Young Freshman

Don't sweat it. While the one year can make a difference in physical development, it's not the be all end all of college recruiting. My son is a July birthday and we didn't hold him back. He graduates this spring and will be going on to play college ball. As long as your son is mentally and physically capable to do what is required of him at the grade level that he is currently at, then he'll be just fine. His youth could actually work in his favor when it comes to recruiting. Best of luck and most importantly, have fun.

My son's team just went to the DII College World Series final game this past year. Our best pitcher who has been a starting pitcher since his freshman year did not turn 18 until late October of his freshman year. It certainly didn't hurt him any.

My son has an August birthday, and we held him back. He has thanked us about a dozen times (he is now a HS senior). He was not particularly advanced when he was 6 (when the decision was made), and the decision was made without thinking about sports. He did not mature early, and does not look older than his classmates, so for him being held back leveled the playing field more than it created an advantage.

My son's time of greatest improvement baseball-wise began a few months before his 18th birthday. Things just started clicking. But in some kids you see this when they are younger anyway. I'm sure for some players it happens later. Nothing you can plan for or count on, I guess. Everyone is on their own schedule.

At this point, is there a decision to be made? I mean, you are where you are. I have seen some folks tack on a post HS grad year before college, but I don't sense that this is something you are pondering.

This topic comes up from time to time, and each side (hold back/don't hold back) always has a loud amen chorus. However, I don't recall a post where someone said "I held back my 5 year old and now I'm wondering if I did the right thing", although I'm sure those folks are out there.

An observation...when we moved from Texas to Connecticut I noticed that boys born in the summer are held back less frequently in Ct than Texas. Is it because of sports? I really don't know. As I said we did it for general development purposes, and weren't thinking of sports at that time.

yotes78's son is an 8th grader. I would say that it's too late to make a move and is unnecessary if he is excelling in the classroom.

Not to mention that the UIL does have a participation rule that states that a student athlete has 6 years of eligibility beginning in 7th grade. The UIL does make exceptions to this rule and will grant extended eligibility in certain cases, but I don't see where you would really have a leg to stand on given his academic success.

yotes78 - as a young player, did you play him at age level or grade level? My son is 12 and is a young 7th grader and I am wondering if I should move him up to grade level playing soon? Not sure that there is a huge difference especially if he is playing at the AAA/Major level.

quote:

Originally posted by howdybaseball:
yotes78 - as a young player, did you play him at age level or grade level? My son is 12 and is a young 7th grader and I am wondering if I should move him up to grade level playing soon? Not sure that there is a huge difference especially if he is playing at the AAA/Major level.

howdy - I know you didn't ask this question of me, but I did go through that same situation with my son and feel as though I did make a mistake in my decision making.
The age cutoff changed when my son was 10. As a result he played two years of 10's. This was more a result of a good fit in coaching, team, and area. He played his age all the way through 15's and then jumped to 17's. In itself, this wasn't a real issue since 15's play in primarily 16yo (sophomore) leagues. However, the team that he played on at age 15 (his sophomore year) didn't play a very difficult or diverse schedule and sure didn't go to areas where the boys would gain exposure. This resulted in him being somewhat behind the curve in the recruiting process. I feel that had he played on a better team that 15yo season, he would have been in a better position. Or had we gone ahead and made that jump from 14's to 16's (and picked the right team) he might have been in a better position going in to the vital recruiting seasons.
Obviously, everyone's decision is a personal one and should be based on your son's ability, playing time, coach, schedule, etc. In my son's case, things have worked out well for him and he's in a great position going in to his senior season. I guess what I'm trying to say is to always play (or strive to play) on the best team at the age group that you choose. Eventually, you'll have to play at grade level rather than age and I would suggest you do that by 14's or 15's in order to make that transition a bit easier.

One of my sons was born in August and ended up graduating at 17. The other son was born in January and ended up gaduating at the age of 18. when it was time to start kindegarten both were developmentally ready to go to school. The point of the matter is that it is a case by case issue. I have always felt that any decision regarding when to start school as it relates to my kids should only be based on whether the child is developmentally ready to start school not whether it will impact thier future chances to compete in a sport. With that being said I beleive that each parent should determine what is in the best interest of their child. I personally beleive that the chances of any kid to play in college let alone at the D1 level is so statistically out of reach for most kids that the best bet is to focus on the education side of it instead of reshirting the kid for sports. Bottom line is don't sweat it, it will all work out for the best. If he has the talent as it appears that he has, it will show through in the long run. Best of luck to you and your son.

quote:

Originally posted by golden rule:
One of my sons was born in August and ended up graduating at 17. The other son was born in January and ended up gaduating at the age of 18. when it was time to start kindegarten both were developmentally ready to go to school. The point of the matter is that it is a case by case issue. I have always felt that any decision regarding when to start school as it relates to my kids should only be based on whether the child is developmentally ready to start school not whether it will impact thier future chances to compete in a sport. With that being said I beleive that each parent should determine what is in the best interest of their child. I personally beleive that the chances of any kid to play in college let alone at the D1 level is so statistically out of reach for most kids that the best bet is to focus on the education side of it instead of reshirting the kid for sports. Bottom line is don't sweat it, it will all work out for the best. If he has the talent as it appears that he has, it will show through in the long run. Best of luck to you and your son.

Well said

quote:

Originally posted by yotes78:
I think we made the right decision about NOT holding my son back a year. He has a summer birthday and will eventually graduate at 17. However, he's a Major 13U player on one of the bestTexas select teams. Everyone said to hold him back. He's a great Left handed Pitcher and Hitter. He's doing very well with the HS team and pushing alot of the upper classman.

