Originally Posted by Anonymous
NY age cutoffs for school are different from most of the country. This puts NY at a disadvantage in athletics.
This is absolutely not an issue in soccer across the country and in fact has not been a discussion point on Back of THE NET in the last decade. New [lacrosse] is not in any disadvantageous situation because a school cut-off date might vary by 60 or 90 days.

Originally Posted by Anonymous
Most school systems are designed so that children are 5 years old when they start Kindergarten. The US Lacrosse age guidelines are designed to take this into account.
US Lacrosse guidelines were drafted from USYSA. The mistake US Lacrosse is making is doing two-year U-brackets as opposed to single year brackets. In time, they will need to call out single year U-brackets.

Originally Posted by Anonymous
A child who is held back, for any reason (academic, emotional, physical, "red-shirting") generally needs to play "up" as a 7th grader as they are U-13 ineligible.
If the conversation STOPS discussing anything in terms of GRADE, this playing up discussion will be eliminated. Players play based on their birth date period. Playing "up" then has nothing to do with academic grade.

Originally Posted by Anonymous
... 6th graders and 8th graderrs do not have this problem since there is a one year cushion with U13/U15 designations.
Actually, this is a problem with the two year system as one 12-month bracket can be penalized. In fact, how can you support two year age groups with a disparity of as much as 23 months and then open this post with NY being at a disadvantage due to a 60 or 90 day shift?

Originally Posted by Anonymous
... 8th graders who are "older" do not need to sit out for a year. They can play U15 along with their classmates.

A child born the last four months of 1999 who is set to graduate HS in 2017 is actually a grade ahead of what is typical for his age.
Wrong. They are actually the older three or four months of their grade. Again, read the table.

Originally Posted by Anonymous
If in 8th grade this boy is playing competitive lacrosse he should be preparing for High School and playing U-15 or 8th grade divisions at tournaments. There is no reason for an 8th grader to play U-13 even if he is US Lacrosse eligible.
Again, the discussion needs to move away from GRADE since it only clouds the discussion.