The only way to change the culture is for the tournament directors to stop making the tournaments for the travel circuit based on class year.
College coaches going to recruiting tournaments want to see 2014's playing 2014's and 2015's playing 2015's plain and simple - all trough PAL they pay grade based and obviously in school they play grade best - it just makes the most sense to have 8th graders play 8th graders
Actually it doesn't make any sense at all! It makes more sense for a 14 year old to play a 14 year old not a 14 year old play a 12 year old because he was he was left back or his parents held him back. This is especially true at the 7th and 8th grade level. When a kid is in his second year of puberty because he is old enough to be in High School is playing and dominating pre pubescent kids who does that benefit? It's still youth lacrosse, its about kids developing their skills. News Flash, The college coaches aren't at the 8th grade games! Once the kids are playing on varsity all bets are off and they can play at that level which would be u-17. The colleges will figure out what grade a kid is in. There are plenty of coaches at the under Armour tournament or Jake reed etc.. which has a mix of all grades! Give them credit they know what they are looking for.
do you cry like this about school ball too? when seventh graders play against 7th graders but one is older then the other? they play by grade in PAL and School but you want them to play by birthdate in the summer? makes no sense and by the way Jake Reed has different weeks for different graduating years so every kid at a certain week will be of the same class regardless of age because nobody cares about age.
Just about every other sport does it by age in travel and they play with their grade for school ball. Don't be surprised if PAL goes to age as well and follows PAL football which goes by age (and weight).
Ever notice its always the guy who held their kid back, to get that age advantage, telling everyone else to stop crying about it? Bottom line, when your playing down against younger, weaker, smaller, slower, less physically mature competition you look like a superstar. That's why people hold their kids back. It's a huge advantage, especially when you go to a recruiting camp and you're a rising 10th grader that's 16, and everyone else is a an older 14yo or 15yo. No crying here, just facts.
Seriously, why would a kid be a year older than everyone else?
I see Four potential reasons------------
A-- Because the kid got left back because the teachers or parents thought he did not have sufficient test scores to advance to the next grade, or just needs another year to get up to speed, for whatever reason. Entirely possible, and completely understandable. No issues here at all.
B-- Because the kid got left back because the teachers or parents thought he was not developmentally advanced enough for the next grade. Also entirely possible, and completely understandable. No issues here at all.
C----Because the kid moved from another state. Also entirely possible, and completely understandable. No issues here at all.
D-- Because the parents wanted an advantage (however large or small) over the other kids for both academics and athletics because they felt if it was an even playing field, the kid would struggle, or at a minimum, he would not excel.
I could see how people would have an issue with answer D, because it is not fair to the others who played by the rules.
Would there be any other reasons a kid is a year older?
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