US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums NORTHEAST LACROSSE BOTC MAIN FORUM (LI, CT, WC) Girls High School Lax

the spots arent "taken away"... they are there to be earned... perhaps the 7/8th graders are better than your daughter...

what is the rush for 7/8th graders to play high school ball. let them enjoy their middle school years. let them physcially mature.

My 8th grade daughter is better than the seniors on her team and deserves to play because she earned it. Same as a freshman starting in college. Nobody's spot should be guaranteed. You sound selfish and entitled

absolutely let them play even if they are 7th graders. High school not PAL! stop giving everyone a trophy!
The best kids should play. Middle school sports are a joke!

I think there is a lot that has to be considered before bringing an 8th grader up to varsity. 7th grader, I say no way.
For an 8th grader, she needs to be physically mature enough to compete at that level -- pediatrician or school doctor will make the determination on her physical exam. Next, this should be for an absolutely unreal talent and should never be the norm. And if the player has the opportunity, the team dynamics need to be looked at. Will girls be resentful, demeaning or will they bring in a young girl into the team and treat her like a teammate? As a parent, would I want my 13/14 year old hanging out with 17/18 year olds? Sports teams, at least in my town, get close and hang out with each other outside of school activities. My daughter & a classmate of hers played varsity as freshmen, and I was uneasy about it because of this (at least for my daughter). Luckily she was in a good situation where the senior captains were.
Finally, you have to look at what type of playing time will she get? Is the coach a good coach?

8th grade is 8th grade and not HS. I think they should have to at least be in high-school to play high-school. Keep training and then be the best when they play “varsity” in 9th grade. Or don’t stay back a year in the earlier years

Some great points here! There is both physical and social maturity to consider. If they are phenoms in 8th grade, they still will be in 9th. Best thing they ever did, was stop recruiting so young. That was ridiculous.

Ok dad , if she’s in MS then have her play club and get better for when she actually gets to HS.

My daughter and her teammate went up to JV in 8th grade. Nice in between to cross into varsity. 9th grade they both played varsity. Both girls could have played in 7 or 8 on varsity. Personally I feel varsity should only be 9th grade minimum.

Not the point. They are not in HS yet and therefore shouldn’t qualify to play in any HS sports. If they are physically caught up to 11/12th graders in 7/8 grade. Then makes me question if held back? If that’s the case, too bad and should have to wait until actually a HS student

Totally agree. Should have to be in HS to play HS sports. For the MS kids there are very good LI club teams to be competetive on.

Unfortunately you don't make the rules. Sounds like your resentful that your daughter is losing playing time to a 7th/8th grader who is a better player. Exactly the problem in this society. everyone should not get a trophy!

The problem with “this society” is parents living through their kids sports and making their kids grow up too fast. There is social growth that needs to happen as well. Lots of not so well adjusted kids out there.

so if a kid is a scratch golfer in 8th grade they shouldn't play varsity golf? What about a tennis player or gymnast who is nationally ranked as an 8th grader?
also there is a physical fitness test and approval from a dr. necessary in order to get brought up to HS from MS for player safety.
I'm sure if your child got offered a chance to play up you would've been okay with it.

Agreed.

Our daughter played JV basketball (starter) in 8th grade. She had been playing with the varsity girls in a summer league in 7th. Physically and skill wise, she was fine. Socially, I think she felt like an outsider, but she remained committed. (the girls were friendly enough, although I do believe a couple of them had some resentment which carried over to varsity.) Our daughter still opted to hang with the girls she played basketball with while in middle school. She ended up being a starter for every varsity game in 9th, so we think it was the right call.


In regards to lax, our school pulled up 3 8th graders to varsity. I don't think they get much playing time and based on others' opinions, 2 of them would have been better suited for JV. They just happened to have older siblings (who are good players) on varsity.

My daughter started as an 8th grader on Varsity. She was just about the same size and weight as her teammates. She had older sisters in college so the age thing wasn’t an issue. She didn’t hang out with the older kids on weekends but attended the pasta parties ,it didn’t make her any less of a teammate, knew her role and fulfilled it. Team made it to the County semifinals and lost to the eventual champion. Was fortunate enough to have a friend in 8th grade who was in the same boat join her on varsity. They both had no issues, overall good experience. No jealousy whatsoever.

Look on boys hs forum they are complaining about the same thing. Obviously its a problem.

No, they should play golf, tennis, and gymnastics in their private clubs and on MS teams until they are actually in 9th grade! Go do club/private events. If they are phenoms in 8th grade, they will also be in 9th grade as well. There are plenty of competitive events outside of school to keep them honed until they can play Varsity sports in high-school. If all the kids did this, MS sports would be more competetive and on age

I have a crazy idea. How about we let parents of kids who get the opportunity to play up make a decision based on what they think is best for their child. If you're looking to a message board of a bunch of anonymous people to make a decision for your kid then I suggest you reevaluate.

the thing i don't understand is the kid doesn't even attend the high school? how are they playing for the high school? let them be kids, play with her friends and classmates. not a single person is going to get a college scholarship in 7/8th grade. Its for parents to get their ego stroked and tell their friends my kid plays Varsity lacrosse and she is in 7/8th grade. Just like the glorified stickers and magnets on cars stating which club your kid plays for.

