Originally Posted by Anonymous
Originally Posted by Anonymous
Originally Posted by Anonymous
Originally Posted by Anonymous
Next time they will have to grab kids from 2018.


I've been a lacrosse parent for many years, and my youngest is now entering high school. He plays on a U-15AA team which will go on to be called a 2018 team in the Fall. When did this "2020" or "2021" for kids in 5th or 6th grade stuff start as a substitute for age specific groups? It is really a disgrace to the game to let youth ages go by school years with no parameters for kids being older to have an advantage. It is downright unsafe and unsound in every regard to put 10 to 12 year old boys out there with kids that might be two years older given this repeat a grade nonsense.


my son's grade based (with 1 holdback) team played in age-based tournament in B division. we played some primarily 7th grade teams that played down into B instead of AA or A and the size advantage was huge. So the age based events and leagues with have as much or more age gaps than grade. Not saying parents don't hold back for sports or certain clubs and high schools don't take advantage. But most kids are held back when they're 5 and have birthdays within a few months of the age cutoff. So grade based events will have the majority of kids fall within 15 month window.


I am 45 and am well aware since I was a kid that some parents have a kid do a pre-K year when they are five. The statistics for that are not mind boggling like they are in youth lacrosse. You are plainly incorrect that most of these kids fall in a 15 month window, or you have never been to Maryland and are not informed. U-9, U-11, U-13 & U-15. If you want to break that up make it 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 & 15. The point is this parental self esteem building strategy to have kids restrained for an advantage isn't just an advantage to have a debate on. It is also a serious safety risk.

Back in the day, the exceptional kids and bragging parents played their kids up at the same safety risks noted here...I have at least some respect for that decision. Sending a 12 year old in with 10 year olds is crass, classless and unsporting for any parent to do or any organization to tolerate or encourage. Shame on Crabs.


I have to totally agree with you, just because you "reclassify" a kid in Junior High does not mean they are going to get some major D1 scholarship. I truly believe the kids that are being held back by their parents make look great now because they are older, faster and stronger, but if they are not good enough to be a stand out at their own age, moving them down will only be a very TEMPORARY fix. They will never be good enough. As for people saying the rosters of all these top D1 schools contain kids that have been held back, I think that is blown WAY out of proportion. And, if you are holding your kid back for athletic reasons, you really need to have your head examined! US lacrosse needs to step in here and stop this practice, someone is going to get hurt big time. Unfortunately, I predict it is going to take that happening before the do something. In HS you know you are competing against kids that are older (9th graders vs 12th graders) but this should NOT be happening in 5th grade...