Hi there,

I’m Luke Mullins, a writer at Washingtonian Magazine in DC. I’m posting for a story about DC-area lacrosse coach Cabell Maddux, who runs the Madlax program.

I’m on a learning curve and want to make sure my story is as thorough and fair as possible. I want to get in touch with parents, coaches, players, or former players who will share their experiences about him.

If you’ve had first-hand experience with Coach Cabell, I’d be very interested in speaking with you. Feel free to email me at lmullins@washingtonian.com.

Thanks!

You can't be serious? I'm from out of state, have no dealings with Maddux other than our team attending a madlax tournament. Iwould hope no one responds to this guy......

Before allowing this post, BOTC actually contacted the reporter directly. (We have Luke's phone number.) Apparently, Washingtonian Magazine would like to do a youth sports piece looking at Cabell Maddux given the recent controversy and most importantly would like to speak with parents about their attitudes and impressions.

Don't know him. Would never want to know him...He's part of what's wrong with youth sports today... It's unusual that the parents are the sane ones in this story after reading some of the freakishly scary posts on this site..

What follows is an email exchange, forwarded to us by a tipster, that took place between an angry coach Cabell Maduux, one of his players, and that player's parents. It begins with the player telling his coach that he won't be able to attend a practice or game. It goes downhill from there, thanks to Coach Crazypants. As you read along, keep in mind that the player is in eighth grade.


From: Ryan
To: Coach Maddux

I can't make Thursday finals are starting

Sent from my iPhone

Bad move, Ryan!


From: Coach Maddux
To: Ryan

I need you there. Seriously. It is about being a student-athlete. You can't miss. You need to manage time better and attend practice. Everyone of your teammates is in exams also and so i am not making an exception for only one player. It is how it will be in hs and college and you have to figure it out. I know you went to landon practice yesterday and so you found time for that. This practice is in season and frankly very important. You need to show up to play as we are not practicing friday. See you thursday!
-Coach Maddux

After not hearing back from the kid for two days, the coach reaches out to Ryan's parents:


From: Coach Maddux
To: Ryan's Parents

Call me please this morning. [Phone number redacted] We need to talk.

No response, which begs a follow-up email:


From: Coach Maddux
To: Ryan's Parents

Still waiting on a return phone call....been 2 weeks now.

And here he comes again, on the very same day:


From: Coach Maddux
Date: Tue, 4 Jun 2013 14:05:16 -0400
Subject: Ryan - Madlax
To: Ryan and his parents


I know I have left you a bunch of messages, texts and emails but the best time to call me is in the morning. I have tryouts every night last week and this week and next week.

I just want to speak with you guys. I know you have always said, "Ryan is Madlax for life", and I still love him but it seems like you have been blowing me off. Just call me in the morning. I have done a ton for Ryan over the years and have given him amazing opportunities (Landon, scholarships, 3d/NBC invites, National Team, etc..) and I want to continue to help him as he enters HS and starts looking at colleges. He will need my recommendation with college coaches who I will speak to on his behalf soon believe it or not. I plan to start calling coaches on him and a few others this summer. Going to be fun.
Looking forward to hearing from Ryan or Trish or Myland...someone please.
Thanks, Cabell / Coach Maddux
PS: Ryan played a beautiful game on Sunday! Congrats.

Finally, a response from Ryan's dad:


From: Ryan's dad
To: Coach Maddux

We understand that this is a very crazy time for you. And my work AND Trish's work are a bit overwhelming as well. And as you know, I can't call during the day from my mobile and I have been non-stop at work for the past few months.

I am sure you have heard, and you would have noticed because we have not signed up for the summer program, but we are going to make a change this summer. Ryan has had a great time in Madlax, but this year has really been different. Ryan has been unhappy and very demotivated to play. We as a family think it is time we make a change. We have appreciated everything you have done for Ryan, but he has also had a hand in getting where he is. He works very hard and plays very hard. We are very proud of him. We are also grateful for the opportunities he has had to play for Madlax. But again, Ryan just wants to make a change..and we support him in that. This is not a decision we have made lightly...but one we have discussed the pros and cons about over the past several months.

We think you have a tremendous program and wish you the best of luck. I know your teams will do well as you have a TON of talented players with great parents and coaches as well...this weekend proved that. But we have to do what we feel is best for Ryan, so we are going to go in a different direction. And I know you care about Ryan, so I am sure you will be complementary if college coaches happen to ask about him. Ryan is a really good player, but we are realistic about playing at the next level, so we ensure he focuses on his grades as well!

And Cabell, we don't want to make this a big deal...or create a lot of drama that adversely impacts Ryan or anyone else in your program. This decision is hard enough on him. I know you want the same. We wanted to wait until Spring season was done to avoid any distractions to the team. I think you agree that Ryan gave his all until the very last play of the last game.

I think it is best that we agree to part ways and enjoy the great memories in Madlax and the season that we just had. All positive things. This was a tough decision, but one that we have made and will not reverse, so no need to talk further.

Please feel free to remove us from any Madlax distro list. We will continue to pay the CASE fees through July.

Cheers

And here's where the [lacrosse] hits the fan:


From: Coach Maddux
To: Ryan's Parents

What? Is this a joke? This will be a decision that Ryan regrets for a long time. I doubt it is his decision though. I know it is you trying but failing to control the situation. I will speak to coach Bordley and colleges coaches immediately and make sure they know they are getting a quitter who is ungrateful and soft who can't take criticism. You have taken advantage of me and madlax and now you are doing a huge diservice to your son. I am hurt and angry. You have no clue how this lacrosse world works. Wow. You have really screwed him. And by the way it is a big deal and I will let every one of his teammates know. His teammates will hate him for years for quitting and playing for a rival club. Trust me on that.