There are alot of kids older than him still in the 8th grade. Will this hurt his development and scholarship chances since he was not held back? Have there been any parents that did it and it worked or did it not? He's a very smart kid in the top 5 of his class. I know baseball is not the answer to it all, but I hope I did not hurt his chances.

There is nothing that says he cannot be successful in sports, but he is in a tough spot. I had a June birthday and graduated just before turning 18. If only I had had one more year at every level.

Catcherz_Dad - Thank you for that response. When you talk about recruiting, was your son playing on age level travel teams? Or was he playing on grade level travel teams? And does recruiting happen based on graduating year or can it also happen based on performance on age level travel teams?

quote:

Originally posted by howdybaseball:
Catcherz_Dad - Thank you for that response. When you talk about recruiting, was your son playing on age level travel teams? Or was he playing on grade level travel teams? And does recruiting happen based on graduating year or can it also happen based on performance on age level travel teams?

My son played on age level teams through age 15. From experience, I believe that recruiting happens based more on grade level than age level. Some will say that recruiting will happen regardless and they may very well be correct, but I'm just telling you what I 've experienced first hand.

Thank you very much!

I personally don't think recruiters or scouts view age as a detriment. My son was a young freshman and we've always been told, all things equal, scouts would prefer the younger talent because they feel they have more time to work with them. The cream will rise to the top regardless of age

Yotes, this is all good advice. (Don't know why I noticed a Texas forum posting, but I did!)

Our son is also young, will graduate HS at 17. Certainly, if we had held him back, and the physical development he had in this past year had happened in sophomore year, he may have had more early opportunities. But he was 100% ready to start school when he did. If your son is at the top of his class in terms of academics, you made the right decision.

When my son was on official visits, the coaches almost always mentioned his young age as a positive factor, in terms of the upside. The head coach at the D1 where he just committed specifically pointed that out, indicating he knows there is potential for a big increase in strength and velo. (he is a pitcher).

Good luck to your boy and enjoy the HSBB years, they go fast!

Thanks for the information. How tall is your son? Is he left handed?

17....turns 18 in august....he is 6 ' 1" now and rhp.

The assumption here is that most parents apply this "redshirt" to possibly help in athletics. As you can see by baseballmom's response it can sometimes back fire for those that did. If recruiters see youth as an advantage then why hold back? I held my son back in 5th grade. I did this because he was immature and his sister kept bringing his coat and lunch box home. He kept forgetting them and losing them. Keep in mind his sister was in K at the time. I saw this as a perfect opportunity to hold him back, get one more year with my only son and if it gives him an advantage in athlectics then that was a bonus.

By this definition he is "OlDER". Well does it benefit to graduate at 17 or 18? I do not want my child gone at age 17, I help all my others back because they were summer babies and I get one more year with them. Did holding my son back benefit him athletics, only time will tell.

My son had a September birthday. We had no idea or never considered holding him back when it was time for Kindergarten.

Over the years I always wondered if it was a good idea to send him. And my wife always points out, If we would have started him a year later we have no idea what would have happened. He would have had a different set of coaches moving up, would they have been as good as some of the ones my son was blessed with having, who knows.

He does well in school and certainly has always gotten along with his classmates so mentally he was clearly ready. He was identified as gifted by his school in 3rd grade. If we had waited would he have been bored and school and not preformed? again Who knows.

He is currently pitching at a D3 school with very good academics and plenty of academic money. He was one of the weekend starters for his team and received conference honors.

As has been said each kid is different and it must be taken on a case by case basis. But it worked for my kid. Look at the opportunities he has had would those have been there or different if you had waited?

It is water under the bridge now. Enjoy watching him play. It ends too early no matter how far they go. Enjoy it now.

BishopLefties---So tell me about the NCAC. What are the positives of the league? Negatives? Who looks good this year? My 2013 has committed to a school in the conference and would love a little insight into the next 4 years. Any words of advice?

quote:

Originally posted by OldDude:
BishopLefties---So tell me about the NCAC. What are the positives of the league? Negatives? Who looks good this year? My 2013 has committed to a school in the conference and would love a little insight into the next 4 years. Any words of advice?

You have PM.

The best advice I can give is not related to baseball but very important at any of these schools. Of course much of the scholarships and academic money is based on performance. It is very important to keep your grades up. I have seen several kids with all the talent in the world come one of these schools and do well on the baseball diamond but they did not keep there grades up and lost scholarship money and could not attend after their sophomore year.

This one hit home. I was the youngest one in my 5th grade class. The football coach begged my dad to hold me back in the 6th grade. I thanked him to the day he past away for doing that. My dad also regretted not holding my brother back and he graduated at 17.
It was the best thing in the world for me academically and athletically.

quote:

Originally posted by KCR:
This one hit home. I was the youngest one in my 5th grade class. The football coach begged my dad to hold me back in the 6th grade. I thanked him to the day he past away for doing that. My dad also regretted not holding my brother back and he graduated at 17.
It was the best thing in the world for me academically and athletically.

I did not hold my son back and he is playing age level now which is mostly a year behind his grade level. He shines at his age level but I worry that when it comes to high school and college commitments, he might not have the physical maturity that his classmates have. KCR - considering you run a club, what would you recommend - what age group do your younger high schoolers play when they play summer ball? Do you have two age groups for each graduating class or are they all lumped in under graduating year?

quote:

Originally posted by KCR:
This one hit home. I was the youngest one in my 5th grade class. The football coach begged my dad to hold me back in the 6th grade. I thanked him to the day he past away for doing that. My dad also regretted not holding my brother back and he graduated at 17.
It was the best thing in the world for me academically and athletically.

So I was a year younger than you and still hit more HR's too?

Excuse me while I put that feather in my cap!