Originally Posted by Anonymous
I disagree. I really don't care at all about holdback/reclassed kids. My kid is NOT a holdback, but I'd rather have him play against the kids that he will play against in middle school and high school. Does a 19 yr old HS senior get booted off of the team? No. What about a 13 year old 7th grader or 14 year 8th grader? No and no. It's not about silly youth tournaments. It's about preparing them for JV, Varsity and possibly beyond.


Under an aged based system, you would be permitted to have your son play up if you wished him to play against older boys who you believe will be his opponents on JV and Varsity. It would be your choice. But if you were like the majority of parents, and thought it best that he play against kids his same age only, than you would be able to ensure that that happens. As it is now, parents have no choice. Their kids are forced to play against older kids whether they like it or not. And what makes it worse is there is a randomness to it. You never know the amount of older kids the opposition has until you get to the field.

And as someone else has said, age difference is diminished greatly once puberty starts to kick in. In most sports, including lacrosse, a freshman can play well against seniors. But a 9 year old against 12 year olds - good luck. Once the kids are 15 or so, age differences become far less determinative. But 14 or below, more or less, older kids have a huge innate advantage. Such advantage should not be forced on a kid.