This is great, a development program is a great way to get the kids into the program. However, not all programs have the volunteers or the resources to do this and rely on the middle school program to be the developmental program. After all, that's what Mid-Am claims, that MS should be developmental and then proceeds to hamper programs that are trying to develop by limiting the number of younger players.
I'm not exactly sure why Mid-Am has made this rule. Dropping it from 9 players to 25% of the total roster is a pretty dramatic change. Maybe this is their way of getting leagues like PIHL to drop the MS level and just have MS be truly developmental only?