We did the opposite. We put our son a year ahead academically back in 3rd grade (when he transitioned from home school to private school) since he can handle the academics, he's mature enough, and we wanted him to be challenged academically. We did not even think about athletics nor was it even a factor. He is already one of the smaller kid in his age group, so he is definitely the smallest in his grade (which is a year older). But he fits in academically and socially so we are not worried about it. As far as athletics is concerned, we figure he will be challenged to keep up which will make him work harder and work on fundamentals more, so that when his growth spurt finally hit, he will be ahead of his peers. As far as getting athletic scholarship is concerned, that is the farthest from our mind right now. It blew our mind when we found out that some families were holding their kids back a year on purpose. But we're Asian so that may be why we think differently...