The Main board is getting confusing with club teams getting mixed up by age.

Starting Point:
2022 Rankings:
Freedom
Sons
PA Rough Riders
HHH
Mesa
BL
Dukes

The Dukes National Team is at the top of that list

Duke National attack aint nothing to fear

Is this just PA?

Seems a bunch missing.

Just Philly teams.

No national teams. (Just Philly Dukes)

There is no more Philly Dukes, this is the National Team and yes, they are ranked behind all of the other teams. Dukes time has come unfortunately.

Dukes is done agreed. It is a shame as they were certainly the gold standard in Philly and in some eyes the country. The had alot of integrity, churned out some fantastic alumni: Jordan Wolf, Tucker Durkin, Amato, the list goes on and on. Unfortunately there aggressive expansioni plans dilute the standard and the partners they jumped in to bed ....

My son got a invite to one of the Dukes National mini camps what to expect?

They still have good coaches but bring the checkbook and be prepared to be given the pitch

How does the depth chart work?

Listen the Dukes doesn't practice in HS, parents have wised up and are leaving in droves because other philly clubs are doing year round training like the rest of the lax world. You just saw an article pushed out by nxt about 4 kids "welcomed" to their 2019 team. All former dukes kids.

Everyone on whatever email list they got their hands on was invited. They carry twice the number of kids that they invite to play at tournaments. The kids not on the traveling roster are invited to invest more in the mini camps to up their game to the level where they might be invited to play on game day.

Duke has a 2022 Young guns team

It has a timeshare sales feel to it...
The depth chart is a pretty good idea, IMO. Keeps kids hungry but can also frustrate kids at the same time.
If your kid "makes the team" then hes on the depth chart. If he's below the travel line, he doesn't play in tournaments.
They want your commitment to the program but don't give you the commitment that your kid will play. I am ok w it, some parents aren't.
And there are some pissed parents whos kids were above travel line, went to tournament and then the kids got 4 shifts all weekend. These aren't bad players. Some of the best out there.
Basically, your kid will make it as it will set up annuity business for them to collect $75 per minicamp. Not an exclusive team at all, for that reason.
They always are adding players to the roster, never cutting anyone.
Don't forget, you get to spend weekends with all those LI psychopath dads that we see at tourneys and we all loathe.
And there are 14 year olds on the 22s.

If your son is an attackman he should move up quickly.

How are there 14 year olds on 2022. No there are not. The Freshman are 14 going on 15

Why bother with this if your son is already on one of the top clubs? I don't get it.

Any teams going to Denver? Or trying to reach it?
There are some grumblings of a composite Philly team.

I think most teams are dumping the Denver championship and doing the Millon one in MD that uses standard club ages.

By standard club ages you mean zero age requirement/validation?

If there is interest I would throw a team together.

Invite only

NO the standard age requirements that every club and tournament has been using for years. Not the US Lax and rec rules. The same one your team has been using.

The club standard that the World Series has been using till this year! Zero age requirement and Validation ? Maybe you live under a rock but every Tournament including WSL and this new MM tourney have strict validating rules.
Have fun putting a 'composite'. all star' team together to go play against teams playing all year together.

And paying 2k to get there!

How many teams for the Freedom Playday this weekend at 22?

4....NXT, freedom, Sons, blue star

Freedom in a different league than Sons, NXT, and Blue Star. No one came within 6 at Freedom Play day.

Sons daddy here.
Couldn't agree more.

They should be tested in Bell Air on the 12th of November

How'd Duke's Nationals do this weekend?

How are Mesa and HHH teams at 2022 level? came down to MD last Sunday--Mesa looked a bit stronger.

How did they do against the MD teams?



Finished third -- went 3-0 in pool play and lost to NL Greyhounds in the semifinals (but beat LI Express in the third place game).

Mesa lost by a couple to Crabs and HHH lost by more to Crabs

This is an outright lie.

First of all, if you think this is an email blast you're absolutely wrong. It is an invite-only situation and if you went to the minicamps you would see that everyone there is a very good player. The only ones that may not be are ones that are recommended by somebody and tryout--that being said, if they're not high quality players you won't see them at the next event.

Beyond that, camps vary in cost depending on the location/events planned, but are always a high quality training opportunity. The reason so many of the invitees go is because the parents/players recognize the value. I've seen MULTIPLE professional lacrosse players providing specialized position training at minicamps to supplement the quality coaches they already have involved.

As for the depth chart, it is absolutely no different than how most college teams work--be the best player in your position and you can travel, if not keep pushing yourself to get better so you can.

This is somebody trying to fling mud.

Dukes Nationals is a total money grab. The depth chart model only worked for the Dukes Club when they were the main HS club in the Philly area. With Mesa, Freedom, and HHH starting up kids went to these teams to get seen at recruiting events. Why would a 6th, 7th, or 8th grade kid who already plays for an elite club in Baltimore, PHilly, or L.I. Go play for Dukes Nationals as well? You are already going to get seen at the top recruiting tournaments. And don't give me the elite coaching, that is a Dukes Nationals line for the parents wanting to brag about their son playing on a national team to bite on. If you are an elite player playing on an elite club, I think you will turn out just fine without falling for the Dukes Nationals money grab. The elite clubs haven't had a problem coaching up their kids so far as I can tell.

who is playing in fall harvest this weekend?

Massive event the schedule is out. They really run the biggest and best events. Considering this is fall ball to get 19 teams in the 2022 bracket alone is impressive.

Total agreement.....but parents feel they must do it to keep up with the others.

Mini camps are good workouts for 60 bucks but they loose a lot of credibility when they call it an evaluation. No numbers no clipboards. Your kid better be a hammer to get noticed at these things.

Nothing wrong with mixing it up on a different team, no stress, different coaches and way of coaching. Meeting new kids . Getting after it with no real pressure .
If it fits in the schedule with out conflicts with HIGH PRESSURE CLUB that what the [lacrosse] does any care what these young boys want to do. Which is play lacrosse as much as possible ..

How's this "National" team do versus local teams?
Are they playing in "National" tourneys?
I'd expect them to only play on LI or Baltimore where there's their level of competition...

So the question is: is Duke's Nationals always reppin', or just sometimes reppin'?

Dukes would kill all of the philly clubs except for freedom. It would come down to dukes higher overall skill level vs freedom having some team chemistry from playing together. I would give the edge to dukes by 3-4 goals

Dukes minicamps are good. Tournament teams not so much you never know what players show up to play. This past weekend they where struggling to get players all Ny players where playing in the same tournament. I like the concept don't know if it works at the youth level.

Can you really call it a team when you have no idea who will show up at any event?

BBL Elite beat Duke's Nationals at Harvest Classic today.

Team 11 had a horrible day at Harvest Classic. Sankey needs to start recruiting.

Love the helmets though i

Coming from a friend in Long Island: Rome was not built in a day. It takes time to develop players and a team. Don't doubt that the Team 11 coaching leadership will establish an excellent lacrosse program. Marketing and recruiting is a part of youth sports, but the focus should be on the instruction and experience that a lacrosse club offers to the kids.

The key to the club is Sankey himself. Parents will pay and invest if he coaches there kid but he isn't and that will catch up to them. They are competing with the other for profit/full time clubs like NXT, Mesa, Dukes and then dad type of programs like Freedom, Roughriders, Brotherly Love, Bucks, Rising Sons, Elevated and the list goes on.

I give it a few years and it will fizzle. There just isn't enough elite talent in Philly to support this many youth clubs and cool helmets alone with an illustrious college career isn't a sustainable model.

He was there yesterday. But you are correct there are way too many programs in the Philly area.

He has been at both tournaments we have played and all but one of the 6 skill sessions (he was honored by NC one weekend). He runs optional (for fee) Saturday offensive clinics as well and has been super communicative along with his brothers and father. Practices are run very efficiently and plenty of other coaches on hand with Pro, College and Youth experience. I have been pleasantly surprised. Some of this will undoubtedly change in the spring as he will be coaching Penn Charter.


No idea how good the team will be when all is said and done (as you indicated the dilutive effect of having so many clubs), but no doubt my son's lacrosse IQ and skill level will improve....and the sick helmet....

Good Fall Brawl playday yesterday.
In the A division BBL, Sons, Mesa were are pretty close.
I think Sons lost to both BBL and Mesa by 1-2 goals.
Sons is improving but not quite there yet.
I think Mesa won all three and looked pretty good.
Officiating was ok and it was a well run event.
Thanks to the volunteers and promoters.

Freedom 22 are bbest in Philly IMO

Think A Hawks, LI Express, Arden, 91 and Igloo all better though but that's really good company.

Freedom 22 best in Philly, yes
Far from those other teams
The scores will tell the tale...

How did Mesa do at UNC today? Looks like it was tough competition down there.

Are any of the Philly 2022 teams going to try and qualify for WSYL?

It is no effort to qualify. Just go to the tourney and pay. It is a B level tourney.

I keep reading it is a B tourney, yet every elite NY team seems to be entered as well as Diamonbacks, Breakers, BBL Elite..
is it only a B event to the teams that can't field age appropriate teams or is there another reason? Also only 4 teams out of 16 in each bracket make it to Denver seems like getting thru the qualifying would take some effort.

Breakers? Sorry, my mistake, it's a C Level tournament.

Yeah now your proving your an a** hat. Breakers beat Freedom 22 last summervFtH2d

I didn't even know Breakers had a 2022 team last year.

Anyone stating that this is a B tournament must be working for Young Guns in Maryland which stands to suffer from all these good clubs going to Denver the weekend of their event.

Your missing the point this isn't WYSL for the best 2022 Team but the best U13 team. The fact that all the best clubs play 2022 and grade based we get that as that discussion has been endless. This is the WSYL saying that we need to go age based and do it right. Kudos to them for making the right decision. Anyone thinking that youth lacrosse should continue with a grade based model is simply either self serving or really dumb. My son plays for a top notch 2022 in MD and I can tell you there are 7 kids that don't make the cut off for this tournament and we aren't the only MD based team with the same issue. This is a 2023/2022 tournament and that is okay.
Last time I checked in basebal their LIttle League World Series is 100% age based .

What makes it a B level tournament is that the majority of teams entering will get killed by 8+ goals by the 2 or 3 A level teams that enter.

The sad thing is that those 2 or 3 A level teams live at most 200 miles from each other but travel almost 2000 miles to play each other.

They travel for the experience, the pageantry, playing at Mile High Stadium, getting dressed in the Broncos dressing room, play on ESPN in front of a national audience, to celebrate the game.

As far as your logic for being a B Level tournament because of the lack of parity your description sounds like most of the tournametns we go to and we have been to NLF, Young Guns, Hogans, NXT Cup, etc. In pool play the scores are almost always 8+ plus goals and at each grade there is ususaly 2-3 top teams. Sounds exactly what you described for WSYL.

Our last tournament this past summer we smoked every team we played in pool play, smoke the teams in quarters, and semis and got smoked in the finals ourselves. By that logic there were only 2 elite teams in the whole bracket of 2022 and they started with 4 pools.

WSYL is their third year, they will have growing pains, the last two finals have been almost unwatchable due to the blow outs, but if it can do what Little League World Series does for basebal, to lacrosse should we all be supportive. It can only help our game if they continue to move in the right direction and making this a U13 tournament aligned with the governing body of the game is a great start.

They need all the support they can get to pay for the airtime and the airlines and hotels need your support as well.