The fact that you have been considering it for months is just unbelievable cowardice. If I had any clue which I didn't until right now I would have kicked his butt off the team for not being committed. I dont need Ryan or your craziness. I would much rather work with a kid who is tough and grateful.

Your word is obviously meaningless. Ha. Madlax for life. Yeah right. You are a joker and this will hurt Ryan for a long time. No college coach wants to recruit a kid with a crazy and disloyal dad who will transfer his son as soon as he gets yelled at. And by the way you have been on scholarship so I will be back billing you for unpaid events that you said you would pay for. I would never have asked you for that money but now since you are quitting I have legal right to bill you for it.

You have obviously not thought this through. You have not spoken to anyone at Landon because I know what they would tell you to do. You are a team parent cancer and every team has one. All the Landon parents already hate you because they tell me and I have been sticking up for you because you were 'madlax for life'. Screw you for taking advantave of me. I am sorry I got Ryan invited to 3d/ nike blue chip and introduced you to landon because he is obvuously unappreciative. If he was appreciative he would stick with madlax but I know his crazy and controlling dad would not let him.

But coach isn't done yet! Two weeks later, he decides that he hasn't spent enough time acting like a giant man-baby and sends the following email to Ryan and his parents:


From: Coach Maddux
To: Ryan and his parents

Hey ungrateful quitter....
Your former teammates and coaches, who hate you now, can't wait to get a piece of you Saturday when we play vlc.
Who quits for getting yelled at and uses people who have helped them for years? Oh yeah...only babies who are coddled (and done a long-term disservice) by their crazy father.
See you there!!!

Wow that was a crazy read. This coach obviously doesn't realize that the parent/ players are the CONSUMERS!!!

Makes JS from Team 91 look like a great guy!

Ha ha your right does make JS look like a saint!

JS just hasn't been caught yet.

Well Well Well people will never let anything die. The people who are part of Madlax are happy with Madlax or they do not see a better option for there son. Either way the whitch hunt is only being pushed foward by the other clubs in the NVA area who would like to have the kids on there teams or they are parnets of kids that where cut by Madlax and want to save the kids from the Mad man Maddux. As for people running away from Madlax after the EMAIL came out, It did not happen. The first tryout after the EMAIL Madlax had 100+ kids tryout for the U15 age group and team. The age group of the kid from the email. They had so many kids at that age they made 3 teams this fall at U15 not 2 like all the years before. People want tough coaches for there sons. Smart people know this world is not all gum drops and candy canes. They want there sons to be men not soft the world owes me somthing babies. If you want to hear from Madlax parents put your phone number/ personal email and you will get your info from the Madlax side.

Sorry I see you put your email. My fault.

which witch - whitch???
there their they're
where were

-not one to normally call out these silly errors, but abomination is the only word which comes to mind after reading the below post .... not a very literate defense of your coach

So how does this change anything that was said?

Wrong. Several players have left Madlax already. As you note, many have stayed because they see it as the best option for the time being. But make no mistake - this is something Cabell has done to other kids/families. He is an infant who is vindictive if anyone dares to "go against him". He cannot behave like a human being, which is why he has been fired as a HS coach multiple times.

You are an idiot. This is not about Cabell yelling or being a "tough coach". The email - which was not doctored - is indefensible. Because a kid decided to leave, Cabell threatened him and his family, implied his team would come after the kid at the next meeting, and wrote a series of juvenile retorts worthy of a 5th grader. If Madlax works for you, that's fine. But Cabell is a horrible person. But as long as your son isn't targeted, it's all good, right?

You are correct I am a Idiot for writing on this blog. Giving you cry babies someone to yell at and cry to. We all know he is off in the head and we like it. If my son can play for him he can handle any high school or college coach. If he hits a kid that would be the line but in the real world people say mean things you cant hide that from you kids forever. Grow a pair let your son see the real world.

First of all, it's a message board, not a blog. Secondly, you are clearly new to Madlax. My son used to play for them, but thankfully he moved to a better team and program (and we got a lot of hate emails from Cabell because of it). Nobody is complaining about yelling. Cabell actually isn't that tough on the kids (he's tough on the refs), so that isn't the issue.

The issue is that he can't run a business. He gets fired as a coach because he can't work with people. We aren't talking about toughening kids up. We are talking about threatening a family just because they decided to leave for a better program.

Please name this great program? I am sure someone will write on here about whats wrong with it. Also please tell me what you would like to happen with Madlax? People are very aware they might get a mean email from him if the leave. Most are fine with it. Some parents are upset they did not get a mean email when they left Madlax, took it as a insult. I have seen at least two other lacrosse stores in the area. If they would like to put together 15 or so teams at all levels please someone talk them into doing it. Until then go and injoy your new team .

Is it too late to contact you? I know three people who would be willing to talk about the abuse they received from Cabell just for leaving.

Gasp - 3 people out of the thousands that have gone through the program

Queue the VLC parent haters who would love to talk and talk and talk. You don't believe that the Crabs owner has not been abusive toward players and families he does not like or who don't pay up for his showcase camps over other ones? Come on. I hope that if indeed there is an article coming it will be fair, but rather doubt it. Lots of people hate the Yankees too...count the Yankee rings.

It's a lot more than 3 people, buddy. Ask the multiple ADs who fired Cabell from previous jobs.

Man, such hatred. Mr. Washingtonian Reporter, this is the tpye of response you will get from the people that troll this forum. Blind rage against people they don't know. I'm sure that will make for a fair article.

