US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums MID-ATLANTIC LACROSSE MARYLAND FORUM Boys 2028 Grads - Mid Atlantic Region

Relax, FCA moms and dads. Kids are talking, and I know for a fact that your goalie is 15 and should be in high school, just like the coach's son. Your Red Hots "superstar" was born in 2008. Following your logic that "...It doesn't matter how old they are, it matters what grade they are in... " and Leading Edge is so good because their goalie is a 2027, where were your 15-year-old kids during that game? You folks in Maryland are the biggest cheaters, and now you're complaining that someone else might be doing the same? It's only funny when it works out for you.

Why enforce the rules? So you'd be okay if my older son, a rising senior in HS, came to guest play in the next tournament? How about our neighbor's kid, who is playing in college but home for the summer?

I realize you said you favor birth year, but it's still a weird logical spiral from (1) it's a class year bracket so maybe being older is an advantage but hey, that's how the rules work to (2) well if other kids are older then it's not a big deal if you're around the same age even if it doesn't comply with the rules to (3) why enforce rules at all?

I don't understand how will kids get recruited for a 2027 year if he plays with 2028.

My point was that it has been not enforced for years and done by all the upper-level teams forever, so why bother enforcing it for the last half of the last year. To the letter of the law, you are correct. I am glad the system is being fixed for the purpose of making a full-contact sport safer by limiting the age discrepancy and only secondarily for the benefit of leveling the playing field.

The player being mentioned is a 2028, not a 2027.

Yep. “I may reclass 4 years from now instead of going to college, so in the meantime, I’m going to cheat and play down a year against younger kids. It should help me get recruited by standing out against freshman when I’m a sophomore.”

Problem is, THIS IS AGAINST THE RULES. It’s not a morality issue, it’s actually against the rules

Hey Giuseppe…. There are no rules against reclassing. But you actually need to do it. You can just say you’re gonna do it four years from now. Big big difference. But doubt you’ll grasp that concept.

If he’s a rising sophomore, he’s a 2027. And he will get recruited as a 2027, even if he’s planning on doing a PG year after high school

New topic: Any new 2028 teams coming to the area?

If he’s already been held back and is in 9th grade this fall, that’s perfectly fine. It’s within the rules. If he’s still in 10th, like the clown Leading Edge player, he’s not eligible to play 2028

True RT 83, True South Central Howard County, True North Baltimore, True Almost in PA, True Annapolis Central, True Close to VA and True Kent Island.

The MVP is rising freshman. Great goalie!

Is this True?

Northstars Lacrosse in Harco run by John Carroll coaches

VLC is trying again in northern VA.

Definitely True.

Reclassing IS NOT against the rules. Playing down as an expecting PG IS against the rules. I get it.

My question to the reclass supporters . . . would you support a rule change to allow expected PG to play down 1yr when they are in HS?

If not, why not?

I think it's just 27s and 28s.

I am completely baffled as to why college coaches even want reclasses? It waters down the whole sport. I know if college coaches stopped recruiting and signing reclasses then maybe the proactive would stop. That or US lacrosse actually committing to teams by birth years like soccer does, but I doubt that would happen. At least the age rules are a step in the right direction. As a parent though, I would be embarrassed myself if my kid had to reclass to be dominate

No. If you’re going to reclass, just do it. If you’re going to graduate from your high school in 2027, and then go take an extra year of high school at a boarding school, you can’t play down the meantime because you might do it. Get a pair and do it, then you can play 2028.

The only people who think playing in 2028 while still in the 2027 class are the few cheaters at 2Way and Leadinf Edge who are perpetrating this charade

Always great to see this topic rise up as the younger class parents come to realize one of the only ways to beat the dei mandates (hidden or outright) in college admittance is for their kid to play a low level scholarship sport. News Flash - college coaches don't care. Their job is to win games and winning games means bigger, faster and stronger.

Apparently, PG is not against the rules since it’s happening (I’m not saying that I agree with it, because I don’t). My question is what’s the difference between reclassing and doing PG? Either way you’re playing with younger kids so that you can get an advantage? Serious question, not meant to be a shot at either. I just don’t see the difference. Either way you’re playing with younger kids and getting recruited in that pool instead of your appropriate age/grade.

College coaches need to show progress and wins in the metrics of Ws and Ls. The average coaching tenure in NCAA Lax is 3.5 years. If a 21 year old freshman is available and has 4.3 speed and a 100mph shot and can squeak by admissions and has references from a top 25 national coach, yes let's take that kid.

No different than club coaches taking reclasses, honestly. In club ball, success is measured every 10 months when the last game is played. Nobody from Rec Travel to Hoco Elite to NXT AA league would say no to older kids.

It’s basically like reclassing, but instead of repeating their current grade year they in essence repeat their senior year so they’re able to be recruited a grade down in both cases. Either way they end up doing an extra year of school.

