Bluegrassrivals

What's your thoughts on this. I don't see it benefitting anyone.

What's wrong with it?
The only people who complain usually are the ones whose kids lose playing time.

I'm not sure what you are getting at. It's hard to imagine too many 8th graders being physically mature enough to compete, but if they ware better than the talent that is there, then play them NOW. There is nothing worse than stunting the potential of very good athletes by not playing them at the competition level that gets them to excel. If there are 8th graders head and shoulders above the 8th grade competition he is playing against, you are hurting that player! In small schools this is done all the time and it creates no problems at all! I'd also dare say that most every Division One player also was on their respective High School team as an 8th Grader. I remember well watching Chris Lofton as an 8th Grader for Mason County. I was very fortunate to see one of Chris's last High School games when he came Campbell County High School to play while Rick Pitino sat and watched. During that game, I got to see Darius Miller come off the bench, as an 8th grader, and he was the 2nd best player on the floor that night.

My thoughts are just based off what Ive seen at Corbin. It seems Coach P has been burned by several 8th graders he's moved up. It may have been successful at other places. First of all what about the cohesiveness and friendships with players of their own age? Do you think it is damaged? What about the confidence of the 8th grader should he struggle at the varsity level? What about upper class man who have busted their rumps for four years and the team cohesiveness they have established? Do you think it hurts team unity? What if they are not getting any JV, Freshmen, or 8th grade time and limited varsity time? Does that help the 8th grader? What about the ego of the 8th grader....the Hill kid's ego was out of control when he was at Corbin. Anyhow, I thought this was a good topic for discussion since it was brought up on the Corbin/North Laurel thread. Looking forward to more posts.

I would play a first grader if they was one of the twelve best players. What get me is when they are seniors and think ever thing should be given to them. I want senior who are setting example for the younger kids.

Cameron Justice at East Ridge in 2009-10

When Harlan High School had a run in the 90's they had 4 players play on the high school team when they were 8th graders. Michael Jones, Charles Thomas, Casey Lester, and Joel Kauffman. Seemed to work out for that team pretty well. If they are better than the other players you have, I say let them play.

oldhound70s Wrote:My thoughts are just based off what Ive seen at Corbin. It seems Coach P has been burned by several 8th graders he's moved up. It may have been successful at other places. First of all what about the cohesiveness and friendships with players of their own age? Do you think it is damaged? What about the confidence of the 8th grader should he struggle at the varsity level? What about upper class man who have busted their rumps for four years and the team cohesiveness they have established? Do you think it hurts team unity? What if they are not getting any JV, Freshmen, or 8th grade time and limited varsity time? Does that help the 8th grader? What about the ego of the 8th grader....the Hill kid's ego was out of control when he was at Corbin. Anyhow, I thought this was a good topic for discussion since it was brought up on the Corbin/North Laurel thread. Looking forward to more posts.

First of all the Hills where never going to play four years at Corbin they thought they were bigger and better than Corbin.

From Downtown Wrote:When Harlan High School had a run in the 90's they had 4 players play on the high school team when they were 8th graders. Michael Jones, Charles Thomas, Casey Lester, and Joel Kauffman. Seemed to work out for that team pretty well. If they are better than the other players you have, I say let them play.

I agree.
All those guys handled it well.
Michael played at Jackson County in the 8th grade though.

Some kids need that higher level to be challenged

HDE Wrote:I agree.
All those guys handled it well.
Michael played at Jackson County in the 8th grade though.

That's right. I just knew he played as an eighth grader.

It doesn't happen up here. There are very few 8th graders that even play freshman ball. Most of the 8th graders that play varsity out in the state are generally the age of a sophomore anyway.

^^very true

6thregion Wrote:It doesn't happen up here. There are very few 8th graders that even play freshman ball. Most of the 8th graders that play varsity out in the state are generally the age of a sophomore anyway.

There are way more upperclassmen to choose from around Louisville.

I played varsity as an 8th Grader then ended up starting the last few games of the regular season at Paintsville. I fortunately played well enough in the district tournament to make the all-tournament team that year. I see no problem with playing kids that age if you believe they can handle it!

Real Badman Wrote:Cameron Justice at East Ridge in 2009-10

If he stayed, ER may have went to state a couple of times.

I see nothing wrong if the 8th grader has the talent to play at that level. It's only going to make them that much better by the time they become sr.

