Small/late growing kids and athletics

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Michael Jordan is the ultimate example. The story about him not making varsity as a freshman was because he was 5’10. He grew another 7 inches

Steph Curry stood at only 5'6" and weighed 130 pounds in his freshman and sophomore year of high school. He grew to 5'9" his junior year and had a big growth spurt, to about 6-foot, going into his senior year. Steph grew into his adult height of 6'3" in his sophomore year at Davidson College.

Scottie Pippen grew 7 inches from junior year to senior year in high school.

Dennis Rodman did not have his massive growth spurt until he was 19 !!

These are all good stories, but the truth is, none of our boys are Curry, Pippen or Rodman. They aren't going to play D1 basketball. But they just want to play high school basketball or football, and it doesn't help them to grow four inches after they graduate.

[Anonymous]

OP my son was always a great athlete, but a quiet shy guy, who didn't really grow til senior year.

Our neighborhood dad coaches never played him and treated him like shit.

He came from a private to his large public HS varsity lax freshman still tiny, coach saw him play on a rec indoor team and reached out. Well by senior year he hated the parents so he quit.

Turns out Divison 1 wanted him anyway LOL. Played div 1 all four years of college his choice and he grew LOL....

OP bottom line I know a lot of people think sports are the be the end all but seriously LAX or soccer LOL. My kid understands this as well.

I agree with previous posters tennis, swimming, shot put, and golf running all great for anyone.

[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 6th grader is HUGE compared to mine. 4'5" and just cracked 70 pounds. He also has only lost 8 baby teeth. So yeah...And he's our athlete. It sucks. He's been able to hang bc of his skills and game awareness, but I fear what the future holds for him. Of course, he also loves any and all team sports. Good luck to all of our kids!

[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

PP here. My kid is already on 13u and while I agree there are some teams for whom the height is clearly a major factor/“requirement,” I wouldn’t say we played any teams that had multiple 6 footers, including tournaments both local and out of town. But our team is AAA, not Metro-level so maybe that makes the difference. My point is, there are teams that field a more average sized roster so to make it sound like an average-sized kid won’t find a team isn’t accurate, in my opinion.

Just to be clear, I’m talking baseball, not basketball.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

PP here. My kid is already on 13u and while I agree there are some teams for whom the height is clearly a major factor/“requirement,” I wouldn’t say we played any teams that had multiple 6 footers, including tournaments both local and out of town. But our team is AAA, not Metro-level so maybe that makes the difference. My point is, there are teams that field a more average sized roster so to make it sound like an average-sized kid won’t find a team isn’t accurate, in my opinion.

Just to be clear, I’m talking baseball, not basketball.

Open gyms are for basketball, not baseball.

The smaller, late growing kids can hang a year or two longer in baseball/soccer then basketball.

[Anonymous]

Wrestling. You compete against your own size and a great college team needs all the weight classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine dropped sports.

same.

Mine dropped his sport in MS for about a year or so, but once he made the school team in 9th grade he picked it back up. He was taller and stronger then. He never stopped training on the side though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wrestling. You compete against your own size and a great college team needs all the weight classes.

Cutting weight is so unhealthy. I love wrestling as a sport, and would be happy for my kid to do it if they could compete at their actual weight, but at least back in the day, that wouldn't be allowed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP my son was always a great athlete, but a quiet shy guy, who didn't really grow til senior year.

Our neighborhood dad coaches never played him and treated him like shit.

He came from a private to his large public HS varsity lax freshman still tiny, coach saw him play on a rec indoor team and reached out. Well by senior year he hated the parents so he quit.

Turns out Divison 1 wanted him anyway LOL. Played div 1 all four years of college his choice and he grew LOL....

OP bottom line I know a lot of people think sports are the be the end all but seriously LAX or soccer LOL. My kid understands this as well.

I agree with previous posters tennis, swimming, shot put, and golf running all great for anyone.

