When you are 16 in the 9th grade and playing against kids who haven’t even gone through puberty the advantage is HUGE. Look at the early recruits in the 2020 class from Baltimore area - the bulk of them were reclassed or pre-first or both. Last summer’s UA tournament had 18s who graduated playing as 19s because they were doing a PG year. In what other sport is gaming the system such commonplace?
Hmm. Let's see. Basketball, Football, Soccer,..... Hilarious.. Soccer is very strict about age in classifying at single year with actual cards verifying age. ALL elite programs are like this including ALL professional team farm systems, They have do the best at keeping players going against players within an age bracket. Largest sport in world
Football has the occasional holdback to get bigger but many elite athletes are on age, Go look at any recruiting sheet on top football players ( if you have access) ALL put age on the sheet. Limited over age players. Lacrosse all put grade. LOL
Basketball?? BB did the grade thing for short while and it was a disaster. AAU is by age except in certain places. You think it is bad here ..BB went nuts with holdbacks and dialed it back to age.
Football has a ridiculous number of holdbacks. The percentage at top private schools for football is at least equal to lacrosse. Basketball has many as well. No clue about soccer but you saying football has limited holdbacks calls into question anything else you say.
Agreed. The best QB in the area is a 2021 at Gonzaga. He's too old to finish school there.
You are way to centric to Maryland/DC Private schools while talking about Football, .. Go to Texas, FL, CA and other states, Once you get out of your little world of Private schools the majority of Football players ( of course not all ) are on age athletes. True athletes dont need a extra year to be competitive in HS, do some hold back, of course,,,but not the majority of top players in High school . Sorry to burst your little private school bubble, You might want to question your question. LOL
Well the majority of lacrosse players are on age too. So not sure what your point is. I know from the dummies on this site that it may seem like every kid at BL, McD, CHC, Gilman, etc are a year or two older, it's just not the case.
We are talking about top players in MD. As a percentage of top lacrosse players.... MD and its world of private schools are over the top with holdbacks, not even close to any other state besides pockets of NE Private school areas.
As far as every other child at these schools ?? Probably not, but the smaller ones with grades 1-12 are loaded such as McD and BL, CHC student body doesn't have as many as it is only 9-12.
Look at youth lacrosse. Majority of holdbacks are either in private or going after being held back. Years ago even in McD, BL, etc there were only so many holdbacks. You can claim and spin any way you want, but there has been an explosion in holdbacks/prefirst/reclass in last 5 -10 years and it is clear to see.
Looking at the Tewaaraton Watch list from last year. 8 kids from Long Island, 8 kids from Maryland, and 8 kids from Ontario. 6 kids from Philly 4 kids from Connecticut 3 kids from New Jersey 2 kids from Callifornia, 2 from Massachusettes, and 2 from BC.
More kids from other areas are playing, but the top kids are still from the hotbeds.
I think this helps prove the Lacrosse IQ along with playing top competition is what puts the best on top. They are all great athletes from all the states but knowing the game and developing your game along side 19 other really good smart players during games is what makes a great lacrosse player. But I think this is true for all team sports
