US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums MID-ATLANTIC LACROSSE MARYLAND FORUM Boys 2028 Grads - Mid Atlantic Region

I think everyone would be a lot less fool if they just accepted that most upper middle class people in the region start sons with summer birthdays the following year whether or not they are an athlete. So functionally the cohort of kids in seventh grade at private schools is June 2009 through May 2010 and if you have a son with a spring birthday there is going to be a disadvantage just based on the calendar.

Are they ever switching to birthdays instead of grad year? I thought that was in talks.

Message for coaches/club directors....playoff weekend is not the weekend to play all 30 kids on the roster. The goal is to win...period! Play the best kids who show up to practice and don't look back. Good Luck to everyone in the playoffs.

Not for this age group. It’s too late.

Yea because this is the group that their kid are no good on age. Hey my kid stinks I’ll go play against a smaller kid. Lol
What happens when that smaller kid get bigger your hold back kids become irrelevant.

Not yet. But when they do it will be to placate the summer birthday late school starters. Those kids have had the benefit of being the oldest on their team since birth.

The kids born in March, April and May get the short end of the stick.

Have to love seeing the entitlement of lacrosse still going strong.

They are renaming the Elite Division. It's now called the "Daddy's Holdback Division"

That happens all the time, which is one reason why holdbacks are less of an issue than people think. As kids move to into 9th grade and older, the advantage dissipates. But the impact of the extra year shows most in 7th and 8th grade, which is why you currently hear so much about holdbacks on the 2028 board. Go look at the 2026 board and scroll back a couple of years. Everyone was freaking out about holdbacks, but today the topic is never even mentioned at all.

I think he got personal when some clown called him a hammerhead for correcting him that July 2009 is indeed a holdback. And yes, he’s a great goalie.

Shout out to the on age kids!

At all levels but particularly those getting it done in elite in HoCo.

Contrary to what many will say, these kids do exist. Many parents who’ve been around since the boys were young know who they are and I for one root for them extremely hard.

I’ve personally got no misgivings towards holdbacks, summer birthdays, out of state kids or whatever. It’s within the rules so who cares.

Just simply shooting a nod to the kids who have basically been overachieving ESPICIALLY this year in 7th grade. Best is yet to come.

Great post. I concur.

Be careful, that post sounds too rational...the anti holdback daddy's will respond soon.

Says the holdback dad that thinks his kid is a student because he dominates younger kids. But yes, rational when they hit puberty 🙄 duh

This is a very true statement. if your son is going to attend private school and on the bubble - meaning a summer 2009 birthday - and you could've gone either way, most parents almost reflexively will start their kids the following year. Blame sports, blame private schools or blame Malcolm Gladwell (if you don't know Google Outliers and Canadian hockey), but this is a pretty much a no-brainer for most parents of young boys who are on the age/grade bubble. this isn't just a DMV 2028 lacrosse phenomenon. This is a much different dynamic than the parents who have their kids redo 7th/8th grade, or play their kids down because that is his "recruiting class" and they plan on reclassing or doing a gap year or something.

So true. I wish we’d held my oldest son back when he started private school. He would’ve been able to handle the rigor of high school better. He was just too immature. My advice is to do what’s best for your son. I hope people aren’t allowing a bunch of anonymous posters make decisions for their families

I definitely did not have "Lax Coaches Not Sufficiently Competitive" on my BOTC 2028 bingo card.

You should retire now b/c that was genuinely hilarious

LMFAO

Rewording it for you: Not the weekend to play all 30 kids just because their mom brought them to practice on time. Play the best kids (on the submitted roster) who show up for the playoff games. Whether they are fly-ins or not.

Youth lax is not a meritocracy or even a HWPO-ocracy. If your sons team rostered a 6'4" double holdback who just got out of juvie last week and has an 88mph shot...guess who's starting.

Playing the best kids is the definition of a meritocracy.

If the mythical kid you mentioned is better than your son he will play. If your son is better than the imaginary kid you reference than your son will play.

Make sense?

If it’s a tie then parents get to complain under their breath all game which is super fun.

News flash…… if your son wants to play high level lacrosse he will be held back at some point, whether it be middle school, high school or college and some even get to holdback multiple times. Look at the ages of the top college players! It’s the way it is and it won’t change. To top it off now you have to be 6’2” and bench 225 along with being older. There will always be roam for smaller players but they will be the exception. It’s reality!

