THE LONG ISLAND ELITE NATIONAL TEAM
THE BEST PLAYERS IN LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK TRAVEL TO PLAY THE BEST TEAMS IN AMERICA.
THIS PRESTIGIOUS INVITE-ONLY TEAM REQUIRES TRYOUTS.

See Frequently Asked Questions for more detailed answers to questions.

The Long Island Elite National Teams range from 7 years to 14 years old. They travel to play the best teams in the country. Tryouts are required for these teams. These are special all-star teams chosen to represent Long Island in national competitions. The year-long schedule of events for the LIE National team varies from year-to-year depending on a number of considerations.

 

This is not a recreation program. Our practice schedule demands priority over other sports and commitments except for school, religion, and family matters. The work is hard, travel is required for practice and for games, and our pricing structure is similar to the top travel lacrosse programs in the region. Our coaches are former Division I, NFL players, High School coaches and top youth coaches.

 

New York, while well known for being a producer of Division I Lacrosse talent, has never been a football powerhouse. Much of this has to do with a long-established culture of entitlement, and a lack of knowledge and football resources available to youth players when compared to the powerhouse football states.

The Long Island Elite National Team program provides an opportunity to passionate young football players and their families, to participate in a program that mimics the top youth football programs in Texas, Florida, Georgia, California, and the other football hotbeds of the country.

To clarify, and silence ignorant critics: we do not endorse a full-year of hitting. Our program, like the other top programs around the country runs year-round with a mix of clinics, drills, and contact levels. However, we are nothing like your PAL or local recreation program. The recreation programs are great, they serve a purpose and get lots of kids of all abilities out for fall football, but that is not what this program is about. We encourage players to be multi-sport athletes, especially at the younger ages, but the truth is that players in our program overwhelmingly choose football over all other sports. This is their home.

We have none of the social distractions, gossip, daddy-ball and drama so prevalent on the sidelines of other youth leagues. Our players, coaches, and their families are like-minded individuals cut from the same cloth! Where else will you find families willing to travel sometimes an hour outside of their town for practice (we have had kids from the Bronx), travel to games all over the country, practice in sometimes 30 degree weather, and incur the financial burdens associated with a travel program?

The Long Island Elite National Team program is a demanding program consisting of on-field skill development and off-field education to prepare kids to play at the highest level of high school and college football. It is obsessive, demanding, competitive, and requires a travel commitment for practice and for games.

Our success speaks for itself. We have a robust alumni list of Division 1 players that have received college scholarship offers and played in the ACC, BIG TEN, BIG12, and SEC. We also produced two players who played as freshman in the BIG TEN, and the highest recruited player to ever come out of New York, a player who had 8 Division 1 offers as an 8th grader.

More important are the dozens of players who came through our program playing Division 2, and 3. Every player’s ceiling is different, our job has always been and will continue to be to develop them and prepare them to play at their individual peak. We educate players and their families on the nuances of college football and hand-hold them through their recruiting and NIL journey. No one does this better than Long Island Elite. 

THE ELITE NATIONAL TEAM SCHEDULE:

FALL:

Calendar year starts with practice in mid-July.

Fall games begin late August or early September.

Fall season play is approximately 6 games on an independent schedule against some of the best teams in the Northeast. One game is a national game that requires travel and overnight (i.e. Ohio is tentative for 2025), and the rest are regional games; possible venues are upstate New York, Western New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachussets, Rhode Island, Delaware, Vermont.

We do not play in a league, there are no playoffs.

Fall season play typically ends in late October, early November.

WINTER:

Practice starts mid-November.

Turkey Bowl pre-season scrimmage is the weekend after Thanksgiving.

Practice continues.

Media Day, our big press event for players happens in late December.

We travel for our National Bowl game which is usually in December or early January (i.e. for the past 5 years we have gone to the New Year’s Bowl which runs alongside the NBC Sports/Navy High School Combine and All-Star game in San Antonio, Texas. In the past we have also gone to Texas, Virgina, Delaware, Maryland, Georgia, and a number of other football hotbeds across the country.

We usually have a dead period after the National Bowl Game which lasts until March.

SPRING:

Practice resumes in March in preparation for the Shamrock Showcase in Virginia which is usually St Patrick’s day weekend.

