The issue is strictly a youth game one. And more specific a youth club lacrosse issue. This has nothing to do with high school play or anything to do with a freshman being a JV or a varsity player. Grade based teams in youth lacrosse exist for one reason only. It allows parents discretion to manipulate the age group their son plays in to the downside. Better players in sports have always played up if they were strong and good enough. Lacrosse is the only sport I can think of that celebrates signing up a 15 year old with 13 year olds to hold an advantage. What is next, fake a learning disability to take untimed tests at school? My kid would likely do better on the SAT if he could spend 10 hours going over everything many times over. Would that be ok if he gets a 99 percentile and gets into Harvard instead of a 80 percentile? The difference can be that small for an academic admissions application. Happens all the time.