Controversial opinion here, but why is it that there is such an uproar about "holdbacks." The Canadian model for hockey and lacrosse is a two-year window. E.g., PeeWees this year are kids with birth years of 2011 AND 2012. The spread is up to 23 months between kids. It seems like the problem with those who detest "holdbacks" is that their kid will never be in the "older" group. If that's the complaint, I get it. But let's remove this talk of its unfair for older kids to play against younger ones, or safety. The model seems to be working just fine for our northern neighbors.
You aren’t tracking the issue. The problem, using your example, will be when a kid born in 2010 or 2009 is playing in the age bracket with kids naturally slotted in the 2011/2012 bracket. They are able to do this because it Lax is GRADE based and they are able to holdback the child once and sometimes twice. It is easier to holdback when a child goes to private school or switches from public to private. I have seen my 11 year old son play up an age bracket against 16 year olds playing down. Our choice to play up but not our choice to have a 16 year old with a man body in the league. I guess it is good at some level for the 16 year old doing swim moves over kids who aren’t even 5 ft yet.
