If the former, what was the rationale at the time? [/quote]

One will turn 16 this Sept and is going into 10th grade and one will turn 14 this Sept and is going into 8th grade. Does that make them reclassified/holdbacks?

One will turn 16 this Sept and is going into 10th grade and one will turn 14 this Sept and is going into 8th grade. Does that make them reclassified/holdbacks? [/quote]

I'd hope not - my son's two best friends are in the exact same situation with end of Aug birthdays and they are all going into 8th grade. No one was held back - their parents took the advice of school officials that boys mature more slowly, so they started them in school for the 2020 grad year way back when. Just so happens that one of them is 6' and one is 5'3" - both are excellent lacrosse players, and "old" for their grade. My son, who is young for his grade (almost a year younger than his buddies) happens to be 5'11" and 160 lbs and is also a very good lacrosse player - I'm certain people see him standing next to their 5'1" son and think "no way he's 13" - he is, though. Fact is, kids grow and mature at different paces and age is simply one factor - my son played up on JV this past winter, and was bigger than many kids out there, and also smaller, and he held his own very well. Bottom line is, you should and do what the leagues dictate - if that happens to be grad year, it's grad year - no one should cry about it, it is what it is. If it's age based play, then ages should be checked and it should be regulated, and the cheaters should forfeit. You can't have it both ways though - either it's 2020 or U13, not both.

One will turn 16 this Sept and is going into 10th grade and one will turn 14 this Sept and is going into 8th grade. Does that make them reclassified/holdbacks?[/quote]

Most states have sept 1 cutoffs for entering kindergarten including here in MD. They would be in proper grade here. Not a holdback.

You would hope he is talking about a NY kid? If Md parent holding back a Sept birthday and complaining?? Wow!!.. MD Kid would be oldest by far (1-2 years)than any child in his grade. [/quote]

please don't make uneducated comments. MD public school kids don't go to pre-first or stay back to repeat grades by choice. [/quote]

Might want to look at your own uneducated comment. Pretty easy to follow. NY kid is on age with most of country starting in Sept late, MD bigtime older. Nothing to do with public or private?? Everyone knows that the holdback/reclassify/pre-first thing in MD is a private school thing.

The Looneys goalie wont make it because FCA 2020 has 2 of the best goalies in the 2020 age group

Fca needs to check itself. Corrupt. Keep dreaming

Fca 20 lost to club blue this past weekend. Ouch. Keep dreaming

It was in a pools of water up to your ankles and a lot of players weren't there because parents didn't want them out there. They also did girls face offs

no excuses, both teams played in the same weather and dealt with the same issues during the game.

They were up like 5-1 at half then they started doing like girl faceoffs

They were up like 5-1 at half then they started doing like girl faceoffs

What kind of crazy s_ _t is that? Girls face offs? What garb tourney was this?

It's because it rained like 3-4 inches I guess but FCA was dominating the real face offs and the faceoff guy wasn't there Hes in vacation

What has Looneys 2020 won this year. Run when u can parents

How about those FCA 2020AA players who switched to their single A team for Young Guns today ? Wow. Total lack of ethics -seems prevalent in youth lacrosse lately.

FCA brought down 2019 players to play MPLL as well

Doesn't bother me(coach here)I know the kids and coaches. It's okay they were filling out the roster

There are levels for a reason, AA players shouldn't be playing down on A.

That is the problem with lacrosse, all this cheating has been going on for years. So long, it has become common practice for the established lax communities. Now that lacrosse has seen significant growth, the dirty little secrets are being exposed, and aren't accepted in most areas outside of the established communities.

Until lacrosse fixes this, they will not become a major youth sport outside of the mid Atlantic and northeast.

Why would you even have an invite only for a single A tournament?

How prestigious can it be to be asked to play in a tournament's lower division? "Can you please come to our tournament to prove you are the 20th best team?"

that is the issue with Lacrosse, it has become accepted to allow kids to play down in skill level and age. Top team players shouldn't be FILLING out the roster of the second team for tournaments, and kids shouldn't be allowed to play down in age. These practices have become the norm in lacrosse, and need to be addressed by US Lax if they want to grow the sport more.

But it is not about you-ask the kids they played against and see of they are okay with it. Afterall, it is about thr kids. Chuckle. Chuckle.

