Prefirst, 8th grade or 9th grade is just a conversation about what school year these kids will be when they play on a middle or high school team.

Head out of sand for a moment please...why should club ball not be age based? There is no valid argument against it. College coaches don't really give a crap, they will still come to Crabfeast and the other recruiting tournaments and will be able to evaluate 16 or 14 year olds if they want, and then check on the school and school year the kid is in the tournament program.

This debate is so silly. Just go age based club tournaments and let the private school strategies play out for high school leagues. One can't make a rule for the other. The only argument to keep club teams grade based is to "hide" kids who have held back to make them show better. Forget the moralistic arguments and I just say that is a phony strategy that will fail over time. Pretty soon Petro and the others will realize that the 16 year old beating down on 14 year olds in 9th grade looks a lot less nifty when it is 19 year olds versus 17 year olds. It catches up to the staged kids.