Perhaps, you should broaden the scope a bit and not focus on one team in one sport, but address the bigger problem across sports in general. The maniac coach is not specific to lacrosse. It's rampant in every sport - that would be an article I would read.

When BOTC spoke with the reporter, he was seeking on or off-the record discussions with parents involved in the Maryland circuit and MaxLax. This was not meant to be an article about the "ills of youth sports" but rather a careful examination based on parent comments about the article and the program.

Then I would suggest that he go to the games, and talk to parents that don't spew hatred in internet forums.

There are several parents who have spoken to him, parents who received the same treatment as Cabell, and they have the emails to prove it.

Keep defending a sinking ship. As long as he doesn't treat you and your kid it's ok, right?

The only hatred was spewed by Cabell towards anyone who dared leave his program, including the kids he supposedly cares about.

What is crazy is this seems to be a middle school boy. Absolutely nuts.

I don't care if this guy has coached thousands. His one email is enough to fire him, let alone the threatening second email.

Lacrosse, or any other sport, does need a guy like this.

People are mean, the world is mean, life is mean, people do dumb things,he was mean to lots of people, he was mean to just one person, whats wrong with people today, save the children, your guy is mean also, Give up the people have been warned,
EVERYONE JUST TAKE CARE OF YOUR OWN KID, NO LAWS HAVE BEEN BROKEN JUST WORDS ON A SCREEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Apparently it is more than one person. I played for a lot of tough coaches but I would not tolerate this as a parent. The family made a decision, for whatever reason, and the coach should move on.

Words on a screen can escalate; there is even a threat in his last message. You say take care of your own kid. In this case you need to get your kid away from this blow hard.,

God, you are an imbecile. There is a difference between a coach who is intense and yells, and one who threatens a family just for leaving for another club?

Who does that? I've known this guy for years, and this is why he gets fired from every coaching job he's ever gotten. He cannot act like an adult if his life depended on it. Your strawman argument is as weak as I've ever seen.

Hope you enjoy giving him $1000 a year just to be a part of his "academy".

Moderator, I can tell by the writing style and the pure vindictiveness of the posts that the PP is the same person that has been kicked out of several other forums for bullying and badgering users. I suggest you do the same. It's evident by the posts in this thread and in the madlax one, the PP is way too involved - match the ip address and I'm sure you'll see a pattern. Furthermore, constant, repetitive insults are not something posters will tolerate for too long.

PP = previous poster? Which posts are you asserting are coming from the same individual?

We can tell you that the posts in this thread are coming from no less than twenty different domains. In other words, this thread has not become the single individual vindictive thread that you cite.

We appreciate your warning.

This one:

"God, you are an imbecile. There is a difference between a coach who is intense and yells, and one who threatens a family just for leaving for another club?

Who does that? I've known this guy for years, and this is why he gets fired from every coaching job he's ever gotten. He cannot act like an adult if his life depended on it. Your strawman argument is as weak as I've ever seen.

Hope you enjoy giving him $1000 a year just to be a part of his "academy"."

Most of the posts end in a snarky remark like:

"as long as it's not your kid, right?"
"as long as your son isn't targeted, it's all good, right?"
"Keep defending a sinking ship. As long as he doesn't treat you and your kid it's ok, right?"

See a pattern. Same thing in other forums. The moderator eventually had to put an end to these incessant posts.

Well, the poster who provided that information has provided only that input to date. Again, thank you for your contribution.

Did this article every get published?

Really must be someone who just can believe this email story went away like all the people on here told him it would. Madlax is still going strong and Maddux is still doing his thing. People want to win and have there kids pushed to be better not this baby stuff that the world is pushing these days. Good day sir I said good day!!!!

Well if anyone can read this Deadspin and tell me why they had to bring up Madlax I would like to know. But at the end of the day it gets there name out there good or bad its allways good to have your name out there.
http://deadspin.com/why-rich-lacrosse-parents-are-making-their-kids-repeat-1570381983

Because the kid who left Madlax (and was ripped for doing so by the club's owner) is a reclassified kid.

You really think the bad publicity surrounding Madlax is good? Guess you haven't noticed the Madlax kids who've switched to other clubs.

Which kids switched?

NPYLL
U15 AA and A are dominating while VLC stinks
U13 AA dominating, A doing fine while VLC stinks
U11 AA third while VLC can't field a team

FUZE has to play in HoCo League and they aren't even good in that

So where did the kids switch to?

Reclassified? Just say redshirt high school student.

Or just say "needs to be 18 months older than his classmates to be competitive in a sport"

High School kids.

As a parent of two young youth players at the bottom of this school grade list I am sickened by the notion that the repeat a grade game goes earlier and earlier down into elementary grades. The club owners have a story and are sticking with it. This makes it easier to field more teams. No, it does not. Do more U13 and U-11 teams or do U13, U12, U11, etc. This makes it easier for college coaches to evaluate players by grade. No, it does not. Girls soccer players and boys ice hockey players play U-15, U15, etc. NCAA coaches in those sports don't seem confused about who they are recruiting at tournaments. And is there a point somewhere that this is making it easier for NCAA coaches to evaluate 4th graders? As a parent I find this pretty disturbing. If my kid is a great player, I can at my discretion risk playing him up with older kids. Have it this way, and my kid is thrust out there with kids much older and physically developed at a safety risk and I cannot have any discretion to manage that except for pulling my kids out of youth lacrosse. This is a horrible precedent for HOCO and NPYLL to follow and the club owners pushing this grade scheme are putting youths at risk. Please write to your NPYLL or HOCO club owners and coaches if you have issue with this. Don't wait for a kid to be seriously brain damaged before caring. These are your kids too.