Looneys you want to play fca again

So FCA brought AAs down and 2019s as well? I watched those games - they're still not good....haha

Beat you twice

Chill out with all tbe accusations it was only like 5 2020AA players because the FCA A team were very short on players and they already entered the tournament.No 2019 players

which is still wrong, play with your original roster don't bring AA ringers with you

While this is not breaking any rules, it is just getting to the point that families are becoming very frustrated with youth lacrosse. Something has to be done, or the sport will implode and leave a few standing clubs and go back to being a sport of the privileged. I agree it is not a terrible thing to have guest players from within your club, that are on age, help fill out a roster. That said, when other clubs, teams enter a bracket, they choose carefully, knowing their team's skill level. Families pay a lot for these experiences, and many make huge sacrifices for their family so that their kid(s) can play in these tournaments. It is just frustrating for teams to go to a tournament to find themselves up against better ranked kids, clubs or older players. So, no, the rules were not broken, and this is an acceptable practice, among certain circumstances, it is disheartening to the opposing clubs and teams when their shot at solid competition is suddenly changed, beyond anything in their control. That is why USL needs to step it up fast, along with tournament directors, way too much fluidity between kids switching rosters, age groups etc. It is hurting the sport and the desire for families to have their kids join.

Nicely said.

Unbelievable statement. You put 5 AA players on the field with single A players. Pathetic.

It is without a doubt wrong, unless they were playing at the highest level of competition in the tournament. Adding players so you have enough on your roster is one thing, playing down with half of your starting line up is totally different.

So there really is no difference in ethics between what is a Christian based organization and one that is run by a money grubbing loud mouth......how very sad for you all

Yeah FCA brought down the goalie 3 middies and an attackman

Let us pray...

We need a clear separation of Church and Sports.

Its a joke relax!

Good joke, I like it!

Beat who twice? Not us - you didn't play us and never will - you're sitting down in B. Last time I checked we won the whole tourney - bump up to AA (good luck with that) and maybe you'll get a shot at us LOL

FCA 2020AA beat looneys 2020AA twice and one of the times they were down 5-1

Let us pray... [/quot

Was it the goalie with the summer 2001 birthday they brought down? He is the 2019 AA goalie who played down in the MPLL.

Seriously? That goalie was AA?? And so were the middies and attack?

Well, there's only one name in the "Champion" spot on Tourney Machine, and it ain't FCA. And your A team, with the 5 players from AA, looked like a rec B team - everyone was laughing in the stands. My God - they only beat Storm by 1 point - that team is like a bunch of scoopers...hahahaha

I saw them play as well. If that was a "stacked" team with half the starting line being AA players, they sure didn't play like it. None of the players looked close to the same skill level as the other AA teams in the tourney. Perhaps those players were actually playing where they belong this weekend? FCA would do well to be more selective in tryouts next round if they want to complete with the likes of Crabs, Team 91, etc.

I find that hard to believe - the goalie was average at best, and their middies and attack could barely complete two passes in a row. Plus, the entire team was minuscule - are you sure you don't mean they brought players UP from 2021 single A?

Players are allowed to have bad games

FCA 2020AA beat Looneys 2020 AA twice this year. You probably just repressed it from your memory

Agreed. I don't love the filling out the roster with higher ranked kids, but please, we are back to singling out a kid. The kids read this and comments as such are hurtful, especially to a goalie, as it is such a mental position. Kids have ups and downs, good and bad days, no need to bash them on a public forum. For the record- I am not the goalies dad or mom.

Players definitely have bad games, these players had four of them in a row this weekend - they really aren't exceptional. I don't think anyone is being mean or trying to single anyone out, it's just simply that they are average - not a bad thing, just nothing to jump up and down about.

It's okay grandma, the boys probably had drivers ed or something this morning and had to be up early. He'll do better next time.

There are a bunch of kids from Looneys 2020 coming to FCA next year

This is the type of information this board was built on. So if your kid is a FCA 2020 and is on the bottom of the roster please do yourself a favor and find a new team to tryout for along with FCA so you are prepared for the best 5 players from another team showing up at tryouts.

doubt it, Looney's just got their mojo back. they won three tournaments...summer exposure, Vail, Young Guns.

What tournaments has FCA 2020AA won this year?

Looneys didn't play in Summer Exposure. And Vail was a joke of a tournament.

I think the answer you're looking for is "none".

How did the 2020AA Summer Exposure winner do yesterday?

what has FCA 2020 AA won this year?

That would be nothing

And Young Guns may be the toughest tournament this year, so there goes that argument.

believe the tournaments Looney's won was Lax Splash, Vail, and Young Guns.

I hear a load of FCA is trying out for 91, and a few going to Looney's

it would have been if Crush and Crabs were there.