Here is an interesting question, should your son play with his age, or grade? I never even considered this to be a big issue as of recently. Why? Recently, my son tried out for an "Academy". He is a rising 15U player, but also is a rising sophomore. He was told by the "Academy" that they won't consider him for 15U, since that is not the grade he plays with. I was star struck at how ridiculous that is. Here is why I say that. As you may or may not know, however old you are on May 1st determines what age group you play in. August 31st is the last day you can be put in the grade as the kids born 364 days before you. May 1st through August 31st is 4 months, which is 33% of the year. That means, some of these "Academy's" will force those 33% of kids to play up, which isn't a bad thing, but is just plain crazy. Numbers show for it too. On my sons HS freshman team(Which he was on) there were 18 players. 7 of those 18 were born after May 1st, which is over 33%. That means the academy team will pass up on 33% of players without even considering them, just because of there grade. Again, this is just my opinion, and I am curious to see what y'all have to say! |