There are 2 boys on that infamous Madlax team that left for Blackwolf. Another 2 left for VLC, including the boy who was the target of the email from Cabell. That's close to 20% turnover.

I have firsthand knowledge; my son played on that team.

If a kid leaves for Blackwolf that is not a smack or a insult to a team. As for the 2 that went to VLC there high school teams are good at that age group. There is more then 25 kids in this area who should be playing top level travel ball. So this really says is the area is getting better as a whole. This does not say anything bad about Madlax.

who cares? This is old news. VLC and Blackwolf are falling apart, Madlax is getting stronger.

Does absolutely NO GOOD to write to HOCO . The worst part was that HOCO was the original driving force for the grade based teams at Youth Level. This is a public funded agency and to drive this is very unusual for a government agency.
Howard County Recreational Department should be ashamed of themselves and what they have brought on with grade based teams.
Prior to their league two years ago all Clubs teams at youth level were age based. If you should call or writeanyone , it should be this sad agency.

Keep dreaming. Is that why Madlax 2016 has only 1 college commitment?

Or why Madlax 2015 is the weakest in the area?

Or why the best Madlax 2016 attackman and FOGO left for the Crabs?

You couldn't be from blackwolf or you would have known the correct number of kids that left (here's a clue, it is the same number of kids that recently left vlc). That leaves the 2 vlc families, of which one is still a friend to the Madlax families, isn't a spineless coward, and wouldn't continue to beat this dead horse. That narrows it down to one person. Hmmmm - who would be crazy enough to obsess over this a year and a half later? Forgive me if I don't think you have a foot to stand on. Furthermore, 4 kids leaving over the course of 4 seasons equals to one kid per per season on avg, which comes out to be about 4%. Lastly, you didn't mention the 2 vlc players that left and joined Madlax. Why don't you just give it a rest? You are obviously upset that your plan to ruin Madlax had absolutely zero affect. Feel free to look at the npyll playoffs. Madlax made it at every level. Vlc didn't make one playoff.

VLC has 1 good team--2015. It will disappear in about 90 days, after the November tournaments. Rest of VLC teams are average or worse. Youth teams are terrible.

Blackwolf owner to Texas? Here today, gone tomorrow? Where does that leave your son? Be careful with that one.

Like it or not Mr. Vendetta, Madlax is best program in DC and getting stronger.

Sticking with a sh**bag doesn't make you loyal or true, it makes you also a sh**bag.

Got it we are bad people for playing for Madlax! My son is having fun and playing great Lacrosse, My son spends less then a hour of one on one time with Cabell a year. The other coaches could not be better guys. When does your son graduate I hope he is a 2014.

Teaching your son great lessons there. As long as it's not your kid, it's ok that he treats people like crap.

When your son finally leaves Madlax, you'll realize how stupid you've been all these years. Paying for recruiting that nobody else charges for, playing in/paying for Madlax tournaments with terrible competition, playing way too many tournaments to line his pockets, etc.

Wait till you get your email when you leave.

I am a adult man and no email is going to hurt my feeling that bad. When/ if I get a mean email when my son leaves,my son and I will see it as a Gold star showing how good of a player he was and how much he must of ment to the program. We have seen tons of great to good players cut from Madlax over the years so thats how we plan to handle this mean email coming our way one day.
Also why is it your life to kill this program? The info is out the people have spoken. You must own stock in Blackwolf or VLC.

That is a refreshing post and is not unfair. If my son left Madlax and Cabell was steamed and wrote that email to me, I'd smile too and permanently delete. Also to be very fair, the parents of the kid who was the target of Cabell's rage were scumbags to ignore his calls and emails for a month. You leave Madlax or any other club it is easy to email and call to show some class.

The parents of the kid who left are not scumbags. If you talk to anyone who has left Madlax, many of gotten the exact type of treatment from him when they left.

Why is he so angry at people leaving.

He is so mad because these teams are his life. These teams and these kids are what he does for a living. His passion is what makes Madlax great and what makes him do some really dumb things. Everyone who plays with Madlax knows the deal. So anyone who gets upset now its there own fault.

I think he takes it so personally when people leave because he takes the time to get to "know" each player in his program that it is almost insulting to him when someone leaves
I'm sure the loss of $$ plays into it some also...

Cabell has been fired from every coaching job he's ever had. As shown in the emails, he has the maturity of an infant.

He has pulled the wool over enough families that he's got a surplus of talent in the youth ranks. But when those kids hit HS and there are better clubs that do a better job getting their kids into college, they peel off. And that's when he erupts.

The player gets themsleves into the college the program gives them the platform to earn there spot in college. Madlax plays in the best tournaments and leagues. Blackwolf and VLC also play in these same tournaments and leagues. The player does the rest. The college talks to the high school to get the info about if the kid is a punk or not. These clubs do the work for the colleges by weeding out the avg. players and bringing them to one place to play. Duke does not care if Madlax wins a tournament they look at the playes play. As long as the team is soild your kid has the chance to get what he should get.

True and not true. Players have to get noticed, and that's primarily in the summer/fall with their club team (or sometimes with their HS team). You are correct that they check with the player's coaches to see what kind of student/kid he is. A lot of this falls upon the kid no matter where he plays.

But some clubs are more successful than others. Sometimes those club coachs actively work to get their kids recruited (or at least more than other coaches). Sometimes the reputation of the club/HS can play a big weight (look at the relationship between Crabs and Hopkins).

