Originally Posted by Anonymous
I have never seen proof of grade even addressed at this level. My son is always one of the 2 or 3 biggest players on the field and admittedly looks older than a 2027, but he turned 11 in May and has always been 97th-99th percentile in height and is just developing early. Opposing parents cry non-stop that he "must be 13" claim he is playing down etc. but I have never been asked for proof of him having just finished 5th grade, nor has our coach been asked (outside of the casual...is he really a 2027 question from the other team). We have always carried his birth certificate in case restaurants try and keep him off the kids menu, but not an issue in lax.

It's that time of year... a group of kids move up to middle school and they start to deal with the whole "holdback" issue. And people complain that US Lacrosse doesn't do anything about it.

Well, US Lacrosse can't really do anything about it, except at tournaments they sanction. They have put forward recommended age groupings, but unless a tournament follows US Lacrosse's rules and goes through the hoops to get sanctioned, it doesn't really mean anything. Most don't.

The "elite" teams are always (at least around here) going to be filled with holdbacks. But there are plenty of teams that aren't.

If you really care about that sort of thing, play for a team that goes to sanctioned tournaments. I'll warn you though... there aren't that many around here. It's not going to change until teams stop playing in tournaments and leagues where this happens. And guess what? They're not going to stop. Is it cheating? No... it's playing within the rules as set forth by the league or tournament. Is it gaming the system? Maybe, if coaches are recruiting those types of players in order to "look better."