Originally Posted by Anonymous
Originally Posted by Anonymous
Originally Posted by Anonymous
what are you thoughts on 7/8 grade girls playing varsity? You already have a ton of girls in 9-12 grade that want to play lacrosse, why are you taking spots away from them for girls that don't even attend the high school yet.

I think there is a lot that has to be considered before bringing an 8th grader up to varsity. 7th grader, I say no way.
For an 8th grader, she needs to be physically mature enough to compete at that level -- pediatrician or school doctor will make the determination on her physical exam. Next, this should be for an absolutely unreal talent and should never be the norm. And if the player has the opportunity, the team dynamics need to be looked at. Will girls be resentful, demeaning or will they bring in a young girl into the team and treat her like a teammate? As a parent, would I want my 13/14 year old hanging out with 17/18 year olds? Sports teams, at least in my town, get close and hang out with each other outside of school activities. My daughter & a classmate of hers played varsity as freshmen, and I was uneasy about it because of this (at least for my daughter). Luckily she was in a good situation where the senior captains were.
Finally, you have to look at what type of playing time will she get? Is the coach a good coach?


Agreed.

Our daughter played JV basketball (starter) in 8th grade. She had been playing with the varsity girls in a summer league in 7th. Physically and skill wise, she was fine. Socially, I think she felt like an outsider, but she remained committed. (the girls were friendly enough, although I do believe a couple of them had some resentment which carried over to varsity.) Our daughter still opted to hang with the girls she played basketball with while in middle school. She ended up being a starter for every varsity game in 9th, so we think it was the right call.


In regards to lax, our school pulled up 3 8th graders to varsity. I don't think they get much playing time and based on others' opinions, 2 of them would have been better suited for JV. They just happened to have older siblings (who are good players) on varsity.

I have a crazy idea. How about we let parents of kids who get the opportunity to play up make a decision based on what they think is best for their child. If you're looking to a message board of a bunch of anonymous people to make a decision for your kid then I suggest you reevaluate.