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We have a very small school (180 students K-12). We are having our elementary basketball right now. Elementary consists of 2nd, 3rd & 4th grades. 2nd/3rd play each other and experienced 3rd graders play with 4th graders. The teams are a mix of the three grades. Our Junior High consists of 5th, 6th, 7th & 8th. The Athletic Director/PE teacher in our school has a son in the 3rd grade. This guy already "bumped" a member of his family who is in the 2nd grade up to the 4th grade level. His own son is very good at basketball, has the ball 80% of the time and has the most points. He is already talking about having his son and another very talented 3rd grader play on the Junior High team next fall. That means 4th graders will be playing against 8th graders. Is this even legal? Is it legal for the father/athletic director to choose when he wants his son to play Junior High sports? I'm concerned with injuries. I have two boys playing Junior High bb but don't want them playing against such young kids because of the risk of injury.
We have a very small school (180 students K-12). We are having our elementary basketball right now. Elementary consists of 2nd, 3rd & 4th grades. 2nd/3rd play each other and experienced 3rd graders play with 4th graders. The teams are a mix of the three grades. Our Junior High consists of 5th, 6th, 7th & 8th. The Athletic Director/PE teacher in our school has a son in the 3rd grade. This guy already "bumped" a member of his family who is in the 2nd grade up to the 4th grade level. His own son is very good at basketball, has the ball 80% of the time and has the most points. He is already talking about having his son and another very talented 3rd grader play on the Junior High team next fall. That means 4th graders will be playing against 8th graders. Is this even legal? Is it legal for the father/athletic director to choose when he wants his son to play Junior High sports? I'm concerned with injuries. I have two boys playing Junior High bb but don't want them playing against such young kids because of the risk of injury.
I cannot tell you if it is legal or not. Most states have athletic associations that govern interscholastic sports. I am sure there are rules about what grade students must be in to play at certain levels. It is different in different sports. It should not be that difficult to find out the rule for your state and sport. Usually you can find the rules online but if not just give the governing athletic association a call.
I can tell you that it is not unusual to have younger kids participate at higher levels and the parents of the other kids don't get a say in whether that happens. You get to decide what your child does but you don't get to decide what this other child does.
If it is against the rules you can discuss it with the AD but if it is within the rules you have two choices: 1. Let your child play or 2. Don't let your child play. You don't get to say whether the other child plays. It's just not your call.
We have a very small school (180 students K-12). We are having our elementary basketball right now. Elementary consists of 2nd, 3rd & 4th grades. 2nd/3rd play each other and experienced 3rd graders play with 4th graders. The teams are a mix of the three grades. Our Junior High consists of 5th, 6th, 7th & 8th. The Athletic Director/PE teacher in our school has a son in the 3rd grade. This guy already "bumped" a member of his family who is in the 2nd grade up to the 4th grade level. His own son is very good at basketball, has the ball 80% of the time and has the most points. He is already talking about having his son and another very talented 3rd grader play on the Junior High team next fall. That means 4th graders will be playing against 8th graders. Is this even legal? Is it legal for the father/athletic director to choose when he wants his son to play Junior High sports? I'm concerned with injuries. I have two boys playing Junior High bb but don't want them playing against such young kids because of the risk of injury.
Several thoughts:
Personally, I don't think this sounds like a good idea. Like you said, there's a huge age difference there. No matter the talent level, there is a huge difference in size between your average 4th grader and your average 8th grader.
It's not uncommon that when someone is both parent and coach, or both parent and teacher, it's hard to be objective. No matter how hard you try to do the right thing, it's nearly impossible to erase the effect of being their parent. You just can't be objective. I've known coaches, drama teachers, music directors, over the years who have all made what I and others thought were very biased calls in favor of their own children.
It's also not uncommon that rules have to be bent and broken in a small school situation. If there are an average of 15 kids per grade, that's pretty darn small. In a music or sports situation, they may need to bump kids up to fill out the team.