It better be a good experience because it is not good lacrosse.

Why such a Debbie Downer. I would have no problem paying for airlines, hotels, and airtime to visit Denver over Fourth of July with my family.

Let's see, the four teams that have made the finals so far are NY 91, Crabs, Legacy, and Igloo. You trying to tell me those teams don't play good lacrosse.

Dude you need to get on some anti-depressants ASAP. You sound like Scrooge you must be a real joy to hang out with, comical.

You just proved the point. 4 teams within 200 miles 3 within 20 miles. Most games were not good games at that tournament. The final was pretty good.

Why don't they have it in Hawaii? That's a more fun place to vacation than Denver.

I'm sitting on a beach on the 4th of July. Denver, and Colorado in general, is useless unless you're skiing/boarding.

They have it there so that it's accessible to the west coast. West coast teams won't need to travel too far to play quality teams. East coast teams dont need to travel for excellent lacrosse.

Based upon your response I am going to guess you are fat and out of shape.

Anyone that thinks there is nothing to do in the summer in Colorado doesn't place a premium on outdoors: nature, walks camping, hiking trails, canoeing, white water rafting mounting climbing, etc. Ever hear of Rocky Mountain National Park?

Go get yourself another cheesesteak you fat f*&^

You actually just proved my point. You my friend can only see as far as your nose. Most of these ELITE tournaments are won by the same handful of clubs from the same geographical hotbeds...sounds like WSYL?? That is NOT good for the game long term. More kids playing, more high schools adding programs, more collegiate programs, more MLL/NLL franchises IS good for the game. How do you grow the game. By having it in a huge growth area. Denver lacrosse is exploding. The moron that suggest Hawaii...don't know what you do for a living but logistics is not one of your strengths.

Get over yourself EAST coast lacrosse superiority is numbered in the game of lacrosse. California, Texas, Colorado will soon rival them. I am from the East Coast in a hotbed area and I welcome that kind of parity....you however would rather revel in your superiority in a sport that you hope remains a niche sport for the affluent so that your Johnny can look like a stud athlete and receive a fraction of a fraction of 12.5 scholarships

Either that or you work for Young Guns. Let's flip flop it... how is Young Guns going to be an elite tournament when the majority of the best 2023/2022 players are in Denver. You are right 3 of the WSYL teams that won it are within 20 miles of each other and guess what...all three are going back...so sounds to me like Young Guns will be a B/C tournament based upon your logic.

You have no clue what so ever. The three teams going to Denver are good teams but do you think that for one minute that without them Young Guns will be a B/C tournament? You are sadly mistaken. That tournament will continue to be an AA tournament without your 3 little precious teams from NY. Get over yourself, reach down and gram both ears and pull real hard.
Time you see the light of day.

Based on the teams already committed to and listed on the Young Guns website, it will be one of the better tournaments of the summer, right behind Millon's Natl. Championship. That tournament has all the best teams from LI and MD with a few other sprinkled in. WSYL will be a great experience, but not the best competition.

No one is going out there to walk, camp, hike,canoe, rock climb, etc.

They are going trophy hunting to beat up on weak teams and then have 1 or 2 competitive games.

Ahhh...... Just as I suspected, your all about the Young Guns. Your true agenda finally comes out.

the only "pulling" going on around here is you reaching for your Johnson and grafitying yourself on what a great tournament youre going to, go grab another sausage and peppers on a hoagie roll...fat boy...Colorado...nothing to do... outside...unbelievable.

Not worth talking to his guy, his son is probably one of the Crabs 14 yr old 2023's. Life is about experience's any team can go to Young Guns. Denver for most is a 1 shot deal, why not go? Please don't compare back water MD were the tournament is to Denver either.

Time you see the light of day. I went to Young Guns last year and it was a good tournament but lets not pretend it competes with a NLF or NXT Cup type of event.
We played in the 2024 AA bracket and there was only 5 teams last year. NOT GOOD. 5 teams barely makes a viable bracket Summer of 2016

This is what you will see in 2017:
2025 Maybe 6 teams at best...only 5 last year.
2024 Tops 10 Teams
2023 Diluted because alot of the older 2023 kids will be in Denver
2022 Diluted because the top teams will be in Denver or oldest kids
2021 Good
2020 Good

Stopped at 9th grade since the focus is youth. Does that look like a kick butt AA Tournament to you? Don't believe it look it up. Their committed teams for 2017 is way behind what it was same time last year. Also, intereting is the names that aren't there specifically at 2023/2022

No one is going out there to walk, camp, hike,canoe, rock climb, etc.

They are going trophy hunting to beat up on weak teams and then have 1 or 2 competitive games.

Really, most of the people I talked to who all cite a once in a lifetime experience
And they made a family vacation out of it. You don't think these families that go to colorado stay an extra few days and see one of the most beautiful states in the Union?
Love to be your kid ....

Denver lacrosse may exploding but their teams are not competitive.

There are no competitive teams in driving distance to this tournament.

There might be 20 AA teams in the country and only getting 3 of them to attend a tournament is not good enough to call it an AA tournament.

Honestly how many true AA teams are playing in each of these grade divisions. Just because you play AA doesn't mean you are AA. I would contend at 2024, 2023, 2022 there are not more than 10 AA teams at each. I just have some familiarity with those divisions as I have seen those teams when my boys play. Thus all the blowouts in pool play.
At 2022 I will give you 4 from LI, 3 from MD, 1 from Philly, 1 from New England and 1 from Canada

Why, because you say so. The other poster had it correct, seems you still haven't reached down and pulled your head out. Many better places to go for vacation than
Denver in the summer. It's busiest time is the winter, for people who like to ski and snowboard. I would safely guess you are not a travel agent either. So, strike two, know nothing about lacrosse or travel.

I would safely guess that you are the 1st poster's, fatter buddy both convinced that your sons going D1 for lacrosse cause they are tearing it up against all the "of age" kids while being two years older. Yanking each other off about what studs your boys are.

All the families that I know that went stayed an extra few days. But what is the point trying to convince you, since your boy who I am sure plays attack despite the fact that the whole team knows he doesn't have the skill set, is already to old to play. Give me a break Young Guns?... also that tournament is stacked with a bias to the Crabs which is why every year there are less and less. I find it interesting that the Crabs went the first year and supported WSYL tournament and skipped their own tourament. I am guesssoing that they decided not to send them to this U13 tournament because their 2024 team isn't that good. Either that or maybe because you guys got embarassed on National TV and smoked by 91. You and your sedentary friend go share a Hoagie and bask in your stupidity.

I really wish I knew who you were. You come on here, an anonymous board, and start trashing kids, and alluding that one is my kid and describing him in a less that favorable light. If I knew who you were, you wouldn't like the end results.
First of all, I have no son playing for Crabs, never have, do not like the program or their leader. Second, I do feel their tournaments are well run and are, for the most part, well attended by good teams. Your opinions are useless, much like yourself.
Why don't you keep your fat dumb [lacrosse] in NY, keep going to Denver and make an attempt at white water rafting and perhaps we will be lucky and never hear from you again.
To trash 12 year old kids on any forum, let along an anonymous forum is way below trash. But that seems to fit your personality. And I'm sure you know what yanking is all about, that is probably all you get, yourself.

Ok tough guy. Based upon your aversion to physical activity and outdoor pursuits likely fatter and more out of shape than I originally thought. It would be over quickly. Seems like the pot calling the kettle black mr. anonymous. Your trashing of the Denver tournament, belittling WSYL, calling it a B/C tournament...give me a break. Your agenda of a smearing campaign is not putting you in a flattering light. What's it to you if teams decide to go to WSYL, your continued insistence that the WSYL is a B/C tournament makes your agenda suspect my rotund friend....so your kid plays attack and doesn't have the skills...you won't be the first daddy nor the last...must say really struck a nerve. But I am over and out heading back to NY board so we don't bore everyone else with your babble about how bad the WSYL is.

This is how fuc*ing dumb you are. You can't even read posts correctly. Never said Denver or WSYL was a B/C tournament, I just stated that even without your little three NY teams, Young Guns would still be a strong tournament, and no where a B/C but an A/AA tournament, But again, you show how much of a dumbsh*t you are
Your obsession with weight and fat just proves the point that you are a fat [lacrosse] slob, overweight and probably hasn't seen their feet in years. I'm sure your little johnny is the same way, and wants to play goalie so he doesn't have to run because of his weight. Like father like son. You are probably registered and that is the reason you won't disclose your location. You are right on one thing fatboy, if you met me it would be over quicker that you think. You would be destroyed. Now, go back to the NY forums because everyone in Pa and Md doesn't want to hear from you again. Thank goodness this is a written forum and we do not have to hear your [lacrosse]*y NY accent. Your dribble is worthless.

You could fry an egg on your head.

That makes absolutely no sense. Must be a NY thing.

Ok, you two might titans of the ring both step back and step down. Nobody wants to hear from either one of you. Much less watch you two sweaty bowls of jelly grappling with each other to see who is tougher.

Worse than watching Judge Judy....not that I EVER watch that show ; )

The WSYL is not for everyone...Young Guns is not everyone. Honestly what is the point of denigrating either event?

You need to ask the butthead from NY, he seems the one that is stirring up this crap.

Man let it go that guy is long gone and based upon your reaction he stirred "your" pot.

Does anyone know if a team from Philly is going. Seems a darn shame that nobody would represent. I know teams from MD where my college roommate has a kid are definitely going. NOT saying it is AA,A,B,C or big fat F. But you can't argue with national TV on Fouth of July...LIke the concept....just saying.

Word is BL is taking a team. 22/23 kids.
Will be fun for those kids and parents.
I'm for almost any tournament that isn't on Long Island. I'd rather fly to Denver than drive to LI any day.
And that has zero to do with LAX...

I think what rubs people the wrong way about is WSYL is that they are not grade based like most tournaments so the clubs have to try to pull together an All Star team of any qualifying kids from two different teams within the club or even other clubs to attend - so it really does not show how good (or bad) the teams that train together all year really are.

Exactly. It's very difficult for teams to try and find enough kids that are the same age. Sometimes you'll have to go down two, maybe three grade levels just to cobble together enough kids the same age. The grade based model is much easier way to show how good our older kids can play against the best kids from LI, that are in many cases 1 to 3 years younger. The other thing is, it exposes how bad our teams are when we're forced to play on age. We lose all the time on a level playing field. The only way to really match up against the best is to play down, and claim it doesn't matter.
You Philly guys crack me up, you're actually complaining that you have to follow the rules and admitting you can't compete. Classic.
As long as there is a strict age rule, you have no shot!

Really?
I know of a Philly 2024 that beat every team on Long Island at 2024 except for the Wolfpack which suffice to say is top 2 in the country and the score of that game was 6-3 with the Philly team playing a particularly poor game. The whole team from Philly falls under the September 1st deadline except for ONE player. Based upon the messages on the LI board you seem to spend the majority of your day accusing each other of having over age and reclassed kids.

Thus you are telling me the best teams on LI are actually 1-3 years YOUNGER than their counterparts. That is a crock...the pollution up there must be mutating your kids and your logic.

What team in the 2022 is competitive?

How was the dukes minicamp in philly? My son was invited but did not attend

They're all "competitive"
Put it this way, if they all played 91 the scores would be:
Freedom 4-13
HHH 3-13
Sons 3-13
Rough Rider Elite 2-14
Mesa 4-16

Dream on little boy.

