US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums MID-ATLANTIC LACROSSE MARYLAND FORUM Boys 2026 Grads - Mid Atlantic Region

Maybe because it’s becoming too much of a hotbed topic about the holdback situation in lacrosse? Trying to take attention off of it?

Personally, I think more attention to this absurd practice is needed.

THIS!!!!!

If you dont like it, write a letter to the new head of US Lacrosse.

Seriously. They are the ones who need to act.

Or Ty and MM are in bed together. This is the special one Ty is talking about.

Done, please do the same.

Should we also ask US Lacrosse to only have high school teams by grade? you sir....are SOFT

Different issue chump. BTW, there is a 2003 in the 2023 rankings. That is soft.

Agreed.

Says the dad who’s kid is a holdback , or reclass for sports!

👆👆 it doesn't get softer than parents holding their kids back to gain an advantage in sports. What exactly does that conversation look like? Hey Son we are going to hold you back and have you repeat 8th grade so you can compete against kids younger than you!! We are doing this bc your just not good enough to compete against kids your age or older so in order to fulfil my dreams I need you to play down bc working harder is not how we do things in this house. #hammerhead

It seems to work well in soccer. Let kids play on-age or up. Birth year is awesome. There is no fudging it.

And everyhting works out in High School if you want/need an advantage.

Different issue chump. BTW, there is a 2003 in the 2023 rankings. That is soft.


Who will be playing D1. Guess it worked out for him?

Back to a less repetitive topic. What does anyone think the divisional realignment is going to look like? Who moves up and down in AA, AAA and Elite? Everyone has spoken about the holdbacks and all stars moving. So where does each team stand now? Obviously Hawks, Crabs, True, Madlax stay Elite. Who else stays and who moves? Ditto AAA and AA?

From USA LAX

"USA Lacrosse does not condone or support players playing down"

Way to wimp out of it. Typical politician.

Also From USA Lacrosse in a follow up, " We are having discussions just like this about this age vs grade. The "red shirt" kindergartner, is an issue we are trying to combat."

Feel free to contact them yourselves. Very open.

You can write them and let them know.

Can't expect them to be mind readers.

Speak up. If they address it, great. If not, things are exactly how they have been for years.

USL will eventually realize that parity and competitive groupings at the youth level is good for the growth of the sport. If they want Lacrosse to continue to plateau in terms of relative growth they can keep up the grade-based bs.

Fall HoCo is hard to say, because I have no idea who is playing. I know of at least three elite teams not playing. As for spring, I would be willing to bet that just one team moves down from elite to AAA (NextLevel), and just one team moves up (Top Caliber). I expect that TRW Wolfpack would like to move up too, but there is probably only room for one, and TC nipped TRW by one goal in the AAA championship.

US Lacrosse is Headquartered in North Baltimore. They are in the land of holdback private schools . Dont expect them to do anything. Bunch of wimps

I was told MD starts their kids at a later age in kindergarten? Different cut off where kids would be older anyways. Like turning 6 in kindergarten. Anyone know if this Is true? So, they start Kindergarten a little older and then re-class a year and your up by 1/2 years …

Maryland starts like most states. Sept 1 and you turn 6 during the year in Kindergarten , You turn 7 during 1st grade. ....and graduate HS 12th grade turning 18 that year.

Maryland is no different than majority of states. NY has a later start date Dec 1 ? I think. Which makes NY kids even younger.

Prefirst is out of control in MIAA privates now, as is reclass or holdbacks . Depending on when holdbacks birthday is.( Sept-Aug) it makes these helback/prefirst boys less than month older ( compared to older on age boys) to almost two years older ( compared to younger on age boys) .

Youth Sports is clearly an advantage to being older. But it is much smaller advantage when everyone is within a year not two.

Right. Pre first is the problem. NOT. The reclassing going on in middle school is the issue. No kindergarten parent is having the dinner time convo, hey honey, I think we should have Charlie do pre first, just in case he wants to play lax in middle school.

Pre-first is an issue. But that is mostly done for academics/maturity related. Not sports. But you can tell pretty easily who those older kids are in emlementary school.

But if you put kids on birth year, it solves all that.

The troubling part are the kids who are reclassing in middle school. Then the difference gets even greater. 6-8th grade is where the age/size difference matters a ton. Saw a ton of size mismatches in 26-27 HoCo this year across divisions. Most are reclassing in 7th and 8th grades, right before h/s.

I say put kids on age, and let them play youth lacrosse as long as they want- against kids their own age.

The club lax directors also don't realize that playing on-age is a boon for the soccer clubs. Right now lacrosse struggles on that transition between m/s and h/s. Middle school and h/s lacrosse is separate. In 9th grade many players find themselves without a home heading into hs. Soccer keeps the same teams going throughout hs. Playing on age, continuously through high school in lacrosse would boost enrollment in that 9th grade (U14, U15) age group that always struggles to fill.

