... The new rules have the age cut off just like soccer now, August 31st, so all the kids were just fine. Now that the rules have changed what will the new excuse be for not being as good as 91 or Express?
This topic is not one related to just Team 91 or Team Express - let's clear that up right now. BOTC has let this discussion go far enough on the Express thread and will now step into the discussion.
The real issue is those of you involved in the youth lacrosse scene do not TRUST that age groups are being properly policed. The fact that US Lacrosse has issued new guidelines tied to getting a US Lacrosse-sanctioned tournament is great, but not everything is US Lacrosse sanctioned. All of which means that the TRUST issues will remain. As long as those TRUST issues remain, BOTC's message boards will be covered with such buzz.
The issue therefore comes back to how do you restore TRUST? First, you need to decide what organization exists that you do infact TRUST? Clearly, one can enforce birth dates at the tournament level, but that still opens a tournament organizer to questions of TRUST and turning the other way when players are checked-in for an event.
The only way to clear this TRUST barrier is to have US Lacrosse centrally sanction player passes and for the referee at the field to validate the roster and player passes at game time. Some youth lacrosse purists will bristle at this idea, but what other TRUST authority can you install in this process so that you have both the check and balance (sanctioning body, and referee) in validating the ages?