What happened to [lacrosse]'s ToC?
Nobody at the U13 went down?
Zero competition down there this time.
What a joke...
FCA vs ? in the final.
Not one LI team and only one MD team.
Duke's Nationals took their 22s down and should compete but don't see them winning it. They do, after all, have 14 year olds on that team.

FCA and Dukes in finals. Dukes team has more 2021kids then 2022 kids on the team that went to Tampa.

And these D Bags will be hammering social media with claims of being national champions

Yep. And still got beat by a team from NC.
That's right, North Carolina.
Imagine you flew your crew to Tampa to play and brought in a bunch of ringers and presented yourself as a "national" team and you get beat by a team from NC?
Can't make this stuff up...
Happy for the kids and parents from NC. Had to be a great win for them.

Dicks TOC update for 13U (2021 and younger):
FCA 3-0
Tampa Tarpons 3-0
Carolina Lite 3-0
LaxNation 3-0
Dukes Nationals 2-1 (Lost to Carolina Lite)
Atlanta Crush 2-1
Stars and Stripes 2-1
GA Blue Jays 2-1

why so much hate for the dukes?

Losing 4-3 to Carolina in a 25 min game is nothing to be ashamed of...

no hate for Dukes here
It's just not a Philly team
Not a 2022 team either
Hope they can get by the teams from FL, GA, and North Dakota to prove their "national" dominance

Nothing to be ashamed of. Except the fact that you're a National team getting beat by a team from NC.
A "National" team.
Hilarious.
Keep us posted on the other 25 minute games Dukes daddy...

Because they have a lot of kids paying to play for them, but a lot of the kids never get to play because the Dukes have Guest players taking their spots.

Why only a 25 minute game?

Oh look Dukes lost again at Dicks. No championship for them

Its their 2021 Team not 2022

Pool games are 25 minutes. Bracket play is full game.

So why wouldn't Long Island 2021 teams like Igloo, Team 91 (Blaze), LIE and Legacy want to attend the [lacrosse]'s Tournament? Here is a plausible answer. If they had to play age appropriate, you would get your asses kicked. Well, with the exception of Igloo. At least they had some class at the WSYL. All other LI teams who participated loaded up with 15 year olds. Before you snap back and try to convince me I'm wrong, I know nothing about lacrosse, and start bashing me about my lack of understanding, just know that I family that play for both Legacy and 91 "Blaze". I can assure you that they were not playing their U13 kids at WSYL.

Getting back to [lacrosse]'s. Please don't try to use the competition was weak or you were preparing for showcases excuses. I'm so sick of hearing them.

Most of you are all just cry babies that make excuses for your team(s). I have news for you. LI isn't going to be so special much longer. Its this type of backstabbing, trash talking, blatant cheating and land grabbing that gives us all a bad name. And, is watering down the Long Island brand. I'm so glad that we moved from there.

Dukes were 2021 mostly. Their 2022 kids rode the bench.

Is that is why I saw Kooper, Crab and Carolina Cannon Helmets on the Duke's Team?

That team from Carolina also beat Bethesda and ALL Madlax 2021 teams last year!

The Carolina team, less 2 or 3 kids, was the same team that went to Denver last summer for WSY.

OK Team Carolina who moved from Long Island. Get ready for a beating from LI teams like Igloo, 91 and your former team who is definitely glad you moved too. I guarantee, to a player, the LI teams mentioned are younger than your 2002 born 8th graders. BTW hope you stopped with the red solo cups but unfortunately after reading your ridiculous post I doubt it.

Your reaction is exactly what I expected. You know exactly what I'm talking about.

Team Carolina, Ha! Unlikely. Unless they have expanded into Mass.

Red Solo cups are a southern thing. Wouldn't happen on our sidelines, but thank you.

If a tournament is age based and skips the even ages (12U, 14U, etc), it is definitely garbage.

Enjoy your trophy but you know it was not a hard tourney to win. There are more than a dozen teams in the northeast that would kill your team.

I see that Team Carolina is playing at a real championship later this year - Millon 2022 National Championship. If team Carolina holds up the Million 2022 championship Trophy, I will agree they are great but I doubt they come away with a single win.

Brutal commentary , take a chill pill and relax. Why are you so bitter about the success of other teams and take it so personal. Does your kid feel the same way. Does he even know you are on here bashing a your lacrosse team and telling them their success was not hard earned ! Wow! Class A Punk in all walks of life.

Just fyi the Team Carolina at Dicks was a 2021 team which we have seen at many tournaments and they are good who knows about 2022.

2022 Team Carolina, according to Google and tourney machine lost to Sons, True and MD Roughriders and beat LI Outlaws at the NSCLA tournament last summer.

Whatever your smoking..please share! LOL

Hello

My son who is a goalie will be looking for a team next season. He is 2021/22. He struggles in school so I am leaving it up to him if he feels repeating will give him that extra year he needs to be academically better offer as he heads into high school. He is a solid A player and I would like to see him remain playing with top caliber teams. Can you advise me around the BlueBell, PA area what travel teams and (Academics/Lax) schools are competitive? Looking around a 30 Mile limit. We will be moving this coming fall.

Thanks so much

Maybe getting a tutor instead of worrying about travel lacrosse might be a good start.

here is an idea..Get your son a tutor and get off this thread...Are you kidding me...you are a loser of a parent

Yes get the tutor, cannot beat a good academic foundation. All the rest will take care of itself despite micro-managing.

Fact - The #1 GPA student in a top private prep school was denied admission to their college choices and was disgusted to see dozens of their less academic, but lacrosse playing classmates be admitted to top ivy, acc, and big 10 schools.

Unfortunate, but the way of the world today.

T91MD wins NXT indoor championships over Hawks.

With guest players.

who brings guest players to a tournament with 26 minute games?

T91MD

Brought in 2 kids to help them win the 2024 championship also. Keeping in classy in 5th grade sports. Wow

Any team lacking a full compliment of players would do the same.Happens all the time.

Report cards and birth certificates will be required for age verification. Don' t diss Millon until your kid has played for him and he has opened his home to your family. The guy may be an [lacrosse], but he is a fair [lacrosse] - and one heck of a lacrosse mind. You want your kid to just win, send him to API, Hawks, etc. Yoy want your kid to have an extraordinary understanding of the game of lacross - win or lose, mostly win - bring him to 91 and watch him flourish. Millon and I are not friends, but the guy knows the game and requires the same of his players. His kids will hit high school and out think everyone on the field. Go,91.

Those kids signed up for and paid to be part of the t91md winter box program. They were not invited to just play in one tournament without paying. Nothing wrong with that.

Anyone else get a creepy abandoned amusement park feel from that sportsplex where NXT had the tourney?

Great rinks though once you got inside.

Or out scream!!

Those kids signed up for and paid to be part of the t91md winter box program. They were not invited to just play in one tournament without paying. Nothing wrong with that.

As a Brotherly Love parent I 100% agree with you there is nothing wrong with 2 players that are part of the box program. The reason we lost the game is also 100% our fault. You cannot give up a 4 minute non releasable penalty where 3 goals were scored. We were fortunate to tie it up. Especially in a shortened game format like NXT was running. But let's be honest 91 MD wants no parts of this team outdoors at Elite Eight.

Guest players from where?

STOP

Other clubs. Our kids know who they are.

91 MD won the game over BL in a shootout and that is fact.

However lets make sure the truth is revealed. Millon has earned an interesting reputation as a coach that will win at all costs and second to none when it comes to berating the referees. When the 91 player attempted to "get up" from his injury Millon held him down and said "stay down" it was both seen and heard by BL parents. With the running clock the rest of the half ticked away. He burned 5 minutes off the clock with this strategy. Brotherly Love was clearly the better team as evidenced by the fact that MD 91 scored three goals in the 4 minute NON releasable penalty and yet BL still came back and tied the game when the penalty was released with 4 straight unanswered goals. While I would like to think that Millon told the player to "stay down" in the best interests of the player his reputation precedes him.

Hey 91 MD put us in your bracket at Elite Eight we would like another shot, you guys are hosting the event it is up to you to make it happen.

Didn't 91MD beat BL earlier in the day too? Millon didn't "burn" 5 minutes of their time in that game. What's your excuse for losing that game?

T91 MD 2024 beat BL twice - not just once in championship game.

You mean T91 All-Stars? MD and NY

No excuses yes they beat us by a single goal. I didn't make any excuses the first time if you look at my post closely. Yesterday they were the better team no doubt as evidenced by the scoreboard. The better team doesn't always win and that is okay. That is more than most people that post here can concede.

If you were at the game and watched the championship ...then tell me I am wrong. MD 91 scores 3 goals over 4 minutes of being man up and then BL shuts them out and scores 4 goals unanswered to tie the game up when even up. The fact of the matter remains that the BL 2024 like the 2023 team is clearly the best in Philly and 2 poles away from being able to run with any team in the country. To address the previous post about this team being a two kid team I think there are 5 elite players on this team NOT just two.

I find it hard to believe the refs called a 4 min penalty. They were letting everything go.

Both the games against 91MD and BL were very similar, with 91MD going up by a 3-4 goals and BL coming back to make it a close game.

BL is a good team and is competitive with 91MD, there is no doubt about that, but saying they are clearly better is a stretch. I'd like to see them play at the Elite 8. If it happens, should be a great match up.

Hard to say I thought the two teams were evenly matched and the game could have gone either way. However, I did not see 5 elite players on BL. I saw 4-5 "good" players but only 1 was elite. I will give that player #10 props. He was a stud offensively with the majority of their goals and caused havoc defensively; clearly the best player on the court, but I would have to respectfully disagree with your assessment of 5 elite players on the BL Team. We will see you at Elite Eight.

The kid was lying on the ground for 5 minutes, I think that is why they called the 4 minute penalty. I get it; however, in a 26 minute game that is too long 2 minutes NON releasable is more than enough...Hey NXT...food for thought. Anytime you have a 26 minute game that is way to short to hand out a 4 minute penalty...you are basically handing the game to the other team.

BL parents must be rattled they are promised championships not losses. They will not be able to brag. Hope this is fixed soon could be a long summer on this forum with their excuses.

Why all this talk about BL on the 2022 forum.

Did they even have a 2022 team in the tournament?

No but any chance to bash them won't be missed

Agreed. Moderator we need a 2024 thread to be started....it's getting hot in here.

Any registered user can start a new thread. Why not register and do it?

Let me break out my how to manual and see if there are some I instructions

By registering with the forum, you will be able to edit your member profile and preferences. You will get the most out of your time here if you change your profile and preferences to suit your individual tastes. There are many options in your profile to make your experience here more enjoyable, so please take a few moments to try the various settings. Also, only users that are registered and logged in can take advantage of the "New Posts" feature upon each visit. Once you've registered and logged in, click "Edit Profile" or "Edit Preference" in the Forum Navigation island to edit your settings.

How was the brine showcase at 422 yesterday. The word on the street is that it is a total money grab.

$109 for the tryout

$109 for tryout, top 40 another $149, top 23 another $319 plus weekend travel to Virignia

Mesa and Freedom in MD to scrimmage Hawks and T9-1MD today

Damn that Is going to be cold how is Mesa 2022 comparable to Freedom?

Any scores? Who won?

