Agree. He would be cheating himself if he plays down. kids that play down or play on teams that win most of the games they play never improve as much as those that have to fight for every inch on the field. If you play your son down to where he dominates or on a team that dominates it will give you short term gratification but by tenth grade many of those 2021 kids who would be more mature by tenth grade and those that played in games that were challenging the prior years will catch up to him and he will no longer dominate 2021 and not be able to compete in 2020. Yes I know people will point to many great players who played down but there are many more failures of kids that played down than successes. Also there are many more success storys of kids that played up or the correct age. It does not surprise me to hear some kids that played on AA teams that were not in challenging games are now getting cut and now play on B teams. Every kid and situation is different so there is no right answer. Good luck.

Originally Posted by Anonymous
Originally Posted by Anonymous
(2020 dad here) I have an honest question and would like whomever originally posted this' opinion - as well as others. My son plays 2020 in a "lax town" he doesn't make 2020 A teams but when he plays 2021 A teams playing up he almost always DOMINATES his man. He is born in November so am I "cheating" if I played him on a 2021 A team where I would know at least a half dozen or so kids on the team would be chronologically older than him despite the fact that they may be a year behind him in school? I have wrestled with this topic for years. Who benefits and who is the victim if I did this?
Originally Posted by Anonymous
Igloo has cleaned up their act parting ways with the '20 kids on their team--who by the way had trouble making '20 "A" teams until Daddy called and whined/pleaded with the organization to take his son after he had not made the team. Enjoy the sideline...


Yes, you are "cheating." If he is in the graduating class of 2020, he plays on a 2020 team - regardless of chronological age. If he dominates the 2021 kids when he plays them, he would be the "victim" in your scenario. How does he get better if he isn't challenged?