BOTC - US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums MID-ATLANTIC LACROSSE MARYLAND FORUM Greater Howard Club Lacrosse Conference (HoCo)

I heard that they were not

Looking at how big these rosters are nowadays there is plenty of space for the kids who gets passed up by cheating the system. It must be fun watching a Hopkins game from the sideline. At least they will get to hear what the coach says during the timeouts!

Not "could be" it is "should be" in the 9th and some the 10th grade, but here they are stuck in the 8th grade, many turning 15 this spring and one Crab player turning 16 this spring. Think about that, turning 16 and he is in the 8th grade. That really shows how the Crabs game the system, violates grade base youth lacrosse and bottom line, are just cheats that feel good that their older sons can beat a 13/14 year old team.

You really need to step out of your shoes and at games listen to what others say about Ctabs and Ryan M. It isn't very nice, you people are not respected.

I guess a good use of your time is telling your son it is ok to cheat/game the system to get ahead. Are you afraid he wouldn't do well playing on age? Maybe that's it.

Which 2020 club will have the first commit? Crabs, crush, looneys, fca, 91?

By the way, this is from the HOCO rules. It appears that the commissioner will know how old the kids really are.

CONFERENCE APPLICATION & ROSTERS

Rosters are to be submitted on the official roster form by January 15th. This includes the Howard County Lacrosse Program who organizes select/travel teams and places these teams in the Conference.

Each player's full name, date of birth, school, grade, parent’s cell number and jersey number must appear on this form. Incomplete rosters will not be accepted. Rosters must be emailed to the Conference Commissioner at dethompson@howardcountymd.gov

Who cares. Of course they know how old the kids are. But since the divisions are grade based, it makes no damn difference how old they are.

US Lacrosse has, for 2016, in "Age & Eligibility guidelines" the following:
"Grade-based competition: For leagues or associations in which some or all teams choose to organize by grade, those should be single-grade teams and should play in the age division determined by the oldest player on their roster'
Not sure this will come into play or have any meaningful impact on the HOCO league, but knowing some club teams have several older holdbacks it may, but I doubt it.

Who cares. Of course they know how old the kids are. But since the divisions are grade based, it makes no damn difference how old they are.

Who cares. Of course they know how old the kids are. But since the divisions are grade based, it makes no damn difference how old they are.

Why would they start following the rules now?

In some respects the fault of not following US Lacrosse guidelines falls to the organizers of HOCO and the heads of each club. Why what is arguably the best youth lacrosse league in the country not want to be an example for others to follow?

Just let it go. Let's move on to something else. What team will have their roster change over by 25% next fall? I say Looneys, fca, 91 force, crabs.

Those are the top teams in baltimore, Are you suggesting they'll be finding kids not already on those teams or you think it will be musical chairs between the teams?

I doubt that HoCo is intimately familiar with the club lacrosse climate. I'm sure there are a few county employees charged with coordinating several sports apiece. Perhaps the concerns voiced on this board would be better addressed by the individual running the league. It appears that would be Derek Thompson. Why not contact him and ask if the league is following USL guidelines and/or verifying birth dates? dethompson@howardcountymd.gov

This discussion is ridiculous. If you don't like the rules don't play in the league. It is that simple.

But that begs the question, what rules are they following? Are they going to be guided by the US Lacrosse guidelines or just ignore them and do whatever they want. From what I am seeing, it seems they are just saying it is grade base and if you have a 16 year old 8th grader on your team, that's ok.
But perhaps it shouldn't be ok, having older 15 and some 16 year olds playing against 13 and 14 year olds is not, as they say, a level playing field. HOCO Club league isn't or appears to be non responsive to what rules/guidelines they are following.
Perhaps the Commissioner, Derrick Thompson isn't familiar with suggested guidelines or maybe the club coaches are really running the league. Who knows.

Ncaa rules, grade based. Age doesn't matter, us lax doesn't matter. Get over it. You have a choice to play in it.

Interesting, go grab some popcorn...

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The commissioner of the HOCO league emailed the club owners in the recent weeks a few times. In the first notice, the HOCO commissioner noted this US Lacrosse rule for 2016 in regards to grade based teams:

US Lacrosse has, for 2016, in "Age & Eligibility guidelines" the following:
"Grade-based competition: For leagues or associations in which some or all teams choose to organize by grade, those should be single-grade teams and should play in the age division determined by the oldest player on their roster'

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If this is true, and they hold to that, it will implode the Elite division. Personally, I'm all for out and would support it 100%!

If it's true Say goodbye to crabs

So if they flip the story you won't be whining and crying right?

If they enforce the US Lacrosse rule for Age and Eligibility, AA Elite will basically dissolve given the number of over age kids.

Please don't whine if this happens, since you'll have a choice to go kick rocks or find a play date with Madlax. Or go scrimmage some of the other teams that fall out of the league.

It doesn't beg any question. The league has grade based divisions, just like almost every single tournament the kids play in. USL provides guidelines, which up til recently, still suggested the U-9, U-11, U-13 model. The fact is, they are just recommendations. No one has ever said that USL is ahead of the curve when it comes to actually governing the sport of lacrosse.

The fact is, grade based teams are here to stay. All the crying and whining that is done here will not change anything. Emailing the Director of HOCO won't accomplish anything. All clubs are built this way now. The only one's bitching are the parents. Ask your club owner what their policy is on holdbacks. I defy anyone here to find a club owner that would tell you they would force an older kid to play down a grade level with kids his age.

People complain about it because Crabs has more holdbacks than everyone else. But they all have holdbacks, so like the saying goes, YOU CAN'T BE A LITTLE BIT PREGNANT.

If it's true Say goodbye to crabs

If it's true Say goodbye to crabs

Ncaa rules, grade based. Age doesn't matter, us lax doesn't matter. Get over it. You have a choice to play in it.

That's funny. That email is a fabrication.

The Director of HOCO has done no such thing.

It doesn't beg any question. The league has grade based divisions, just like almost every single tournament the kids play in. USL provides guidelines, which up til recently, still suggested the U-9, U-11, U-13 model. The fact is, they are just recommendations. No one has ever said that USL is ahead of the curve when it comes to actually governing the sport of lacrosse.

The fact is, grade based teams are here to stay. All the crying and whining that is done here will not change anything. Emailing the Director of HOCO won't accomplish anything. All clubs are built this way now. The only one's bitching are the parents. Ask your club owner what their policy is on holdbacks. I defy anyone here to find a club owner that would tell you they would force an older kid to play down a grade level with kids his age.

People complain about it because Crabs has more holdbacks than everyone else. But they all have holdbacks, so like the saying goes, YOU CAN'T BE A LITTLE BIT PREGNANT.