Mesa Lost to Hawks 7-0
Mesa beat T9-1MD 5-4

Freedom 2022 is very strong

Who did they beat?

Is Mesa better this year?

So did freedom beat md9-1 and Hawks

Why did HHH back out of Mesa playday on 3/25? Looks like an NLF playday and their 21s and 23s are still in...

Billy must be scared

Anybody?

They beat Hawks

And 9-1MD. Good day for freedom.

Dukes and Freedom at Homewood Havoc
Dukes playing Koopers, Hawks, & Rock
Freedom playing Hawks, Rock, & Koopers

Duke's Nationals or Duke's Young Guns?

Dukes young guns

They'll likely go 0-3
Freedom 2-1

Pretty good group for the Mesa playday:
Laxachusetts
Crabs
Mesa
Black Storm
Sons
Express
BBL
Express dominates, after that, pretty close competition. Be fun to play the Crabs kids, as always. Wonder if their parents will let them drive themselves...

Think Young Guns beat Rock. so 1-2.

Don't sleep on Laxachusetts there damn good too. That being said if Panda is on it is hard as [lacrosse] to be Express.

That Laxachusetts team was pretty good last year. I recall them beating an 18-0 BBL club (was told that was their record heading into that championship game) by a score of 9 to 8. I recall the goalie being tough and solid. Haven't seen Express but on reputation, they sound impressive. Sounds like a strong playday and hopefully a good test for all of the boys. If you are going, interested in hearing how it turns out.

Rock has new coach and new players. I'm going with rock.

Express is the team to beat at this age, no doubt. That FOGO is straight fire.
All these teams are pretty sound tho.
Laxachusetts is good but HHH beat them 3x last year. Don't know what that says about either program, honestly.
Crabs is huge in size but they seem to have lost talent to the other teams down there: Arden, 91, Cannons, etc.
Should be a good day.

Dominates Lol
Express 0-2
Losts of smoke and mirrors

Express 2-1 in Philly, looks like Tourney Machine corrected the earlier score typo

How many 22's playing on the Crabs 23 teamkI

23 daddy here, I don't have a dog in this fight so just calm down
Gotta say that Sons looked pretty OK today
2-0 vs Laxachusetts
Held their own against Crabs and they didn't have their FOGO but lost 7-2
Is there anything more obnoxious than those 14 and 15 year old Crabs kids. They're highly skilled and well coached but I think some of the parents have to be slightly embarrassed about the obvious age difference

I guess that is the fogo's obnoxious father. Funny he routinely gets beat by 2 teams on LI. Keep bragging so he remains I'm the spotlight.

Hey sour grapes Dad.... ZERO 14 or 15 year olds on Crabs. Sorry, as many 12 year olds as 13 year olds. Crabs looked good today

So what you are really saying is that Crabs 2022 is loaded with holdbacks, just like their 2021 team, just like all Crabs teams in the past. Don't have to admit to it, everyone knows how your disgusting organization works, from the fat man all the way down. What I and many others can't get over is how the Crabs parents can attend games knowing full well how others view you, as pathetic individuals.

Laxachusettes beats LI express? Wow.

How was Homewood Havoc?

How did Freedom do this weekend?

Heard they went 1-1-1 but don't know who they played.

Was hoping to get a breakdown of all the teams from anyone that was there.

Hawks went 3-0, beating Freedom, Young Guns and Sweetlax Upstate. Sweetlax tweeted that they won their first two games against Rock and Koopers. Don't know about the other four games (Young Guns/Koopers, Freedom/Rock, Young Guns/Rock and Freedom/Koopers). Freedom did tweet that their 2021s went 3-0.

Sweetlax got crushed by Hawks 14-0..

Any other scores?

Crabs did and will always look great. Their kids are literally 1-2 years older than most kids they play against. This is not conjecture, but fact. If you have eyes you can clearly see the difference in size. Not height, size.
Those "kids" are men. There are 3-4 men on that team. All of them great and would likely be great at the 21 level. It's grade based stuff, however, so that's what we sign up for. I feel bad for their kids at this point. They're great players but nobody respects them or this organization as anything but a reclass factory. How the parents cheer their little "boys" is hilarious. The parents do a great job of ignoring the competitive parents who are talking all sorts of trash on them.
Good luck out there. When our boys hit puberty things may change a little. Prob be another couple years though. By then, maybe some of these crabs players will be voting in the mid-term elections but some will def be driving.

That may be true for most Crabs teams but the 2022 Crabs are middle of the pack at best. They just retooled their entire lineup after abusive coach chased most of the team away last year.

In general starting to see all of the top teams starting to level off and games getting more competitive. That happens when kids mature and start to catch up with other kids.

Think I saw Freedom lost to SJ Blackstorm today in NXT league. That wouldn't have happened 2 years ago (and it might have been the Freedom White team today) but the point is that there used to be ~ 6 to 10 dominant 2022 teams but some are breaking up and others are catching up. It happens in every sport.

It was the red team...the gap is definitely closing

Are the nxt league scores and schedule posted somewhere?

TOurney Machine

Can't believe some Freedom dad isn't on here making excuses. That's refreshing.
That was their Red team for sure and don't let them say otherwise.
That Black Storm team is solid.
Beat Sons the week before, Rough Riders as well.
Nice work Jersey Johnnies. Now go get your shine box and show up at a real tourney.

Seriously, How are SJ Black Storm that good? I've never seen them at a tournament. Are they a team made up of kids from other clubs?

they are a spring club team similar to Uprising concept. They are competing for the WSYL this weekend.

What summer teams do they pull from?

Actually, never heard of them before but they look pretty good in the east WSYL qualifier. General observation is that they are quick, play an organized defense, and have several scorers.

It's surprising how none of the great Philly team's are skipping wsyl: freedom, sons, Mesa,Dukes

Key players are all too old

They pull from TriState, BlueStar, some philly clubs, etc. Good program and play a TON of lacrosse.

I am from Philly and I wouldn't call any of them great. I think they can't compete Nationally. As well as key players being too old.

NXT Standings:
SJ Black Storm 2022 4-0
Freedom Red 2022 5-1
PA Roughriders 2022 4-2
Uprising 2022 2-1
Rising Sons 2022 3-2
Chiefs Lacrosse 2022 2-2
NXT 2022 2-4
Team 11 2022 1-3
Bucks Select Black 2022 0-3
Fusion 2022 0-5

Anyone know if Brotherly Love and Blackstorm are going to Denver For World Series saw they
Both qualified

It's a big check to write for a mediocre tournament.

But, I will tell you it is worth it. What a great experience! You can turn it into a family vacation too!

Yes they are both going and I think they can compete with the LI Teams.

If they come within10 goals of Express, 9-1, or Igloo I will be very surprised.

Prepare to be surprised. As far as. Brotherly Love goes keep in mind they just assembled a team so they have some Triple H kids and their best pole is from Freedom 2022. Their defense is their strength however they sent out email they hired an offensive coordinator joust for Denver. They have plenty of offensive talent they just haven't played together or practiced as much as those teams ....that can be fixed

If this is the extent they have to go to win a youth lacrosse tournament then I suggest that they all get their heads examined!!

First they didn't hire him just for Denver he has worked with the kids for over a year mostly focused on box. He is going to work with all the teams BL on the outdoor game going forward.

Always the negative. Just can't bring yourself to do it can you? Like the one guy posted. This is a Philly board, I am from Philly, and if they are the team representing Philly then I support them. And don't tell me you aren' from Philly bunch of Rubbish.

It's almost summer lax season.
Any surprises on the horizon?
Freedom still reigns supreme in this class. Who's second? Third?
Is there a tourney where all the good Philly teams will be competing?
Going in to the summer, I'd say this is the ranking of the local teams:
1) Freedom
2) HHH
3) Sons
4) Rough Riders
5) Mesa
6) ...

Who's the man playing for Freedom '22s?
My god.
Has to be a reclass. Betting he's 14 already.

What position

What about Black Storm? Aren't they at the top now?

He isn't a reclass he is a 7th grader at Kennet. Plays U13 and is a beast. If there is a better pole at 22 I would be surprised

Would have to agree their record at NXT speaks for itself

Look out for Kennett. From 7th-4th grade their talent pool is second to none in Philly. Just like Avon Grove, its neighbor, has become the cream of the public school crop they will as well in a few years.

LOL

Does this include all the Unionville and Delaware kids that crossed the lines to play in CCLA events or just the kids that actually go to Kennett Schools.

Let's be honest Kennett has the best 6th grade player as well their pole at 2023 that plays LSM is almost as good as the 2022 Kennett pole

Yes they have 2 kids one at 23 and one at 22 after that it is a huge drop off..not sure who this best player in 6th grade is if it is not the LSM. Watching Kennett lose CCLA games with these kids makes you wonder if you are eating the special Kennett mushrooms...

Kennet has been cheating for years , borrowing kids from Unionville , Avon grove and Delaware . Their strongest class is 8th grade, after that they have two really good poles one in 7th and one in 6th, then massive drop off . A few attack man with potential and no midfielders . They can shoot for the stars to become a 500 team at the high school level instead of a bottom dweller like they are now.

Having crossed the CCLA lines, I am one of the cheaters. It seems to me, to be a cheater you have to break the rules. Having signed a CCLA waiver allowing me to play in Kennett, I am confident that I wasn't cheating. So you are wrong.

Considering that my kid was a beneficiary of the Kennett youth program but my kid will NOT be going to Kennett, I can offer you this. They are stacked. You are wrong again, their 8th grade program is where they begin to get really good but not their strongest at all. Shows me you don't know their pipeline.They get really good at 7th and 6th. The two poles each at 2022 and 2023 are second to none. They have a lights out attack man at 2023 that when he plays to his level nobody can catch. Nurry's kid at 2024, if there is a better player in Philly at 2024 enlighten me. There are a lot of good to outstanding kids beyond these four. To me the biggest question is if these kids stay at Kennett. History would suggest they don't stay.

Holy cow , a true rocket scientist , you must have graduated from Kennett. Basically confirmed what I said, two really good poles, a few attack men with potential, and you know what potential means. After that some decent players, They should be able to get to 500.

We shall see
Just like I said how is it Avon Grove is at the top of the Public School heap. It's all potential but as of right now the closest in talent is Garnet Valley and kudos to their recent success but they certainly weren't the program they are now. I am guessing you are from LYA your glory days are long gone

Is this why he stands out or is he a complete athlete. How is his footwork and stick work? We have all had that one friend who was mature before everyone and in 7th grade he dominated every sport. Some don't even continue to play, some have good HS careers and don't play college.

Top of the heap is that a joke? Springfield and Stoga are top of the heap over the long haul. At the youth level if BYC and AG had Malvern Prep in there back yard they would really struggle...

I think you meant that Springfield and Stoga have been the top of the heap. The reality is that parity is prevailing like in all things. Yes both programs have been very successful historically but with schools like Springford, Upper Dublin, Garnet Valley, Avon Grove etc. succeeding the long time powers while they will still succeed they will not dominate like they once did. Malvern may be in your backyard but the pull away from Public problems happens everywhere not just your backyard. Give me a break. Kennett has two players at Haverford School and the stud goalie at Sallies is also a Kennett kid.

OK Tad, you ask, how do I know it is you? Well, you are infatuated with this site, you mention Malvern (and we all know how you think they are the best thing ever) and the nail in the coffin...
Your amazing knowledge of proper grammar. That would be their, not there.

