Back of THE CAGE Forums MID-ATLANTIC LACROSSE MARYLAND MAIN FORUM Holdbacks

Lots are heldback. I would think as a percentage, holdbacks in College lacrosse are way above average for on age players players if you take all lacrosse players as a whole.

It does work. No question about it. Makes good to very good players on age instant above average players, Cant say it doesnt. If I want my kid to play D1, I am holding him back regardless of grades

And, plenty have done it and will do it for lacrosse! The earlier the better. They won’t admit it though!! I know of many who have! Its almost like you have to nowadays for D1 Colleges.

My son just signed his NLI to play at a top D1 school and top 1 or 2 conference. On age and under sized. Always undersized but always had the advantage when playing against bigger old opponents. I never minded the holdbacks at any age it always made my kid better.

With Covid, you are going to see an uptick of holding back across the board. You can’t just replace 2 years of schooling, that for some, was almost exclusively online.

And if you hold back for sports, who cares? The reality of athletics is stronger more mature bodies perform better, and coaches want players with college ready bodies. There are so many kids to pick from playing lacrosse now that they don’t have to take an on age skinny kid when they can take a year older kid who is more developed physically, faster and stronger with the same skill set. It’s a no brainer for college coaches. They want that college ready player and one easy way to get it is to hold back and give your body time to develop.

I think at this point in high school, after the top 15-20 players, there isn’t much separating players who have played on top teams at top tourneys/showcases. It’s more about what you bring physically to the table and how athletic you are and hopefully along the way you maintained a good GPA. When you get to 10th grade club lacrosse, nobody cares who wins these tourneys, it’s all about showing well individually in front of coaches and playing competitive lacrosse.

Whoa that made sense........

Mike. Let it go.

Tell me your son wasn’t smart enough to be in his *actual* grade and good enough to play on age without telling me.

But what about all the T-shirts we won and the piney blacket we had made?

☝🏻

^^^ This

If the holdback route does not work for your son, there is always the women's swim team at Penn.

Yeah, I hear your son’s hormone therapy got him a place on the girl’s squad …congratulations ’holdback’ dad.

The IMLCA had a recruiting tournament this weekend. The better 2023 teams were loaded with holdbacks. Kids looked older than most college kids. Crazy

The 2023 Crabs team were a bunch of monsters. Clearly bigger stronger and faster (older) than the rest of the field

You should see the coloring books they gave the winners as prizes! Lots of big open spaces so they don't color outside the lines.