How many holdbacks are on your kids team? I know that the 80% number is well documented on this very MD thread, by disgruntled parents of on age players. But, hey, maybe they are just upset because their kid doesn’t get any playing time because he plays behind a bunch of holdbacks. So maybe, just maybe, it’s less than 80%. We both know it’s not, because of the sheer numbers of posts claiming the contrary, but hey let’s just play along, right? For the sake of argument, let’s be crazy conservative and say 50%. Yeah. A joke! I know! But let’s run the numbers. 50% of an average of 26 player roster is 13 players. Ok. 13 players are holdbacks. But, wait a minute. Top teams only play 13 players in competitive games, right. So in every competitive game, only holdbacks touch the field in this 50% scenario. So for all practical purposes, that fictional 50% holdback team is really 100% holdbacks!
So when you play my kid Luigi’s team from LI, who has no holdbacks or any 05’s for that matter, your kid Buff Jr’s team Is a full year older, whether we use your lame 50% holdback lie, or the reality of 80%.
My son plays for a 5th grade high level club team in MD. We beat up on the 5th grade Express, and Express North in the fall. All I heard was complaints about hold backs once the game was going in our favor. It made me chuckle, because we don't have any on the team. Then you look on the boards on here, and there's LI teams complaining about each other using hold backs. Is that just the automatic defense to a loss?
I am not a LI parent. The holdback issue is real and not even under the radar. Ask the HOCO league who actually does have DOB's for the players. It is within the rules to have older players as no age restrictions are required but they do have DOB's it all depends on what one considers the correct age for a 2024 class/grade. The contact information for the league is on the HOCO website and they will confirm this. Look at 2024 National Championship event under the rules the reference "While it will seem like the most important event in the history of the world to some, we ask that everyone attend the event for 13/14 years olds with perspective. We should change the current mold of youth lacrosse and expect all parties should exhibit the highest level of sportsmanship at all times." In some places 14 year olds are entering 9th grade. I do remember a time when 7th grade would be 12/13 year olds. In public schools a child born prior to August 05 would be a rising 9th grader. The assumption that no 12 year old players would be at this event is telling.
What is telling is ....that there is so many people that are holding their child back for lacrosse. Years ago this was mainly limited to private schools. Not anymore. Once Cat got out of bag, and the public HOCO league ( People who ran it at start had ties to Holdbacks in MIAA schools) decided to go grade base instead of age base like all their other leagues....the race was on in Maryland to hold your child back. Frankly everyone knows it is wrong at YOUTH level, yet the holdback race goes on with Maryland and private schools everywhere leading the way.
No justification for this at youth level .. no matter how hard the holdback apologists try.