He's the complete package; he's always been that good even when he wasn't the biggest kid on the field. Sure his size helps but it isn't why he is so dominate.He could play high school ball today as a 7th grader and more than hold his own.

Anyone that thinks a 7th grader could play varsity should have their head examined! They would get wrecked physically, and end up hurt.

Hey dad you are out of your mind

My son plays club with him not his father actually his dad would be the last person to brag about him great family. Envy doesn't suit you.

Mesa made the NLF playoffs.

Yep. Beat HHH in a tight one to play their way in.
Was a good game.
It's good to see the player development at Mesa. They used to be a one man show. Now, that kid isn't much of a factor. The catch-up effect. Sixth grade all stars don't always excel past seventh grade LAX.
Good to see two teams with "normal" sized kids out there.
Annapolis has about 4 16 year olds out there. No joke.

no joke? I have no idea what team you are referring to but NO clubs, schools, teams have 16 year old 7th graders. There's a legit argument that youth sports should have age parameters. But this is a stupid exaggeration.

Predictions for Big 4 tourney this weekend:
HHH goes 2-1 in pool play (loses to 91MD) and beats Mesa in the non champ bracket
Mesa goes 2-1 in pool play (loses to Edge who will show up with 17 year olds as their grad year differs from ours and they always pretend they don't know) and loses to HHH in non champ bracket
Eventual Champ: Hawks or Diamondbacks (both with 16 year old 8th graders)

Can we agree they're at least 15?
I love that u let that poster get under your skin.
I love this site!

Before we arrive. Our oldest kid is 14. Though they may look older, you guys will have a hayday. We hope to play a good tourny and find some challenging competition.

Edge parent

Thanks for being honest, that never happens on this website. I wish the MD parents would be honest. One more question, how many kids are 14 and how many are turning 14 this year?

all of our kids are 03s.

That's nice.
Tell us about Legacy last year. Edge "22s". Promoter had to talk to them about their age. Turns out they were in wrong division. Go figure. Moved them up for day two.
Sorry Edge parent. This happened and don't deny it. Your kids were oversized for even the '21s. Maths is hard tho. Metric system and all up there.
Good luck! You've got a great program up there, eh. I expect to see your size compete vs the MD guys.

That got filtered.
Was tourney outside of Boston. NLF event, I believe.

Wow this is a first, someone actually admitting the age of their team. Much respect. Is this the EDGE Team that is competing in the WSYL, or is it the 2023 team.

You dont actually think they are telling the truth

Whoopsie
Looks like the Edge dad is gonna go quiet now
Remember: their 23s are equivalent to our 22s

At least they are admitting they are all 14 or turning 14 this year. That is more than the MD Teams do. I would love to know how old the 4 Hawk players are that are big and very athletic. No way 13 year old players run and play like that.

Though they may look older...LOL
This is greatest preload in the history of this site
In reality, your 22s are our 21s. It's a known fact w your education system being different than ours. The fact that your kids are likely all 14 now and will turn 15 this school year should validate that.
Get ready to take some grief on the sidelines, broski.
Just keep telling people they just "look" older.
What a joke.

You know ours are 04s and some 03s, right?
Can't wait to see how old they "look"

I would have to say it but until there is a better system. All of our boys are in the same grade and are 03s. As for the Boston issue. When the convenor gets all your ages and puts you in a division and then when their prized teams get trounced they move you. I do believe that is not the teams fault. Anyhow, we are looking forward to playing this weekend.

Diamondbacks will not win a game. The Team lost some players and have not replaced them. Their Zone Defense can not stop anyone.

Then Hawks or Edge is my guess...

The ones you think are 14 are 13. A couple of 14 year olds who look 13.

Predicting a few upsets this weekend.

Api doesn't have any holdbacks .. Hawks has 4 ... Hawks is the team to beat they are very good team

Wrong wrong wrong. Api has holdbacks before 9/1/03 and most of the kids have 03 birth dates September-December. They are using the holdbacks as a excuse because they can win. Wonder what the excuse will be when they lose in Denver also.

You don't what your talking about . No holdbacks sorry good try .

Really why is the whole team not going to Denver? Because they are to old.

Day 1 in the books. Hawks, Mustangs, and Edge in control. Big 4HHH and MD9-1 tied for division.

Why not go to Denver?
1) Mediocre competition
2) Expensive

Millon 2022 Championship is the real deal. Don't waste your time and money on Denver.

Dear MDRR trolling parent,
You can choke on that prediction. Only game lost today had much more to do with offensive struggles

Real Talk. 2 kids not going. One has Aug 04 birthday and couldn't come to the qualifier round so he isn't allowed to play in Denver. Other kid is only one on team who can't qualify since late July 03 birthday. That kid is newer to team and not a starting player. satisfied?

Big 4HHH made playoffs in their own tournament. Play Mustangs in 1st game. Hawks and Edge in other playoff game.

Watched HHH in that semi game
Went to OT
Def easier bracket but they looked decent
Got shelled by Hawks 15 yr olds in champ game but then again, who doesn't?
Who won Meltdown?
How'd Freedom do down south?

Mesa was a non-factor this weekend.

False. Hawks take lacrosse too seriously and you see the results. Not bigger or older than any other club. Other teams don't spend as much time practicing, playing, and recruiting. Mustangs,Big 4H, and Edge definitely had size advantage and Hawks still won. Accept your loss, get to work, and don't make excuses.

Prime Time may have been the 2nd best team at Big4HHH but was placed in a bracket with Hawks so you didn't see them in playoffs. Their fogo is exceptional.

what about BBL 3-1

I saw the Hawks v PrimeTime game. It was heck of a game. At the time, I would have said those were the 2 best I had seen over the weekend. The Hawks had too much in the end but the defensive side of PT challenged everything hard. Hawks just made big plays, some incredibly difficult.

Didn't know much about BBL (NJ). I spoke to a parent who said this squad went 18-1 last summer, only losing to Laxachusetts in their final game. It seemed like they played mostly A-level competition. Parent said they are stepping up and doing all AA level stuff this year and so far they are fairing well. Was told they lost to Igloo Arctic Blast in the Adrenaline Cup final the previous week (8-5) but the game was 6-5 until the final few minutes of the game.

From what I saw, they were a very good team. On the attack side, they were talented. The glimpses I saw of their game against the Crabs, the face-off guy didn't lose once. They picked the crabs apart with a 4-on-3 fast break on multiple face-offs (beat Crabs 12-7). In all, I thought all of the teams that went 3-0 or 2-1 in pool play were solid, good teams that will compete hard. But the Hawks were definitely the class of the field. PrimeTime and Edge were also solid on defense but didn't have the offensive fire power of the Hawks.

gee, I wonder why you're so invested in the grade based tournament instead of the age based tournament?

Agree! Hawk team was very talented and was one of the smaller teams these past 2 weekends. You certainly can not judge size either when the smallest kids this weekend on the field where the best out there. Every team that loses to Hawks call them cheaters but reality is the are very good and have very good coaches. In the finalgame Big 4 looked bigger all over the field . Hawks play ally of very small kids but also Jane a few bigger- no bigger than the players defending them.

Just look at the line ups. Do you want to win a tournament poorly attended by top teams or win a tournament where the best of the best are playing?

Nice wins over Mustangs, PBR, and Crabs. A little surprised they lost to Diamondbacks who were blown out by Mustangs and Prime Time.

Just looked at tourney machine results, and that is surprising. Perhaps match-up issues? BBL beat Crabs by a similar margin as Prime Time. Then again, these are 12-13 year old boys.

Club Lacrosse at the Middle School level is the biggest waste of time, with the new rules in place club lacrosse brings nothing but unnecessary money spent on tournaments that don't mean anything because you cannot be recruited. Our township programs are suffering because of Club Lacrosse and parents are dishing out to much money for poor coaching and big ego's. Club Lacrosse is for profit now and it needs to change. Kids are being burnt out because they're playing for 2-3 different club teams and it is noticeable.

WSYL schedules out. https://goo.gl/ewgzEy

South Jersey has a shot at their division since the 3 Elite Long Island teams are in other divisions.

All of the LI teams are good but beatable.

At the Millon Championship (http://youthlaxchampionship.com/index.html), there are no Philly area teams. Interesting?

Freedom should be there. Lots of reasons though for teams not to be.
Big 4 HHH definitely should not be. Stacking team to try and win own tournament last week. Sad

How did they stack it? It seemed to be the same team that was at NLF.

I think this guy is referring to the pool HHH had for the weekend.
I don't think it was a cupcake draw by any means: Sweetlax, 3D New England, Ninety One MD. Def not as stacked as some of the others but respectable. But hey, if you run the tourney you can do what you want with the pools.
Beating the TX team was a great win for them in OT. Got shelled by Hawks who is now the top of the heap at '22s, IMO.
I just think there's a lot of hate out there for the NLF events that aren't inclusive of all teams. It's pretty simple: If you're in it, you'll get to play in their events. Other teams can get into the events, at a premium, I would think. For example, Rising Sons took their '21s to the HHH event.
Why wasn't Freedom in the tourney? Who knows? Maybe they didn't attempt to get in. Maybe Billy doesn't want them in as they could be considered competition for his kids. Don't know. Don't care.
Our boys are all taking different routes. Where they end up, who knows.
I know my son is having a blast and I am as well.
Good luck to all the Philly teams in the coming weeks.
Frankly, I'm proud when any of them do well in real tourneys.

T9-1 was a lock to take that division if they had their TX kids. I doubt Big 3 HHH knew they wouldn't have them when they made up the brackets. Big 3 HHH just played well also.

Is any team going to come within 10 goals of Igloo this weekend at Summer Slam?

Weak competition at 2022

It's igoo B team playing. They are very good though also. Beat express this spring

Looks like Mesa is in the drivers seat. Good win over fca. Igloo not looking too good with loss to chaos.

Chaos gets revenge in championship game against Mesa and wins it.

Young guns has turned into the mid Atlantic championships since none of the great mid Atlantic teams are doing wsyl.

How will Freedom do?

Young Guns...the end is nearing in regards to relevance. They have FIVE teams coming at 2024 and SIX coming at 2025 doesn't bode well for the future. I don't call that a tournament I call that Pool A and Pool B

There are no good mid Atlantic teams

Freedom is not committed. You can't be a real program if you play some times as Dukes Nationals.

You are misinformed.

Freedom is legit. Dukie National is a joke.

OK serious question for BL parents. Has the WSYL been worth it? The lacrosse itself seems like you could do that without traveling to Denver. Is all the other stuff worth the time/money? Will your 2023 team do it next year? 3 of 4 semi-finalists from NY, last one from MD. Seems like NY, MD and NJ dominated....seems like they should move the event out east till the Central and West teams catch-up?

I mean Colorado is gorgeous, but much rather do a trip there in the winter....

Genuinely looking for input from those in attendance

Fair question. As a 2023 parent, I'd like to know. Thanks.

Lots of perks but you pay for it. $6k entry fee plus travel, hotels, rentals etc. Kids have a blast like they would at Disneyland. There are much better tournaments competition wise (Millon, NLF, Young Guns, others) but the final is on one of the espns. (Basically an infomercial paid by your excessive entry fees). There is a skills competition / field day and they give out awards for every little thing which the kids love. It also can tear some teams apart because they change the cut off date year to year and kids are cut or added to account for it. (Last year was 5/1, this year was 9/1, possible move to 1/1 next year)

Young guns is not as good the 23/24 divisions were weak

All tournaments are getting weaker there as just too many now that claim they are the best.

