If schools went just by the birth year of a kid there would be no problems.
2004- 7th Grade 2005- 6th Grade 2006- 5th Grade
if you were born in that year you have to play with that grade that's it, then you wont have to worry about a kid 5'10 180lbs playing in a 12yr old Lax tournament.
Why not just ignore what the schools do, and just have the kids play with their birth year, like most other organized team sports. 2005s vs 2005s. 2006s vs 2006s and so on. All backed up by birth certificates and official rosters submitted to USA Lacrosse.
Moreover, even if a kid is a holdback, NY kids grade on grade are younger than most states because NY uses a younger calendar year for school. A summer 2005 birthday, for instance, in many other states would be a 5th grader now (finishing up the school year). In NY they are almost always 6th graders. Thus, without holding back, NY teams will be younger on the average. The holdback thing just makes it worse.
I have yet to hear a rational argument in support of the use of a kid's grade to determine against whom he competes in youth sports.
Money. Growth of youth lacrosse doubled last year, beating all previous years of growth. Has been fastest growing youth sport for over two decades, but last year doubled for the first time in a single year. The market agrees with the system.
