My son and i sometimes discuss the "what if" he was held back (2018 that will be 17 when he graduates)...he committed to a regional dominate D3 --he's also gained 20 pounds of muscle the past few months (6'1/180). He was excepted into a doctorates program and has a substantial merit amount...
then i say, "oh well...it wasn't meant to be" and we start talking about how great it is to achieve what he has achieved and we forget about what could have been.
phillyinNJ posted:My son and i sometimes discuss the "what if" he was held back (2018 that will be 17 when he graduates)...he committed to a regional dominate D3 --he's also gained 20 pounds of muscle the past few months (6'1/180). He was excepted into a doctorates program and has a substantial merit amount...
then i say, "oh well...it wasn't meant to be" and we start talking about how great it is to achieve what he has achieved and we forget about what could have been.
This is the best attitude! My daughter is very young for her "grade". She is playing DI volleyball at a smaller Northeast school and is in her Soph. year. We now realize that, if she were in the grade behind, she would have received much more recruting attention and offers (not B10 or anything, but bigger more well-funded programs). She loves it where she'a at though and we are very fortunate for the opportunity so we just focus on that and forget about the what ifs.
Thanks for all the comments. My son is a young 2022 and will start college at 17. So far he can keep up with his academics and sports, but I am intrigued by the PG option.
I've seen dads so it around 8th grade for sports. I've seen other parents send their kids to private schools and when they migrate to public, they start a year behind. Others use the homeschooling excuse or whatever. I say do whatever floats your boat, we "held" our son back in kindergarten as my wife was an educator and my son was a bit unfocused and she conferred with many who advised her that would have the least effect vs later in life. We had zero idea he would play baseball or any sport really. He was a young 2014 then and older 2015 afterwards which i guess could have helped him in baseball but he was still smaller than his teammates from about 12U thru HS. It was about maturity in the classroom back then.
2022NYC posted:Thanks for all the comments. My son is a young 2022 and will start college at 17. So far he can keep up with his academics and sports, but I am intrigued by the PG option.
For what it's worth, my son was a young hs graduate, graduated at 17. We knew about the holding back scenario but never really considered it, nor do we regret our decision. We can play the what if game all we want but at the end of the day we are grateful (like many others here) of what he achieved. Many tend to focus on the positives but I believe there are just as many negatives. For example, your held back kid gets a scholly to a P5 school because he is bigger, faster, better coordinated compared to others. Gets marginal playing time among the "big boys". On the flip side your age/grade appropriate son gets a scholly to a mid-D1 where he grows some and absolutely dominates on the field. If your son has the mojo of what it takes to get to the next level it will happen. Fate has a funny way of balancing out the playing field. Trust in the process, trust in Him.
Qhead posted:phillyinNJ posted:My son and i sometimes discuss the "what if" he was held back (2018 that will be 17 when he graduates)...he committed to a regional dominate D3 --he's also gained 20 pounds of muscle the past few months (6'1/180). He was excepted into a doctorates program and has a substantial merit amount...
then i say, "oh well...it wasn't meant to be" and we start talking about how great it is to achieve what he has achieved and we forget about what could have been.
This is the best attitude! My daughter is very young for her "grade". She is playing DI volleyball at a smaller Northeast school and is in her Soph. year. We now realize that, if she were in the grade behind, she would have received much more recruting attention and offers (not B10 or anything, but bigger more well-funded programs). She loves it where she'a at though and we are very fortunate for the opportunity so we just focus on that and forget about the what ifs.
A girl being young for her grade isn’t that relevant. Girls emotionally and physically mature much sooner than boys. They start drawing attention from 14-16 years old. My daughter was seventeen when she graduated. She got her first offer the summer after freshman year. She committed the next spring before summer travel started.
RJM posted:Qhead posted:phillyinNJ posted:My son and i sometimes discuss the "what if" he was held back (2018 that will be 17 when he graduates)...he committed to a regional dominate D3 --he's also gained 20 pounds of muscle the past few months (6'1/180). He was excepted into a doctorates program and has a substantial merit amount...
then i say, "oh well...it wasn't meant to be" and we start talking about how great it is to achieve what he has achieved and we forget about what could have been.