Freedom 2022 is starting to lose more often - got smacked down at Young Guns..

Think what the poster was saying is the kids are starting to play on other things as well - like Dukes Nationals - and that is starting to hurt Freedom. THink that is true - started with a bunch on HHH last year, now 2-3 on Dukes Young Guns, 3-4 on Dukes Nationals, etc.

Young Guns for middle school and Crab Fest for high school are still two of the very best.

What is better? The best of LI and Canada come down.

Any reason Freedom not giving the Millon Nat Championships a shot?

You had to apply to tournament before a certain date. Perhaps Freedom just missed the date.

You also needed to post a resume - not just beat up on some crappy local teams in a qualifier.

Express seems to be the top dog of 2022. Hawks and API seem to be the teams to beat in MD. T-*1 and Igloo took a step down. Crabs and others right there. Expect more parity in the next few years. There is a lot of talent at this age and some very good coaching.

Express lost to Hawks in head to head earlier this year. Close game.
API is #8 in the Hoco league behind Hawks, Bethesda, T9-1MD, Madlax, Rough Riders, Crabs, and FCA.
Igloo is probably tops in Long Island when using their whole team. Express #2, and T9-1 is probably 3rd. Then Outlaws and Legacy.

Hawks is easily the best team I've seen this year. Yes, they are a little older than most teams they face, but for the 2022 designation, they are the team to beat. Express is a very good team as well as Igloo but they are beatable. Saw Prime Time, Laxachusetts, API, and BBL (NJ I believe) battle these teams in close matches this season. I do agree that there is a lot of talent in this age group, which is great for competition.

Hawks definitely younger than the Bethesda, Philly, Canadian, Boston, and Baltimore teams.

How do you know this.

He is making it up...he has no clue.

Who really knows age of these kids. But at HHH tourney and the NLF the Hawks were definitely one of the smaller teams there . Even their bigger players were matched up against kids even bigger. Especially in the final games,
Size at this age is different from kid to kid. So yes he has no clue, but does it really matter.

That's simply the not true. The only teams I saw that were consistently bigger were Edge and Crabs. That being said, Hawks was also the best 22 team I saw all summer. And it wasn't even close, especially when their out of state players were there.

Funny out of state players....that is as bad as Dukes Nationals. Build a local team and play

What numbers do the imaginary out of state players wear? Been involved for several years and they are all from here this season. A terrible injury has sidelines one kid all season.

imaginary? Ha. The kid I know of flies up from FL.

He played some last year, but has been injured and didn't play a single game this year. All kids this year have been from Maryland.

Sorry to hear about his injury. I hope he recovers and comes back strong.

So Rising Sons is going through HS now?
No more NXT collaboration?
What happened? Will this help or hurt RS?
I know they are a middle of the road AA team at best.
Anyone know if it's daddy coach or paid coach?

Daddy ball to the Max

Dukes National plus (all star team) beats Hawks 2022 at Naptown.

How many Dukes 2022 players on the Dukes Nationals team?

Dukes Nationals is comprised of players from various lacrosse clubs, not necessarily a player from another Dukes team.

Most Philly kids on Dukes Nationals actually play for Freedom. I wonder if they will switch to Dukes after this.

the dukes national team that just won at Naptown had no one from Freedom

So is the only thing Philly about Dukes national team their mailing address?

supposedly hired new coach and are announcing soon.

There are players on the Dukes Nationals 2022 team from the Philly area, but none that play for Freedom Lacrosse. I know there are Rising Sons players on the team.

Finally someone is trying to move to age base
NXT Sports
https://nxtsports.com/blog/entry/nx...to-adopt-us-lacrosse-age-segmentation-p/

The freedom players are on 2023; coaches are freedom with kids on the team.

There was a new middie man-child at the 2022 Mesa tryouts this week. Reclass?

Was he the one that pulled up in a Civic? In his defense, his mom was in passenger side as he only has his permit.

There's a few Freedom kids on DN for sure. An LSM and an attack man, I believe.

that was him around 6ft and probably 180-200lbs

There's a few Freedom kids on DN for sure. An LSM and an attack man, I believe.[/q

Lsm not attack

Yep one of the 23's is from Freedom but no 22's but trust me that isn't a "Club team" it is an all star team with kids from 10+ clubs.

There are 2-3 Freedom Red players on Dukes Young Guns. At least 2 that I know of, though they prioritize Freedom if there is a conflict.

Speaking about Freedom what's up they seem to be losing steam. Lost to Bucktown in NXT Cup, lost in a tournament earlier this year to Richmond Greyhouds, didn't do Naptown, didn't do 22 championship, got whipped at Young Guns early in July.

They lose some kids? Lose a few tight games and are still really good?

Personally I have always thought they were best 22 team in PA.

Absolute classic

So where do you put the teams at the end of the year?
1) big 4 hhh
2) freedom
3) Mesa
4) Sons
5) nxt
6) team 11
7) Dukes yg
????

1. Freedom
2. Mesa
3. PA Rough Riders
4. Sons/HHH
6. NXT
7. Team 11

Seems about right to me
Duke's YG actually under Sons, IMO

Sons beat RR at Meltdown champ game.
Mesa did beat HHH at a LI tourney but HHH did not have their 3 best field players and was a one goal game, I hear.
Hate to say it but I've watched all of these teams play and when HHH has their best kids (some of them also play Freedom, RR, etc) they are the best in Philly.
Freedom is the best if they could keep their studs from playing at HHH. The HHH D and LSM are the difference here, however. When you couple that with the depth at middle, they're the best out there.
HHH has zero face-off, attack is small but effective, goalie play is slightly above average.
Freedom is complete team but outside of their studs at middie and a great goalie, they're slightly above average.
This matchup could never take place until these dual rostered kids make a choice...Me? I'd choose the team with under a 25 man roster for my kid.

So if HHH has kids on all teams like Dukes Nationals it's a supplemental team to the regular club teams and they don't count either.

Freedom
Mesa
RR/ Sons
NXT
Team 11

How does BL stack up/rank?

When all the players from Freedom and Triple H play for BL they are very good but all the best players are part time. This should be interesting though as all the players really seem to like playing for Urso and a lot of the best players are from Kennett and BYC the two founding communities of BL

We are in the process of relocating to Unionville/Garnet Valley area and I was wondering which club teams are most popular for the boys from that area?
Looking at websites and practice locations it appears Brotherly Love, Rough Riders and Fusion are closest. Any feedback/input welcome.....thanks.

So you're saying they are like Dukes Nationals nonsense ... Part time players and a Daddy coach?

I don't get this logic.
Freedom, Sons, RR all have kids on other teams. How do you determine which is their primary team?
Not having HHH at the top of this is silly. Sorry Freedom daddy.

Not even on the radar.
Good coaching but do not have the personnel to compete at the AA or even A level.

BL is coached at 22 by Garnet Valley's head coach so that would be your best bet. If not one of the WC teams would be the closest, RR probably has the most talent.

Do people in Philly pay to be on multiple clubs at the same time? or are some clubs so desperate for wins (Dukes Nationals, big 4 hhh) that they take on lots of guest players?

I wouldn't call it nonsense. My son plays part time for BL and I have to say the experience was outstanding. He is coached by an extremely dedicated man who also happens to be one of the best to ever pick up a stick. The practices are outstanding my son has gotten better and loves playing for Coach Urso. I did consider his time with BL as supplemental and in fairness that is what the club presented this year as, however the experience has been every bit as good as my sons primary club. It will be interesting to see how BL shapes up at 2022 for this upcoming year. The club is outstanding and I have friends that play for their 2023 and 2024 teams and they are thrilled with the coaching and improvement of their boys. Not to mention they are both top 10 in the country

[quote=Anonymous]Do people in Philly pay to be on multiple clubs at the same time? or are some clubs so desperate for wins (Dukes Nationals, big 4 hhh) that they take on lots of guest players?

Definitely pay for DN and HHH, they are businesses $$. BL uses guests.

Avoid any team that carries 2 teams if you end up on their 2nd team. None of them devote the time towards the 2nd team. It is a complete money grab on their part.

If you really are looking for a place to develop as a player, the places to be IMO are NXT, Fusion, Team 11.

That is beyond stupid....

I agree B teams are total money grabs. B teams play in the $500 tourneys and supplement the A teams playing in the $2k to $6k tourneys. Only 1 dad coach vs 3 dad coaches.

Than you are playing for the wrong club.

B team fee $2100, Fall practice no tournaments, winter practice no tournaments, no spring, summer practice 3 tournaments
Total money grab

Then you are a schmuck and pissing your money away shame on you. Plenty of quality clubs that have solid 2nd teams you are the consumer you need to do a better job on you research

That is what a top highly competitive AA program is charging for the B team.

YOUR ON CRACK.....LOL

Depends on what the line up looks like - it changes every week. Sometimes Dukes are great, sometimes they are dookie.

"great coaches want to coach the B teams and clubs want to devote extra resources to B teams" said no club ever.

BL begs for guest players all the time. The Kennett Freedom kids come in and out when the director daddy calls for a "mayday"

The BL director Daddy is a full time blogger trying to justify getting beat by the Duke's programs. Make all the excuses you like. Write all the hate that you want Jonathan. Games are simply won and lost on the field. If you don't like to lose then make changes! ;-)

The BL director Daddy is a full time blogger trying to justify getting beat by the Duke's programs. Make all the excuses you like. Write all the hate that you want Jonathan. Games are simply won and lost on the field. If you don't like to lose then make changes! ;-)

Ha. Swing and a miss Gonzo. Jonathan maybe be a full time blogger never met the guy but comments aren't from him. I do know that you hate BL especially considering all the players they have from your program that have left knowing what you are really about. Stings doesn't it knowing that some of Lehigh Valley's best are driving an hour and half away to play at Brotherly Love instead of Dukes. Don't worry once people get to know your true colors there will be a lot more defections, you know how the saying goes about skunks and their stripes....The rest of us know who you are and what you are we have watched you screw people over for too long.

Gonzo. Looks like you are the full time blogger based upon the shameless plugs you are putting on all the other forums from Main Forum to MD. Com'n now have some integrity.

Agree. Gonzo you need to get a life this is a comment from another forum pasted below. You post the same question on multiple threads and think people are going to think it is a parent asking?

The National Team concept is an interesting one and in my estimation is here to stay. There are several teams such as Dukes and True that seem to be garnering both attention and success. While the merits of aggregating star players from disparate geographical areas is beyond refute their success is what will ultimately validate both the model and standard. A club like Dukes foundationally depends on a venerable name and despite the new leadership that assumed the mantle of both the name and the prestige; their long term success is questionable as the majority of the feedback seems tepid at best with an occasional salvo from the director vehemently decrying foul against any negative comments.

The True model is an interesting one. Multiple states fielding decentralized club teams aggregating under a single Team to win a couple of championships at the end of the traditional tournament season while unfurling a National Team Banner that serves a multitude of purposes. Not the least, being good cocktail banter that always illicits praise from family and friends along the lines of, "Wow, Johnny plays on a National All Star Team, you must be so proud!" In our frenzied hyper-competitive world I have a sneaking suspicion this may provide the majority of the impetus for parents with children on these teams. Having played against several of these types of teams it seems the caliber of lacrosse is diminished greatly; but the teams prevail because they have bigger faster kids. It is like watching the NBA All Star game. An annual rite that draws an audience but certainly isn't lauded as being quality basketball.

