US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums NORTHEAST LACROSSE BOTC MAIN FORUM (LI, CT, WC) Boys' U15 National Championship Tournament - July 26th-28th, 2013

Once again, another poster mixes concepts.

You cannot discuss U15 and any grade-based structure in the same sentence - they are wholly different. One cannot say "U15 except for High School players" since the concept is inconsistent and certainly not eligible to be policed.

Again, U15 has nothing to do with High School grades, varsity, or graduating class. Why do U-age opponents have such a difficult time grasping this? U15 is exclusively defined to mean players born on or after September 1st, 1997 (as defined for the 2013 tournament). That's it. That's the definition of U15. Period.

BOTC does not understand the concept of the "best teams" not attending this tournament. If the concern is that a given team cannot make the age restrictions imposed by U15 rules, that would mean that the "best teams" from the next younger age group would be attending.

What about the fact that nearly every U15 tournament specifically prohibits age-eligible U15 kids who finished their freshman year of HS?

while everybody complains about kids that are "old" for their grade the concept of U15 having not played high school would actually penalize an "age appropriate" 9th grader since he has completed 9th grade, played some level of HS ball and was 14 on September first he would have no place to play except grade based tournaments or U17.

while everybody complains about kids that are "old" for their grade the concept of U15 having not played high school would actually penalize an "age appropriate" 9th grader since he has completed 9th grade, played some level of HS ball and was 14 on September first he would have no place to play except grade based tournaments or U17.

As BOTC has said, the High School freshman restriction simply cannot be enforced. What documentation do you maintain that says you cannot participate? (Documentation requirements always show that a student-athlete IS eligible.)

Therefore, the freshman restriction only serves to undermine the trust that parents have in the age groups and competitions at these tournaments. Who's cheating and who's ethical? How can folks walk around with this crazy "honoring the sport" mantra and not want to close down the biggest source of chicanery in the youth game?

The tournaments that add this High School clause atop their U/15 brackets similarly do not understand the purpose of using U-age brackets. U-age brackets are BIRTH DATE only - period. Birth certificates and passports are used to register the player.

This idea that so many contributors view High School instruction as a critical fulcrum to all other forms of coaching continues to surprise us.

Cage did you ever have that conversation about u age groups vs grade. how did that go.

And what's wrong with that? If he's played varsity then he's used to playing against U17 AND U19 kids. Should not be a problem.

Why any parent of a 2016 kid would fly down to Florida to play against 2017 teams is beyond me.

Most of the teams in this tournament are 2016.

you are saying varsity and others on here are saying high school, that is a huge difference, if they had the no High School rule then a 14 year old 8th grader that played varsity would be ineligible and if you had a no varsity then a 15 year old sophomore (yes I know one) that played JV would be eligible - some kid who goes to a small school with a weak lacrosse program might be moved up to varsity because of the teams needs and not ability and he would lose his eligibility.

I think they should make a cut off date (maybe September 1st.) and if you are under 15 on that date you are eligible and if you are already 15 on that date you are not.



When my son is in HS, I want him playing against HS players in his grade so that college coaches can evaluate him against his peers.

Why would I want to waste my money at a U15 event against middle school kids? Just for a trophy?

The rules are clear and simple. High School players can play in U-15 division only if they are age eligible AND not playing high school lacrosse during that season.

From US Lacrosse rules:
"Players who are participating in any high-school level program such as a high school freshman, JV-B, junior varsity, varsity or club team should not be eligible for U15 competition in the same season."

Therefore, for example, according to US Lacrosse rules any player that participated in the Nat Invite Bob tournament in the 2016 bracket earlier in July was ineligible for the U-15 National Championship.