The opposite can also be said... if your HS daughter cant beat out a MS girl for a spot... there are still good LI club teams she can play on

In what world is Northport the 2nd best team in the country? They hardly play any of the other good teams. Are they even in the top 3-4 teams on LI?

why so focused on the High School... its an entire school district that is competing... why wouldnt you want your best performing players, regardless of age, performing at the highest level (ie - Varsity)?... is this too tough to digest for you people who think everyone should get a trophy? as mentioned previously, younger girls are not allowed to play varsity unless they pass testing indicating they are physically ready

HS sports should be kept to High schoolers.

My daughter wasn't pulled up with a scholarship in mind. Her skills just happened to surpass her peers. Moving her up wasn't taken lightly. We all ("we" as in us as her parents, the coaches, and the athletic director) felt we were doing her a disservice by having her play middle school in 8th grade. It's not about bragging rights (for us anyway). We feel our 8th grader could have held her own with the varsity team, but she was better served being a starter on JV as opposed to getting "some" playing time on varsity. Sometimes there are 8th grade kids who are better served being starters on varsity. Every kid and team is different and that all needs to be taken into consideration.

Some are scared the younger girls are better than their daughter. Rough lessons ahead with that mentality!

There is a whole group of 8th graders in the same situation. Look at the top club teams. Those 8th graders could play up for sure and many do. If they were not allowed to, they all would have to stay and play on their MS teams making it more competitive situation for all the schools. The top girls would play each other in MS and move on to HS from there.

Not the reason at all. If that’s the case they can prove it in 9th grade, in high-school on the high-school team. You are prob. More scared of losing bragging rights. You can still brag she’s the best in 8th grade with her playing MS and proving it on her club team against the other “best”

Every school situation is different. May even need to bring kids up to have enough for a team . So, I think let the schools, parents, districts decide what’s best

I also think you have to look at the town. My family is in a small school district where MS sports are made up of kids who are there to be babysat for an hour after school. The coaches are unqualified for the most part. In 7th grade the girls lax coach never played lax and didn't even take the time to do some research and learn. So in our case in made sense to take the opportunity to move up. For us it has worked out very well. My daughter learned a lot, and gained confidence, now she is committed and happy. I say to each his own on this subject. As an aside we have had some very bright students take a math class at the high school while in the middle school. One that I know of will be attending MIT. Should we have held him back from fulfilling his potential?

Almost identical scenario for my daughter. All good!

Just saw the second round of Under Armour All-Americans were announced. Congratulations!

Made this choice with our daughter, coaches, AD. Worked out awesome. Every situation is different, but don’t let the nay sayers discourage your decision, they are likely just deflecting because their daughter never had the option.

8th graders on Varsity usually get the spot based on their club play and intense self-promotion from their parents. They tend to be ‘me first’, ‘go to goal’, stat padders. The Parents act like its Club and scream at the refs if anyone dares come near their little meal ticket. Most rush right to the net, even if their team is leading - they have no concept of settling the ball, maybe giving their D a rest before rushing a shot, again. Varsity is a team game and these 8th graders come from a certain club that promotes individual stats regardless of the game situation. We were in a close game and these girls could barely pass and catch around the perimeter - they just want to dodge and score a goal, risking a costly turnover, not kill time and get the win. This speaks to the differences in coaching at a Varsity level (trained educators) vs. Club (summer gig for College kids) - Club is designed to get kids into college by making highlight plays and showcasing individual talent. An 8th grader needs to have the maturity required to play Varsity lacrosse where they shelf their ego and recognize they are part of a team that needs to work together to win. Most 8th graders don’t know the difference and treat Varsity as an extension of their Club, where they are top banana and don’t really see a need to play defense, or ride, or do any of the little things that don’t show up on the scorecard. They just want to collect goals and assists so their parents can justify the decision and their club can promote them on Insta.

Painting with a pretty broad brush. The type of play that you describe is extremely ugly to watch but it exists at all grades. Selfish players can be found at every grade and they can come from every club. Not all HS coaches are created equal, there are some great HS coaches and there are some terrible HS coaches, most are simply average.

Perfectly stated!

If the HS Varsity coach is allowing that, I’d say you have a bad coach. If a player, any player, can’t play for the benefit of the team, they should be on the bench until they can play for the name on the front of the jersey, not the back

Perfectly stated. In multiple games we watched a young player play catch with goalie and turned the ball over trying to play hero ball every time she touched it. Looked silly and was talk of team sideline. When you are brought up you are to learn to be a team player with established players who know the plan, not be reckless so crazy mom and dad can feed their insta story and ego. Selfishness is what separates good players from exceptional players IMO.

So, I guess if we look at the sat leaders, The ones who have more than 2/3 of their points from goals are the ones you're talking about. Looking at the names, seems about right. A deep team who distributes scoring from 4 or more girls and shouldn't even have names on the leader board. On the other hand, this type of behavior is promoted by the media and club coaches. Take coaches like JS constantly tweeting about how many goals his kids score. Many of these girls aspire to play on the senior UA team. Unfortunately, your not getting there without soring or assisting goals as an offensive player. Its a difficult situation, and not a simple as it appears. I always say it's how you play in the big games that define how good you are. When one girl scores most of the goals in a blow out, its pretty disgusting.

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AMEN