holdbacks may be within the rules but they are mostly non-athletic cowards. Everyone knows it. It's why the holdback parents here always deny it or make excuses about it.
Listen to them dance around it in the stands- It's hilarious!
In tournaments, it's not even (always) holdbacks. One team from VA, Norfolk Collegiate (aka "757 select") enters into tournaments with wishy washy age/grade language on purpose. In fact the language for the upcoming Madlax tournament, "If your roster is a mix of more than 1 graduating year, register your team for the graduating year where *the majority of players are* "
In the case of 757 Select, that meant that last summer at a tourney, according to their parents on the sidelines, the 2027 team was primarily 2027s with some 2026s and 2025s mixed in (to make it worse, they played in a combined 2027-2028 bracket against 2028-29 teams). And if you think it's legit to have 14 year olds playing against 10 year olds, OK then. Those 14 year olds' parents were super proud of their championship lol. Way to beat the 5th graders!
Their 2026 team was primarily 2026s with some 2025s and 2024s!
Their 2028 team was primarily 2028s but almost half 2027s.
When I saw this fall's Madlax tourney liability waiver language, "Graduation age of the majority of your team" I screenshot it and sent it to some other dads for the LOLz and said, "Hey it's for those 757 guys!" Somebody texted back.........."Sure is......they registered for this tournament!" So in their case, they're out there LOOKING for opportunities to dodge graduation year requirements with their squads.
If you asked their coaches, I'm sure they would say, "we don't have holdbacks in southern VA, this is how we equalize the playing field against all the MD teams with holdbacks."
This is where the holdback situation is going if it's not addressed. CA and TX clubs, as they become a "market force" for the tournament economy, are not going to sit by and take it, flying up to MD and NJ to play kids consistently 1-2 years older than theirs.
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