[Coach_Lockwood]

I am from an area that only allows players to play a middle school sport for 3 years and high school sports for 4 years. We have so many youth leagues in our area that kids who are untitled I eligable for being held back or academic issues can go and play in one of there competitive youth league teams.

Do most areas not have these youth leagues? I would think that if you hold your child back and are rule ineligable for that hold back year, why not have them play in youth league and then resume midle school football/basketball the following year?

I am just throwing questions out there as I have no issue with hold backs and agree it's a parents choice but I also see the point of fair play if your hold back is older and physically more advanced than the others...

Thanks

[HDE]

Get rid of the 19 age rule and it ends period

What age rule do you propose?

[FarristownFlyer]

Its a good rule, but parents were wise to this years ago like most have already said and will hold them back in grade school. No biggie.

[sstack]

I heldf my son back in 7th grade. I took a good hard look at him and realized he was more than a year a away from being ready to go to the high school. Best parental decision I have made for my son. I caught a ton of grief from the teachers at his school. He was a struggling student with some behavior problems. I was told by many of his teachers that hte only reason I held him back was for football. That was the furtherest thing from my mind. It has turned to be a blessing. He is a freshmen this who is carrying all A's and B's all year for the first time ever in his school career. Oh, and he still plays football and working hard in that. he is happy and I am happy. I think that this rule is taking stereotyping all holdbacks as athletic decisions and not parental decisions. it should be for the student and who cares about the competition that takes place in middle school. get the mready for hihg school how ever you can. athletically, academically and socially. I'm glad I did. I endorse holding kids back. allowing a a kid to mature should not be punished.

If he was struggling w/academics, then you made the right decision. Sounds like many of his teachers did not feel like he was struggling w/academics or why would they make comments that it was for football? My question is: was 7th grade the first time you noticed any problems with academics, behaviors, ect? Would it not have been better to hold back in elementary school?

[BlueCrew34]

If you have ever seen a young man struggle to get an opportunity to play a sport he loves because he didn't hit puberty at the right time I cannot see how you could not support a parents decision to hold them back in order to give them a chance. Yes, schools are for education, but, they are also a place to learn other things than the three R's. That is the reason athletic teams exist in a school setting. We would not be on this forum if the experience of high school sports did not have such an impact on our lives in one way or another.

[Old Redhound]

The rule should be an age limit and 4 years of High School Play.
Who and Why should anybody care about anything else.

[footballfever]

This rule has always been in effect but now it just includes 7-8 grade.

[footballfever]

What age rule do you propose?

Agree. There has to be a line. Rules were different a long time ago. seems like there was a cut off. Aug 1 fallsports, nov 1 winter and feb 1 spring or may have been could play until you turn 19.
As of now a kid who turns 19 Aug1 2014 is considered same age as a kid who turns 19 July 31 2015.
i think the thing that has caused the middle school rule is the emphasis on state football championships and KBA championships where schools have been holding numerous athletes back to try and win these. It is a parents right I think but when 8-10-12 kids hold back so they can try win a middle school championship its a little much considering only about 2-4% of graduating athletes will receive any kind of athletic scholarship.

[Buc Wild]

The only time you see kids held back (like I was) is with late birthdays in kindergarten, or if they are failing academically. My daughter has a late Sept. birthday and it was a tough decision if we should hold her back or not. We chose not to because she appeared ready. She is youngest in her class (has friends in grade behind her who are actually older than her). She is doing great academically and in sports (has earned all-state in both). She is also better socially than older sister. Would holding her back have helped in sports?, probably because she was very small and just now growing in size, but just can not justify holding a kid back that is doing well in school just for sports. Have no problem if kid needs it for academics. Sports are called extra- curricular activities because the #1 purpose of school is to get an education not sports!

Since you've not figured this out yet I'll make it clear for you. You, the KHSAA, or any other person(s) will never be qualified enough to tell me what's best for MY child.

Personally, I think you're an idiot for starting your daughter so early but I wouldn't have said that if you weren't so adamant about telling others that holding their children back is wrong. Mind your own business, raise your own kids, and let other parents do the same with theirs.

[Old Redhound]

Since you've not figured this out yet I'll make it clear for you. You, the KHSAA, or any other person(s) will never be qualified enough to tell me what's best for MY child.

Personally, I think you're an idiot for starting your daughter so early but I wouldn't have said that if you weren't so adamant about telling others that holding their children back is wrong. Mind your own business, raise your own kids, and let other parents do the same with theirs.

