"The ones that are getting hurt by this are the area's where it is running rampant, like MD. The holdbacks are taking all of the positions and opportunities, from the kids that are suppose to be getting them."
And there it is. The plague is taking opportunities from kids who deserve them. The system is rewarding the plague. Your issue is with the NCAA and the league and then the parents. I am agreeing with you. The NCAA doesn't care about holdbacks because they like them. Look at Navy because they are the worst. They recruit holdbacks and then ask them to do another year at Prep. They are getting 21 year old freshman and they love it for a number of reasons. They are older, more mature and are easier to get through the process because they have higher test scores.
LI is holding out but it is creeping in.
All very valid points, but sadly, no solution in sight...our kids will be probably be out of college before things finally change
You know what is the funniest part of all this? The two top LI teams have no holdbacks. Yet, they are some of the top teams at this grade, and one of them is quite possibly the best anywhere. That will likely be determined this summer. So on age teams are as good or better than teams a year of two older, which has been going on since grade two. Think about that. If that's the case, why are all of the clubs chasing after holdbacks?
You really need to get over your team being the best. To take your point one step further your 2023 Team is better and has accomplished more yet the pendulum has shifted away from them and they aren't even in HS yet. They got spanked by a Team of Holdback I think it was 6-0 so it goes to show you that holdbacks do make a difference. Get off your high horse about great your team is I was at the Millon 2024 team and I thought your team was one of the better teams but certainly not the best and I think the tournament results support that.
Ahhh. The holdback dad rears his ugly head. Where you been hiding? Once again, you are completely missing the point. What's new. I know you are desperately trying to support your argument, to keep having 15 year old's, like your son, play little 12 year olds, but your spin doesn't work here. First, this is a 2024 thread, so that's what we are discussing, not 2023, 2022... you get the idea. Only 2024. Let's stay focused, shall we. Second, we are citing facts, not speculation of what a holdback dad wants to happen in the future. The facts are what they are. On-age LI teams have been competing and winning against the best teams from MD, that are between one and two years older. No speculation, plain facts. This has been going on for over 5 years now. So far, there is nothing debatable here. Every year is a compete do-over, so we'll wait and see what happens this year. No chest pounding like our friend from Madlax. Simply stating the fact that non-holdback teams are competing and beating the best holdback teams and have for over 5 years, running. AND HERE IS THE POINT... if LI teams can do it, then MD could do it too... win without holdbacks. Here's another interesting question. Why aren't the MD teams better than what they are? Older kids should beat younger, smaller kids, by a lot. But it hasn't happened. Why? My theory is that the holdback players are simply not as good as the non-holdback players, no matter where they are from. In general, they are substandard players that aren't successful against their own age players, so they need the advantage of playing against younger, smaller players. Now, there are always exceptions to every rule, but the overall statement I think is accurate. Clubs chose holdbacks over on-age kids, simply because of their size and strength advantage, and the clubs "win now" mentality. They are not better athletes and they certainly don't have the potential of the average on-age player. If you have your own theory (spin) as to why the holdback teams aren't nearly as good as they should be, I'd love to hear it.
Quick question on "the facts". Honestly I am not trying to be difficult here but we have a lot of 15yo vs 12yo which seems pretty disingenuous to me. The cutoff date for age based is 9/1/2005. This means on average by the beginning of March the average age of 2024 kids is 13, not 12. Of course if your team has more summer 2006 birthdays the average will be 12+, but in that case even an "on age" team could be 6-9 months older if it had more fall birthdays. Most of the MD "holdbacks" I have encountered have summer 2005 birthdays, the reasons for this have been talked about a fair amount (private vs. public focus, etc.). So let's assume every kid on a team was born in June 2005 (which is a stretch as I know for a "fact" that the teams talked about here have "on age" players because it wasn't that long ago MD was age based as well) then by March, on average, the difference would be 9 months as opposed to the "cited facts" of 1 to 2 years. Of course talking in averages does not take into account individuals which can vary but since none of the LI or MD clubs post birth dates or birth certificates no one here really knows exact age or birthday. We can make some assumptions pre/post 9/1.
To your questions about how good MD teams are and why they are not "as good as they should be" since they are 1/2 years older is perhaps because they are actually closer in age than you make it out to be. I am not saying a 9 month age difference (which I think is a high end estimate) is not an advantage but it is a whole lot different than saying a 1 to 2 year difference and it is an age gap that can occur even in age based systems. Let me know if I am doing the math wrong here.
I am a MD parent of an on age 2024 who believes that age based is the way to go in youth (pre high school) sports.
While you might sound reasonable, holdbacks are much older in relation to other youth teams.. Take your June holdback player. He is ALWAYS one of oldest players on field in the holdback era. He is older by 3 months to oldest on age player ( which, how many are born on Sept 1 ? ) . Yet on average , the holdback will always be older by 6-9 months at minimum to the majority of players. Now that is ALL the time. In youth sports we are talking about boys usually pre puberty or in the beginnings of most growth periods . Older is usually an advantage. Or at least makes up for your shortcomings. There is a Reason 3rd graders think 4th graders are sooo much older. LOL. The whole holdback/reclass/prefirst thing is wrong in Youth sports. Common sense.
As far competition between LI and MD . Many factors, but a big one is that LI has a pop of 7.5 million with a strong lacrosse culture. MD has 7 million in entire state with Balt and certain areas of DC with strong lax culture. Years ago LI had a much bigger USL participation than MD, not sure what numbers are now.
