Originally Posted by Anonymous
We were faced this issues for my son. The only issue was we had a rare instance of 12+ boys who had an overall athletic aptitude. The problem was the town really didn't care and the coaches pushed their own agenda. The year had enough boys to carry two teams; the last 5/6 boys to round out the "better" team to 17 players and the top 3/4 on the second team (18 players) were hard to split and yes favors came to play. But many of the parents of the second team fought the process because they didn't want their son on a second team. Felt things were done sneaky. You realize after the years there is no easy way to do it.

I always thought PAL you split evenly and you form a "tournament team" of the better players. You practice twice a week. One as a grade and one day as a team (with the option of a second team day before games start).

I think the school coaches should have some involvement though. I've heard all the nightmares. Lived through a few. Good luck have fun and remember you are their parents and advocates. The boys will be friends for a long time they are building lifelong memories.


There is no right answer to this, just people with different opinions. I've seen it from both sides with my kids. My older son was on a very good team and he was still developing. Of course, he was put at attack because PAL youth lax is middie-centric (ie; coaches let the best kids run the show instead of coaching the young young kids). He stood out there every game with his stick up, moving to get away from defenders, and never had a ball thrown his way. My other son is on a team of relative equals. It's the B team, but he is one of the better players and is an integral part of the team. They play against comparable teams and he loves it. I'm happier with this model because he comes off of the field happy and proud instead of sad and dejected like my older son did. Most kids don't care as much about A/B as the parents do. My older son put in the work and developed a little later than the other boys in his grade, but now he's a quality player on his school team. It's about player development and readiness more than it is about parental egotism. Let the kids play in an environment that will keep them positive and have them enjoy the sport.