Originally Posted by Anonymous
Originally Posted by Anonymous
I wonder how long it will be before a parent or a coach goes up to a tourney director and asks for a roster check. And how that tourney will handle it.


For the record, the boy in question is not a 2024. He is a legitimate 2025; not even a holdback. He just happens to have an early birthday.

However, even if a situation like that arises on a team, I'm not sure a parent has much of a leg to stand on. If they are not happy with the team, their are some 40+ other options for them to choose from on LI. That parent has to make a decision. Do they want what's truly best for their child (ie: find another team that allows the player to start) or do they stay on the team for the sole reason of having the ability to tell people that their son is on the best team.

Furthermore, since the only tournaments that actually require age/roster verification are age based tournaments, I don't see how this will ever come up. 95+% of the quality tournaments on the East Coast are grade based tournaments. I've had 3 sons go through the travel process and never had to produce a birth certificate, report card or notarized document. To ask a single team to produce such documents without asking every other team would be unjust.

Before you counter with, "Then they should ask every team", understand that it's not going to happen. Directors cheat, coaches cheat and parents cheat. That's the world we live in. Parents will doctor birth certificates if they think their kid will obtain an edge. I don't agree with it. As a matter of fact, I wish the whole system went to age-based like football/soccer/hockey. But, there's just too much money being made right now for club directors or tournament directors to change anything.



No argument on your post, except for the fact that somehow going to age-based play would mean a reduction in money made. I would argue that the improvement to the sport would attract and keep more players, which means growth, which means more money. What MIGHT occur is that certain current players in the sport - the big clubs - MIGHT lose share and/or power over the sport. But, even that is a "MIGHT", not definite.

On side note, a certain guy from 2024 MadLax will tell you that they always have to submit full player info - DOB, age, grade, etc, etc - to all tourneys, which many on BOTC have called BS to him on . . .