this has to stop - if a kid is in 4th grade he is a 4th grader, if it is a grade based tourney he is not "playing down" if he is in 5th grade and plays in a 4th grade division than he is "playing down" if it is a U11 and he was 10 on 8/31/2011 he is a U11 if he was 11 on 8/31/2011 and he plays in a U11 then he is playing down. get over it.....
This is precisely why birth date, not class grade, should be the measuring stick. A student who SHOULD BE in fifth grade but is playing in a fourth grade bracket is playing down.
Sage - I almost always agree with you but here I do not, the kids need to be ready for 7th grade middle school and beyond where it is grade based and not age based. most teams are being set up by graduating year not by age and most tournaments are as well. because lacrosse does not have the numbers that soccer has you have U9, U11, U13 and U15 not U9,U10,U11,U12 ect. so you still have the two year grouping. Recon goes by age and their U13 team is made up of both 7th and 8th graders and when they go to a grade based tournament they play in the 8th grade bracket. Recon could have a 7th grade kid born in '99 and an 8th grade team could could have "legal" kid born in '97 so you still have that large gap. They play grade based in PAl and Middle School and these kids should be able to stay together in the summer. - unless and until USLacrosse can standardize all leagues, teams and tournaments. cheating is cheating and that is another issue but I do not believe that a kid in 7th grade playing on a 7th grade team is cheating or "playing Down. just my opinion