How far a club goes in a tournament can also help. Deeper runs give a better chance to be seen by the recruiters at those tournaments.

Madlax is the only club I've ever heard of that charges its kids to help them get into college. The Madlax kids we've spoken to say that Madlax doesn't do much for those who opt not to pay for this service.

Asking kids in your club to shell out $200 a month to help with recruiting seems crazy.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:2ucNHVhZNUcJ:capital.madlax.com/page/show/762677-college-recruiting-consulting+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

Madlax All-Stars Package
Cost $200/month
Open and available to 9th, 10th and 11th grade current Madlax all-stars.

Initial meeting (phone conference if out of region) with director in person with player and family
Development of a plan of attack and assignment of advisor for the student-athlete
Exclusive use of the Madlax recruiting letter to send college coaches and athletic resume
Quaterly meetings annually with advisor as necessary to re-focus
Unlimited positive character references in person, by e-mail, or phone by advisor or director for college coaches
Unlimited consultations/calls/emails with advisor
Unlimited contact with college coaches via phone or email by advisor
Exclusive use of all Madlax recruiting materials and letters
College list creation and discussion with updating throughout year
Counseling with respect to all aspects of the college admission process; application essays, recommendations, academic requirements for athletes
Unlimited counseling with respect to all aspects of game film, resumes, college visits, athletic scholarships, financial aid

Non-Madlax All-Stars Package: Cost $300/month
Open to a max of three players who are NOT part of the Madlax All-Sars program. lt inlcudes all the benefits of levels 1 and 2. Players must start this in 9th or 10th grade for it to be effective. It offers and includes all the same from the Madlax All-Stars packege above.

That's insane.

WOWZER!!!! I would say that is a little over the top!!! I can see charging something but that is crazy money!

Madlax parent here. Nobody pays that fee and we get plenty of recruiting support from Madlax. The coaches are great and spend lots of time networking with coaches at these events. I'm sure it varies from kid to kid though. For example, many of the kids that recently left VLC felt they weren't getting any recruiting support.

I agree there is not a lot if any kids in the program paying that fee.I also do not understand how people can be upset over a fee that is on the websit clear for everyone to see. That info is more for the kid who is not on a Madlax team but wants to hire them to speak for the kid. Also the Market sets all prices for everything in the USA, someone has paid it. And I always get a kick out of people talking about the price when the parents are Doctors and Lawyers. They pay 300$ for a belt.

The question we should all be asking is, Who is Luke.Mullins?

It has been 10 months and still no article. I guess where there is smoke there may not be fire.

We know several families who used the service. None of them wanted to pay the extra money, but all of them said Madlax did nothing for them until they had signed up for the service.

Ok please let me know what VLC and Blackwolf do extra for "Free" besides answer a phone and say good things about a kid that is good enough to get a phone call in the first place. If you are paying for the extra your kid is not D1 talant and you are trying to trick someone into thinking he is. There are only what 75 div 1 schools. If you are good they can find you if you play on any of these top teams in NOVA.

The bigger question is why even create an additional fee to help kids you supposedly care about in the first place? What a freakin scumbag

because he makes a living off of the program?

It is his job - not sure how many of you hypocrites do your job for free

Seriously. How many clubs charge their kids to help them get recruited? Can you name just one club who does that?

Come to think of it, what other club charges a monthly/quarterly fee to be part of their club? Our friends left Madlax and he kept ttrying to charge their card for another 6 months?

He would be a scumbag if it was not written clear to read on the website. Most Madlax parents pay the extra money because we know what we are going to get good ,bad or otherwise. Also we do not mind paying the extra money because there is not a single father of a player in the whole program. And onece again lets put the three teams full year cost for a freshman or soph. kid out here for everyone to see. I bet Madlax will be the highest but by no more then 500$

A friend of ours had two kids in the Madlax program. One kid left for another program. The owner retaliated by kicking the other sibling out of Madlax. Nice guy.

Maybe the 2nd sibling wasn't good enough to make a team?

A 2022 attackman's older brother left for Blackwolf in the spring, but the younger one made the team this fall

No, the older one had been with Madlax for years. Was cut in retaliation for the younger one leaving, and the family had to scramble to find a new home because it was during the height of the kid's recruiting season.

Again - maybe betters players came along?

Many players just make Blue every year and eventually need to be cut when the number of teams is dwindled

I just presented a counter example to yours. In my example the sibling still in the program always seems to make Orange

You can say lots of thing about Madlax but not taking the best players for the top team is not one of them. I have been around for 4 years and I pay a unhealthy amount of attion to the tryouts. And never once have I seen a clear wrong cut of a player. I have seen some player keep on the lower Blue team that might be a favor of some kind. But the Orange top team is the best always no matter who is hurt or happy. This is a funny topic when the other programs have Dads in the program and everyone can see the favors or the Daddy Ball going down.

I believe you 100%. That aside, you are the only one who brought up the topic of Madlax accepting undeserving kids. It's not really a funny topic when you are the only one who brings this up.

Further, who are the clubs in this area that have dads as coaches?

Hear of VLC? Fuze, now 3D? Crabs for god's sake? You have no clue

Many are dads, but many are also rec coaches like the vlc 2017 coach. We know several families that left because favoritism was so rampart at vlc, especially when it came to direct invites to camps like Nike blue chip.

There are no dads who coach for VLC. There was one dad who coached his son at Fuze, but he and his entire team just left 3D.

