Okay. Something I have never heard before. (high school, scholarship, basketball)
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Parents who hold their kids back so they may get a leg up in athletics.
The subject came up during a soccer game this weekend, when I remarked how big some of those twelve-year-olds were. Actually, as it turned out, some were fourteen. Why? Because, as one parent explained to me on the sly, "The parents hold their kids back a year so they'll do better in sports."
I couldn't believe it. Here my son, no nerdy type at all, skipped a grade because he found the academic work unchallenging. And I certainly understand holding a child back if he hasn't mastered the academic work. But holding a kid back just so he'll swing a baseball bat better or be a little heftier on the offensive line? Am I the only one who thinks this is totally nuts?
Look. There's about a .001% chance that your kid will actually play pro ball anywhere. In fact, if you're that pushy about matters, chances are about even that your kid will be so tired of sports by the time it really begins to matter than he'll take it out on you, the coaches, and everybody else. Or, worst of all, he'll become one of those prima donnas who strut around the school all day wearing a jersey, but will be lucky to make a 21 on his ACT. Why? Because you just told him that sports are more important than academics.
Sorry to vent. I was just so amazed to hear that parents actually did this.
Last edited by toobusytoday; 10-20-2008 at 03:27 PM..
Reason: psuedo cursing
I heard about this the first time over the summer. I, like you, was taken aback. I actually asked the person to repeat herself because I couldn't believe it the first time. Unbelievable.
In our old town people did that ALL the time. DS16 had kids in his class that were almost 2 years older then he was. People with kids with DECEMBER birthdays (we have a Sept 1st cut-off) would hold their kids back. It was crazy. The really funny part is that these parents pushed their kids so hard that many of them dropped out of sports before high school. Some of the really dumb parents didn't do the math and figure out that according to state high school league rules their kids will be too OLD to play sports their senior year .
That happened when I was in 7th grade. This would have been around '83. One kid I went to school with repeated because of basketball. He was a strong student, smart and good at basketball. He was a big "star" player in high school and ended up being valedectorian of the class behind me.
It's done here in FL all the time. While it's true that youth sports are usually based on age or age/weight high school sports are not. Many parents feel it will help their child get a leg up on scholarship money. You see it very frequently in wrestling. I think it's crazy. Here kids can play high school sports until they are 19 years, 9 months old.
I had to wrestle a guy in my weight class that was years older.
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