[bball_fan]

I coached middle school basketball for eight years at a very high level, I coached elementary football for a couple of years and now coaching baseball. The older kids get, the less holding a kid back becomes an issue due to size. When fourth and fifth graders do it, the size difference can be big but in high school, you know how big a kid will be by the time they are sixteen. You might have the rare exception to that.

Also as a father of two, I held both my son and daughter back. My son in fourth grade and my daughter in second. Why? Both of their grades since then have gone up exceptional since then. Their maturity level compared to their class mates has increased as well. The main reason, my son would have graduated high school at seventeen and barely been eighteen going to college. My daughter would have graduated high school at seventeen and went to college at seventeen. Neither of them will be nineteen at all during their hold back senior. A low percentage of this hold backs have August, September and October birthdays but what changes in those few months? A number? I choose to do it at such a young age so they would not be pulled from their friends at a later age and also because that year was a year my kids started at a new school. KHSAA has extended their non-eligibility rule as low as sixth grade now, whether middle schools choose to follow that or not is a school board issue.

Is their benefits in sports, absolutely but those are benefits the kids can only reap the benefits of. It is an extra year to play in a winning system and learn, which college's see. Not all of these kids will go D1 but if any of these kids go to college at any level on a full ride scholarship, then what was the issue? Ask any parent of any hold back, you will never hear any of them regret it! If you have any issues with a choice that is perfectly within the rules, why not do it yourself? Parents are not wanting too, then change your pitch on how to convince them too. Sale a mother on the fact she gets to keep her baby at home an extra year before college, and she'll be on board for it.