Hello All, What do you guys on here know about VEL Lacrosse league and travel team? First time seeting it. My 8th grade sons high school team is part of the league.

http://deadspin.com/hey-ungrateful-quitter-emails-from-an-angry-lacrosse-660703941

How many times is that article going to be brought up???
Cabell will have that article as a necktie forever!

VLC parents still trying to get some kids come to their club instead of just the leftovers

Pretty presumptuous of you. The owner has been fired from HS coaching job he's ever had, so I think he has plenty of critics.

Those emails are pretty indefensible.

Don't feed the animals -- sometimes VLC parents have a few before a Sunday noon and nothing better to do than see if the 'ole Cabell email string gets some play.

Yes those emails are but they are 2 years old at this point. No one at Madlax cares about them. The best kids in VA will go play for Madlax because they are the best team people do not care if the owner is mean. He is good at what he does and the club is the best top to bottom. If your son is a top player and you do not tryout for Madlax you are hurting him not helping him. If you are scared away because he might write you a nasty email you get what you get with your B level club you pick.

The replies from the family were also indefensible. Sorry bro, we were too busy at work to reply to your emails and voice mails this past month. Junior bailed for a rival club already, but thanks for the ride Cabell.

Untrue. Cabell has people who don't know anything about lacrosse scared, but that's only at the youth level. His U15 team and U13 team are pretty good, but his high school teams are well behind Blackwolf and VLC. That's because parents realize those clubs are better at placing their kids in colleges, and they are tired of paying $100+ a month for no reason.

If you are a Madlax parent and the emails don't bother you, what exactly are you teaching your kids?

Madlax for Life!

The funny thing is people think the Blackwolf guy is any better I have heard he is a real peace of work. But that does not bother me. VLC has good High School teams but we will see where they are in 3 years way behind Madlax. The Blackwolf guy also was days away from moving away and leaving the program up for grabs. So I would not trust him as far as I could throw him. So we will take our Crazy owner at least we know its a sure thing.

Madlax 2018 team already has two commits and not a single post from proud Madlax supporters, and even more disappointing no entertaining posts from VLC trashing it. Is this still a rivalry or is VLC just yesterday's program now?

How many years are the 2018 commits held back?

Well the two kids are no older then U15 because they are playing on the national team that is playing in FL in the U15 bracket. So this means to me that they where not held back and if they where they had to have been a early Birthday kid. I really do not think there is many holdbacks at Madlax if any. I know most of the kids at 2018 and 2019.

The most is one year or else the kids can't play in the IAC league as seniors.

So lets get this out there**DELETED** are not hold backs they are in 9th grade. They have gone to school from k to 9th grade in order, going to each grade one year only. Is this clear to the world. Madlax is not the crabs they do not have tons of held back kids. Good day sir I said good day!!!!!!!!

Can we not out the kids? It is ugly and leads to nastiness. Knock it off.

We've already done the D1 lax thing. Club level. Now our boy is, like, RECLASSIFIED. His recruiting video has the good lettuce. Dig it if you can deal with it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nqg01Nk3SYI

And remember, if you shoot 5 for 20 in practice but hit 2 pipes, that is, like 5 for 18.

Here is a USA Today article on the signing:

http://usatodayhss.com/2014/phenome...-youngest-ever-di-lacrosse-verbal-commit

Rules Governing All Interstate
Athletic Conference (IAC) Contests
I. ELIGIBILITY - These eligibility rules and "Special Eligibility Rules" govern all
Interstate Athletic Conference schools in any athletic contest.
A. Any student turning nineteen years of age prior to September 1 is not
eligible for that school year.

Not exactly... you can be a double holdback so long as your birthday is between Sept 1st and Dec 31st. I don't think IAC rules deter double hold-backs. Kids can go to boarding school for a senior year. Lacrosse parents will always find a way to creep somewhere else to make it work.

Landon has several kids in the soph class who turned 16 in fall of freshman year, including the kid who was their first commit in that class.

For the [lacrosse]'s TOC last year 2018 was the natural graduation year for U-13. The cutoff was Aug 1, 1999 instead of Sep 1, 1999, making it even easier to qualify on age.

Madlax sent a "National" team rather than their Madlax Capital team. The simple reason for this is that once the reclassified players were eliminated from their 2018 roster, the madlax team needed to fill the roster with others from outside DC.

However, I do believe that the two Madlax players you are referring to played on that U-13 team and therefore are not reclassified.

I know NY uses a different age cutoff for school than other school districts, but the birth dates are within the normal cutoffs used by most school districts around the country

16 before Jan 1 in Freshman year isnt common in Maryland private school but isnt that rare either. Most of the holdbacks are April to Aug so they turn sixteen during Spring and Summer.But I personally know of 2 boys with before Jan 1 birthdays held back in one Balt private school. Both play lax.

It is my understanding that both the IAC and the WCAC use the same September 1/19 years of age standard. That does not prevent a kid from playing his first 3 years of high school in one of those conferences, and then either (i) doing a PG year somewhere, or (ii) just playing on a club or all-star team his senior year, when he has most likely already committed.

Also, from my experience, the IAC has more kids who fit this category than the WCAC. (I'm an IAC parent, so I'm not trying to bash the IAC.)

However, I think the reality is that there are far fewer kids who are "true" holdbacks - i.e. they did it to get ahead athletically, and their birthdays are early - than kids who were re-classed because of late birthdays (May, June, July, August.) My IAC kid is an appropriate age kid, but I get swept up in the holdback bashing like everyone else. I just think it's a bit overblown, because the reality could never match our overactive, complaining imaginations.