This is the best attitude! My daughter is very young for her "grade". She is playing DI volleyball at a smaller Northeast school and is in her Soph. year. We now realize that, if she were in the grade behind, she would have received much more recruting attention and offers (not B10 or anything, but bigger more well-funded programs). She loves it where she'a at though and we are very fortunate for the opportunity so we just focus on that and forget about the what ifs.
A girl being young for her grade isn’t that relevant. Girls emotionally and physically mature much sooner than boys. They start drawing attention from 14-16 years old. My daughter was seventeen when she graduated. She got her first offer the summer after freshman year. She committed the next spring before summer travel started.
It was in our daughter's instance, especially as her recruiting class was stacked at her position compared with the following year. We were specifically told that by club coaches and college coaches that wished she were a grade younger. Sorry for the sidetrack from the OP which is of course is about 8th grade young men and baseball.
Unless your daughter had a very small list of where she was willing to go to college there’s no such thing as a stacked class. But if she’s happy where she is where she didn’t go doesn’t matter.
In our state once an athlete plays 7th grade ball, they’re only able to play ball for an additional 5 years. My son has a girl in his class that was having trouble with seizures. Parents decided to hold her back to repeat 8th grade due to this & having an April birthday. She travels with her basketball & softball team to all of the games, but isn’t playing, so that she’ll be eligible to play 9-12. One kid from our school didn’t find out the rules & repeated 7th grade. Ended up not being eligible to play his senior year. Definitely find out your states rules before placing your kid in that situation.
My 2037 (negative two months old as we speak) will simply be started late. His birthday would put him class of 2036. But having learned from mistakes with the others we will hold this one back right from the very beginning. As long as May 1 remains for some mysterious reason the cutoff for baseball. Youth ball should however just sync up with high school. Bottom line is it right to hold back? What does that even mean? Right and wrong are so obscure. Does it give your kid an advantage? You bet. Since I am in the business of caring about my kid more than yours I am holding him back!
2020dad posted:My 2037 (negative two months old as we speak) will simply be started late. His birthday would put him class of 2036. But having learned from mistakes with the others we will hold this one back right from the very beginning. As long as May 1 remains for some mysterious reason the cutoff for baseball. Youth ball should however just sync up with high school. Bottom line is it right to hold back? What does that even mean? Right and wrong are so obscure. Does it give your kid an advantage? You bet. Since I am in the business of caring about my kid more than yours I am holding him back!
The knew trick will be keeping them in the womb for a year longer and growing. Sell that to your wife. 
This is a family decision. There is no right answer that fits all. My Baseball son had a Sept birthday. We sent him to school with his class. We had no idea of this thing called baseball recruiting, or playing for varsity in HS. We had an idea that he would be relatively gifted, at whatever he decided to do, but heck he had only played Tee-Ball. I never played High School Sports, so this never came into our thought process, until he got into middle school, and we found out that most the kids in the class behind him were quite a bit older.
However by this time he was doing well in school both socially and academically. He was always a starter in Middle school. In fact there were many complaints from other parents on why he received so much playing time. Freshman year he was so much smaller than all the other players in his class. He still hit high in the line up, and started every game at first. (god only knows why, everybody else considered him an outfielder except the Freshman coach.) He was the first in his class to make varsity. Grew a lot from his freshman to senior year. Played and had a good experience at a D3 school.
Would he have played at D1 or a level higher than D3 had we held him back? I doubt it.
However that is just my Families story, it does not have to or should be yours. Judge what is best for your son and family. Had we known more about athletics we may have started him a year later. However I do not believe we could have gotten by-in from my child or the school system, had we tried it after he started school. School has very strict rules on holding back a student. And at the time I could not afford to send him to a private.
Also take that newborn and make him use his left hand for everything. It will be better in the end. LOL I agree. It is what is best for the family not a generic for everyone.
