Originally Posted by Anonymous
Originally Posted by Anonymous
Originally Posted by Anonymous
You should use birth year, the entire year.
Jan 1 - December 31. So if you are born anytime in 2005 you are a 2024, etc.

That's not how it works. My son who was born spring 2005 is a 2023. He did not start school early, he is not playing up, he is on grade for his age and currently a junior in high school. Class of 2023 across the country is considered to be dob 9/1/2004 - 8/31/2005, give or take depending on exact cutoff for your state's public schools. Private schools move the goal posts to maintain a competitive edge. First it was having younger kids in the class (i.e. summer birthdays, especially boys) do a pre-K or pre-first year. Then affluent public school parents caught on and started doing the same thing, so private schools start holding back the spring and summer birthdays, and on it goes. Some of these kids then redshirt again before high school or by doing a PG year. To each his own, but parents should quit trying to normalize it to make themselves feel better. Most people understand the situation with kids who barely make the cutoff waiting a way to start K or 1st, but it's gone way beyond that. Sometimes kids do have opportunities to attend boarding school or do a gap year where redshirting makes sense, so not really fair to bash them all equally, but it is amazing seeing how much older many top rated lax players are than my own 2023.

"Should"

Birth year is easiest and is how many sports do it - including box in most cases.

The downside is that kids won't always get to play with their classmates.

I have no issue with all kids born in 2005 play together, those born in 2006 play together, etc. Other sports do it and you're right, it's simpler. It does mean kids don't always play with their classmates, which I think parents care about more than their kids. It does not make a kid like mine a 2024, however, unless he is held back. Supposedly college coaches just can't manage if there are a mixture of grad years on a team...which is an excuse because they seemed to figure it out just fine for the 2022s still "playing up" with their 2021 team, for example.