My son is school mates or club teammates with many kids who attend the top two IAC schools and the top two WCAC schools for lacrosse in this MD / DMV area. In this year's senior classes at those schools the percentage of holdback kids is less than 50% at all of them. In the 2017 class, the proliferation of it is jarring. Well over 50% of the kids attending those private schools and are on the lacrosse teams are holdbacks. For the 2018 class the percentage at every one of these schools is over 75%. That is not a huge sample size, but is a very good indicator or how fast the trend of holding kids back for lacrosse has proliferated in the recent 2-3 years. At this point I do not believe it would be too bold to suggest that a normal 14 year old freshman lacrosse player at the top IAC and WCAC schools local here is already an anomaly for all classes 2017 and below and that the viral out is nearly complete. It is almost as if you don't want to bother to be a HS player at the local privates unless you are held back. The real crisis now is how that affects the club and youth leagues below. If we allow the holdback virus to express out, all is lost for 10, 11, 12, etc. year olds to play the game on a level field. We should all be ashamed. | 