All that being said, I don't think there's anything you can do. You can decide not to have your child play, but I don't think any parent has jurisdiction to argue the placement of another person's child, even if it is the coach's son.
We have a very small school (180 students K-12). We are having our elementary basketball right now. Elementary consists of 2nd, 3rd & 4th grades. 2nd/3rd play each other and experienced 3rd graders play with 4th graders. The teams are a mix of the three grades. Our Junior High consists of 5th, 6th, 7th & 8th. The Athletic Director/PE teacher in our school has a son in the 3rd grade. This guy already "bumped" a member of his family who is in the 2nd grade up to the 4th grade level. His own son is very good at basketball, has the ball 80% of the time and has the most points. He is already talking about having his son and another very talented 3rd grader play on the Junior High team next fall. That means 4th graders will be playing against 8th graders. Is this even legal? Is it legal for the father/athletic director to choose when he wants his son to play Junior High sports? I'm concerned with injuries. I have two boys playing Junior High bb but don't want them playing against such young kids because of the risk of injury.
i'm an asst. athletic director at a high school in south carolina. couple of questions here. 1.) is this just elementary age bball or is the team affiliated with the school in anyway? if the team / program does not receive any funding from the school and just wears the schools name on their uniforms then i question the team / school affiliation. 2.) MOST if not all state governing bodies to my knowledge will say kids below grades 7 CAN NOT compete on or against kids in grades 7 or above.
In my experience in both Ohio and South Carolina, elem. schools do NOT field competitive scholastic sports against other schools. they will field intramural teams to play against other teams within the school. i've dealt with 5-8 middle schools before but even with those grade set ups, the 5th and 6th graders do not and can not compete against 7th and or 8th graders.
which state do you reside in and I could give you a more definitive answer. for instance, in Ohio you can begin playing high school athletics at grade 9 while in Kentucky you can begin playing high school sports at grade 7. different states have different regulations and in some states there will exist an athletic governing body for public schools and one for private schools such is the case in SC where I am now.
2.) MOST if not all state governing bodies to my knowledge will say kids below grades 7 CAN NOT compete on or against kids in grades 7 or above.
I cannot speak for any other state besides the one I live in (FL) but my state allows participation of 6th graders against HS kids. My son participated in wrestling as a 6th grader. His coach checked with FHSAA (the state governing athletic association) and for wrestling it was permitted.
Our school just won the girls tennis state championship and a 6th grader was a big part of the victory. We also had 6th graders on our JV Lacrosse team and our varsity girls track team.
I don't doubt that many states have this rule but it is not universal.
i'm an asst. athletic director at a high school in south carolina. couple of questions here. 1.) is this just elementary age bball or is the team affiliated with the school in anyway? if the team / program does not receive any funding from the school and just wears the schools name on their uniforms then i question the team / school affiliation. 2.) MOST if not all state governing bodies to my knowledge will say kids below grades 7 CAN NOT compete on or against kids in grades 7 or above.
In my experience in both Ohio and South Carolina, elem. schools do NOT field competitive scholastic sports against other schools. they will field intramural teams to play against other teams within the school. i've dealt with 5-8 middle schools before but even with those grade set ups, the 5th and 6th graders do not and can not compete against 7th and or 8th graders.
which state do you reside in and I could give you a more definitive answer. for instance, in Ohio you can begin playing high school athletics at grade 9 while in Kentucky you can begin playing high school sports at grade 7. different states have different regulations and in some states there will exist an athletic governing body for public schools and one for private schools such is the case in SC where I am now.
We are in Montana. The elementary grades play against each other in a mixture of the 2nd & 3rd playing against other 2nd & 3rd graders from the same school. Same with the 3rd & 4th grade teams. They don't play other schools. The elementary basketball is totally funded through our school. Another question is....Doesn't this make it difficult when these younger kids are moved up a level once they reach like 8th grade? What I mean is, they were moved up a level in elem. so when they play four years of JV doesn't this make it hard for the kid to play the same level for so long? I do know that our school has never allowed an 8th grader to play Varsity level.
