I have never heard of a boy playing "up" on travel Club team. Nobody does that. Town/PAL yes because they are age based--- but NEVER travel. Something doesn't sound right.
where have you been? At the younger ages its doable. As the boys get older it gets more competitive. Last year the boys tried out for 2022 but it was decided not to play up again. These were south shore thunder boys. That team had 2022 and 2023 kids some of which played for minutemen. Its not a conspiracy. They were playing with their friends.
In other words, by birth date and NY school cutoff dates for enrollmemt in kindergarten, these are kids that should/could be in 6th grade, but for whatever reason are not, so techincally speaking they are in 5th grade and playing on grade, but in reality should/could play on a 6th grade team with kids their own age.
I don't understand why teams don't own up to this practice. There is a loophole in the current system that every travel team takes advantage of. The best is when kids who are the same age as my son but in a grade lower (for whatever reason) play on a 2023 team and the parents say the kids are "playing up," and then when they realize their sons can be standouts playing on a team in their actual grade, they pull them down to play on a 2024 team where they are now playing against kids in their own grade who might actually be a whole year or more younger.
Every team has a few of these kids and it's not against the rules, so why not own up to it?
