I know some late summer 2005 kids that are some of the better athletes in the 2024 elite division. I also know some late summer 2005 kids that frankly aren't that good. I think it is unfair to say that a late summer 2005 kid is better just because he may be slightly older. Most of the summer 2005 kids that I know didn't start playing club lacrosse until around the third grade. I happen to have a kid that has a late summer birthday (he missed the 9/1 cutoff by a couple of weeks). When he started playing lacrosse, he only played rec and he was the youngest kid on the field. He was constantly playing kids that were 1-2 years older than he was. When he got run over by older kids, it just made him tougher and practice that much harder. Even when he started playing club, it was still age based. So again he was playing kids that were 1-2 years older. But now they weren't just older, they were skilled too. Have you ever considered that some of the late summer 2005 kids that play 2024 are not better just because they may be older? Maybe they are better because of all those years they spent playing older kids before they eventually ended up on a grade based team? As I have posted before, if Long Island kids are having to play kids that are older than they are, they will get the last laugh come high school when everything levels out. So rather than hating the "holdbacks," just enjoy the ride and be thankful that your kid is getting better from having to play older kids! Team rankings should mean nothing at this age. It should be about having fun and getting better before high school.
