I think U.S. Lacrosse should move to a single-year age divisions, except when two-year divisions are necessary for numbers. For boys, however, I think the 9.1 cutoff should be moved to 8/1, as I think many if not most boys with August birthdays now start kindergarten along with younger kids.

I have been to many reputable Summer and Fall tournaments over the last several years. Only Hogan's and [lacrosse]'s actually follow age rules (and [lacrosse]'s moved from an 8/1 cutoff to 6/1, which I think is too early). I have seen 4th graders playing 7th graders. I see teams playing down time and time again.

I don't necessarily think single-year grade divisions are that bad, until you start seeing holdbacks, at least compared to two-year age divisions. Even before holdbacks, however, it is obvious how many older kids populate single-year grade teams. I would speculate it is common to have 4-8 kids on a single-year grade team that are older than U.S. Lacrosse's 9/1 cutoff. It makes competition largely about who's older versus who's more skilled. That's not good for the sport or safety.