My son is in 7th grade, and plays on a 13u major team. Since he has a summer birthday, he can play 12u. He's also very young for his grade. He is a very strong player, well known in the older age group.
When the time comes for showcases and college recruiting, he will be at a disadvantage because he will be "young" for his grade. He's a great student, but should we hold him back in school to give him a chance to really stand out later?

PLAY UP if he can. First of all I would like to welcome you to the High School Baseball Web. Good question. If a player's talent will allow, I am for a player playing "up" as long as he can compete. However If he moves up too far too fast he can be intimidated. As far as the summer birthday I don't know if this makes a difference or not. I always looked at it as an advantage because it drew attention to my son. Any attention (exposure) a player can get is good. My son had a July birthday and the cut off date for age brackets was Aug 1 so for most of the year he would he would play on the age bracket that was one year older than he was. He played 18u select travel baseball (nationally recognized organization) when he was 15 with no problems. I am strongly against holding a player back academically for athletic reasons. Academics should take precedence over athletics. Once in college they do adjust the academics to fit the athletic needs but prior to college I say NO.
Fungo

Fungo,

Thank you for your thoughts.
I agree that he should definitely continue to play up. My real question is the academic issue.
We have another child who is a D1 athlete (different sport), and we learned a lot from that recruiting process. Many athletes are home-schooled in order to gain an advantage in their respective sports - more practice time, and the ability to delay high school graduation so the child can mature before the recruiting process begins...and therefore stand out when it does. It seems like a great choice, except the quality of the education can be terrible. I've seen a lot of kids that are great athletes get their entire high school education online. It's a shame, because they aren't equipped socially or academically for college sports.
My question is would he benefit by being held back so he could challenge himself more academically - he would be more mature and could probably handle a tougher academic schedule in high school if he had the extra year. Also, he would delay the beginning of the recruiting process, if he goes down that path, so of course he would be bigger, stronger and have more skills. Wouldn't that give him a distinct advantage?

Summer birthday isn't all that young.

quote:

My question is would he benefit by being held back so he could challenge himself more academically - he would be more mature and could probably handle a tougher academic schedule in high school if he had the extra year. Also, he would delay the beginning of the recruiting process, if he goes down that path, so of course he would be bigger, stronger and have more skills. Wouldn't that give him a distinct advantage?

I don't see any academic advantage to being held back. More mature at that age usually means prettier girlfriends, sharper cars, and better after school jobs --- not necessarily better grades. I also think it would impact him socially. Socially it could help or it could hurt depending how he interacts with his “younger” peers. In our state there are athletic restriction if a player is held back prior to entering high school they are prohibited from playing high school sports their freshman year if they are held back in the 7th grade or 8th grade. (I think I’m right) I know they are limited to four years participation in high school so a hold back in high school would hurt. You might check your states rules. If you are entertaining that idea I would talk to some academic advisors and guidance counselors. Would it be an advantage athletically? I think the general consensus is that it would benefit him athletically because we assume he would be bigger stronger and more skilled --- but he could be less challenged having to play with younger players. I never considered holding my son back for athletic reasons. His age (graduated when he was 17) didn’t impact his being drafted ---- his college recruitment ----- or his ability to start as a freshman in college.

In our state the player’s age on Sept 1 (I think) determines when he/she starts school so an August birthday would make that student one of the youngest in the class.

I have two children who were born in September and tested to go to school early. Both are excellent students; one is a college freshman and continue to excel academically. I agree with Fungo--"I am strongly against holding back players academically for athletic reasons."

It was a little "confusing" when he was in Little League with their age cut-offs, but I have another kid with an August birthday, so that was equally confusing. But Little League International changed their birthday cut-off to April 30, I think, so the kids with summer birthdays aren't so rare.

Academically, all of my children were where they belong. I shudder to think of the trouble they could (and probably would have ) gotten into if they were held back.... If your son needs to grow a little more and mature in college, then that is what a "red-shirt" year could accomplish. At the age of 13, a lot can happen before he even plays one day of high school ball.


By the way, a number of years ago, there was a student in my community who was held back before going to kindergarten. No big deal. Then he decided to play football in high school, and since he had not initially played in junior high, the parents decided to have him repeat 8th grade in spite of the fact that he was a TOP STUDENT (he went to the University of Chicago ultimately and didn't play football) so that he would have the chance to learn how to play the game against the younger, smaller kids. And the school administration allowed him to do so. At the age of 16 (!) he entered high school. And played football in high school---and broke at least a couple of state records...........A man among boys........He should have an asterisk in front of his name, if you ask me.-----

Of course, when I am Miss America, my platform will be to bring attention to this issue----Parents are not allowed to "push" kids with September birthdays ahead for academic reasons, but other parents encounter no problems in holding kids back for athletic reasons. But sadly, I am too short to become Miss America!

By the way, welcome to this web!
Good luck.

I was looking at some team websites in our area and there was one that actually puts the birth date of their players. I was shocked at the number of JV freshmen they have on their team who are 17 years old plus a junior pitcher (also JV) who is 19. Are there any rules in place in HS baseball about age eligibility for JV and varsity?

i have a oct 30 b day and i am 15 and a sophomore, so im really young, but im doing fine, i tested well enough when i was young to start early, and my grades are fine, always above a 3.5, and i am doing just fine in baseball, i made the freshmen team last year when we had 40 freshmen tryout, so i dont tihnk you should hold him back, i am a perfect example of why you shouldnt

If he has the ability, you always want him to play up. IF he has the ability.