Red shirting for sports- Is this really a thing for older kids?

[Anonymous]

In the past week I have met two kids whose parents have red-shirted them stating they have a late birthday (May/June). One was repeating 6th grade and one was repeating 8th grade. The kids are both solid students with good grades. I never knew people did this past Kindergarten. How does this help in sports? Someone please explain to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In the past week I have met two kids whose parents have red-shirted them stating they have a late birthday (May/June). One was repeating 6th grade and one was repeating 8th grade. The kids are both solid students with good grades. I never knew people did this past Kindergarten. How does this help in sports? Someone please explain to me.

You can't understand the difference between a 17 yr old and 19 yr old?

[Anonymous]

Where is this? How is the school ok with this if the kids are fine academically?

[Anonymous]

Not uncommon at local privates and at boarding schools. I know of several kids who play basketball, plus a few football and a few lacrosse players who've done this.

[Anonymous]

Yet another reason to avoid private schools.

[Anonymous]

Makes them look better to play against younger kids.

My kids played on a MS team last year, and were hyped to play a nationally ranked kid. Turns out he was FIFTEEN at the time (in eighth grade). It was a lot less impressive after we realized he was sophomore aged putting the moves on my 11 year old.🤪

In some sports, once you get to high school, you play with your grad year vs 15u or whatever for travel teams.

[Anonymous]

I have heard people say they are redshirting their small boys to wait for their growth spurts so they won't get passed over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not uncommon at local privates and at boarding schools. I know of several kids who play basketball, plus a few football and a few lacrosse players who've done this.

Yes, it’s a thing for a few sports. I’m most familiar with it happening for lacrosse, mostly boys. Lacrosse clubs go by grad year, not age, so sometimes parents “reclass” their kids. I think soccer’s system with going by birth year is much better.

[Anonymous]

It doesn't help, they suck if they need to be held back a year for sports. They can't keep up with their age bracket.

[Anonymous]

A story. Good friends oldest was a very good athlete and he particularly wanted to play college basketball. 6 foot 1 inch point guard. Captain of his big catholic school team. Played on a very competitive AAU team. But, when push came to shove the big conference coaches thought he was not quick enough for a point guard. So - off to a D3 school to play. Freshman year he grows another 4 inches. Now, as a 6’5” really good ball handling player almost everyone wanted him. He transferred to a good D1 program. Had they redshirted him he would have had those 4 inches and recruiting would have been very different.

My daughter played college soccer. She has an October birthday. She started K as a young five kid. But, after the year we decided to hold her back a year. She was just not ready. So instead of a young 5 she was an old 5 starting out. It turned out several friends did the same with their kid so she was not alone. I coached my kids in rec soccer and my “veteran” K team was a hoot.

With girls it is way less important as they don’t have those second growth spurts that a fair number of guys get between 18-20.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A story. Good friends oldest was a very good athlete and he particularly wanted to play college basketball. 6 foot 1 inch point guard. Captain of his big catholic school team. Played on a very competitive AAU team. But, when push came to shove the big conference coaches thought he was not quick enough for a point guard. So - off to a D3 school to play. Freshman year he grows another 4 inches. Now, as a 6’5” really good ball handling player almost everyone wanted him. He transferred to a good D1 program. Had they redshirted him he would have had those 4 inches and recruiting would have been very different.

My daughter played college soccer. She has an October birthday. She started K as a young five kid. But, after the year we decided to hold her back a year. She was just not ready. So instead of a young 5 she was an old 5 starting out. It turned out several friends did the same with their kid so she was not alone. I coached my kids in rec soccer and my “veteran” K team was a hoot.

With girls it is way less important as they don’t have those second growth spurts that a fair number of guys get between 18-20.

Academics should be more important than sports. Holding back for a year to hope a kid grows and gets better makes no sense. Reality is now is that boy playing as his career? Probably not.

[Anonymous]

Happening a lot in baseball. I know multiple kids who re-classed at 7th or 8th, moving to private school. Then they commit in the 8th or 9th grade (or did until the rules just changed). Colleges want men for baseball, not boys.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Happening a lot in baseball. I know multiple kids who re-classed at 7th or 8th, moving to private school. Then they commit in the 8th or 9th grade (or did until the rules just changed). Colleges want men for baseball, not boys.

The boys are men in college- if they are 18, they are men.

[Anonymous]

Academics should be more important than sports. Holding back for a year to hope a kid grows and gets better makes no sense. Reality is now is that boy playing as his career? Probably not.

Of course kids do better academically. In retrospect we who held kids back after K concluded it would have been better to repeat 1st grade as 2 years of reading instruction would have been better.

Our friend’s son blew his knee in the year he had to sit out after transferring. Those guys were part of the group that practiced with the women’s team. He got banged up in a practice. But, he kept his scholarship so saved him $90K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Happening a lot in baseball. I know multiple kids who re-classed at 7th or 8th, moving to private school. Then they commit in the 8th or 9th grade (or did until the rules just changed). Colleges want men for baseball, not boys.

The boys are men in college- if they are 18, they are men.

Sure, technically, but there is often, though not always, a significant difference physically between the kid who turns 18 in August after graduating high school and the one who turned 18 14-18 months earlier. When you’re talking kids who are lifting and putting in the work/eating/training required for high level baseball, there is most definitely a difference between the boys and the men.