Scratching head. I’m trying to figure out if you are one of them and trying to be 💩ty , or if you are disgruntled because you’re not. Either way, your post is not quite accurate. And rosters don’t list birthdates so de tell your secret to knowing all of the birthdates of all the players who play high level college lacrosse. Please. Do tell. Validate for us. We will wait.

Pipe down bud tell your little jimmy to go hit the wall

Hello, fellow parents. My son Freddy plays for Rockfish and is recently a reclass from 2027 to 2028.He is trying out for Nextlevel and Madlax. He says all your sons should just hit the wall and get better. He takes after me and hits the wall everyday for at least an hour. I play in a men’s league and I am by far the best player.

The Robots I mean Hawks win again.

This is so funny!!!

Really hope FCA can pull it out tomorrow… alas, I think the goalie for Hawks is the difference maker

Sounds a little salty. Finish your shots and you’ll win one day.

They went west.

FCA 13-12 win in OT over ML. Great game.

I get your point. The OP wanted to believe that practice attendance is part of the criteria for merit. You and I agree that it's not.

Funny because it’s true? Or you just think it’s funny ?

Lacrosse robots never lose

This must have been the winner dad who yelled “you [Censored]!” at one of the Hawks players. All class there with the True parents.

True dad cursed, got kicked out, came back, got yelled at by the guy in the booth and acted like a 3rd grader saying he didn’t curse. He yelled it 😂

At least we don’t have to deal with daddy ball. Hawks=daddy ball. 3 dad coaches who let all 3 kids shoot and do whatever they want.

So my 6th grade 11 year old son just showed me a video on youtube of someone red hots kid. Also played on 91 national. Both are 2028 teams. It was so inspirational to my son to watch this man child beat up on kids 1.5-2 years younger than him. He even paused the highlights to zoom in and show me all the hair on his legs. He begged me to send him to private school next year so I can hold him back. My son is a legit player and and fast for his age. However, I’m considering holding him back. I can’t imagine how good he would he against the competition if I held him back. I keep thinking of the Instagram reels and YouTube highlights I can post. Plus he can be like 19.5 years old when he graduates high school. I figure that will make him more mature when he gets to college. On the flip side, I’m worried about my conscience. I know he will be an absolute student beating up on younger kids. But I’m afraid deep down I will be ashamed. Also, I’m worried that once he realizes all the accolades he gets are simply based on the day his mom and I decided to procreate, he will feel like a bit of a cheater. I’m also worried that he will get wind of the disdain other kids and parents will have for him.
What do you all think? Hold him back or no?

Yeah. Definitely hold him back. Your concerns on both sides are valid, but I think you should roll the dice and keep being the strong parent and role model you clearly must be for your son.

I think this is a lame attempt at trolling.

Given an interesting data point that there's a double-holdback on WCS' B Team (you read that right), the right situations to hold back are limited to:

1) when the financial costs (extra 1-2 years of tuition and club lax fees) don't matter because of your personal wealth (in the bank, not anticipated earnings), and when your son entering the work force (and starting life savings) at 22 vs 24 doesn't matter because of the trust fund and because you already have a $80K job lined up for him - an offer that never expires. And also because of this financial security, it truly doesn't matter if he's recruited to upper D1 or not, you just want your son to enjoy some lax domination and "fun" for as long as he can. Or;

2) your son has a diagnosed learning or emotional issue that is resulting in actual crises in his on-age social/school interactions. And because of these issues, it truly doesn't matter if he's recruited to upper D1 or not - you just want him to experience "fair" social and academic success. And hey, because of the age, he'll have a lot of fun playing lax.

Anybody else holding back, you are wasting money that you don't have, for outcomes that are unlikely at best. About 50% of lax holdbacks fade into the pack by the end of 8th grade. Another 25% are unknown by the end of 9th grade. Send your kid to speed training and enjoy the basically relaxing ride to D2/D3 lacrosse. Seriously. What's the harm.

Not a Hawks parent and in fact I love to make fun of the Hawks parents, but it's ridiculous and childish trolling to blast the kids and coaches when they lose, AND THEN call them "robots" when they win.

This was a fast (if not very lax- talented) group of kids in 3rd grade when my son first played against them and they have stayed fast (compared to the competition) and added in a great level of skill and IQ in the last 4 years...that also seems to outstrip the competition, at least from March to June when it really counts.

"The 2028 Hawks are really good, and seemed to have really put last fall's awful performance behind them. Something's going right over there."

See, that wasn't so hard.