This is elite level 8th grade lacrosse, which means roughly 1/3 of the kids are holdbacks, 1/3 are on age but hit puberty early and can compete physically with the holdbacks, and 1/3 are very skilled on age kids, but lack the size and athleticism (for now) to keep up with kids in the first two categories. If your son is in the third category he can embrace the challenge and work harder, or drop down to the division below elite, where he will do great. But there ain’t no use in complaining, that’s just how it is.
This is spot on. I would add that a lot of the kids in the first category will peek very early and will be completely irrelevant by junior year in high school. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. The kids who hit puberty in six grade and were dominant, stopped growing in eighth grade and they got lapped
