Small/late growing kids and athletics

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son was 5’4” 105 lb Freshman year.

In college playing D1 sport he is 6’1” 180.

Middle school - freshman year of college was brutal.

He was never recruited and he walked on at college.

He now starts for a top 20 team.

Wow what sport?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine dropped sports.

Ditto

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son was 5’4” 105 lb Freshman year.

In college playing D1 sport he is 6’1” 180.

Middle school - freshman year of college was brutal.

He was never recruited, and he walked on at college.

He now starts for a top 20 team.

That’s great for your Kaye but it’s not the norm

It is actually the norm for small kids to have a really hard time in middle school/high school.

It's not the norm to play D1 sports, but it's not the norm for even big kids.

[Anonymous]

Start him in individual sports NOW, before high school comes. Tennis, golf, swimming, track, cross country. These are all great sports. While the very best swimmers are super tall..it isn't a requirement for high school level swimming.

[Anonymous]

I hear you ... late growers here, too!

I hope he either hangs in there with the sport he loves, or moves on to find something else that makes him really happy. They CAN and DO get through this awkward phase!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Start him in individual sports NOW, before high school comes. Tennis, golf, swimming, track, cross country. These are all great sports. While the very best swimmers are super tall..it isn't a requirement for high school level swimming.

Yes this is what I am going to do. He loves track and his older brother is doing it now.

[Anonymous]

I’m sorry OP. It’s hard. Same boat here. My 8th grade DS is 5’4” 100 (just now in the beginning stage of puberty, just grows 2IN a year like always and is skinny as a rail). He is a very good athlete but yes-playing time dramatically reduced by 7th grade.

My son is in 8th and only 5'2" and 87lbs. He still does fine on his travel soccer team, which is only a mid level team anyway - he gets a lot of playing time.
Track team has been tougher - he clearly hasn't gone through much of puberty yet, and he can't get speed up quickly over the shorter distances. Most of the longer races go to kids who also run cross country. I am pushing him to try cross country next year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m sorry OP. It’s hard. Same boat here. My 8th grade DS is 5’4” 100 (just now in the beginning stage of puberty, just grows 2IN a year like always and is skinny as a rail). He is a very good athlete but yes-playing time dramatically reduced by 7th grade. He is hanging in, in basketball and baseball this year but sees little playing time. Mostly has just been kept on club teams as a courtesy. It is probably his last year of both sports- even if he were to make the freshman team in either sport next year, I think he sees the writing on the wall. Even if he grows before then, he’ll have been on the bench for 2 years by then which has been demoralizing for him. I’m hoping he will try track and field, which is no cut. He also plays some golf in the summer and can continue that. The sad thing is DS Is not likely to end up particularly short- we are 6’2” and 5’7”. Seems likely he will catch up to average height at minimum but it will be too late. He is pretty bummed about it- it has been really tough on him socially because sports has always been his outlet and way to make friends. But he has been left in the dust.

My 6th grade DS will likely face the same thing, starting soon. He’s 5’1” 90 but hasn’t started puberty at all. Plays on a top travel baseball team but I’m sure this will be the last year- everyone else will grow and he won’t. For now, he is oblivious, and keeps up fine.

I think the solution is more rec leagues or hybrid type leagues (local lower level club teams etc). The late developers have trouble competing in middle school and tend to drop off the popular travel teams in frustration. Schools should also carry a lot of freshman (A and B teams at minimum) in the major team sports as the boys really aren’t finished growing yet. Some school do but not all.

Your kids sound to very average sized, not small..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m sorry OP. It’s hard. Same boat here. My 8th grade DS is 5’4” 100 (just now in the beginning stage of puberty, just grows 2IN a year like always and is skinny as a rail). He is a very good athlete but yes-playing time dramatically reduced by 7th grade. He is hanging in, in basketball and baseball this year but sees little playing time. Mostly has just been kept on club teams as a courtesy. It is probably his last year of both sports- even if he were to make the freshman team in either sport next year, I think he sees the writing on the wall. Even if he grows before then, he’ll have been on the bench for 2 years by then which has been demoralizing for him. I’m hoping he will try track and field, which is no cut. He also plays some golf in the summer and can continue that. The sad thing is DS Is not likely to end up particularly short- we are 6’2” and 5’7”. Seems likely he will catch up to average height at minimum but it will be too late. He is pretty bummed about it- it has been really tough on him socially because sports has always been his outlet and way to make friends. But he has been left in the dust.

My 6th grade DS will likely face the same thing, starting soon. He’s 5’1” 90 but hasn’t started puberty at all. Plays on a top travel baseball team but I’m sure this will be the last year- everyone else will grow and he won’t. For now, he is oblivious, and keeps up fine.

