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

[Anonymous]

If it’s as common as some say it is there will be some students who will be so upset they are a year behind their peers and didn’t get any Division 1 offers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If it’s as common as some say it is there will be some students who will be so upset they are a year behind their peers and didn’t get any Division 1 offers.

It's usually just done for kids who could get a lower level offer on the regular time frame but reclass to get a better D1 offer. I actually don't know anyone that reclassed and then didn't get a super competitive offer.

I know DCUM likes to think that parents are completely delusional but most are not and won't do something like this unless it's an extremely well thought out decision.

[Anonymous]

My cousin's son is a star hockey player. After his Freshmen year, an elite boarding school in New England recruited him to come to their school. While he had mostly As, they had him repeat Freshmen year with them---redshirt is very common in hockey. It's a big sport at the elite boarding schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

No, it's works all the time. I know a boy who repeated 8th grade and just started at Princeton (baseball commit), class of 2023. Several others who repeated a grade and just committed to Penn, Duke, and Cornell for lacrosse , class of 2024.

It happens all the time for lacrosse. These kids aren't bad athletes. They're very good but getting an additional edge for Ivy level recruiting. The ivies and similar take almost only reclassed kids for lacrosse (kids who did one grade twice).

it's not my kids but it's very, very common

Ivies like them older. They have incoming 20-year olds at their ID camps that did gap years, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

No, it's works all the time. I know a boy who repeated 8th grade and just started at Princeton (baseball commit), class of 2023. Several others who repeated a grade and just committed to Penn, Duke, and Cornell for lacrosse , class of 2024.

It happens all the time for lacrosse. These kids aren't bad athletes. They're very good but getting an additional edge for Ivy level recruiting. The ivies and similar take almost only reclassed kids for lacrosse (kids who did one grade twice).

it's not my kids but it's very, very common

Ivies like them older. They have incoming 20-year olds at their ID camps that did gap years, etc.

I would think a 20 year old freshman would be embarrassed when held back academically. If funny as this stuff is not developmentally appropriate to hold back kids as they are not with their peers. So glad the sports we do is by age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

College soccer is by grad year, not birth year. High school soccer is also by grad year so the 15-year old Freshmen are at an advantage over the incoming 13/14 year olds.

Birth year absolutely sucks for Club soccer (club soccer is where recruiting matters, not high school) because you end up with a 'trapped player'. My son has a late September bday so he wasn't redshirted--he missed the school cutoff and was a late Fall bday. Everyone on his team graduated the year prior. It really messes them up in 8th grade when 90% of the team is playing high school in the spring and for many leagues that don't have any (or only a few games).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

No, it's works all the time. I know a boy who repeated 8th grade and just started at Princeton (baseball commit), class of 2023. Several others who repeated a grade and just committed to Penn, Duke, and Cornell for lacrosse , class of 2024.

It happens all the time for lacrosse. These kids aren't bad athletes. They're very good but getting an additional edge for Ivy level recruiting. The ivies and similar take almost only reclassed kids for lacrosse (kids who did one grade twice).

it's not my kids but it's very, very common

Ivies like them older. They have incoming 20-year olds at their ID camps that did gap years, etc.

I would think a 20 year old freshman would be embarrassed when held back academically. If funny as this stuff is not developmentally appropriate to hold back kids as they are not with their peers. So glad the sports we do is by age.

No. All the Ivies and many top D1 schools have graduate students on their rosters. Notre Dame's quarterback is 24 years old.

It's different nowadays. College players are older.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Happens all the time in baseball--it's now called "reclassifying." Boys usually repeat 6th, 7th, or 8th grade, and thus are physically larger and stronger than their peers. Plus, the extra year of maturity doesn't hurt in the classroom, especially for high school!

One of our coaches asked us if we would consider having our son reclassify (i.e., repeat 8th grade at a private school). He did not, in large part because school always comes first, but given that he's a young 9th grader, sometimes I wonder if we should have done it for the executive function alone!

Being a year older and ignoring the issues will not fix the issues. Supporting your child and/or getting them support is what can help.

A year difference can make a HUGE difference for boys sports. Huge.

