Youth hockey has really worked it out. Within each age division, Jan 1 cutoff, there are:
House - new player, and players who might no be good but love the game B Team - Travel lowest level Lower A - Travel next level A - Travel with mostly or all minor age of the division Upper A - Travel with a mix of minor and major ages of the division AA - Travel with a majority or all of majors of the age division AAA - Tier 1 hockey ( lots of plane rides)
Bottom line is it is all age based and strictly enforced, especially by the tournaments who will reclass teams to other tourney divisions based on records and mix of ages on the team.
Hockey isn't so great either! ex...if you have a late year birthday (11/2004) and say your a first year peewee (or any other age group) you could have kids on the team 2 grades ahead of you?
It is OK if they are on the team, just won't play against teams loaded with that age as they would play in a higher division. Grade had zero to do with it.
it would only work in Lax hotbeds, not enough players to fill teams in many areas. School year is the best or a date close to it and strictly enforced. Problem is, US Lax has no backbone and is afraid of its own shadow, they won't enforce anything.
