Lacrosse is so far behind in policing this issue it's ridiculous. Other sports like ice hockey and soccer have a very good system. It's birth year plain and simple, for this 2025 age group it would be 2007 birth year only. They don't care if you were born on December 31, 2006. You have to submit birth certificates, the kids are issued photo ID cards each year and you have to submit an official roster prior to the season. The referee lines everyone up before each game and checks the cards, protective equipment and the roster. If you break the rules they actually have punishments, they've taken away wins and championships. This whole process starts when they are little playing on a mini field and can't even tie their own shoes yet. Granted it is a bit tedious for little kids but it sets the tone for order and fairness going forward, by the time they get older it's just part of the game. I know once you get to high school they mix grades together, you can have an 8th or 9th grader playing varsity. That's not the point, you have to create a safe and fair environment starting from the beginning.
I agree with you the “holdback” thing gets a bit crazy with a select few programs, but i don’t think you’re grasping the concept. It’s all about recruiting year. College coaches don’t care about your birth year in lax just what class you’re in, that’s what drives it. Hockey is a bad example. Most college coaches don’t recruit from high school and most high level prep players are all hold backs. Your youth hockey example and “safety” are notIntelligent. You said it yourself, you have a December 31, 2006 skating with a January 1, 2006. Full year difference, just like playing against a holdback. FYI my kid isn’t a holdback and I like him playing against older kids… cause I might hold him back in a year or two and laugh when everyone complains!
Your take on college hockey is wrong. Under current rules (for D1 - other divisions are slightly different), contact can not be made until January 1 of the player's sophomore year of HS, and offers can not go out until August 1 prior to their junior year. But all of these players are recruited out of their birth year clubs playing in birth year leagues/tournaments. Your statement that they don't recruit from HS is correct - they recruit instead from birth year travel teams. And your statement that most of the kids at prep schools are holdbacks is also true. But these same players are playing on birth year travel teams, and it's from these teams that they are mainly scouted. Some, who go to really high end Prep School teams, may leave the travel team system, but for the most part these kids were "found" out of their travel team. The college hockey coaches, I am told, like this system because they are watching like vs. like, and it makes for a better projection. They offer kids based on what they see out of the birth year teams, and then have the kid enroll whenever the kids is ready to play. For many of these kids, especially if they are not holdbacks or double holdbacks, this means they are told to play on a junior team after HS but before enrollment at the college. If the kid is already a double holdback then they will enroll after HS graduation.
The college coach in D1 hockey cares about birth year, but only to the extent that it informs them as to development. But they care less about grad year - its only relevant because they have to obey rules about when to contact and offer. Instead, they are simply looking for the best talent and will have that kid enroll when the kid is ready to play. In identifying the best talent at such young ages, it's best to watch kids compete against other kids in a finite age window consistent year after year.
D1 lax coaches would transition easily to recruiting in a birth year system. For instance, they will watch 2006 tournaments and showcases, and same for 2007, identify the best players, contact them when permitted to do so, offer them when permitted to do so, and enroll them when they are ready. When watching kids compete against each other in June, 2022, there is no reason that all of these kids need to be starting their college careers at the same time.