We are in Montana. The elementary grades play against each other in a mixture of the 2nd & 3rd playing against other 2nd & 3rd graders from the same school. Same with the 3rd & 4th grade teams. They don't play other schools. The elementary basketball is totally funded through our school. Another question is....Doesn't this make it difficult when these younger kids are moved up a level once they reach like 8th grade? What I mean is, they were moved up a level in elem. so when they play four years of JV doesn't this make it hard for the kid to play the same level for so long? I do know that our school has never allowed an 8th grader to play Varsity level.
Honestly, with this follow-up, it kind of sounds like you're borrowing trouble. These kids aren't even playing other schools... just playing other kids from your same school for fun, right? Therefore, how much does it really matter if these two kids move up to the higher level team a year early?
Since this is a VERY small school (15 kids per grade) and you're just talking about play between kids at the same school (almost like they would in a PE class or something) not district competition or something, I think you should just drop it. Often exceptions are made to fill out teams and try to differentiate, especially in small school situations. Is it hurting your child in any way for these kids to play at the more advanced level, or is this just making a stink for nothing?
We are in Montana. The elementary grades play against each other in a mixture of the 2nd & 3rd playing against other 2nd & 3rd graders from the same school. Same with the 3rd & 4th grade teams. They don't play other schools. The elementary basketball is totally funded through our school. Another question is....Doesn't this make it difficult when these younger kids are moved up a level once they reach like 8th grade? What I mean is, they were moved up a level in elem. so when they play four years of JV doesn't this make it hard for the kid to play the same level for so long? I do know that our school has never allowed an 8th grader to play Varsity level.
I am having trouble understanding why you would care? I can understand being curious about whether it is allowed or not but other than that what does it really matter if a child plays up a level?
I do agree with the person who stated that coaches and ADs frequently misjudge their own child's abilities. But that shouldn't really affect you at all. After all your child will be at the appropriate level.
I also agree with the idea that in a small school you should save your outrage for the things that really matter. You don't want to go starting trouble over something that truly does not matter because if the AD perceives you as a "troublemaker" then it may affect your kids in the future. IMO this is not an issue that rises to the occasion of speaking out. Let the AD do what he wants with his own child.
I cannot speak for any other state besides the one I live in (FL) but my state allows participation of 6th graders against HS kids. My son participated in wrestling as a 6th grader. His coach checked with FHSAA (the state governing athletic association) and for wrestling it was permitted.
Our school just won the girls tennis state championship and a 6th grader was a big part of the victory. We also had 6th graders on our JV Lacrosse team and our varsity girls track team.
I don't doubt that many states have this rule but it is not universal.
did your son compete against 11th and 12th graders? or 9th and 10th graders? is this a public school or private? i know the SCISAA and the SCHSL have different rules for each governing body on competition by age. SCISAA is the governing body for private schools in south carolina. many of the schools have sub 100 enrollments so I can easily see how letting 6th graders do varsity sports would be a necessity in many cases.
i did check out the High School Scorebook which is a national database of all high school and college wrestlers and did see some 6th graders registered for florida which is impressive. in SC 7th and 8th graders can only compete against other 7th and 8th graders in wrestling.
i did notice A LOT of the certified 6th grade wrestlers in Florida competed for private / parochial schools which again goes back to my above comment about a schools program needing to have those kids compete at a higher level. schools like mater academy, northside christian and university christian popped up a lot in my search.
We are in Montana. The elementary grades play against each other in a mixture of the 2nd & 3rd playing against other 2nd & 3rd graders from the same school. Same with the 3rd & 4th grade teams. They don't play other schools. The elementary basketball is totally funded through our school. Another question is....Doesn't this make it difficult when these younger kids are moved up a level once they reach like 8th grade? What I mean is, they were moved up a level in elem. so when they play four years of JV doesn't this make it hard for the kid to play the same level for so long? I do know that our school has never allowed an 8th grader to play Varsity level.
so basically this whole mess is over intramural elementary basketball. WOW. that's a new one.
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