BOTC - US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums NORTHEAST LACROSSE BOTC MAIN FORUM (LI, CT, WC) Boys 2025-9th Grade Fall 2021/Summer 2022

Express kids will move down a year for club but only say they will do a pg year and then not do the pg year.

Yes! And, some “lacrosse people” even do it much younger as to get advantage of being the oldest younger and its not so obvious about staying back

Stinks for them but that is reality in this sport. There are the rare exceptions but generally most of the top recruits all holdbacks. Inside lacrosse just published their top players rankings for 2023. Vast vast majority are older. College coaches prefer it, why wouldn’t they.

It stinks! But, it’s not against the rules. Need to push to change the rules if you don’t like it , or have to do it yourself. Problem is, not everyone can afford private schools that allow it! More opportunity/advantage for the privileged. Can’t blame the people doing it, just trying to keep up with the Joneses!

If my son approached me and asked to be held back, I’d tell him it’s time to give up playing

No kid wants to be held back in 8th grade for lax. Crazy parents!!!

That’s ok, because playing with the older kids will make him tougher and probably a better player. However, It may not save him from getting cut in HS level for the holdbacks. But, it def. is a great life lesson. It’s unfortunate Lacrosse has come to this. Hopefully, he will be one of the few on age that can hang in there.

If the child is doing well in school with their grades, how is a parent able to hold that child back? If you make the request for the child to repeat the grade the district will just do it? Sorry to sound ignorant about this but I am curious how it works

Puberty/growth spurt isn't good for every athlete. It's not a guarantee.

Heard Turtles Folded? any Truth or just certain ages?

What Age?

The 2025 team is okay. Solid Team. But they play in B tourneys.

Not at all. Picked up kids from S2S and Legacy

Practices start this week so we shall see who is who in the coming weeks. Any projections?

They lost a couple kids but gained some too. The goal seems to be Smithtown-only. Coaches favor Smithtown kids. Not uncommon.

Best Smithtown kids do not play at B- organizations. So not sure about that turtle,Smithtown connection. I believe 2029 and 2027 folded. Not a good sign for future

Not sure about the Smithtown-Turtles connection? Clearly you don't know much about the program. It's almost all Smithtown kids.

Ok they have Smithtown kids, but the best ones play elsewhere.
Except for 2028 which pretty much got best a lot last year, every team is B-. Fine if that's what you want.

They definitely aren’t Smithtown only team.

A lot of talk about the Turtles. The rumor mill has it that they are now an A team.

Any team can declare themselves an A team. But it is how you play on the Field that really determines that. We shall see going forward. There are "B" Teams that can play with the "A" teams and "A" teams that would lose to "B" teams.

The A vs B debate no longer works on Long Island as they are all the same minus 1 or 2 clubs....

The JD Rumor Mill. Lets see them go to some fall tourneys and play the A Teams

Agreed. The A, AA, AAA, B, C stuff is just BS. Just makes a certain subset of parents feel better about themselves.

Is your son learning, getting better and playing a lot? That's an A team for him no matter what anyone says.

Who is really an "A" team on LI? 91 , Exp and who? The rest are all on the same level. Prove me wrong...

You are all wasting your time on this AA, A, B nonsense. Did any of you see the recent 2023 player rankings? 13 of top 16 kids were hold backs. Only 4 of top 50 from Long Island. Less than 10%. None if this matters anymore. Your kid better be a unicorn and older to go top D1.

Feels like express has fallen over past year and in the "other" bucket. The other teams are getting closer and closer. Igloo has beaten them. On the flip side, they can no longer beat 91. By saying they are A, you're rounding up. I think others will begin to round down.

2025 programs now trying to sell teams as recruiting services. Nobody but LILJ is ranking or looking at 2025's seriously. Gone are the days of team ball everyone has a look at me attitude. Transfers, the portal and holdbacks have done their damage. Your 18 year old senior will not be playing D1.

Does anyone just let their kid play to have fun? Or just watch them play and enjoy that? The parents are sooo diluted in thinking their kid is some D1 prospect that is going to set the world on fire. I hope these kids have good grades because they are going to need them. And I hope the parents have a psychiatrist to treat them when Johnny is working 9-5.........

Turtles is a B team and mostly Smithtown kids. Smithtown seems very weak at the 2025 age group. I can't think of one good player, it's going to be a rude awakening for their high school coaches.

91 can maybe hang with the top teams but it really is difficult when you're playing against kids a full year or two older. It really seems like LI kids are at a disadvantage unless you're willing to reclass or go the prep school route, very unfortunate.

Look at the 2023 top 50 that just came out. Only four from Long Island. I think the talent pool is now National

National and perhaps a little older than the LI kids? LI is lagging on the holdbacks. It’s Starting to show

13 out of 16 are holdbacks? Wow, and you wonder why so much complaining about the holdback situation.

It’s real , and it’s an unfair advantage. LAX is Becoming a Sport for the kids who can afford privates and choose to stay back. SAd, and US Lacrosse should seriously take notice. Youth lacrosse should be “on age” . Don’t let the advantages start at youth level. Make it even playing fields, public or private for youth ages

In reality it’s 9 out of the 16 are holdbacks Still pretty bad!! The September-December kids are on age. Most states the cutoff is August 31 to enter school. NY for some reason is November 30. The September 03 kid is a 2022. Who is on age for his state. He is graduating HS then doing a prep year. I have no problem with that. He played 22 division his entire life. But I do agree with you that high end D1 lacrosse is becoming a rich mans sport. Between the cost of clubs, travel expenses. Individual showcases and now add in a year at a top prep school, you have to have the cash to compete.

Youth Lacrosse needs to go to “on age” and not grade base. Let the kids have a chance to develop at the same level/age with their peers. By HS age, the cream will rise to the top and go from there. Let the developmental years be on even playing fields.

2025 is the new 2023. Out of state teams pulling in prep kids. 16yr old 9th graders last year playing 2025 and are just now officially reclassifying.

Dream on. 91 md last year had whole team driving to practice in 8 grade. Some 17

4K is what I pay for dancing school with recitals and costumes and and and — as long as your kid LOVES the game. It’s worth it

the end justifies the means

Sad thing in this whole age based vs grade issue is PAL, who promotes fair competition, etc etc is grade based? They should at least go age based, but for some reason they don’t. Would love to hear from PAL reps as to why? They actually brought this to a vote about 10 years ago and it was not passed.

Who makes these decisions? It Needs to change to age base. Parents should petition