If your kid was one of the youngest, did it impact their ability to make competitive HS teams?

[Anonymous]

If your child was one of the youngest in their grade, did age have any impact on their ability to make it on competitive teams in HS that are grouped by grade and not age?

[Anonymous]

I was born in December, that was the cutoff month when I was in school. When I played sports based on my age, i was in the top 5-10%. When i tried out for high school teams, I was in the top 11-15%, and never made the high school teams. i did make some teams in Junior High.
My two DS were born in May and June, so I expect they may have problems making teams in High School. What sucks is now you have boys that are held back because they are "not emotionally" ready for kindergarten or first grade, a lot of these kids are pretty good at sports, so now my kids have to compete with older kids for spots.
Older kids should be trying out for the grade they should be in.Schools could also limit the teams to one held back kid per team. That would curtail the parents from holding their kids back

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was born in December, that was the cutoff month when I was in school. When I played sports based on my age, i was in the top 5-10%. When i tried out for high school teams, I was in the top 11-15%, and never made the high school teams. i did make some teams in Junior High.
My two DS were born in May and June, so I expect they may have problems making teams in High School. What sucks is now you have boys that are held back because they are "not emotionally" ready for kindergarten or first grade, a lot of these kids are pretty good at sports, so now my kids have to compete with older kids for spots.
Older kids should be trying out for the grade they should be in.Schools could also limit the teams to one held back kid per team. That would curtail the parents from holding their kids back

It’s been happening for ever.

[Anonymous]

No. By the time they get to high school, I didn’t find a year to make much difference, personally. I found age difference to be more pronounced in younger years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. By the time they get to high school, I didn’t find a year to make much difference, personally. I found age difference to be more pronounced in younger years.

+1 - definitely mattered in early years. But if you are deciding whether to hold back a 5 year old, I wouldn't do it based on that - my young kid turned out not to be into competitive HS sports by the time he got there and excels in other areas.

[Anonymous]

I've had three boys play high school sports. In our experience, I honestly don't think age has any impact on making the team. I do think when someone goes through puberty can make a huge difference, especially with boys. And work ethic and talent. The kid who puts in the work will have a much better chance of making a competitive high school than the gifted athlete or the older kid who never puts in any effort.

I have one DS who was an early bloomer and was heads and shoulders taller than everyone else his age when he was a freshman in high school. But he never grew another inch, or really gained any weight. By his junior year, he was one of the smaller one's in his class. He does work at his sport so he's managed to stay competitive. And my youngest was the exact opposite. He was average sized when he started high school. He really started growing at 15, and is now 17 and still growing. He is now one of the tallest in his class and works out and it shows in his physique and on the playing field. He's actually on the young side (late April birthday.)

[Anonymous]

Many 8th graders make HS teams, so no.

[Anonymous]

Holding back kids has not been going on forever. Look at college teams from 20-30 years ago. Most of the freshman were 17 and 18. Now you have many freshman kids that are older 18s and 19 year olds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many 8th graders make HS teams, so no.

Never heard of an 8th grader trying out for a HS team . Unless you are talking about private schools that have a hundred kids per grade - so they don't count.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was born in December, that was the cutoff month when I was in school. When I played sports based on my age, i was in the top 5-10%. When i tried out for high school teams, I was in the top 11-15%, and never made the high school teams. i did make some teams in Junior High.
My two DS were born in May and June, so I expect they may have problems making teams in High School. What sucks is now you have boys that are held back because they are "not emotionally" ready for kindergarten or first grade, a lot of these kids are pretty good at sports, so now my kids have to compete with older kids for spots.
Older kids should be trying out for the grade they should be in.Schools could also limit the teams to one held back kid per team. That would curtail the parents from holding their kids back

This is what I’m wondering will
happen. Every sport my 8 year old has ever played he’s typically 2nd best out of a team when organized by grade. 9 out of 10 times the strongest one on the team is a kid who is a year older held back and a good athlete. If a team is by age guidelines he is first. It’s usually about the top 10 percent to make team
and actually play in our HS though so I see this being a issue for kids that never get past the kids who are older and great athletes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your child was one of the youngest in their grade, did age have any impact on their ability to make it on competitive teams in HS that are grouped by grade and not age?

I think the bigger issue is the large High Schools in our area with limited spots for a large number of travel sport kids trying out for those few spots (in every sport)!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. By the time they get to high school, I didn’t find a year to make much difference, personally. I found age difference to be more pronounced in younger years.

Definitely not true for boys in middle and early high school. Coaches have a clear preference for the kids that go through puberty first, which is usually but not always tied to age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many 8th graders make HS teams, so no.

Never heard of an 8th grader trying out for a HS team . Unless you are talking about private schools that have a hundred kids per grade - so they don't count.

It happens if it’s allowed (not sure the exact procedures or if it’s done by county in VA). My nephews played JV baseball as 8th graders in Norfolk.

[Anonymous]

PP here. This was in public school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many 8th graders make HS teams, so no.

Never heard of an 8th grader trying out for a HS team . Unless you are talking about private schools that have a hundred kids per grade - so they don't count.

DP. In Arlington, 8th graders can try out for some HS sports. If their MS doesn’t offer the sport.