I think 5/1 is too early as well. [lacrosse]'s had already moved to 6/1 after last year, which I think is also too early. (I do think that [lacrosse]'s prior 8/1 date was fairly reflective of when many boys start kindegardten).

I don't think playing against a 2021 loaded (4-8 kids) with summer birthdays is the end of the world, but there is no question that it's a competitive advantage to have a team that is, on average, a few months older. Look at Hogan's brackets and you can see how many teams - from everywhere, not just Maryland - don't have 2020, 2021 or 2022 teams that meet the 9/1 cutoff.