The last 3 pages of this forum are comical. Reminds me of the presidential debate last week. Some of you (reclass/holdback) parents might want to remind your kid he will need a job one day and may have a mortgage if your trust doesn’t pay for it. Lacrosse will end one day.

Newsflash. Your kid who does a PG year— gets recruited way before the happens. If he’s a 2027 playing 2028, he’s cheating. It’s not common for a kid to play down before he has actually reclassed— there may be a handful that are doing it, umbeknost to opposing coaches or tournament organizers. It’s against the rules and if a coach wants I call out an opposing player, it could get ugly. I just don’t know if coaches care as much as parents do

First, the idea that it's not against the rules because it's happening is a little naive - have you ever gone to a lacrosse tournament where they confirm class year in any way? In soccer you have ID cards and it's closely regulated, but lacrosse just doesn't enforce the stated rules.

Second, the difference is that if you reclass you have taken an action that actually puts you in a different class year. With PG you're representing that you might possibly maybe do something in the future, but you haven't actually done anything and there is nothing to keep you from simply changing your mind later. Put it this way: If one of my employees does great work this year, he'll get a bonus. If he tells me he plans to do great work three year from now, no way. That's the difference.

Most tournaments have specific rules saying you cannot be in 10th grade currently (this fall) playing in 2028. NAL, Hogan events, etc. Get caught, your team will get popped….

Fair point. But if the goal of the rules is to ensure a level playing field, who cares if the kid reclassed in 8th grade or is going to PG in 12th grade - they are both the same age and it is therefore a level playing field.

This idea that if we legalized PG kids playing down in HS that all kids/teams would do this is ridiculous. If my kid is a '27 and I have no intention of doing a PG year, then playing with the '28s through HS would kill any chance he has of being recruited to play in college as a '27. Once you get to HS, the club focus shifts from winning tourneys to getting recruited. Parents are not going to play their kid down so XYZ club can win a tourney while their kid losing recruiting opportunities. Not gonna happen.

Let’s move on. It clearly states on the websites of these Tory aments that the player must play the class in which he is currently in… so if you want to break the rules as they are— go for it.

How often has that actually happened though? Who is checking at all, let alone real time as you'd need to in order to make a difference in a tournament? I recall that VLC 2027 got dinged in HOCO a few years ago and there was a blowup with Madlax 2032 or something this spring, but I don't think anyone is out there announcing that they've retroactively stripped Team Fake Holdbacks of their Aloha Hogan Spring Thawbashfest tournament title and all players need to return their victory trucker hats.

The original question is a great question for BOC. Just one persons opinion, if I player declares a PG during their JR season then I have to issue with them playing down a year post thanksgiving of their JR year. There are several recruiting events and campus play days that start late fall and run through the start of the upcoming spring season.

Again we get it is against the current rules. I'm suggesting the rules should be changed. Recruiting incentives will prevent the revised rule from being abused. Applied to HS kids only and can only bump down 1yr.

The rules as they are today reward parents that reclass early vs PG. To me the early reclass is more dangerous as it leads to giant size differences as kids are going through puberty.

You ever think if everyone reclassed then your kid wouldn’t gain an advantage? Wouldn’t it be great if it were against the rules and no kid was forced to reclass by their psycho parents?

It happens (getting caught) about once a year in our region, and 50% of the time it's a True team. Not even holdbacks necessarily, just habitual roster violations because "we put 18 teams in this tournament/league, they won't kick us out." And for the most part they are correct about that.

Several documented True 2028 warnings/blowups/forfeits/player DQs with HoCo over the years, True MD 2023 blowups with Aloha in the pre-Covid era (DQed and asked to leave the site), the insane Madlax 2033 caper this spring, the VLC 2027 shenanigans (those kids were scary big...and then we found out why, lol). Given that there are 40-ish teams playing every year below the HS level in our region, that's a really small number of "caught" violations.

VLC 2027 got busted for using a 2025 goalie, who wasn't particularly large. They still broke the rules, but I don't think anyone was scary big.

Why do I see so many 28’s playing in the 27 division at best in class?

[quote=Anonymous]Why do I see so many 28’s playing in the 27 division at best in class?[/
Because they are really 27 and just like beating the younger kids.

Only one MD team in the top 10 in USCL rankings (though two of the top 10 are Red Hots national teams that have a number of MD players), and only three in the top 25 (though again, some national teams sprinkled in).

Rankings are terrible and getting worse all the time. Not only are many of the same players on multiple teams (I heard from a parent the 2 red hot teams have about 40-50% crossover players), but there are teams that have played literally 1 tournament. (Project Midwest). Many teams with less than 10 games. There are teams in the 50’s that played 10 games against only terrible teams. There should be some minimum to count. At least three tournaments or at least 12-15 games. I’m not a Team Money fan, but no way they should be 50 slots below Team MD and Clippers. I know this group is only focused on top 25 rankings, but the whole thing is flawed top to bottom. It should hold no credence in anyone’s mind.
And it is a fact if MD had 1 allstar team (like 2 Way in CT) we’d be top 1-2.