My 9th grader is a true freshman (14, end of May birthday). He attends a smaller school in the LA City Section, so he was able to make the varsity team. However, we have heard many stories of good ball players who cannot make their freshman team at private schools primarily because they are at least a year younger and thus smaller than most of the other boys trying out. He played on a very strong travel team last summer, class of 2021 team. I believe only two of the players on that team qualified to play 13u last summer, as most had been held back at some point. As one of the youngest and smallest, he had to step up his game. I think it was good for him. He has been adding weight, so he'll likely catch up to the other 2021s in size soon. A friends son went to a D2 school, they said when they were recruiting him that they liked the fact that he was only 17 as a hs senior, as he still had time to grow and get stronger.
We have no regrets not holding our son back, but depending on where your son goes to hs, you should be aware that in some areas the practice of repeating 8th grade solely for sports purposes might be more common than you think.
PitchingFan posted:Also take that newborn and make him use his left hand for everything. It will be better in the end. LOL I agree. It is what is best for the family not a generic for everyone.
Just don’t sit next to him at the dinner table.
in Texas you have to do it 7th grade year, UIL calendar starts in 8th grade, you have 5 yrs to compete. you might be able to do it and switch to a private school possibly. I had a few friends who stayed back when I was growing up and it worked out for one of them, Heisman trophy winner, 14 yr career in the NFL.
gunner34 posted:in Texas you have to do it 7th grade year, UIL calendar starts in 8th grade, you have 5 yrs to compete. you might be able to do it and switch to a private school possibly. I had a few friends who stayed back when I was growing up and it worked out for one of them, Heisman trophy winner, 14 yr career in the NFL.
Gunner,
I have an honest question and I am not trying to be snide. Do you think that having the extra year helped the player become a Heisman trophy winner? Would he have missed that opportunity if he was not held back. I understand we will never truly know, just looking for your educated guess.
Kids either have the work ethic & talent or they don't. An extra year isn't going to help a lazy kid. A "late bloomer" with talent & drive will be able to find opportunities.
It is true that in the long run, probably by the time everyone hits their early 20s, things even out. Talent has either presented itself or not and a year or so here or there doesn't really make a difference. However, along the way there are certain times that are more critical to "career path" than others.
Freshman year of HS is one of those times...it is where a player starts to develop his reputation. If a kid who re-classes is more likely to separate himself as a freshman he has given himself a leg up that he can leverage going forward. He still needs talent, and still needs to work. And there will be late bloomers...reclassing doesn't provide any guarantees...simply an important leg up at an important time.
Benefits (athletic): player is better than he otherwise would be in that grade. That seems self-evident.
Risks (athletic): although the player is better than he otherwise would be in that grade, he's still not good enough to earn a scholly.
Here's an article from a few years ago. BTW, Mr Gerhart held all his kids back:
www.sandiegouniontribune.com/s...may10-htmlstory.html
An excerpt:
"Sociologists call it the relative age effect, or RAE.
It is a fancy way of saying that whenever children are grouped in one-year increments, those born immediately after the birthday cutoff can have mental and physical advantages compared to those born immediately before it. That the kid who is 11 years, 11 months old usually is a better pitcher in the under-12 league than the kid who just had his 11th birthday.
The older kid also gets the most playing time and often is selected to all-star or elite teams, where he is exposed to better coaching and a higher level of competition – which, of course, just makes him better. At a certain point, researchers suggest, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy.
Most RAE research has been conducted in Europe. One of the most extensive studies, published in 2005 in the Journal of Sports Science, compiled birth dates of 2,175 players (mostly boys) from youth national soccer teams of 10 European countries. The findings: 43.4 percent were born in the first three months after the Jan. 1 cutoff date, and only 9.3 percent in the year's final three months.
The RAE, the British and Belgian researchers wrote, “may result in significant differences in performance.” Numerous studies in the U.S. and elsewhere have reached similar conclusions.
And that's just for children who are six to 12 months older. Imagine the benefits of being 18 months older, or a full two years older.
Fifteen members of USC's 108-man football roster from last season, or 14 percent, are at least a year older than their natural class. At USA Basketball's Youth Development Festival in 2007, which gathered 30 of the nation's top boys high school players, 19 were a year (and in some cases two years) older than their typical classmates."
