There is no down side to an age based system. Club owners should open their eyes and realize that moving to an age based system will increase the amount of families seeking to participate (and return), and therefore, increase their profits. At present there are too many blowouts and mismatches at tournaments, and too many games where one team is much older (bigger, faster, more aggressive, more skilled, higher IQ) than the other one. One of the main reasons for this is that it is very hard for tournament directors to create matchups when you have no idea how old the kids really are, and its very hard for club directors to recommend (or choose) a divisional placement when they have no idea how old the competition will be. If everyone is born within the same 12 month window, than its much easier to place a team based on its skill level and athleticism, as well as performance at prior tournaments.
