What are my best options. Son will be starting 2nd grade next year and would like to find a solid organization for him to grow with. Any thoughts or feed back appreciated. Are tryouts normally in sept..? Thanks

If you can, start your son off in the PAL program he will play with his friends and the fees are more reasonable. If the PAL is unavailable try Team 91 I think they hold practice at Farmingdale College which is just south of Huntington. They have good coaching for the young players, and the Spallinas are good people.

Outlaws based out of south huntington

Second grade may be too young. Many organizations do not support a 2nd grade team. Outlaws are good and Huntington based.

Outlaws based out of Huntington

Team 91 is not good . They are good at taking your money

Express

I disagree, have two sons in the organization and never once felt like my money was taken. Some teams and coaches are better than others. We have been very fortunate to have had dedicated, excellent coaches. I think you will find this in any organization- much of the experience is dependent on the coach of the team.

In 2nd grade, I think I would stick with PAL and do a few clinics, unless your son is dying to do a travel team. If he has better than avg stick skills, it might be worth the experience. One of my sons really struggled playing PAL as the majority of the team never picked up a stick until 3rd grade. YOu need to know your son and your area. Good luck to you and your son.

So is every other organization.. Every program has haters, find one team right for your son, if the one you join isn't helping your son improve go to one of the other 30 or so organizations that are on Long Island.

Thanks everyone. Sticking with PAL but not much being offered for summer programs. Going to send him to a day camp or 2 this summer. He is a late birthday and playing with the older kids now but I am mainly looking for the instruction. He likes the game a lot and enjoys playing. Just finding at his pal level so far is a large mix of kids whose parents just signed them up for an activity and it is taking away from the experience. Looking for a happy medium where he can learn and have fun without the stress and not be held back by the local offering.

I think the Millan camps offer rising 3rd grade level (which is where you son will be this summer) and they are a great teaching organization. Get in touch with some of the clubs (listed on the right hand side of this page) and see which ones offer teams at his age. Keep in mind though that club team is a huge commitment of both time and funds and something that you are going to be doing for the rest of his lax career. Unless you feel like his talent is being held back by the PAL team, i would wait at least another year before embarking on the club team path. Most clubs offer clinics prior to or as a part of tryouts so you can get a feel for how he stacks up against other kids his age. Keep looking on BOTC for tryout updates. Good luck to both of you.

We are going to try out the Millon 5-8 yr old rising stars camp and maybe one of the other clinics offered by the town for the summer. Thanks again everyone for the help.

Keep away from fl$ out of CSH. You will pay close to $3000 and not practice as much as teams half that price.

Stay away from Express unless you plan on sending your kid to St Anthony's.

If he is a late birthday - there is only one travel program that subscribes to US Lacrosse age based teams. Team Long Island. I would give them a look, price is right, teams are successful. Longest established travel program on LI. But... the longer this thread runs... you will hear 40 different teams, 200 opinions...and in the end you probably will not want to be associated with any of it...ha ha

Don't get sucked into travel teams yet. Go to clinics or find someone to teach one on one. Let him play baseball, wrestle, shoot hoops and any other sport you can think of. You will spend anywhere from a thousand to three thousand on one kid. Basics, basics and more of the basics. That is all they need at that age. Start travel at this age is like staying one night at Hotel California, once you check in there is no checking out.

That is hysterical! I love that reference to Hotel California. We started last year in 4th and now wish we could have started in 6th or even 7th! We did it to escape the lax BS in our local town, only to find more in the travel lax world. Now we're paying the dumb tax.

Poster above is right...you can check in any time you like, but you can never leave.

How true!

dude, tune out all these crazies play pal go to camps let your son enjoy lacrosse. outlaws, express ,91, millon, fl$ abc xyz etc all are making the young kids crazy. i see 3rd graders crying because they cant play up to their daddy expecttions . let your son enjoy the sport. dont buy into the mentality trhat you have to be on a club team and pay 1900 a year to have your son excel. its all bs.

Late birthday ... going to be an issue unless your son is big for his age. You may not notice it much at 2d grade, but by the time he is in 6th, the holdbacks approaching two years older (and two years larger, and faster, etc.) will be everywhere in travel lacrosse. Many age appropriate kids excel on the field in their age appropriate grade, but realize it will be difficult.

He is going to be one of the older for his grade. HE wants to play and is also doing Hockey and maybe wrestling. We are going to do a camp or 2 over the summer and maybe a tryout in August. The forum is tough and fustrating because of the ability to post anonymous. I do understand and appreciate the feedback. Thanks