IMO, I am paying for practices. To practice vs. better kids will make my kid better. I can opt to play lower level teams and be best 12 year old on the field. I choose not to.
In NY, when you are 12, often times your son is hoping to be the best 7th grader on the field (not 4th grader). Oh wait - I thought the age difference was only a couple of months - guess not. I know, I know - I'll go cry and whine about age somewhere else.
I took issue with the fact that he wrote it as if he is the kid playing
