[charlie22]

The reason we even considered it, is my son will graduate at 17. An the coaches I talked to knew how much younger he was than all his classmates. An i had been considering it for sometime those same coaches an my self had a JFL team for few years, that are sons were on an we had the same conversation when our boys were in 3rd grade there were 4 of us an 3 of them held them back in 3rd grade but my wife an i chose to let him move on. His grades are A's an b's an excels in the classroom an on the field an court. he's bigger than most kids in his class an got selected for the national leadership counsel in Ohio this spring. My point is he's not lacking in grades, size,confidence an is a leader in his class. We gave it some more thought through football an basketball season an just didn't see the benefit for him so he's moving on to 9th grade. But I've got to say what NEW O said kinda hit home with me, i thought about having him around for one more year. but he is ready mentally an physically an i think that's what matters most!

Fair enough. I just think it's a bit odd that football coaches would be suggesting a hold back for reasons other than sports. If you say that isn't the case in this situation, I believe you.

Again, as I mentioned earlier, if a kid is young for his/her age and is not doing well socially, mentally and/or academically, I've got no problem with a kid being held back. I think holding a kid back for athletics is wrong and is indicative of parents wanting to relive past or missed glory from their high school days. As we all know, we have way too many overbearing parents pushing their kids to be the next Manning, the next Jordan and the next Votto. Let the kids have fun playing high school sports and check the parental pressure and ridiculous expectations at the stadium gate and gymnasium door. Others can have a differing opinion and I'm fine with that.