Spring camp season, which is purely developmental, starts in mid-March and lasts until about May.

SUMMER:

Practice resumes a couple weeks before The Liberty Challenge in June.

The Liberty challenge is the last event for the Elite National Team. The new season starts over again in July

MORE PROGRAM NOTES

Tryouts for the team happen all year-round, and if you are invited to the team after the season has commenced, you will pay a pro-rated fee.

 

The non-refundable tryout fee is $100 and includes participation in all tryouts and the top coaching in the Northeast.

 

The cost of the Long Island Elite National Team depends on if you opt in for the full calendar of events and spring camp, plus the fall season and will be furnished in your invite email if you are invited to the team. Registration includes top coaching, all practices and scrimmages, recruiting and NIL meetings. Players will receive a premium spandex NCAA style uniform. Players must provide their own helmet and shoulder pads. Other items needed are cleats, a mouthpiece, and safety cup. Every year Long Island Elite Football accommodates dozens of less fortunate children in the community through it’s need-based scholarship program allowing them to participate in a first-class program that produces the best high school and college players. 
*If you live in the Hamlet of Gordon Heights, you can provide address verification during registration for a discounted rate. 

Every year Long Island Elite Football accommodates dozens of less fortunate children in the community through it’s need-based scholarship program allowing them to participate in a first-class program that produces the best high school and college players. No child in the history of the program has ever been turned away for financial reasons.

We offer several need-based scholarships every year through our hardship application. In 15 years we have never turned a player away for financial reasons. 

COACHING AND TEAM MANAGER APPLICATIONS ARE ACCEPTED YEAR-ROUND FOR ALL TEAMS. OUR TEAM MANAGERS FULFILL AN IMPORTANT ROLE AND DUTIES FOR THE TEAM, THEY ARE NOT JUST HANDING OUT CUPCAKES AND ORANGE SLICES. TEAM MANAGERS ARE INCLUDED IN COACHING MEETINGS. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN COACHING, BECOMING A TEAM MANAGER, OR VOLUNTEERING; APPLY USING THE BUTTON AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE.

TRYOUTS: 
New players should attend every tryout for maximum consideration. 

There are two types of tryouts: group tryouts and private tryouts. Group tryouts are announced periodically throughout the year. They are typically listed here, and on our social media accounts. In addition to the group tryouts, you can register for tryouts any time of year and a coach will call you to invite you to some practices to try out and be evaluated to see if you make the team. You must pay and register online whether you are doing a group tryout or private tryout, no exceptions. If you make the team you will receive an invite to the elite national team via email.

*Very important. The practice and group tryout schedule below may change! This is your forewarning to please check your email, texts, and social media for last minute changes before you walk out the door on the day of tryouts/practice so that you don’t show up to the wrong field or on a date that has been cancelled. **CHECK INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK, TEAMSNAP, AND EMAIL FOR LIVE UPDATES AND LAST MINUTE SCHEDULE CHANGES ON THE DAY OF**

UPCOMING GROUP TRYOUT DATES
THERE ARE CURRENTLY NO “GROUP” DATES SCHEDULED, HOWEVER YOU CAN REGISTER ONLINE FOR A PRIVATE TRYOUT AND A COACH WILL CONTACT YOU AND INVITE YOU DOWN TO SOME OF THE PRACTICES TO BE EVALUATED. 

*CURRENT PLAYERS MUST ATTEND EVERY TRYOUT.
*NEW PLAYERS SHOULD ATTEND EVERY TRYOUT FOR MAXIMUM CONSIDERATION.

 

See the other teams that are part of the Long Island Elite program.

See Frequently Asked Questions for more detailed answers to questions.

We cannot consider anyone for a team that has not filled out the online registration form and paid the tryout fee. It does not matter who you know, who you spoke with, if you were on a team last year, or how many tryouts you attended. If you don’t fill out the online registration and pay the fee you won’t be considered for a team because we will have no record of you in our system.

Your online registration is reconciled and matched up with the data from tryouts that coaches look at. This is an extremely tedious job that cannot be done by our volunteers without the online forms to streamline the process. Everyone must complete the online registration form and pay the tryout fee.

Hundreds of players will be evaluated based on the data that was collected at tryouts, observations, coaching recommendations, and any film that was sent in.