A knowledgeable friend of mine told me that PG and PBR tournaments will be by grad year only not age as of May 1 starting next year. He sent me a few rules examples. Is this true? My son plays his grad year of 2023 (15u currently) so this won’t affect us but in as wondering if the older 2022 kids we play with will have to split off.
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I think that makes more sense for people to play with their graduating class and not grade for age classification.
That's how they'll play in school.
You can always play up, but when you're in your age group/class that would make things a lot more level.
We have a few 2020s on our 17U team. These guys go to college next month. You would think they'd want to be prepared for that level of play.....
My 2020 is going to college next month. He's trying to get innings in where he can. That includes some 17U PG events if teams make it far...Seems lots of kids that can are doing this this year.
As far as I know, PG has never worried about age or grade. They have always allowed guys not on roster to play, even in championship games. The year my son's team made it to the semi's there were 4 kids on the other team including the pitcher and catcher that were not on the roster. It has always said 2021/17U or such. I t has always been either 2021 grade or 17U age whichever applies. They have never checked age that I know of and I've never heard of anyone turning in a team for playing someone illegal. I just figure if they catch you they just penalize you and your organization by not letting you enter tournaments so most teams are legit.
@PitchingFan posted:As far as I know, PG has never worried about age or grade. They have always allowed guys not on roster to play, even in championship games. The year my son's team made it to the semi's there were 4 kids on the other team including the pitcher and catcher that were not on the roster. It has always said 2021/17U or such. I t has always been either 2021 grade or 17U age whichever applies. They have never checked age that I know of and I've never heard of anyone turning in a team for playing someone illegal. I just figure if they catch you they just penalize you and your organization by not letting you enter tournaments so most teams are legit.
This is exactly the way PG has does it. Age, grade year, doesn't matter - either works for them. We played a team a few years back at the WWBA that had guys on the team that already played JUCO. The only penalty was those players couldn't play anymore and they had to forfeit their pool games. It didn't stop them from actually playing the pool games, because players still want to get seen and they don't have a way of easily redoing those schedules.
Thanks. I’m not asking whether it’s a good idea to play your age or what PG or PBR has done in the past or should do. I am asking if anyone is aware of a rule change. My friend texted both PBR and PG tournament rules that said Graduation not age as of May 1 and two national travel team coaches coaches I recently talked to said they are going to graduation year next year which they s jumbling up teams
probably more relevant for the folks with 2024-2021 to respond but thanks to all.
What we are saying is this is not anything new. They have been doing graduation year. how will it change anything? The players that know what they are doing have been playing on teams that match their graduation year. I don't see where anything is changing. Both organizations and college scouts have been encouraging players to play on their graduation year teams but allowed guys to play down if they fit the age part. If you look at the WWBA it has the graduation year for 17U as 2021. What answer are you looking for? A 17 year old should be playing on a 2021 team and a 16 year old who is graduating next year should be playing on a 2021 team. But if a 14 year old is good enough they can still play on a 2021 team. Nothing has changed. It just may say 2022 WWBA next year rather than 17U/2022 WWBA. coaches are not impressed when you play with your down rather than play with your graduation year. They assume you do not think you are good enough to play against your graduating competition.
If you have 2022 kids on your 15U team then they should be playing on an older team so the answer is yes. Your team will need to split.
I have a 2021. Yes the older kids should split off. Doesn't look good.
The 2020s that were young enough to play on 2021 teams this summer were just getting reps before heading off to college. That is the only time it would "barely" make sense to do it but there aren't/were'n't a lot of 18U events this summer.
If you're 15, it's ridiculous to play down a year and doesn't look good. It will not help with recruiting.
Don't care what they call it 17U or 2021. Play up, all you want, but if you're trying to get noticed and get to the next level, they won't want to see you playing "down".
Not doing anyone any favors at 15 playing "down".....
Again I agree. ‘23 plays ‘23/15u this year. The question was about whether travel teams are reacting to a new rule REQUIRING you play with your grad year after 2020 season which I heard about. I was hoping to warn our teammates not playing with grad year to seek advice
Have seen a few tournament rules that are consistent but sounds like an urban myth.
Certain organizations “share“ some of their PO, especially for the larger national stage events. For example your 18u team which is mostly 2020 grads has a couple of PO eligible to play at the 17u WWBA. So for that weekend they are with the 17s. When I’ve seen it done, those guys are already committed. I think it’s good to have the flexibility within your organization and large national events. 17s get the opportunity to show they can hit really good pitching. I don’t think college coaches mind.
