Originally Posted by Anonymous
Re-classification works for many of the kids that do it, it is an advantage for those that can afford it, and it is worth it if it helps your kid get into a great school that he would not get into without lacrosse. Zero moral dilemma in helping you child get a foot up in life and it should be used and if you can afford it ....go for it.

To me (my kid is going to a very good D1 and is a 17 year old entering his senior year of HS, Turning 18 in March) it is no different than hiring an SAT tutor, personal trainer or private positional coach. As long as you are following the rules, nobody should be ridiculed for doing what is best for their own kid.

I doubt that a single person on this board, if given the following choice would not pick B.

A) Have your kid stay on grade, do well in school and lacrosse and go to a very good state school and graduate at 22 years old

B) Have your kid repeat kindergarten repeat 8th grade and PG a year before starting HYP as a 20 year old.

IMHO the choice would be B every time.


I would not ever consider doing B - every one has the chance to repeat or delay start of K; not sure everyone could repeat 8th, but considering what I see parents exacting from public schools now a days, if you pushed hard enough, you might be able to make that happen, too; PG costs $, so most wouldn't do it.

Look at this way - given the clear opportunity, would you do the first two within your own public school district? And, by opportunity I mean only that you could do it, not that it would be norm. The reason I put it that way is that in all likelihood, the very act of repeating 8th grade without having to do so would be looked down upon by both the school and probably also by his peers and community - it's looked down upon for a reason. Doing so by 'hiding' it out in the open at a private school doesn't take away the nature of what made it looked down upon within the school community - you just created some distance.

Another point: The number of first- and second-hand times I have heard of the following exchange at this point is beyond counting: You're at a tourney with teams from MA, PA, NJ, DE, and/or MD, and the following Q is asked - "How old is X"? The A is almost always, "He is in Y grade". We all know why the users refuse to answer the actual question - they know they are playing "by the rules" in a grade-based system, but they also know they are gaming the system by having a boy who is older than would otherwise be in that grade, IE, they have reservations about the ethics of it. Otherwise, they would answer the actual Q! That said, the only parents/players that seem to answer this Q directly are from MA - they seem damn proud of their Johnny being older, and the go so far as to ask why more of your son's teams don't reclass/holdback/etc?! (Maybe that's just part and parcel of the whole New England prep school mentality that they are much more involved in.)