College kids have the same problems being responsible at 20 as they do as 18 year olds. I was guilty of that. Not getting the older is better thing either. In football players are auto redshirted so they can gain 30-50 pounds in the weight room at many positions. It is also a sport that allows 85 scholarships for 11 spots at a time on the field. You can fully scholarship 5 QBs. In basketball they don't redshirt guys. In soccer, swimming, baseball, etc they don't. Going back in lacrosse to the 1990s or 1980s did the top players then struggle as 18 year old freshmen against older players? I don't think so. Once you are 18-19 you are good enough or you are not. If you are a middle school kid playing against kids a year or two younger, there just isn't any way to see that as an outlier. I'd feel differently if I saw a 14 year old 2019 kid tearing it up on a 2018 or 2017 team. But I've never seen that at a club lacrosse event.
Did all of these lacrosse coaches read Gulliver's Travels and get carried away? A 16 year old 6'3 9th grader probably is not going to grow to 10 feet tall.
Sorry but at 18 you are a bit more immature than 20 in all aspects of your development. I played a D1 sport in college and as a freshman I rode the bench by Junior year I started every game till I graduated. Same person same skill just more mature and exposure to the game. Physically I was just stronger and my time spent in the gym really paid off. What a difference 2 years made in my overall maturity and physical presence. take a kid add in the fact they either did a repeat in 9th and then a PG where they are being groomed to play D1 lacrosse. Odds are they are committed so speaking to the college coach every other week and discussing their progress. This type of kid knows whats on the line. So As a coach I would take the 20 year old freshman over the 18 year old. Like you said a player can go to a PG year and really take minimal classes workout at the private school/boarding school and put on size in the gym and come in ready to play. If you say otherwise you don't know the inner working of these schools like Deerfield and Salisbury etc. They want to be #1 in the prep school world and take on players that normally wouldn't be able to attend. They even pay for their schooling. I know of a number of athletes that have done this.
In my opinion I feel if you are going to repeat or PG you still play with your age appropriate class and when its time to enter college you enter college as the year you are going to graduate. It is ridiculous when I hear about players who say they are going to PG yet they are still in their appropriate grade in school and play a year down. That is absolute BS. At least the repeats have to deal with the fact they are repeating. Also being a repeat doesn't always guarantee you will be on your travel teams top team there is a player that put his trust in a director of a very large club and by his recommendation repeated and now isn't even that club teams A team. Great kid and great family.
