Unfortunately some Canadians have to do a PG year to get D1 offer because they are a grade ahead of their USA conterparts. College coaches are not all that interested in 17 year olds arriving on campus in thier freshmen year. As for hockey 98's play 98's cause they ask for birth certificates and you have to register. As for lacrosse that is not the case!! Canadians can go to a tourney as a 15 year old (98) and play 2016 against 16 (97) and 17 (96) years olds.
Canadians are not a year ahead, they would be the same as on Long Island if no one reclassified. A true, unclassified 2017 in Canada is born in 1999. The only difference is that there is no rule about being held back if you are born in the fall. The reason it might seem like they are a year ahead is because most good lax players head to prep schools where they reclassify. Most club teams used to be on age until they started heading down to MD and realized they were playing kids 1 or two years older. And that was fine when it was rising seniors getting recruited, but now with freshmen recruiting, that one year difference shows when you play teams like the Crabs or 3d.