The UA All American game in Maryland seems like a great game and a ton of fun and an example of an All Star Team that is worth pursuing. In fact it seems more like a joyous celebration that ushers in collegiate careers while closing the youth chapter of endless hours and playing for the love of the game.

In my estimation the National Teams are here to stay. It seems that Dukes initial success will be short lived and their model unsustainable. The teams that they are pulling players from have the infrastructure, the stature, and Darwinian resilience to adjust. There are many large clubs with multiple state franchises such as 91, Madlax, and Roughriders, to name a few that will abbreviate their tournament season and then field National Teams in the latter half of July.

Food for thought. After all it is survival of the fittest.

Beware of BL. My son has played for them in the past and they speak out of both sides of their mouth. They constantly have players showing up who are not dedicated to the team. The director is unorganized and the training is just ok. This team has struggled, Freedom is a far greater option.

BL uses guest players? Don't they have a B team?
How many kids do they carry on the A roster that they need to bring in guests?
Why do they bring them in? To win? Vacations lightening the roster?
We are considering BL as an option but this concerns me...

At 2022 they are a B team unless they have freedom and HHH kids. So all of the above... They don't have enough players, vacations, and to try to compete in A tournaments. Different story at 2023 and 2024 they have both A and B teams. Claim to have AA and A at 2023, but really AA and B.

Kids playing on more than one club is not uncommon that is not a guest player to me a guest player is one that doesn't practice with the team during the season. My club always brings guest players in late July as rosters are thin due to family vacations.

Says the Freedom dad.
There are plenty of options. Freedom is no longer the best team in Philly at 2022. That ship has sailed. Triple HHH and Dukes 2022 would both beat Freedom soundly and the Storm has beaten them as well in head to head. That would put them at 4th best in Philly.

The only championship they won was at the end of the summer when all the good teams were playing elsewhere.

My son plays on the so called lesser Team at BL 2023 that you are citing as "B" and I think you are sorely mistaken. Playing in the A Bracket at Summer Exposure we wen 4-1 in a Baltimore based tournament with 28 Teams in the Single A Bracket. I have no problems with him playing for the lesser team on an outstanding club such as Brotherly Love.

I am under no pretense, my son will likely not play lacrosse in college. However he is an outstanding student and just an all around good kid. My contention is there isn't another Philly based club that would place a team in the AA bracket and still have another team play A in same grade bracket and go 4-1. Prove me wrong. Or better yet get out of your comfort zone and actually go to a real tournament not in your back yard with one of your "lesser" teams and see how they fare.

That comment was not meant to slight you or the 2023 2nd team at BL in any way. They are a very good team and a great program. Just because your son is on a 2nd team at this point does not mean he won't play in college. No one can project anything at this point. I was mearly pointing out that they aren't really an A team. NXT and RR also claim to be A teams but they just aren't at this point compared to A and AA teams. I commend BL for playing in an A tournament to challenge themselves, but they also played in B events. The BL team played an A team in MD91 and didn't fair very well, so the assessment is fair.

Team 11, Mesa, Freedom, HHH and RS aren't really AA but play in some AA events as well as A events. So an assessment of them as A teams and not really AA is fair also. This doesn't mean they aren't good programs. BL has done an outstanding job fielding a competitive 2nd team at 2023 and BLs 2nd team is better than any other programs 2nd team (and some clubs 1st teams but aren't really an A team.

It just goes to show that Philly is the city of brotherly love. Whatever club has the toughest tournament, the other clubs send their best players to help out. So very nice.

Said no one ever....

What's anyone know about the Headstrong Program up in the Lehigh Valley?
Any other options up there?
What happened to Stars and Stripes?

Any teams out there going to [lacrosse]'s ToC this December?
I see they are going birth year for this. Good idea.

This tournament is hurtling towards irrelevance.

Headstrong Lehigh Valley- it's what happens when you give a 23 years the keys to a club program. Every team is run differently based on who the head coach is. Philly got Headstrong Quakers run by the UPenn staff. Let that one sink in. All the talent has headed south for and will continue to. Every option folded for headstrong and that was a mistake. The market is ripe for someone to offer a better option.

Skip Headstrong LV: dads coach and they carry 25 man rosters

Word is there's going to be two Rising Sons teams at this level
So much for quality, small rosters
Just another money grab...
#laceup

RS has not even named a coach for one 2022 team let alone a 2nd team. Must mean someone is getting the 2024 coaches since there may be no team at that level. Maybe the big announcement is Tad will be the 2022 head coach himself. Good luck to those kids.

Dicks toc is no more irrelavent than wsyl. Both are just family vacations with a little lacrosse against generally weak competition thrown in.

Have actually been to both tournaments. DTOC was once a pretty good tournament now it no longer is. I can tell you the WSYL was great lacrosse, our team struggled against the competition and it is a good team. Was it the best 2022 teams no but there were some tremendous U13 players and extremely good teams. Both of these tournaments seem like they are struggling with age versus grade. This is also true for the youth scene in general; however, as a general rule changing the requirements for eligibility doesn't help the cause. WSYL has changed it every year and by some accounts is considering changing it again. Since they are aligned with USL now, what can they change it to again, poor leaderships and vision.

DTOC is grade based this year. This should make it a very competitive tournament again.

So were's all the firepower headed this fall?
Freedom?
HHH?

Here are the rankings

1 Dukes Nationals
2 Triple H
3 Black Storm
4 Freedom
5 Rising Sons

Thanks Gonzo for now trying to rank Dukes Nationals a Philly team. Is it a local team now or a national team?

A National Team that kicks local A$$
I would have to agree with this list. Interesting that Freedom is now #4 although rumor has it they picked up some studs at midfield.

Dukes young guns is a Philly team. When Dukes Nationals is competitive it is because the Maryland kids are there that week so not a philly team.

Dukes Nationals update. Gonzo is the best Coach and Director by far. Don't you agree?

I guess. but the 2022 camp last night was great. i was very impressed with the talent of kids and pace of the camp. my son had a great time.

Talent of the 2022 DN is very good. There was 50 plus kids at the minicamp for 2022's. About half of the kids there should have not been there B or lower players at best but the kids above the travel line can play no doubt.

This is the funniest thing I have every read. I actually had tears running down my face as I read it. Someone seriously needs to get their head checked for posting this.

It should be good it is an all star team. Not a Philly club.

No way the Sons are the high. No offense watched them several times last year and they go beat by average teams regularly. Sons might still be a good overall program but their 2022 are average at best.

For the price it isn't a bad experience IMO, but to pay the actual team fee etc and never play in a tourney now that would [lacrosse] off any parent.

What happened with TD's prized coach for the 2022 Team? He is no longer listed on the site. Did it fall through that Fast?

Probably realized what a total mess that program is

Was Mueller going to coach the 22's?

So funny. everyone worried about the Sons. Crazy parents should just worry about little johnnies team. Don't worry he will still get a trophy.

No one's worried about the Son's Tad, we just can't look away from a train wreck.

Sick pinned tweet bro. So sick watching little participant rip step downs vs 13 year olds who's balls haven't dropped.

Philly Freedom vs. Annapolis Hawks on Sat.

Nice were are they playing? Thats a good game.

Hawks by 10

Hawks re-loaded with 2021s.

And how many kids does Freedom have that should be 2021's?

University of MD playday at Byrd Stadium.

Both teams have about the same. Should be a close game. Freedom won the scrimmage last year.

Any scores from freedom/Hawks game?

12-3 Hawks

Hawks also beat Leading Edge 6-2 and DC Express 12-5.

Hawks have 6 hold backs and Freedom has 4 at least that should be 21. Doesn't matter Hawks are best 2022 in the country LI, Igloo and a few others closest.

Turned out to be very accurate

No one worried about the Sons they are a low A team, NXT level

It's football season fall lax results mean nothing

T91 MD and Dukes beat them last year. Close to best in country.

Said the losers.

Good test yesterday for all teams for Fall Ball. Teams can all build off yesterday in College Park. Cool experience for the boys. UMD is an awesome campus and school.

Yes, a lot of positives from yesterday. Teams where looking good for first outing of the fall.

Two major tournaments last year WSYL and 2022 National Championships - neither won by Hawks.

WysL was a joke. #18-6

Hawks did win 3 out of the Top 6 Major Tournaments last year.Aslo didn't lose a game in best league around. Probably impossible to run the table for any team. Too many very good teams. It pretty clear who had the best team last year if you know anything about lacrosse.

None of those tourneys had the notoriety of wsyl and natl championship. Good wins but not ones that people would notice.

Not ones people would notice? Now that’s comical. Every coach and team noticed. NLF and Big H are NY and PA biggest events . Young Guns was also stacked and is always a Top Tourney. Getting beat by an All Star stacked team in Naptown and lost to a very good MM team in which MM actually cried. Please do not act like WSYL had any credibility when they changed the cut off date mid stream and left dozens of the best teams out . All teams that were at the Big H
Naptown and Young Guns. Final 4 teams at WSYL were all beaten at NLF by Hawks- - which no one noticed!

That Dukes National team had multiple 21's on it - not even hold backs and is an all start team. Every kid on that team has a primary team not named Dukes. Doesn't count IMO.

91 MD did beat them at 22 Nationals - but I believe they played other times all won by Hawks - though could be wrong here.

As for WSYL no way it is as good as Naptown, 22 Nationals, etc. Igloo, Primetime, LI and a bunch of average teams.

So all in all let me change my statement to "One of the best 2022 teams in the country". Others include LI, Igloo, T91MD, etc. Another two that won some decent games were Bucktown and Richmond Greyhounds.

Was McFarland I saw the announcement and he is now on staff at Fusion full time. Another big coaching pick up over at Fusion. They are lacking the horses to play high end A or AA but they have damn good coaches for developing kids.

Bucktown really?

It's a shame they don't have more horsepower on the team. The staff is one of the best around.
The coaching at Fusion and NXT is the best around. I don't think anyone would argue that.
Why don't they pull in the talent?

only have full open tryouts at certain grade years. When you let everyone know only a 4-5 spots are available each year no one wants to waste their time. This is where being too honest hurts them, as all other teams say open tryouts when truly there are only a few spots probably available. 9th grade year is full open tryout. As they have shown with past teams during full open tryouts, they will turn the roster. They should do it every year as I am sure more people would come due to the coaching staff.

I know the NXT program well and every year is an open tryout. They just don't get the caliber player that the others attract (Freedom, HHH, Mesa).
My understanding is that fusion does ask for a two year commitment from your kid and, in turn, he has a spot for those two years.
NXT High School has a great program that will attract many from other programs. With the recruiting rules changing, this may hurt them a little.

Honestly don't get it either. Great coaches with some top end players but last spring Fusion was pasted in the Mid Atlantic league. Saw one game against Blackstorm and another against Freedom and it was UGLY.

Maybe Fusio just came late to the party and the best 2021, 2022, 2023, etc were already on teams?

Great box program though.

They beat Freedom last summer didn't they?

Inside Lacrosse and other major outlets covered WSYL and 2022 National Championships. The only people that knew what was going on at the other events were the people who attended.

