My oldest son is an August birthday who we decided was not ready to start Kindergarten 8 days after he turned 5, we also didn't think showing up on a college campus a week or so after turning 18 would be in HIS best interest. We made that decision with zero thought about him gaining an advantage in youth sports. In fact when that decision was made and until Club lacrosse changed years later he always played with the Class of 2020 where his BIRTHDATE dictated he play in ALL sports. Emotionally, socially, and academically it was the correct decision for our son, but he is technically a holdback. For much of his youth career he actually paid the price being the youngest kid on his teams with none of his friends from school on his teams.
My second oldest, has a March birthday, is a true class of 2022 player, but has been playing 2021 since he was in 3rd grade and continues to play 2021 this year. Using him as an example, he is a strong player in 2021, would be a very good player in 2022 with his classmates, he might look like an All American if he stepped into a 2023 game.
The point is this, for all the debate about holdbacks, I'm not sure the current class of 2021 or 2022 parent's foresaw the change in rules and leagues that allowed for grade based lacrosse. I hope it's a stretch to say anyone looked at their son or daughter at 5 in the year 2007 or 2008 and thought, I'm going to have them repeat a grade so they can gain an advantage because they may go to grade based club lacrosse in 2014.
Clearly kids repeating 7th or 8th grade fall under a different microscope, but let's not forget we all as Parent's are or should be making decisions that are in that child's best interest. Furthermore, while this is a great sport, at the collegiate level being a recruited player often amounts to little more then admissions preference and a slight reduction in tuition and costs.
