Reclassifying is one thing, but I think that is less of a problem than people clam it is at the 5th grade level. If lacrosse goes to a birth year, then the focus of the complaining will be because a team has a bunch of early 2007 birthdays and their kids are 8-11 12 months older than our kids.
My son played with a big kid all through youth and HS. He was probably 6 ft in 6th grade, he's in college now and may have only grown 2 inches since then. The comments from opposing parents once they saw that he was also an excellent player were embarrassing. "Where's his birth certificate?" "Play with your own age!" "Did you drive to the game?" Some kids are bigger than other kids their age, some kids are better than kids their age, and some are bigger AND better than kids their age. That doesn't make them cheaters.[/quote]
What is the argument to having an age based system where kids move up on their birthday, meaning when a kid turns 11 he plays 11 and under? This way the kids progress naturally from being the youngest to the oldest and, presumably, moving up in importance to the team. I've heard the team cohesion argument and it's ridiculous given the age levels we're talking about. And since USL and tournaments require birth dates upon registration, it's easily policed.
