Jersey Thunder Announces:
a new director of college recruiting,
a new national team partnership,
and more!!!
John Lade promoted to Jersey Thunder Director of Recruiting & College Placement
We are pleased to formally announce the promotion of John Lade to the Director of College Placement & Recruiting for Thunder Lacrosse. John has been a coach within the Thunder program since 2019 and also led the Thunder Premier team initiative.
John is one of the most decorated lacrosse players in the history of New Jersey lacrosse. He won a D1 National Championship in 2009 at Syracuse University. His personal accolades at Syracuse include “NCAA D1 Defenseman of the Year” (2011), 3x All-American, and 2x Big-East Conference. John played professionally in the MLL and for the Chaos in the PLL. He also coached D1 at Manhattan College for 3 years, and is currently the Head Coach at Kittatinny High School. He was recently inducted into the New Jersey Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
John has a wide network of contacts throughout the lacrosse universe, making him the perfect candidate for helping Thunder Lacrosse athletes to find the best fit as they look to play at the NCAA level.
Please join us in congratulating John Lade on his new role!
Jersey Thunder Lacrosse Joins the “Rebels National Team”
We are pleased to announce that Jersey Thunder Lacrosse has accepted an invitation to have our top athletes join the newly created Rebels National Team, which will compete outside of our normal fall and summer club seasons. This will allow our Jersey Thunder athletes from grades 2024-2030 to compete alongside top talent from Long Island, Philadelphia, Maryland, North Carolina, and Connecticut.
Jersey Thunder has continued to establish itself as one of the top clubs in the greater New York area, driven by our intensive training program and experienced coaching staff. Our club includes many talented athletes that are seeking opportunities to play in competitive field lacrosse events year-round, outside of the traditional club lacrosse season, and they now have this opportunity.
Our new partnership with the Rebels National Team gives our top Jersey Thunder athletes the ability to play on an National All-Star team at high-caliber venues across the United States. Rebels National will not conflict with Jersey Thunder practices or tournaments. This is truly incremental lacrosse for those athletes who want to play full-year at the highest level.
Middle School and High School players will have the chance to compete in some of the nation’s premier events, including but not limited to the following:
Pinnacle Lacrosse Fall Championships
Club World Championships
Sand Storm California
Lake Placid Invitational
“Inside Lacrosse” Club Lacrosse Invitational
Youth players will have the opportunity to compete with Rebels National as a part of the newly formed “The Circuit (AAA)”, which is a group of National-based programs that will challenge each other every Fall, Winter, and Spring. Youth players can also attend some of the tournaments listed above where youth brackets are available such as the Pinnacle Lacrosse Championships and Club World Championships.
All Rebels National events are available are “a la carte” to Jersey Thunder athletes giving our athletes the ultimate flexibility to compete at the highest level of the game at the times of year that are most convenient to their schedules.
We are truly excited about this new partnership and we cannot wait to see the benefits that it provides our athletes with above and beyond the tremendous value and expert instruction they already receive as a part of Jersey Thunder Lacrosse!
Jersey Thunder Lacrosse Announces “AA” and “A” Teams for 2024 and 2025 Grad Years
In 2019, Thunder Lacrosse successfully expanded its reach through the creation of club teams located in the Western Morris County & Sussex County areas in addition to its long-time home in Montville, NJ. This expansion has greatly increased the talent base within our program, and it has exposed more athletes than ever to the successful training regimen that has been a part of our award-winning organization.
For the upcoming Fall ‘22 - Summer ‘23 season, we are excited to announce that we will move towards “AA” and “A” team models for our 2024 and our 2025 graduation years. What does this mean? We will have two competitive teams for each grade combining talent from across Thunder Central, Thunder West, and additional players attending this year’s tryouts, as follows:
Jersey Thunder 2024 AA
Jersey Thunder 2024 A
Jersey Thunder 2025 AA
Jersey Thunder 2025 A
These teams will all be competing in top tournaments and in competitive brackets, with high-quality and well-respected coaching staffs. They will all attend top tournaments that have high visibility with college coaches, including but not limited to: Naptown Challenge, Adrenaline Summer Invitational, FLG in 3D, Pinnacle Summer Championship, Adrenaline Platinum Cup, Lehigh Laxfest, and others.
Both teams will have access to our new Director of Recruiting and College Placement, John Lade.
Teams with graduation years 2026 and below will remain unchanged from the current Thunder Central and Thunder West structure.
This enhancement to our program will ensure that all Thunder athletes maximize their exposure to NCAA coaches within their recruiting window.
All athletes in our program regardless of graduation year will always qualify for our #TheMost “lax gym” training platform. This offers more training than any other club in the US at a $0 incremental cost to our annual tuition. Jersey Thunder continues to reinvest heavily into the development of every athlete.