We have some real a-hole dads on the sidelines of my kids Club games. And, it's crazy because out of all of them--I am the only one that played the sport at a completive level--with National championships, club and college (female). It is painful to hear their game analysis and critiques, but what bothers me to no end is the way they talk about other players (other peoples kids!!). As someone with knowledge of the sport, I can tell you that some of their kids may be big for now (looking at mom and dad prob not for much longer) but they lack game awareness, positioning, intelligence and first touch. They incessantly kiss the coach's *ss and the pecking order really is which parent has the straight-line to the Coach or TD's ear and the number of kids in the program. So on top of having a late bloomer, for being a 'normal sport parent' and never bothering the coach or communicating other than 'johnny sprained his ankle and will be out this week', etc. it's even tougher path for the kid. We don't play that game in our house and really the kids by high school know who is there because of those games and who is there because they deserve it by their play. It really does drive the love out of the game for kids (and parents).

I look for coaches and clubs with as little the amount of BS as possible. I find with boys by U17/18/19 (junior and senior years) all of that nonsense has washed out and it does become about the player.

My oldest also dealt with this crap, but my end of Junior year he was communicating back and forth with D1 coaches and invited to campus for personal tours, recruited, etc. He really had such a love for the game, no matter how many times he was blatantly screwed over or knocked down, he didn't give up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wrestling. You compete against your own size and a great college team needs all the weight classes.

Cutting weight is so unhealthy. I love wrestling as a sport, and would be happy for my kid to do it if they could compete at their actual weight, but at least back in the day, that wouldn't be allowed.

I wrestled in HS and had to cut weight. I'm sure it still happens at the varsity level, but at the youth/MS level there is no cutting weight.

Heck, the kids end up wresting kids plus/minus 10-15 pounds of your kids weight just because its all about getting as many matches in on meet day as possible.

It's absolutely not a risk for a middle school kid. And for a freshman or sophomore, content to just be on JV, they won't have to worry about cutting weight either

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP my son was always a great athlete, but a quiet shy guy, who didn't really grow til senior year.

Our neighborhood dad coaches never played him and treated him like shit.

He came from a private to his large public HS varsity lax freshman still tiny, coach saw him play on a rec indoor team and reached out. Well by senior year he hated the parents so he quit.

Turns out Divison 1 wanted him anyway LOL. Played div 1 all four years of college his choice and he grew LOL....

OP bottom line I know a lot of people think sports are the be the end all but seriously LAX or soccer LOL. My kid understands this as well.

I agree with previous posters tennis, swimming, shot put, and golf running all great for anyone.

LOL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wrestling. You compete against your own size and a great college team needs all the weight classes.

Cutting weight is so unhealthy. I love wrestling as a sport, and would be happy for my kid to do it if they could compete at their actual weight, but at least back in the day, that wouldn't be allowed.

I wrestled in HS and had to cut weight. I'm sure it still happens at the varsity level, but at the youth/MS level there is no cutting weight.

Heck, the kids end up wresting kids plus/minus 10-15 pounds of your kids weight just because its all about getting as many matches in on meet day as possible.

It's absolutely not a risk for a middle school kid. And for a freshman or sophomore, content to just be on JV, they won't have to worry about cutting weight either

The coaches say one thing to parents and a different thing to the wrestlers. You are fooling yourself if you think cutting weight isn’t encouraged in youth wrestling. No, they don’t have to make a certain weight class to wrestle but if they drop x pounds before weigh in they are told they will have an advantage. There can be some real eating disorders for these boys. By son had issues for years. I was glad when he stopped wrestling. It all depends on the coaches and the mentality of your kid. I never thought mine would be susceptible to that.

[Anonymous]

19:52 again. I also tbh l wrestling is a great sport but as in all sports, you need to watch the coaches and watch your kid carefully.

[Anonymous]

Do something else other than sport?

[Anonymous]

I feel you, OP. And lots of stories on this thread about short boys who grew a lot in Hs/college but not mine he is just small and it is his dad’s genes, not mine, but I still feel mom-guilt over it! He is/was passionate about sports but really petered out by end of middle school because it was clear he didn’t have a chance to make the basketball or baseball teams because of his short and petite size. He did run XC in high school which he never loved but at least it gave him a team. He also tried very hard to lift weights in his upper HS years (and drink protein shakes, etc) bc a lot of boys get into that beyond their primary sport at that age, but he is just not the build to ever have a muscular, strong looking physique. I know there are rogue stories of kids who grow a lot at a later age, but by 17 most boys are full height.