Major outlets? Haha.. your too much, we get it you hate the Hawks. I guess your team wasn't at any of the other events ?Which one did they win? Tournaments that every single top flight team at this age group was at. Except the ones not invited. You do also know that almost every major club is a member of all or at minimum one of those tournaments. All that were covered by Major (twitter) Outlets including Inside lacrosse. Keep on hating its comical.

Better luck this year.

And there you have it..Another lame remark by a sore loser. Luck has nothing to do with it. Winning every single game has nothing to do with it. Which all explains your remarks and post. Sounds like you need the luck!

How are the two NXT teams looking

I heard Black is pretty good. Better then they were last year added some talent, the big D pole from Team 11 and one of the two good D poles that were on Fusion. Also some real fast kid at middie.

I am sure they still have the real good fogo and giant d pole they already had on D.

End of the day though they needed a roster rebuild. I saw them last year year get smacked by Young Guns, South Shore and Predators. And they had a rough Spring in the Mod Atlantic.

One day at a time...

Lost a few and added a few.
The net/net (Black A Team): D is below average, added 2-3 real middie talents, FOGO is very solid, attack is average, goalies are pretty OK.
Seem to be unselfish, team oriented kids but that's from watching 5 practices. Game time will tell the tale.
Compared to last year? Upgraded squad. Still a few players away from being close to the upper tier but the coaching is fantastic and hopefully they can develop these boys.

Heard of the D hurt his ankle pretty good so will miss the tournaments in the Fall. Damn shame hate to see kids get banged up.

Some good teams at the West Chester Invitational. Freedom should win.

What about Bortherly Love? Do they have an A & B at the 2002 level or is it only one 2022 team? If so think they could win.

The rest including Fusion and Team 11 not in the same class as those other two.

Anybody know anything about Gaffer Elite? NY right?

The Bucktown team from NC that beat Freedom is stacked with all the best players from the Triangle. All headed to Father Gibbons to play lax. And keep in mind, there aren’t many programs, so the talent is concentrated.

Yeah the Bucktown team and Richmond Greyhounds are good teams - both beat Freedom last year.

Freedom 2022 still sets the bar in Philly IMO but they are not as dominant as they used to be. Teams catching up to them, 91, etc. it happens when kids get older and the advantage of starting younger gets less and less.

Winning every game except for the ones you have a great excuse for isn't really winning every game.

BL wins it all convincingly

What I figured would happen. BL is a pretty good team. Do they do any box?

So let's review why NXT runs the best tourneys around...
Freedom payday this weekend: Teams playing at 8, 10, 4? Some 8, 12, 4 or 5?
I've been to so many NXT tourneys over the years and they run everything so much better. Usually play, hour break, play, hour break, play, go home. You usually get 3 games in 5 hours.
This Freedom thing is a joke. Come on guys. Spending your Sunday at the fields may be fun for you but this is poorly run and doesn't reflect well on your org skills.
A 3 game tourney should not take all day. 8-6 for some teams. That's 10 hours of a Sunday to play 3 games. Lame.
Get your $hit together daddies!!!
And Sons will play FCA in finals where FCA will win.

Plus it's going to rain all day

Fantastic!!!
What ever happened to real playdays?
Originally 4 teams would get together and play one another. No champ game. No trophies. Just some fall LAX to gauge what needs worked on.
All you needed was two fields and some referees. Cost was split between the 4 clubs.
If you ran it with one other age group it became play, off a game, play, off a game, play, go home.
So much easier to find 3 other like-talented teams and go this route, no?
Instead I'm going to be hungover watching LAX in the rain ALL DAMN DAY!!!

Yea, too much of the trophy hand-outs, we need the old school play for pride back.

Was at the Freedom Play Day.

First kudos to Freedom for getting more fields and going while most tournaments were cancelled - with Fall sports and other events rescheduling never works and while it sucked playing and watching in the rain it worked out and was the right thing to do. Though obviously offense was harder to come bye - my son said he couldn't see a damn thing the first game and said the 3rd was even harder.

My thoughts:

Freedom & FCA looked good splitting a set of games. Not sure what happened in the championship as FCA won 4-3 because I watched the first game and thought Freedom was clearly better winning I think 7-3 or 7-2.

NXT Black was hammered by everyone. NXT just didn't have the horses - good coaching and well run organization but if they play the Black team in top events they will lose a ton.

Sons and South Shore look like decent A level teams - Sons are overrated as usual, only realy good Sons team is the 20's IMO. South Shore goalie is a beast, only a matter of time before the big dogs try to take him.

Patriot real solid team as usual. Good Jersey team, plays physical like all Jersey teams and have a good offense.

Real surprise was Dukes Young Guns - didn't expect much but beat NXT pretty good and lost in the championship bracket to FCA 3-2 in a great game. Overall better then I expected when I saw them in the field.

Overall good event with good teams. Was fun but wet.

NXT was not great at all.
Little disappointed as I am considering moving there for HS program.
As long as coaching is good I guess that's what counts.
It is only a fall payday but they did look bad. Couldn't win a FO and clears were atrocious...They have a few middies that can play but one kid I saw try and take it himself no less than 4x. Thru 4 people. This isn't rec LAX and the kid did not have the skill to be attempting to put the team on his back.
Coaches benched him after the 4th attempt tho. Thats encouraging.
NXT 23s looked good tho.

we must have been watching different games. NXT 22 has one of the best FO guys in the area and he was absolutely in the + column for faceoff wins.

Sons FOGO was the only dominant FOGO there. He's legit but has minimal supporting cast. Watched some of their games. Are they coaching that big kid to try and bull dodge? It's almost comical. Seriously. Who's coaching them again, Tad?

I was surprised that the NXT FOGO was losing as much as he did. Usually a damn good FOGO but the FCA kid and Dukes kid roughed him up a bit and won more then half.

The Sons FOGO is damn good would like to see how he does against Tristate Black, LI Express and BBL Elite FOGO's they are the three best I have seen @ 2022.

LeadingEdge has the best 2022 FOGO

It probably is Tad since he lost his big announcement coach to Fusion, but wait that doesn't matter since Tad is the best lacrosse coach ever

Dude I saw that Leading Edge FOGO at KOM.

He is a damn beast, good technique and built like he is 20 years old.

He's 15...Leading Edge FOGO is 15-- 2022!

Not unlike Leading Edge. They have 5 'enrolled' freshman on 202(going to re class at a later date i guess)2, their 8th grade team.. Dads must be so proud... Although, couldn't get out of semi-finals with them..HAHA

Wow that's crazy kids can get hurt with teams doing crap like that.

Funny thing is my son isn't the biggest kid but he laid out one of their big attack and the kid cried wanting a penalty. He was easily 50-70 pounds heavier then my kid and clearly a 2021.

Though what comes around goes around some little kid got a clean good hit and sent my kid into the Gatorade table. My son was fine and laughing about it - went up to the kid after and told him he was a tough kid. Turns out the kid was playing up and is a 2023 for 91 MD.

The fall is when you get the first taste of the reclass game.
Just wait til summer when the football kids are available.
The good news is that this levels the field vs. the MD kids.
The tables start to level out on the size front.
What a great sport we're involved in, eh?
No other sport deals with this BS. Not one.
Age based is the only way...

So its a big deal for an 8th grader to play on the same field as a 9th grader, but next year these kids could potentially play 4 age groups up when they get to High School ball? Personally, I would never play my son down a level, only up. But I dont need to because the 9th graders are coming to him this year. Big deal, bring it on!!

Spoken like a dad with a 15 year old post pubescent boy. You tell 'em, bro!!!

Agree on the LE 2022 FOGO. Saw him destroy everyone at the NAL last weekend.

You must have missed the prime time game..leading edge daddy...

LE 2022 FOGO is a 2021 who re-classed last year. Give me a break...Winners never cheat and cheaters never win. Sons FOGO is the best around for true age and NO - I am not a Sons parent. Just can't stand this re-classing [lacrosse].

Agree on the reclass issue it’s [lacrosse].

Sons FOGO is the best in Philly but doesn have a good supporting cast.

Actually, he is a 9/9/03 14 year old who plays 2022 AA in Baltimore and will FO against any 2022 or 2021 players you want to send out, without crying about it. I practice him with my High School Junior and Senior FO players. So stop making excuses because your kid is small for his age. Challenge him to step up, so he doesn't sound whiny like you when he loses. If he still weighs 75lbs next year in 9th grade, he will still play against 10 graders at a minimum, if he makes the H.S. JV squad. Maybe listen to your wife more, size is not everything. 1 Year,?? Get over it!

Tad Doyle claps when planes land

Alright let talk box - who is the best 2022 or 7/8 team?

NXT trying to compete with PennLax dont know how thier tryouts were in numbers

PennLex seems down this year took some quesitonable kids.

Eagle (Tristate) looks pretty good - seem to be same kids from last year

Some local clubs trying to get more into box Freedom, Mesa, etc

Fusion is a good box program bu 22's are not good.

Wings have some good talent.

Hawks FOGO is very good and is in top 3 at this age. Beat LE Fogo easily this fall. LIE Fogo is right there with Hawks FOGO. They are the top 2. Primetime has terrific foo too.

What about the 91md fogo?

Very good too, He plays for Rough Riders now

I have watched the 91 FOGO play 20-30 games over the last 2 years against most of the top teams and ^^ FOGOs. He doesn't lose much, if at all some games! We struggled without him this Spring. Heard he might not play lacrosse this year due to a bad football injury though.

What teams are in the Fusion Winter Classic 7/8A Division? Tourney is in two weeks and no schedule posted yet.

Was a good bracket - ended up Fusion VA vs Team 11 for the championship game.

AA bracket was hard as heck with PennLax beating Tristate by 1 goal with less then a minute left.

Some great games in the tournament.

I will say though the bracket and schedule was out a week before so not sure what your issue was.

If Penn Lax has all the Freedom kids, they should win this thing pretty easily.

They are smarter than to play for any team that has that head coach

That LIE fogo is probably 4th best on LI.
Their other f/o kid will be playing more and more

T91 has 3 teams in the B (A) division and none in the A (AA) and all are undefeated. Maybe they should have played up. Long drive just to trophy hunt.

Freedom is average at box. Saw them last year at PILC almost lost to Tristate - beat them by 1 and had to come back. Got smoked by 91MD, etc.

Freedom Red 2022 is a top 10 team in the field but in box they are good but not great.

They have 2 - the Blue & Orange? - playing in the AILA 7/8 bracket. Tristate, Leading Edge, etc there so will be a good tournament. Not sure who else is there.

They split their team in half with some of their younger kids and blew out everyone. One of their teams had the best young Box player I've ever seen. All the other games were competitive other than the ones with them. My son plays for leading edge and we got a tough schedule while the NJ Riot and our younger team had a much easier path overall was a great tournament

Yeah my sons team played both the 91 teams and lost but beat Leading Edge. It was tough as usual with 91 a lot of good kids and moved the ball well.

They took thier 2022 team and the 2023 Bandits mixed them up and split them so both were darn good. My son was covering Spallina and was having a good game against him then the kid shot between his legs and bounced it to pick the top right corner. Classic shot. Kids good.

I believe that the scheduling was intentional so that the 91 teams played the 2022 teams like Tri-State, Leading Edge and BBL, as opposed to the 2023 teams in the pool, but there was some crossover, and some blended teams like NJ Riot. The 91 teams clearly put a heavy emphasis on box, they really play the game well.