I feel that is kids do a pre-K year or start late when they are 5-6 years old it is unfair to paint it with a mop that's for sports reasons and mark the kid as a "reclassified". But I really do look down on kids doing 8th or 9th grade over at an IAC or WCAC school. It celebrates weakness.

I say give it time. NCAA coaches will eventually figure out 5'9 150 pound kids they are ogling over when they are 16 in fall of 9th grade are close to mature, and that is nothing impressive.

Florida cutoffs are a year off from what you would expect. This year's U15 bracket will allow age appropriate 2017s as well as 2018 repeaters to play. Age appropriate 2018s are technically U14s under this tournament's age rules

Madlax was age based last year, not grade based so this statement is wrong.
Madlax sent a national team not because of reclassify, but because it has an obligation to use players from its partner programs, and the ones that they are used are better than the ones on the capital team

Most public schools in the IAC area use the September 1 cutoff for schools, so it is only 1 year maximum based on the normal public schools.

So does anyone of the number of Madlax kids that are reclassed or holdbacks on the 2018 teams on down. I really think the answer is like 3 or less or am I wrong?

Sad truth is a lot of kids and parents are ok with the trade off now to miss senior year on the field because by then they are committed, etc. I doubt they will feel the same when that time comes and they can't participate as seniors.

Ok here is the thing the Madlax Orange Players are all so good why would any of them need to or want to be held back.

Madlax is so overrated and the owner is an a-hole.

What has been going on with this program since the last post? It started out with some amazing accusations and hatred. Is the program running as usual? Is the coach in question running the ship? What's happening??

What has been going on with this program since the last post? It started out with some amazing accusations and hatred. Is the program running as usual? Is the coach in question running the ship? What's happening??

Madlax is as strong or stronger then it ever has been. There is no way to tell how many kids never came to Madlax tryouts that would of before the "email" but its a fact that enough people have look past it to put way above avg. teams on the field at each age group. That can not be questioned. I am sure people in the Madlax family are now way more aware of Cabell and what they might have to deal with. I have talked to several Madlax parents about this. And to a person they all are not scared or worried about what Cabell might do to them. They like the crazy its what gets things done.

Well if anyone was thinking that this board did not like Madlax. You can see for sure now. The Hop is trying to remind people how evil Madlaxs leader is and wants to make sure everyone knows this.

I have no connection to MadLax and people can put down [lacrosse]'s Tournament of Champions as much as they want, but I think the club has a right to be proud its teams won the U13 and U15 divisions. [lacrosse]'s may not have had all the top teams from NY or MD, so I'm not saying that means they are the best in the country for those years, but it's a very well-organized (and they actually required birth certificates!) and fun tournament with a lot of dedicated teams and they came and won those divisions. (U11 not so much - they looked small, but then the top team in the country - Igloo - did win U11 at [lacrosse]'s this year, just like the top U11 team in the country has for at least 4 out of the past 5 years.)

Actually I could care less about Madlax. I was reviewing the older threads on the forum list and found this thread. I read it and saw how it started and suddenly ended. That's why I asked what's going on.
If you want me to remind people just let me know and I will contact the reporter responsible for the beginning posts and maybe we can get a follow up story in the newspaper as well. Is that what you want. Let me know as I try to accommodate our readers.

It's a joke of a tournament. Everyone knows that. But if you are going to brag about winning some youth tournament, please don't call it a "national championship".

Paranoid a little?

I was actually reviewing threads on the forum list from last year and stumbled upon this train wreck. I noticed how it started and then it abruptly ended. So....I was wondering how it was going in the land of Madlax. Judging by this fellas post not so good.

Madlax is still the best team in NOVA for U9 to U15/2019 age group. And with out a question still in the top 2 or 3 clubs for the 2018 to 2016 age group. And to THE HOP the reason the post about the "evil Leader" went away is people looked into it and got over it. Like they should of. When the college coaches stop calling Cabell Maddux about 8th graders is the day Madlax dies until this day they will be just fine. And I also forgot about all the 30K high school coaches calling him to sway his players to attend there school to play lacrosse.

1. Best high school clubs are Blackwolf and VLC. Madlax is distant 3rd.

2. Madlax has the best youth teams overall right now, but changes every year, especially when they leave for other clubs after hitting HS.

3. Didn't realize that 30,000 HS coaches are calling Madlax to get his kids to attend their HS. Wow, that is a lot of HS coaches.

4. If you think it's ok to threaten a kid and his parents because they want a change, you are not teaching your kid any morals.

People leave Madlax because they get tired of his antics and paying over $1000 just to be part of his club. Look at his 2016 team. Two of their best players left for the Crabs.

$30 the high schools cost $30k. and players leaving for the Crabs that is a black eye to Madlax, They are the club every kid in 4 states wants to play for. The money is really not that much more and I am so tired of hearing that. VlC will be in 5th place in the high school ages in the next 2 or 3 years there youth teams are really avg. to bellow avg. Right now. So they leave for 2 other clubs Blackwolf and VLC. I will give you Blackwolf but that is not a option for many they only have 3 teams. But VLC will be the distant 3rd very soon. thats a LOCk. And the funny thing is you are saying the Madlax kids are leaving to play at other clubs, so this means they are good enought to make the team and push another kid off the Roster. So Madlax must be doing something correct.

That's a totally throw-away statement. However you define a tournament, it's no joke. These boards are filled with complaints of disorganized tournaments that don't follow the age rules and favor the host teams. This was extremely well organized, actually enforced age rules, required certain tournament finishes to qualify (though, admittedly some were easy, it still seemed to the kids and families that they had earned the right to go), had a really good seeding system, got teams from all over North America and was fun in every way. It is NOT a national championship and doesn't call itself that.

