Why pick an age cuttoff that splits right down the middle of 2 grades. It is stupid. There is not a club team out there that is trying to blend 7th and 8th graders. Nor does USA lacrosse encourage an age cutoff that promotes mixing 7th and 8h graders. It is awkward and inconvenient for everyone. And made a mess of the teams for this years event. It will forever remain a mystery why the event chose to do something so random and outside the norm. And will always be a problem trying to mix and match 7th and 8th graders. It is just not practical for anybody and will wear on kids and club programs. How about September 1 and keep it to a single grade and make everyone's life easier. Mixing and matching 7th and 8th graders is and always will be a nightmare.
I think they moved the cutoff age for a few reasons, but I believe the biggest is the amount of states with different dates for school grades. NY is 12/1 so yes many 8th graders qualify. Many states are 9/1 or even 6/1 so in those states, like Pa, many of their 7th grade players would be in 8th in Ny.
So while in NY the clubs have issues because they are blended teams, a lot of clubs in other states are of their age.
The World Series website has all the rosters and ages listed and stats for each player. Most of the kids in the tourney are 2002 birth year and should all be 8th grade in Ny.
Forget the discussion that then occurs with hold backs. I'm sure there are a few teams that decided not to go to the WS because their kids were even older than the 5/1 date.
If you get past the split grade issue for us in NY, this is truly an age bed tourney that you have to prove your age and location to,play on a team. We all complain about older kids on teams, now there is a check and balance system in this tourney to prevent the 15 year old 7th grader from playing.
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