Please tell us what happens when little Timmy gets to high school and is playing against juniors and seniors. Go to the AD and principal and tell them its not fair. Do you want a participation trophy? Life is never fair. Someone always will be bigger stronger and faster. So have you kid work harder, train in the off-season, and stop complaining[/quote]

OK Hammerhead.

There's a lot of deliciously hilarious and absurd things I savor about this forum.

One of them is the Hive's belief that all your sons are going to:
1) Make varsity at a decent school next year in 9th grade
2) Actual get playing time at Varsity @ 9th grade

I don't savor how much I *know* you'll scream at your kid for "only" making MIAA JV in 9th grade and for "being weak" for getting his 14 year old collarbone broken in practice by a 20 year old Goon Squad senior.[/quote]

Puberty is the great equalizer. If you look at a 2026 team and there aren’t at least 3 or 4 sub 100 pound boys, the team probably doesn’t have many on age kids on the roster. The size difference of a pre pubescent 13 year old and fully grown 15 year old is immense and a total safety issue. When kids enter HS however they will typically play for the frosh team and those who play up on varsity are probably the larger ones. My point is that the holdback issue is one of safety at the middle school level.