To all the parents and players that are knotted up inside over the holdback issue. It all goes away next year. My son is a 2019 player and look at how quiet that board is. All those kids care about is playing on their JV or Varsity teams. The kids are all lumped in together now and no one cares how old you are. 100 kids are committed out of the 2019 class. Some of them are holdbacks and some of them aren't. For the most part, the first kids that committed were the exceptionally big/strong/fast kids and in some cases, those kids were holdbacks and they are committed to the big D1 programs. My son tells me that it is all starting to balance out. Some kids are growing while getting better and some have stopped growing and are not getting better. The playing field is getting more and more level. The good news is that there are a ton of spots left and many of the top academic schools have not committed anyone yet. My worries about the holdback issue when my son was in 7th and 8th grade are a distant memory. My son is having fun, he loves playing for his HS team and he knows that his grades are really all that matters. He has had some good interaction with some good D1 programs that he is interested in. This summer is a big summer for him and his class. All the while, the playing field continues to level.
Enjoy it, it is flying by.