As one whose involved been involved in youth lacrosse the past 15 years, and an FCA and Calvert Hall parent, let me make some comments regarding this and many posts on clubs and holdbacks. Calvert Hall is high school only, so the only "holdbacks" to come in are from when the students were held back at their previous middle school. There are other schools that are K-12 where this occurs, but Calvert Hall has no influence and in fact takes the stance that it doesn't necessarily help. In some cases it may hurt down the road when a players potential has been reached in earlier grades. As for FCA, there are some that were held back previously, but there were several who actually play up. Particluarly last year there were 4 2020s playing on the 2019 FCA Blue team.
Regardless of age for a given grade, the same philosophy holds true for most clubs; they will mostly field the best players they can within the rules for a given event and team. If the game is winnable, the best players get the lions share of the PT. If the game is pretty much decided, the remaining players get their run.
As for FCA parents, lacrosse parents are lacrosse parents and some do behave irrationally during games. However, as a parent whose kids have played for several clubs, FCA works with the parents much more than just stating the obligatory "let the players play, the refs ref and the coaches coach" a few times a season. Still it's the adults responsibility to set the example.
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