US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums MID-ATLANTIC LACROSSE MARYLAND FORUM Greater Howard Club Lacrosse Conference (HoCo)

honesty and sportsmanship is what is important to most. Still would be an elite league without having folks blatantly disregarding the published rules - where does it stop and where do we stop hiding behind excuses or justifications? Kids have to make a choice - you play for a high school, you forfeit your spring youth league. You hold back for purpose of looking better for college; you do not get to play 8th grade and beat on kids who have not hit puberty yet. Why do we feel we have to let these kids and their families do whatever they want? Just because they are elite players, does not mean that good sportsmanship, safety and character should be forgotten - they are subject to rules like there are in real life. You also have not considered the safety issues involved in some of these "elite" games. 200 plus pounds of man like muscle playing against a 13 year old pre puberty boy of 115 pounds? What is fun about watching that? One belongs on the field being on age and one does not being a holdback. Occasionally you will have an true 14 year old of that weight but not teams full of them. It is not about a trophy except to those teams manipulating rules to do everything to win one.

Not ALL the elite clubs have holdbacks. Some may have late birthdays or pre-first kids. Certainly most of them don't have multiple 16 years olds on an 8th grade team (Crabs). As a municipal government - Howard Co. has a responsibility to at least provide some oversight to insure the safety of the children playing. They are failing miserably in that regard. One look at the Crabs roster an birthdates and any idiot could see something isn't right.

I would expect SOMEONE in the Howard County government to say that 16 year olds in 8th grade is not a natural grade progression and those kids cannot play. They are complicit by their silence.

Did you forget that this is YOUTH sports for children 9 to 15??
This league is run by a Howard County Recreation Department. Whose goal is to promote Youth Sports in County??

So according to you, it is ALL about winning for the 9 and 10 year olds ?? I say if so..Time to give them some PED's now, why wait, lets get that win for our 10 year olds.
I am amazed constantly by some of the things that people write and believe here.

Thanks Ryan..Take caps off next time please

Thanks Ryan..Take caps off next time please

There are several levels of competition. The 115 lb 13 year old can play in whatever league is best for him. If he hasn't hit puberty he probably shouldn't be in the elite league. The only reason he isn't in an appropriate league is that his parents are hung up on him being in the "elite" league rather than at a level where he can be successful. Hoco has created leagues where every kid from the very best to rec level kids can play against like competition. That is what youth sports is supposed to be about. The problem is parents who are either hung up on labels or unrealistic about what level their son should be playing at. If one of the team's was dominant that would be a problem but from all accounts the games are very competive.

The comments were directed primarily at the 8th grade/2020 elite division which seems to be drawing the ire of many people. They were not meant to be pompous and there is no need to call "Petro" as he is a firm grasp of the club lacrosse landscape. If you did not know about the nature of holdbacks prior to this lacrosse season, I am sure you are fully cognizant of it now. I would encourage you to be better prepared for it next year or exercise your right to move to another club or league. The one thing you can't do is put yourself in the same exact position again next year but keep complaining.

Waivers were written and designed with the mindset that rules would be followed. Not interpretations of rules.

As a resident and taxpayer of Howard County and a parent of a son playing in the 2021 "Elite" group, I have wondered a number of times this Spring how Howard County, as a public body, could sanction a league based on class rather than age with no control over the age and size disparity this creates. I now have an answer. Apparently in the "Elite" divisions anything goes so long as a player is (very) technically enrolled in a particular grade, regardless of how old the player really is.

As a parent this is irritating. However, as a Howard County resident I wonder about the County's liability. The league is sanctioned by, organized by, and operated under rules adopted by Howard County. If a player is injured, the County's liability will come up since in that situation the County will be the "deep pocket". I hope (but I am not optimistic) that the County has thought through the grade based permutations it is allowing and sanctioning and how those permutations effect the County's liability and insurance.

Any 2020 scores from today?