Kids held back in school for sports (Boston, Worcester: home, transfer to) - Massachusetts (MA) - City-Data Forum

matrix5k · 10-04-2019, 12:05 PM

My wife had a 17 year old patient with a football injury and she asked if he was a junior or senior. To her surprise, he said he was a freshman and his parents held him back on purpose to be more competitive in sports. So this guy is going to be a 21 or 22 year old high school senior competing against 14 year old freshmen? Sounds totally fair. Is this a new thing? Imagine if your 14 year old daughter was dating her 17 year old classmate!

timberline742 · 10-04-2019, 12:09 PM

Never heard of it in MA, but it was quite common in Texas and other parts of the South. At least in the 90s. I bet even earlier. And 14 yo dating 17 yo in high school isn't uncommon, or wasn't, they just weren't in the same grade.

BostonBornMassMade · 10-04-2019, 12:28 PM

Its extremely common in Ma and New England. More so than other states. The prep schools in the NEPSAC Class AA have post graduates high school students looking to play for better college. Many too athletes in basketball and football use the extra year to get more film to coaches, improve their academics and then reclassify down to their actual class midyear. Very common in MA prep schools. Also kids who transfer from public schools to day private schools for sports often times are asked to repeat a grade-especially inner city kids from Boston Worcester Lowell Hartford Providence New Haven Waterbury Springfield, thats where they recruit many athletes.

I remember playing BNBL for the Shelburne Center in 2008, oing into 9th grade. A team from new Hampshire came down to play us and our coach never explained why, but we beat them 66-11. The best player on my team was Wayne Selden, he is now in the NBA but he stayed back a year when he left O'Bryant for Tilton. Turns out Tiltons coach had organized the game to scout Wayne. He played one more game for us and then left for the rest of the summer to travel with his (Tiltons) new AAU club

The latest example of this is Terrence Clarke. He is a kid from Dorchester/Roxbury who was No. 3 Basketball player in the HS class of 2020. He went from A BPS school to Rivers who held him back for academic reasons Then he got booted form Rivers and went to Brewster and repeated a year voluntarily. Then he announced his commitment to Kentucky and reclassified back into the class of 2020. Hundreds of thousands of followers on social media-hes quasi-famous already.

When I went to school at Roxbury Latin-the number 1 academic school in the country- most of the best athletes were a held back. We even had a 20 year old senior hockey player one year. We played lots of people who are in the NBA and NHL right now and it is expected.

17 as a freshman sounds nuts though. 16 ive heard. but i guess ending freshman eyar at 17 years old is not too far fetched-that puts you two years behind. Clarke was starting his junior year at 18 before he reclassified.

gf2020 · 10-04-2019, 01:55 PM

Sounds like a fake story to me. Per MIAA rules, a student who is 19 years of age prior to September 1 is not eligible for high school athletic participation.

http://miaa.net/gen/miaa_generated_b...ligibility.pdf

CaseyB · 10-04-2019, 03:02 PM

Usually, it's just for one year. Delaying enrolling the child in school when he is 5 and waiting until 6.

johngolf · 10-04-2019, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gf2020

Sounds like a fake story to me. Per MIAA rules, a student who is 19 years of age prior to September 1 is not eligible for high school athletic participation.

http://miaa.net/gen/miaa_generated_b...ligibility.pdf

Over the years, eligibility rules have changed. At one time, a player could play 3 years after their Freshman year. Thus they could be held back for a year or two. Many of them practiced with the teams and played in JV games but could not play with the varsity team. At the time I do not remember an age limit.

Bridge781 · 10-05-2019, 10:29 AM

I wouldn’t want my kid to be 19 as a senior in high school. I suppose sometimes it can’t be helped if you have a spring bday and get held back. My brothers birthday was in March and my mom held him back from kindergarten. So once he got to kindergarten he was 6 then turned 7 that March. I thought she did him a disservice because he was always the old kid. She should have just started him on time at age 5. He was a late talker, didn’t really talk until he was 4 so this played a big role.

johngolf · 10-05-2019, 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bridge781

I wouldn’t want my kid to be 19 as a senior in high school. I suppose sometimes it can’t be helped if you have a spring bday and get held back. My brothers birthday was in March and my mom held him back from kindergarten. So once he got to kindergarten he was 6 then turned 7 that March. I thought she did him a disservice because he was always the old kid. She should have just started him on time at age 5. He was a late talker, didn’t really talk until he was 4 so this played a big role.

In my Freshman year I opted to got to Vocational High School to study electronics. In my Junior year I was told by the football coach that no college would be interested in me as I was in Vocational School. So I attempted to transfer to High School. I was told I would have to repeat my Junior year in High School and not be eligible for Sports. So I transferred from Vocational to High School and repeated my Junior year as the rule was 3 years of play after Freshman and I had played two years (Sophmore and 1st Junior Year). I practiced with the Varsity and played Junior Varsity games with the ultimate plan I could play my Senior Year. When I entered my Senior Year (at 18 years of age), they had changed eligibility rules to one could only play 3 years in a row after their freshman year. We appealed the decision based on I sat out my Junior Year and was now caught in a new rule. I lost the appeal. I was one very unhappy camper.

My High School had a policy that you could graduate early in January if you joined the military. I was so pi$$ed at not being able to play sports (football and ice hockey), that I wanted out of there as soon as possible so I enlisted in the US Navy in January.

Cute story. I was at home on leave when my class actually graduated. I was asked if I wanted to participate in graduation. I was then told by the Asst. Principal I would have to wear a Cap and Gown. I said no way. I am wearing my uniform. He insisted. I said how would you like me to call a few local veteran organizations and let them know. He backed down. I graduated in my uniform as did one other fellow.

Bottom line is eligibility rules changed. One poster said cannot play if 19 or older on Sept 1. Still time to keep a kid back and let him play more years but a least the 19 sounds OK at first blush.

BostonBornMassMade · 10-06-2019, 07:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gf2020

Sounds like a fake story to me. Per MIAA rules, a student who is 19 years of age prior to September 1 is not eligible for high school athletic participation.

http://miaa.net/gen/miaa_generated_b...ligibility.pdf

If he plays in a private school league he’s not subject to MIAA rules. Most top athletes are NEPSAC not MIAA

thenewtexan · 10-06-2019, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade

If he plays in a private school league he’s not subject to MIAA rules. Most top athletes are NEPSAC not MIAA

Yeah, the MIAA and NEPSAC are two totally separate entities. Many kids graduate from high school and spend a year playing for "prep" schools to hone their academic skills. I think the OP is talking about parents deliberately holding their kids back in the same system because they're not "mature enough" but it's only for athletic reasons. It WAS common in Texas, but the UIL has really clamped down on it.