I think the solution is more rec leagues or hybrid type leagues (local lower level club teams etc). The late developers have trouble competing in middle school and tend to drop off the popular travel teams in frustration. Schools should also carry a lot of freshman (A and B teams at minimum) in the major team sports as the boys really aren’t finished growing yet. Some school do but not all.

Your kids sound to very average sized, not small..

I think the issue is that by middle school age, sports kids skew larger than average, with more early developers than average. Smaller kids and late developers start dropping out- as evidenced in this thread. 5’4” is not that small for an 8th grade boy but would be considered absolutely tiny for club basketball or baseball.

[Anonymous]

Just want to provide a different perspective and maybe one that brings hope?

I have a 12 year old son who plays travel baseball with a mix of 7th and 8th graders. All but 2 kids are 13 already. My son is the 3rd tallest kid at 5’5” and the tallest kid is probably 5’7”. We have several kids who are 4’8” and most are probably 5’1” or 5’2”. Our team is good! You don’t have to be enormous to play. Our smaller size belies our fielding strength and our defense is what wins games.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m sorry OP. It’s hard. Same boat here. My 8th grade DS is 5’4” 100 (just now in the beginning stage of puberty, just grows 2IN a year like always and is skinny as a rail). He is a very good athlete but yes-playing time dramatically reduced by 7th grade. He is hanging in, in basketball and baseball this year but sees little playing time. Mostly has just been kept on club teams as a courtesy. It is probably his last year of both sports- even if he were to make the freshman team in either sport next year, I think he sees the writing on the wall. Even if he grows before then, he’ll have been on the bench for 2 years by then which has been demoralizing for him. I’m hoping he will try track and field, which is no cut. He also plays some golf in the summer and can continue that. The sad thing is DS Is not likely to end up particularly short- we are 6’2” and 5’7”. Seems likely he will catch up to average height at minimum but it will be too late. He is pretty bummed about it- it has been really tough on him socially because sports has always been his outlet and way to make friends. But he has been left in the dust.

My 6th grade DS will likely face the same thing, starting soon. He’s 5’1” 90 but hasn’t started puberty at all. Plays on a top travel baseball team but I’m sure this will be the last year- everyone else will grow and he won’t. For now, he is oblivious, and keeps up fine.

I think the solution is more rec leagues or hybrid type leagues (local lower level club teams etc). The late developers have trouble competing in middle school and tend to drop off the popular travel teams in frustration. Schools should also carry a lot of freshman (A and B teams at minimum) in the major team sports as the boys really aren’t finished growing yet. Some school do but not all.

The 5'4 puts him pretty average I think for a 14 year old but that 100lbs is pretty small. Around the 25th percentile.

Nothing to be alarmed about. He'll probably grow up to be average height and thin. But not great for athletics


Your kids sound to very average sized, not small..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just want to provide a different perspective and maybe one that brings hope?

I have a 12 year old son who plays travel baseball with a mix of 7th and 8th graders. All but 2 kids are 13 already. My son is the 3rd tallest kid at 5’5” and the tallest kid is probably 5’7”. We have several kids who are 4’8” and most are probably 5’1” or 5’2”. Our team is good! You don’t have to be enormous to play. Our smaller size belies our fielding strength and our defense is what wins games.

My kid is going to open gyms for a team that will be 13u. There are multiple athletic 6 footers. Your kid sounds like that are just at the cusp of the age where enough boys have growth spurts for height to really matter

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just want to provide a different perspective and maybe one that brings hope?

I have a 12 year old son who plays travel baseball with a mix of 7th and 8th graders. All but 2 kids are 13 already. My son is the 3rd tallest kid at 5’5” and the tallest kid is probably 5’7”. We have several kids who are 4’8” and most are probably 5’1” or 5’2”. Our team is good! You don’t have to be enormous to play. Our smaller size belies our fielding strength and our defense is what wins games.

My kid is going to open gyms for a team that will be 13u. There are multiple athletic 6 footers. Your kid sounds like that are just at the cusp of the age where enough boys have growth spurts for height to really matter

+1

My kid was on a 13U team last year that had multiple 6 footers. Average height was probably 5’6”-5’7”. Definitely no kids under 5 feet tall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m sorry OP. It’s hard. Same boat here. My 8th grade DS is 5’4” 100 (just now in the beginning stage of puberty, just grows 2IN a year like always and is skinny as a rail). He is a very good athlete but yes-playing time dramatically reduced by 7th grade. He is hanging in, in basketball and baseball this year but sees little playing time. Mostly has just been kept on club teams as a courtesy. It is probably his last year of both sports- even if he were to make the freshman team in either sport next year, I think he sees the writing on the wall. Even if he grows before then, he’ll have been on the bench for 2 years by then which has been demoralizing for him. I’m hoping he will try track and field, which is no cut. He also plays some golf in the summer and can continue that. The sad thing is DS Is not likely to end up particularly short- we are 6’2” and 5’7”. Seems likely he will catch up to average height at minimum but it will be too late. He is pretty bummed about it- it has been really tough on him socially because sports has always been his outlet and way to make friends. But he has been left in the dust.