I have no connection with Madlax and, in fact, wouldn't want my kid in Maddux's club system, so I wasn't bragging, but I still think it's pretty respectable that Madlax won U13 and U15 at [lacrosse]'s and I expect the families feel like Madlax is doing a good job as a lacrosse club.

yes please contact the reporter for a followup that will do 2 things. 1. shut up all the haters. 2 show the board that the hop is not to be messes with!

Do you really want to read a few "I will ruin your son's lacrosse future for leaving to a rival club" emails from Crabs owner? That can be arranged. Be real careful, living in glass houses....

That's a strong accusation. You may want to PM me to discuss your post.

Do you really want to read a few "I will ruin your son's lacrosse future for leaving to a rival club" emails from Crabs owner? That can be arranged. Be real careful, living in glass houses....

Hop, he won't PM you. Way to call him out. Troll

That's cool. Cowardice accusations aside I'm interested in finding out how things at Madlax are now. That's all I've been after and apparently, judging by the responses so far it's not something that's able to be discussed without anger and personal attacks. Oh well we will see.....

The Hop was messaged. The only thing standing between Crabs owner and another Deadspin article is the dignity and discretion of a few families he sent insipid emails to. It did happen. I didn't shy away from bringing my issue with his correspondence with our son, and now would be a wise time for the posters on both sides of this to cease. Cabell did it and Ryan did it. Leaves little for either owner to be proud of.

DMVguy has in fact messaged me. I am glad he did and he seems to have a good outlook on youth sports. Kudos to him for taking the time to discuss this issue with me.

So to break this down Madlax charges 25% or so more money then the other clubs. And there owner has written some over the top emails. Those are the bad things. But the good things are they have very good to great teams from U9 threw high school. They have no parents involed in the coaching system from top to bottom. They pick the best players no matter if you are a public or private school kid. If you want to and can you can play in more games then any team around with Madlax. All there coaches have played the game at a high level and have the energy to coach and keep up with the kids. There is more good things but if you feel the two bad things I started with are not worth the tons of good things. Thats fine with me thats just more playing time for my kid.

[quote=DMVguy]The Hop was messaged. The only thing standing between Crabs owner and another Deadspin article is the dignity and discretion of a few families he sent insipid emails to. It did happen. I didn't shy away from bringing my issue with his correspondence with our son, and now would be a wise time for the posters on both sides of this to cease. Cabell did it and Ryan did it. Leaves little for either owner to be proud of.

That's very exciting that you want forums readers to think you have a "smoking gun". You are a regular TMZ operative. Unless your produce the proof, Madlax dude is the only psycho emailer. Or the only one dumb enough to put those things in writing.

Can we please pull up the date on this email? It has to be 3 years old by now.

It's 2 years old but hardly an outlier. He tries to charge parents an extra 6 months of academy fees if they leave. if a kid leavws, he kicks out their siblings. He has been fired from hs job and threatened his hs team that they had to play madlax or else. Swell guy.

Thanks I am leaving today you talked me into it.

[quote=Anonymous]It's 2 years old but hardly an outlier. He tries to charge parents an extra 6 months of academy fees if they leave. if a kid leavws, he kicks out their siblings. He has been fired from hs job and threatened his hs team that they had to play madlax or else. Swell guy.

Ouch!

VLC Crabs tack on seasonal "member fees" in addition to seasonal dues and tournament fees. Crabs owner attended zero VLC practices and no VLC team games not coincident with Baltimore Crabs being at same event, and then urges VLC players who want his advocacy to attend his $700 three day prospect camp in order to see the kids on a club he owns. I can understand if you avoid Madlax because of academy fees, but alike tack on fees are abound with Crabs, especially if you want the organization to advocate for your son to college coaches. Leave VLC and that's fine with them, but that also means the family is out. Family profile is removed from the website to register for anything including tryout fees. And then, of course, VLC coaches are told not to give references for any kid who leaves and there have been "negative recruiting" things repeated to college coaches about former VLC players. Let's not confuse a negative opinion of Madlax with a grass is greener argument for their competitor club. I have arrived at a belief that Madlax and VLC have mostly great kids who are friends and respectful competitors with each other on clubs and at rival schools. Too bad a lot of them have horrible, vitriolic gossip parents. I can still remember a VLC and Madlax U-15 game which had to be stopped by the refs who heard parents screaming "hurt them" to kids on the field. That about says it all. This game belongs to the kids. The owners and parents at both clubs need to figure out some civility and class between themselves for either club to thrive going ahead IMHO.

My son has played for Madlax since his 2nd year of U11. The program has worked for us but it may not be for everyone. Has it always been perfect - no. I have friends with kids in Blackwolf and VLC and from our conversations there is plenty good and bad with each club. Some have issues with keeping quality coaches, some have issues not playing enough tournaments to stay competitive. I don't know any families with kids that play for BLC but I know that they always have a strong team and that we always look forward to playing against them. I also know that each club owner from Madlax to VLC to BLC and others such as the Hawks and the Dukes HHH - they all put a lot of time and passion into their program and players. We as parents just have to determine which fit is best for our kids - its their game in the end. To the comment regarding siblings getting kicked off when another leaves the program at Madlax - I don't personally know of any family where that's happened. However I do know one family where an older brother left Madlax for another team but the younger brother continued with Madlax and continues to be one of their best players in his particular age group. As I said in the beginning - each club has pros and cons - you just have to figure out which club works best for your kids. On the positive side, there is no shortage of clubs in the DC/Baltimore area so if one doesn't work out there are plenty of others to choose from...