Exactly!!!!!!

[sstack]

Since you've not figured this out yet I'll make it clear for you. You, the KHSAA, or any other person(s) will never be qualified enough to tell me what's best for MY child.

Personally, I think you're an idiot for starting your daughter so early but I wouldn't have said that if you weren't so adamant about telling others that holding their children back is wrong. Mind your own business, raise your own kids, and let other parents do the same with theirs.

Yea, I made a big mistake! She is has made All-State in academics, All-State in athletics, a social butterfly with friends from grades 8th thru 12th and 4 different high schools, easily talks with adults, and a well behaved child. Damn I hate myself for such terrible mistake, I guess I should have held her back just so she would be physically more mature and dominate even more on the athletic field. Maybe I will hold her back her freshman year just so she can repeat those classes she has already mastered, she will have more time to work on the sports since she will be repeating the same classes. The government, KHSAA, ect makes rules because some parents are not able to raise and make sound decisions for their children without help.

[Cardfan1]

Yea, I made a big mistake! She is has made All-State in academics, All-State in athletics, a social butterfly with friends from grades 8th thru 12th and 4 different high schools, easily talks with adults, and a well behaved child. Damn I hate myself for such terrible mistake, I guess I should have held her back just so she would be physically more mature and dominate even more on the athletic field. Maybe I will hold her back her freshman year just so she can repeat those classes she has already mastered, she will have more time to work on the sports since she will be repeating the same classes. The government, KHSAA, ect makes rules because some parents are not able to raise and make sound decisions for their children without help.

So you agree with every rule khsaa and our government makes and we all should believe this way?

[sstack]

So you agree with every rule khsaa and our government makes and we all should believe this way?

No way! But all parents do not make the best decisions all the time either, in fact some should not be allowed to have kids.

[sstack]

Since you've not figured this out yet I'll make it clear for you. You, the KHSAA, or any other person(s) will never be qualified enough to tell me what's best for MY child.

Personally, I think you're an idiot for starting your daughter so early but I wouldn't have said that if you weren't so adamant about telling others that holding their children back is wrong. Mind your own business, raise your own kids, and let other parents do the same with theirs.

A sign of ignorance is not being able to discuss things in a mature way and resorting to name calling. I do believe I never did any name calling, just asked to justify why a kid should be held back in middle school for reasons other than academics. It has to be very hard and embarrassing for a kid to be held back in middle school (teasing/bullying); if you are going to hold back do it in grade school so it does not have so much emotional effect on the kids.

[Cardfan1]

I agree some do not, but I'm going to tell you that those parents don't hold their kids back. Parents who hold their kids back feel they are trying to give their kids the most advantages possible. They are involved; sometimes to a fault. Not saying you have to hold your kids back to care. Just saying that is the mindset; I know I am one. I made a great decision for my kids. But now that is a decision I don't have.

In some parts of ky this is rampant because parents want to take advantage of the preschool programs so they start their child early, but then they they realize they don't want to hold the kid out of education for a year, so they send them on.

I'm still struggling with why people care?
If the age is legal. What does matter if all parties have no issue?

[gridirondaddy]

FWIW, the KHSAA is not telling anyone they can't hold their kid back...

They are just saying they can't play athletics in the year they hold back. A lot of MS conferences already have this rule. You may think this somehow violates your rights as a parent, but the parents of a 13 year old 8th grader with a late birthday,playing against a 15 year old 8th grader, might disagree.

I don't agree with the KHSAA, but this is a good change. The rule is common sense and protects kids, athletically.

[BlueCrew34]

We keep using blanket terms to describe the age of a middle school kid. Some 15 yr old kids will be smaller than 13, that is the problem a universal rule that applies irregardless to the child physical and mental maturity. It should be a case by case decision by a parent what is best for their child. Sure they can hold back and not play, but that is not optimal for the child either. Count yourself blessed if you have never had a child whom truly needed this opportunity both for maturation purposes and just good ole self esteem. Yes, some will be held back to build middle school dynasties, which is a shame, but just as many rules handed down by bureaucracies penalize those who do not abuse the situation to stop those who do.

[Belfry0304]

Just for the record, I didn't play sports and if I had one thing to redo would have been held back in middle school.

[Old Redhound]

Just because someone has the awesome child or they're the world's greatest parent, shouldn't mean they get to tell the rest of us what to do. I have a pretty awesome young lady also. And she was held back.

