You guys make me laugh. No one is "playing down" as the league is grade based. Go play in MYLA if you want to be age based. If your son is playing in one of the Elite divisions, be proud of him. He is playing with and against some of the best players in the country in his grade. All the teams in the Elite divisions have holdbacks, so singling any team out is a useless exercise. Don't be high and mighty and act like your club wouldn't take the holdback kids on Crabs in a heartbeat if they wanted to change to your club. It's disingenuous. It all boils down to the fact that Crabs wins a lot. Considering it's middle school, who really cares? Is your son getting better playing with and against holdbacks? Of course he is and that's really what should matter, not a frigging free t-shirt.