Originally Posted by Anonymous
Cross posted from 2021

Why all the hate? This is a 13U event with the birthday cutoff of 5/1. Most sports with a "good" governing body have age group based on birthdays. Soccer is birth year. But soccer is international where things like the U.S. version of grades may not translate.

If lacrosse wants to grow from its current small foot print, a strong USL, with rules instead of guidelines, is needed. Who knows, a military base in Europe may field a local team in the future with a mix of local kids. Grades may not exactly translate, but he age cutoff does.


Agreed. That's what we all want and ultimately it will be for the better. But there's a reason for the backlash.

The fact remains that the rules were already set for this year. Did you overlook that or did not know? There was absolutely no reason to change rules eight weeks prior to qualifiers except to benefit larger entrenched orgs that can pull from the eighth grade class, and diminish the mid-size or rising organizations.

Tell us why WYSL couldn't just wait until after this year's tourney was over to modify the rules once and for all. It gave a huge impression that the decision was underhanded and the rules can be changed 'at will' in the future. It was here on BOTC that a leak was made and targeted toward a certain organization just prior to the rule change, that 'a big change was coming'. It's true you can't believe most things on an anonymous forum, but at a minimum it shows that at least one organization was 'in the know' and most likely influenced the process.

Did they really have to push the date of birth up 30 days this year? Did they really have to take grade out of the equation after most teams selected the players from the class of 2021 back in Aug-Nov?

Could those points not have waited one more season? Finally, tell us why all of a sudden the players no longer have to play with the team year round, BUT only in two tourneys, qualifier included.

All the new rules are fine...WYSL should have just waited until this summer to implement them for 2017, because the rules for 2016 were already established. That would be the right thing to do. Meanwhile, influencers and those in charge have their mouths shut because they know three years from now this year's event will be forgotten and swept under the rug.

Oh, and I do not have any skin in this year's game.