[cksportsfan]

Some misinformation on here:

1) The rule was approved by the KENTUCKY BOARD OF EDUCATION. The KHSAA must follow KBE education rules just like it must follow NFHS athletic rules. If the KBE did NOT approve the rule, the play-while-being-held-back rule would STILL be in play. People are blaming the KHSAA when they should be blaming the KBE. But when the KBE is full of educators -- way more than the makeup of the KHSAA -- that's a tougher sell. So the KHSAA becomes easier to attack.

2) Before the KBE OK'd it, it was also proposed in Frankfort by the state senators and representatives. So it was already being proposed. Just like it must follow the KBE, the KHSAA must follow laws enacted by those in Frankfort, too.

3) You can STILL hold your kid back if you want. The KBE can't stop you. The KHSAA can't stop you. Legislators in Frankfort can't stop you. ... That "parental right" is NOT being taken away ... just the "right" to play sports (while repeating a grade). However, contrary to some belief, playing sports and repeating a grade do NOT go hand-in-hand.

4) Not sure why this is a huge deal. As far as I know, kids could NEVER repeat their senior years and play sports. Or repeat ANY year in high school and still be eligible after their original senior year (or what would have been the original graduating class year).

But now the rule has dropped into middle school, a great injustice has been done?

...

FWIW, I was not a great high school athlete. At all. Was All-State in academics, though. I graduated when I was 17. My younger brother (who played tennis and ran cross country, although he was far from All-State) was an All-A student who graduated at 17. My older brother, who graduated when he was 18, did NOT do as well in school as we did.

Another year wouldn't have helped myself or my younger brother physically. ... we both would have still sucked in our chosen sports. LOL.

But we didn't play them to try to be the best or with the intention of having them pay for college. We played them because we liked to be active, we enjoyed them and our friends played.

[zaga_fan]

Also... this rule has ALREADY been enforced in several middle schools for years.
It's been an optional rule that the district can enforce on their own.

It used to be like that in Perry County... so everyone held their kids back in like 4th grade so they wouldn't have to sit out a year.

[bac2369]

There is one instant in high school I can agree with granting another year of high school sports if a student is sick or in some kind of accident that limits them to hardly ever going a entire school year and causing them to repeat the grade.. Seems like I remember something like this awhile back cant remember when?

[Cardfan1]

[quote=cksportsfan]Some misinformation on here:

1) The rule was approved by the KENTUCKY BOARD OF EDUCATION. The KHSAA must follow KBE education rules just like it must follow NFHS athletic rules. If the KBE did NOT approve the rule, the play-while-being-held-back rule would STILL be in play. People are blaming the KHSAA when they should be blaming the KBE. But when the KBE is full of educators -- way more than the makeup of the KHSAA -- that's a tougher sell. So the KHSAA becomes easier to attack.

2) Before the KBE OK'd it, it was also proposed in Frankfort by the state senators and representatives. So it was already being proposed. Just like it must follow the KBE, the KHSAA must follow laws enacted by those in Frankfort, too.

3) You can STILL hold your kid back if you want. The KBE can't stop you. The KHSAA can't stop you. Legislators in Frankfort can't stop you. ... That "parental right" is NOT being taken away ... just the "right" to play sports (while repeating a grade). However, contrary to some belief, playing sports and repeating a grade do NOT go hand-in-hand.

4) Not sure why this is a huge deal. As far as I know, kids could NEVER repeat their senior years and play sports. Or repeat ANY year in high school and still be eligible after their original senior year (or what would have been the original graduating class year).

But now the rule has dropped into middle school, a great injustice has been done?


It was proposed by the khsaa to the kbe.

[Diogenes]

How much taxpayer money gets wasted per year to hold back kids for no academic reason? If the school doesn't feel your child needs to be held back, then the parents should pay for the extra year of school, not the public. (Especially in regards to the "free babysitter" comment.) Schools are for education, not for sports. Sports, like any other extra-curricular activities, are meant to enrich the academic environment, not eclipse it. We have lost sight of this as a state and a country in many instances.

[Fly Like a Duck]

Never seen it negatively impact a kid.

Been around this my whole life, and can count the number of 7th/8th graders held back for any reason on one hand.

You aren't going to meet a more pro academic person or family as far as that is concerned. I'm not getting into a passing contest, and I hate using this as a measuring tool, but I'm sitting here thinking of the first 20 family members I can think of and all of them/us have a degree except one.

So sick of the academic blah blah, rah rah people just as much as I am the parents who think their son is an athletic prodigy.

So sick of all the PC bull, and people thinking that the damn English classroom is the only classroom of life.