Well said. The more this is talked about the finer point and greater overall perspective on this issue starts to surface.

Please. This has been beaten to death for hundreds of pages in every grades thread for years. There is no new insight or greater perspective that is going to change anything. It is about EGO and $$ and its not going away no matter how much you cry about it.

And remember- this grade-based system thing was brought about 15 years ago by a handful of "elite" clubs who were prepping kids to be recruited for college- in MIDDLE SCHOOL.

Parents were literally scared into the club scene. "If you arent recruited by 8th grade, you have no shot for college!"

With early recruiting thankfully gone, the need for grade-based clubs is NIL.

Grade based was a made-up convention by the for-profit clubs. Parents got swept up, and fell for it. Recs and lower level clubs had to change to
keep up.

Well it's all gone now. No need for Grade-based.

Grade based works great for a few kids who can benfit. But it creates a greater discrepancy in overall talent. Age based helps more kids play against similar talent, be competitive, and develop. It's simply better for the game and develops MORE talent OVERALL.

Fall HoCo is hard to say, because I have no idea who is playing. I know of at least three elite teams not playing. As for spring, I would be willing to bet that just one team moves down from elite to AAA (NextLevel), and just one team moves up (Top Caliber). I expect that TRW Wolfpack would like to move up too, but there is probably only room for one, and TC nipped TRW by one goal in the AAA championship.[/quote]


Next Level is not moving down to AAA

Next Level is not moving down to AAA[/quote]

its them or no one.....BUT I think they will expand elite to 12. Much to everyone's chagrin......

Reading comprehension went right by you. Prefirst and Reclass are both the same thing as far as playing down. How you got there is up to any parent and of course is their right as a parent. No one cares. Frankly prefirst takes advantage of this many more years than the reclass does, So YES, it is part of problem.

This prefirst and reclass should play on age in youth, just like all sports do. Simple as that. Why lacrosse has bent over for the private schools and clubs is beyond me

The Pre1 grade has been around a lot longer than club lacrosse, so I disagree about pre1 and i am not a holdback parent. The issue is the ones who reclass in 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th. If you are thinking about club or college lacrosse and the cheats to get you better visibility when your kid is 5, you have a lot more issues going on than reclassing your kid. Yes, pre1 is considered reclassing and a holdback. But it is not done for the same reasons as middle school ones and there lies the issue.

Agree. Honestly not a holdback parent either, but I just don't see the issue. When a kid hits the 9th grade they will be playing against other athletes that are significantly older. I know the 12, 13 and 14 year old years are tough with growth spurts, and holdbacks but you just have to weather it, or take up golf.

Crying foul and worrying about what others are doing is a waste of time.

Great commentary, and we all know this. Youth sports is not high school.

Next Level is not moving down to AAA[/quote]

Not a whole lot of difference in AAA and AA. Good players and teams. Just no holdbacks. Cannons might have one of the best 2026 middies in any division.

TRW lost to AA Swarm in summer tourney, ouch.

Look for Koopers to make a late push in the next few years, and work their way up.

Thanks for making "other programs" relevant.

Tired of the Hawks, hawks, hawks, and what not taking up the whole board. Plenty of other talent and teams out there to discuss.

Lacrosse should be “on age” in the youth level , just like soccer! And …many other sports! The way it is now is elitist

Not a whole lot of difference in AAA and AA. Good players and teams. Just no holdbacks. Cannons might have one of the best 2026 middies in any division.

TRW lost to AA Swarm in summer tourney, ouch.

Look for Koopers to make a late push in the next few years, and work their way up.

Thanks for making "other programs" relevant.

Tired of the Hawks, hawks, hawks, and what not taking up the whole board. Plenty of other talent and teams out there to discuss.[/quote]

Then stop talking about them.

Nope..Both are the same for youth lacrosse. Some reason you want to look down on parents who reclass?? They are doing what they think is right for their child, just like the prefirst did. Neither should be allowed to play down in youth sports. Real simple except to the prefirst crowd? The reclass at least know they are getting an advantage while the prefirst parents stick their head in sand and cry..i didnt do it for lacrosse. LOL

OMG WE KNOWWWWWWW

Then stop talking about them.[/quote]

If Next Level stays, then they could move TRW and Top Caliber both up and move Cannons and HoCo up to AAA.. Of course, based on what I have seen on this board RoughRiders and Kaos are hurting. But that's only if this board is to be believed. Saltwater is making big steps this year.

It will be in one year for this age group. Get a pair.

Yea, you are not a holdback parent, just a prefirst parent . LOL. Why d you holdback..I mean prefirst parents and rest of apologists say ,,weather the storm, be tough,,,yet the holdbacks/prefirst play down and take the wimp easy way.