I just don't get it. My son is playing with 9th and 10th graders. Will he get a D1 offer? Probably not. The competition is very tough. But his only chance to play at the college level is to challenge himself and improve. Not play against younger kids just to look better. Those younger kids will catch up and then what?
If you want to get better, play up. If you want to look better, play down.
My oldest son played up for 2 years (he was invited by the coach) and it made him a much better player. Now a HS Junior and committed to a top 15 team. But amazingly, it feels like the lacrosse landscape has changed so much in just the last 2-3 years. No one plays up now.
With the current grade based system, and with early recruiting occurring in that environment, what's the incentive not to play down or not to hold back?? I can only speak for baseball recruitment, which is an age based system, where recruiters want to see you play up, and those playing 'on age' in regional tournaments are considered mid tier players, as opposed to the elite who play up an age or 2. (Of course National tournaments are on age for the most part) I know everyone likes to blast those who holdback or 'play down' but frankly why not take advantage of the grade based system ?? It really does feel like it's dramatically changed over the last 2-3 years, and my real concern is for that mid level youth player in the grade based system and the growth of the game.