The parents out there who feel like their kid (s) need to be held back, for whatever reasons, do it so long that they fall within the legal age limits. Like I heard somebody say the other day, something people never think about is the fact that "We get to have them around the house one more year for the rest of our lives; kind of looking forward to that."

[Cardfan1]

How much taxpayer money gets wasted per year to hold back kids for no academic reason? If the school doesn't feel your child needs to be held back, then the parents should pay for the extra year of school, not the public. (Especially in regards to the "free babysitter" comment.) Schools are for education, not for sports. Sports, like any other extra-curricular activities, are meant to enrich the academic environment, not eclipse it. We have lost sight of this as a state and a country in many instances.

Of all things our government wastes money in this is what we are going to complain about? How awful a kid stayed back an extra year of school because he/she wants to achieve at a higher level. Our government pours money down the drain every second for people who have ZERO ambition to better themselves, so I think we can handle the 2%,or less, of kids who stay back for any reason other than failing math.

Come on man!

In reality this rule shouldn't have been an issue until the kbe and khsaa starts to sponsor championships at the ms level. When they do that and teams don't have to count on volunteer organizations then they should step in with all of the rules the "level" competiton.

[Mr-software]

I think it's bad rule....the sports are very important ...they can do it 30 minutes every 2 days ...that's no waste time of the study .....because the good mind is in the good body

[papagrit]

I used to be on the side of the fence that holding a kid back for sports was silly and even a waste of a year in a child's life. I later talked to another kids parents that actually held their four kids back for sports and asked them why they did that. Their kids were smart, the parents were professionals with doctorate level college degrees. This was their take on it. Not only is the kid more mature and developed than most of their peers in the same class, but, they enjoyed another year of sports and life with their children as parents. When the kids left for college, they were already going on late nineteen or twenty years old and some of the childishness that some 17 and 18 year olds get into when leaving for school was out of their system. Two of the kids are doing well in college and are going for professional degrees. One is going big into cattle farming and the youngest is still in school. None of the kids are currently playing sports in college.
Because of that talk with some people that I respect, I changed my opinion of the hold back of kids for sports or academics and think that it is up to each parent and their individual situation.
I DO agree with the person that said that said that a kid should at least be allowed to practice with their team mates. I've seen sports be the lifeboat or saving grace for some at risk kids who could go one way or the other with their lives. If they do not do well in school one year and are held back, they should still be allowed to be part of a team...otherwise, they may get into something or some trouble that they wouldn't have if they had been allowed to still be part of a team. Middle school is the breaking point for most kids in my opinion. They choose a path at that age that will sit in motion how they may do in life. I've watched DI level athletic kids decide smoking dope and screwing around is the good life and they just bomb out in middle school. Such a shame to see a kid blow his life like that. On the other hand, I watched a boy who with the guidance of the athletic community, has continued on to college and is doing well. His brothers are, or have all been in jail or juvenile halls during their lives with his Mom passing away in a traffic accident and Dad in jail. He isn't playing sports now while in college, but, he had the anchor of sports and the support of other athletes' parents in school to keep him on the right path. One year of missing sports might have derailed that delicate situation. He's a good boy and I wish this young man the most in his life. His brothers never played sports.
In my case, my oldest son was born on September 30th, the last possible day to enter a kid into kindergarten. We didn't enter him until the next year even though he showed enough intelligence that he probably could have been enrolled that year. During his 7th grade year, the athletic powers wanted him held back and the teachers wanted to advance him a year to 8th grade. We left him alone and he was all state in football and valedictorian over 180 others in his high school class. Each case has it's own points and I think the KHSAA or KBE should have left this one alone. They need to at least allow the kids held back to practice with team mates and be part of the team to keep them on track.

[Panther Thunder]

How much taxpayer money gets wasted per year to hold back kids for no academic reason? If the school doesn't feel your child needs to be held back, then the parents should pay for the extra year of school, not the public. (Especially in regards to the "free babysitter" comment.)

I could go along with this.

[wiseguy85]

If he was struggling w/academics, then you made the right decision. Sounds like many of his teachers did not feel like he was struggling w/academics or why would they make comments that it was for football? My question is: was 7th grade the first time you noticed any problems with academics, behaviors, ect? Would it not have been better to hold back in elementary school?

I tried to hold him back in 5th grade but the principal fought me on it and the superintendent left it up to the principal. so I sent him on in 6th grade and I thought I would just let it go but he made it through 6th but really struggled in 7th and I finally had a cooperative principal.