Originally Posted by Anonymous
Any parent with the least bit of common sense can understand that there will be age differences in HOCO. The problem is (and why USL is pushing for age based classification) is that organizations like Crabs are abusing the system. When virtually your entire starting line up in the 8th grade is full of 15 year olds - some who will turn 16 before Christmas of their Freshman year you have dramatic difference in the physical/mental development of the kids on the field. It's unfair and unsafe.


No team cuts from tryouts based on age. Lower ranked teams would love to grab some older kids at tryouts, but most of the better players end up at higher ranked clubs.
MIAA sets the 19 year age eligibility limit for start of Senior year, so why are so many people surprised that pre-first and repeating in private are common. It's not about Crabs, FCA, or Looney's abusing anything, they just happen to get the best players, and some happen to be private kids that repeated at some point. USL is not a league, so why would anyone hold a private grade-based club league to a higher standard than the MIAA rules? It is not about "your" kid being the best at the youth level, it is about learning, developing, and getting better. They aren't going to change to age based, or else teams will get split up every year at the 8th to 9th grade levels. Even at age based, it would take the lacrosse equivalent of liberals about 1 minute to start complaining about kids 11 months older than their kids. It would never end, there will always be something to complain about.