I disagree with it, and would not do this for my son- but I can definitely see why people choose to do so.

+100

We didn't do it, but my boys are late growers. They didn't hit their growth spurts until Junior year. 5'4" Freshmen, 5'6" Sophomores. 6'2" Seniors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yet another reason to avoid private schools.

I know plenty of public kids that do this also.

[Anonymous]

does it help for sports like golf?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Happens all the time in baseball--it's now called "reclassifying." Boys usually repeat 6th, 7th, or 8th grade, and thus are physically larger and stronger than their peers. Plus, the extra year of maturity doesn't hurt in the classroom, especially for high school!

One of our coaches asked us if we would consider having our son reclassify (i.e., repeat 8th grade at a private school). He did not, in large part because school always comes first, but given that he's a young 9th grader, sometimes I wonder if we should have done it for the executive function alone!

Being a year older and ignoring the issues will not fix the issues. Supporting your child and/or getting them support is what can help.

A year difference can make a HUGE difference for boys sports. Huge.

I disagree with it, and would not do this for my son- but I can definitely see why people choose to do so.

+100

We didn't do it, but my boys are late growers. They didn't hit their growth spurts until Junior year. 5'4" Freshmen, 5'6" Sophomores. 6'2" Seniors.

You cannot change genetics. I have a short kid. I doubt he’ll ever be super tall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

+ a million. Sports obsessed parents are pure nuts. Career-ending injuries happen all the time.

Assuming the kid was good enough to begin with. Parents have grand ideas then reality smacks them in the face.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

College soccer is by grad year, not birth year. High school soccer is also by grad year so the 15-year old Freshmen are at an advantage over the incoming 13/14 year olds.

Birth year absolutely sucks for Club soccer (club soccer is where recruiting matters, not high school) because you end up with a 'trapped player'. My son has a late September bday so he wasn't redshirted--he missed the school cutoff and was a late Fall bday. Everyone on his team graduated the year prior. It really messes them up in 8th grade when 90% of the team is playing high school in the spring and for many leagues that don't have any (or only a few games).

My son has a September birthday and started a year younger than yours. Zero issues. Most of these kids are not going to be professional athletes so this is about the competitive parents, not kids. Academics should come first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Happens all the time in baseball--it's now called "reclassifying." Boys usually repeat 6th, 7th, or 8th grade, and thus are physically larger and stronger than their peers. Plus, the extra year of maturity doesn't hurt in the classroom, especially for high school!

One of our coaches asked us if we would consider having our son reclassify (i.e., repeat 8th grade at a private school). He did not, in large part because school always comes first, but given that he's a young 9th grader, sometimes I wonder if we should have done it for the executive function alone!

Being a year older and ignoring the issues will not fix the issues. Supporting your child and/or getting them support is what can help.

A year difference can make a HUGE difference for boys sports. Huge.

I disagree with it, and would not do this for my son- but I can definitely see why people choose to do so.

+100

We didn't do it, but my boys are late growers. They didn't hit their growth spurts until Junior year. 5'4" Freshmen, 5'6" Sophomores. 6'2" Seniors.

You cannot change genetics. I have a short kid. I doubt he’ll ever be super tall.

I'm the person you quoted and I agree. My family is full of late growers and men are all 5'11"-6'3". Based on my and my husband's genetic and late growers on both sides of the family---and the fact my kids had open growth plates at age 14-15 when they both had xrays (one his ankle, the other his arm/wrist) we knew they would grow.

It still doesn't matter. We didn't hold either back. But- I definitely see the one with the Fall bday (non-red shirt) at least didn't suffer as bad or was as far behind in growth than the spring bday who was on time. They are both good athletes so could make the HS team---but soccer being birth year there were some years they were much less physically developed (6th-9th grade) than the vast majority on their team.

[Anonymous]

Why reclassify in 7th-9th grade though? It is something that you can easily put off with a post grad year if it is actually needed. In basketball, football, and hockey, this happens regularly. Competition and skill development wise, I think it hurts you to reclass as a late middle schooler or early high schooler. You could even take a PG year at a place like IMG that is almost ALL about the sport.