I think Canadian families just want their kids to have an opportunity to go to college in the US. It is a country where less than 1/5th of adults have a college education and Canada has only three cities which could reasonably be classified as white collar higher income job markets. For the most part Canada is still an agrarian economy and families what better. I do concur with the moderator and other posters that the cheap vehicle into US colleges to play kids down is the opposite of every Canadian "farm tough" well and hard earned stereotype I knew of growing up. Anyone think Gordie Howe, Bobby Clark or Mark Messier would have played down to compete? They'd play up and punch you in the face before the face-off just to let you know they were coming and wouldn't quit. Now, we've all moved on from punching being ok in sports, but really what Canadians now do in lacrosse is about as bold as starting a men's figure skating program to pull hockey players away in the fields of Manitoba.
And thanks for the comments directed at Maryland or other US area parents. As a parent of three proper school year aged kids and a proponent of age based club teams, I applaud the bashing of our peer group around here. It is abysmal that the American way in lacrosse is playing down to avoid the confrontation of real and fair sports competition at all costs. It is something we all need to fix.
Great post except for the finale. The minority of American clubs and players play down or PG. Therefore it is far from the "American way" as you said.
The vast majority of us play our kids on or above the appropriate age group for reasons that mirror your thoughts exactly.
Thank you for shining some light on how the majority of Canadian parents feel about the issue of playing down. Good day.
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