GED, I guess I’m not following what you are saying or what you are debating. However, concluding that the majority of people who give their kids an extra year along the way do so for athletics is just plain wrong. I’m currently in the process of trying to move my son to private school to give him an extra year of high school. Baseball is certainly one of his priorities, but even he’ll says he needs the time to gain maturity and improve his academic standing (currently well above a 3.0 GPA…far from failing). In my heart, I know he’s not going to be ready to head to college in 2 years. I figure it’s better to spend the extra $$$ now, while he’s in my home and I have some semblance of control, rather than potentially waste college tuition later because he’s just not ready to succeed in that environment. Fortunately, the school we are looking at is supportive; many of the staff there have done the same for their kids and said it was the best thing they could have done. While holding a child back before kindergarten is most common, I know of instances in which it was done in 2nd, 5th, middle school, and high school. And we all know about the post graduate year.
In terms of regulations, I’m still learning…but repeating in public school and getting an extra year of sports, once a kid has started 9th grade, is not allowed as far as I know (unless a move is involved). Private schools (some, not all) have fewer restrictions, but then there is something called the “8 semester rule” imposed by the NCAA that says that 16 core credits (as stipulated by the NCAA) have to be completed within 8 semesters after starting 9th grade. There are some different regs for post-graduate kids (there was another thread about this).
Bottom line, of all the people I know who held their children back when they were 5, none were thinking of sports. For anyone that did it afterward, let me assure you, there were other priorities and some period of adjustment. This isn’t something most people do for glory.