My 6th grade DS will likely face the same thing, starting soon. He’s 5’1” 90 but hasn’t started puberty at all. Plays on a top travel baseball team but I’m sure this will be the last year- everyone else will grow and he won’t. For now, he is oblivious, and keeps up fine.

I think the solution is more rec leagues or hybrid type leagues (local lower level club teams etc). The late developers have trouble competing in middle school and tend to drop off the popular travel teams in frustration. Schools should also carry a lot of freshman (A and B teams at minimum) in the major team sports as the boys really aren’t finished growing yet. Some school do but not all.

Your kids sound to very average sized, not small..

I think the issue is that by middle school age, sports kids skew larger than average, with more early developers than average. Smaller kids and late developers start dropping out- as evidenced in this thread. 5’4” is not that small for an 8th grade boy but would be considered absolutely tiny for club basketball or baseball.

The majority of the top soccer teams start size selecting around that time too. They will suggest putting the kid on the lower team but it really is a losing proposition at that timeframe U14/15+, generally they are playing in a league at a lower level of speed and it's tough if their soccer iq and knowledge is much greater. Having teammates not knowing where to make the runs, move into position, and without good first touch becomes very frustrating for kids that have everything but their growth spurt happens after 15.

For my older kid, I was able to move him around to find opportunity on first teams at smaller clubs to keep him 'in the game' and motivated. They also tend to be more understanding of player development. The big clubs have to win and they will pick size. It was pretty eye-opening when you see all of the teams and top divisions, literal giants compared to the next teams down. And a small kid can usually hang on, but by high school it becomes a losing proposition...and THIS IS FOR KIDS THAT ARE LATE DEVELOPERS, not just short. The short kids that hit puberty early aren't usually affected because they have the testosterone boost, filled out muscle wise and already gone through that year or two of body catching up and syncing with brain (the baby deer that can't use it's new found legs).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP- I raise my hand.

My firstborn was a late grower but he always had a more muscular/larger frame so he didn't look as small. He went from 5'1" at 14 to 6'0" now at 17 and dr said growth plates still open. He is predicted to be 6'2". My brother grew 2 inches in college and even I (a woman!) grew 1 inch in college. He finally started getting recognized in his sport last summer (after Sophomore year) when everything kind of caught up. His speed increased dramatically after the growth spurt, testosterone burst and having relied on skill and brains on the field-it paid off

Unfortunately, my 14-year old is not only shorter but so, so skinny (no matter what he eats). Literally, skin and bones (though some impressive muscle definiton ). So, yeah, around 7th-8th grade is when he really started to see less play time and kids that were now much larger were being played in favor of the other little guys. The physicality really made a difference.

This year, as a Freshmen, I can see it's even worse for him. There's just no match when he's playing guys 6-8 inches taller, deep voices, testosterone, 'filled out'. I can see he looks like a baby in comparison. He does all of the correct training and eating the right things, getting enough sleep, etc., and he can hang in there when he's in the game--but he's not a first choice anymore, sometimes not even a second. His skill is still much higher than a lot of the kids now playing over him so I remind him of that and what happened with his brother who is now being actively recruited. I think this kid is even farther behind than his brother because he was still losing baby this Fall (all normal according to doctor and dentist). His feet recently starting growing and right after Christmas he grew an inch so I'm hoping 15-15.5 is a big growth spurt for him,

All I can say is that I sympathize OP. It is so hard on these late bloomers. And, like the other pp, he was so good at basketball and loved it so much so it was really sad to see him give it up and get discouraged. Thankfully, his other sport isn't quite so height specific.

Yes I relate to this SO SO MUCH. Thank you for posting. It really is so hard to see them get so discouraged when what is happening to them is through no fault of their own. They are on the team because they do have the skill but then they just don't get played.

Me three! Completely the same situation. It's especially hard on my kid because he was always tall, and is now about 40th percentile for height. So not super short, but short for his sport, for sure. I keep telling him to keep working on the skills, and when he grows, he will have the skills and the height. But it's hard. And there's a part of me that worries what if he just...doesn't...grow. We are seeing a doctor who's monitoring.