At Perry Central, Ben Bowling and Braxton Beverly both played as 8th graders and did very well. If they've got the talent, let em play ball.

As far as a 8th grader playing over a sr that is the sr fault for not getting better as the years went by. Or just maybe this 8th grader has got some skills and talent that the sr just never had. You have to remember in life and sports there is always going to be someone who is just a little better at things than you are. That's just the way it will always be. That just the facts of life!!!

You should never punish a kid for being better. If they kid is better, he is better. Move him up on the Varsity. Older kids need to work harder. The Beverly kid at Perry Central started his 7th grade year. The kid is a phenom and Perry played him. Cant blame them a bit.

oldhound70s Wrote:My thoughts are just based off what Ive seen at Corbin. It seems Coach P has been burned by several 8th graders he's moved up. It may have been successful at other places. First of all what about the cohesiveness and friendships with players of their own age? Do you think it is damaged? What about the confidence of the 8th grader should he struggle at the varsity level? What about upper class man who have busted their rumps for four years and the team cohesiveness they have established? Do you think it hurts team unity? What if they are not getting any JV, Freshmen, or 8th grade time and limited varsity time? Does that help the 8th grader? What about the ego of the 8th grader....the Hill kid's ego was out of control when he was at Corbin. Anyhow, I thought this was a good topic for discussion since it was brought up on the Corbin/North Laurel thread. Looking forward to more posts.

I understand all these questions, oldhound70s, BUT maturity level for ALL those players should be the first thing considered if you have an 8th grader with the talent to possibly play at a higher level. I don't know the Hill kid, but I can imagine! LOL Everyone from that 8th grader to the seniors that are involved should have a "team" mind set, if they are maturing adequately.

I see nothing wrong with it.

Braxton Beverly was MVP of the 14th Region Tourney as a 7th grader.
Camron Justice was dropping 20 every game at East Ridge while he was in 8th grade.
Keita over at Cordia is in 8th grade and he's 7' tall...

If you would put either of these kids on a middle school team - the only thing you would do is embarass other kids and waste some years of development.

Who are some kids in the 13th & 14th that are 7th or 8th graders that are at the skill level to even play up? Not many Beverly or Justice types around!!

If the kids good enough to play im all for it. The best 5 should be on the floor regardless of grade.

Ovinton Mayo made all-state both as a 7th grader and as an 8th grader. If one is that advanced in ability at such a young age, why should he be excluded?

Its pretty simple really. If the 8th grader is good enough to contribute at the varsity level, play the kid.

Of course, kids who are freshman and higher will cry & complain along with their parents, but the coaches should not play politics. Play the better player and go on.

Seriously? How many of these varsity players are "true" 13-year-old 8th graders? Parents wait until their boys are seven years old to start 1st grade, then hold them back in middle school so they will be able to compete with their peers, then want them moved from middle school to varsity because they are so much better than their peers? In reality, these 8th graders should be sophomores...

oldhound70s Wrote:What's your thoughts on this. I don't see it benefitting anyone.

For a high school to deny a single one of their students the opportunity to participate in order to benefit another kid who’s not the school’s responsibility seems like malfeasance to me.

Remember why we have high school athletics? Many high school students who participate in high school athletics benefit academically when they work harder academically to maintain eligibility. In some cases they attend tutoring and accept remedial help they would otherwise skip. In many cases, classroom behavior improves, which benefits the student athlete and the rest of the class. Their feeling of belonging to a team may postpone or eliminate dropping out of high school, and may be their most important high school memory. Learning to be part of a team improves their social outcomes. In worst cases, some of these kids go home to homeless shelters after practices and games, and in some cases the team shoes are the only new shoes the kid ever gets. High school sports are for high school students. Eveery kid cut from a roster loses these opportunities and motivators.

I wouldn’t worry too much about “denying opportunity” to holdback-Johnny after his folks wanted to get him an advantage over others by tilting the playing field his way in the first place. As to talented middle school kids who aren’t holdbacks, I can tell you from experience they’ll be thrilled and always remember the good times if they put up 25 a night for their 8th grade team and help all their classmates win a trophy.

I wish you would have just said misconduct. would have saved me the time of looking malfeasance up. lol

I can see both sides to the issue. I personally have seen it hurt a program more often than not. If the 8th grader is no doubt better than the older kids it usually works. If there is not much difference in the kid and the older ones it causes more problems than good