Originally Posted by Anonymous
Originally Posted by Anonymous
To all the parents and players that are knotted up inside over the holdback issue. It all goes away next year. My son is a 2019 player and look at how quiet that board is. All those kids care about is playing on their JV or Varsity teams. The kids are all lumped in together now and no one cares how old you are. 100 kids are committed out of the 2019 class. Some of them are holdbacks and some of them aren't. For the most part, the first kids that committed were the exceptionally big/strong/fast kids and in some cases, those kids were holdbacks and they are committed to the big D1 programs. My son tells me that it is all starting to balance out. Some kids are growing while getting better and some have stopped growing and are not getting better. The playing field is getting more and more level. The good news is that there are a ton of spots left and many of the top academic schools have not committed anyone yet. My worries about the holdback issue when my son was in 7th and 8th grade are a distant memory. My son is having fun, he loves playing for his HS team and he knows that his grades are really all that matters. He has had some good interaction with some good D1 programs that he is interested in. This summer is a big summer for him and his class. All the while, the playing field continues to level.
Enjoy it, it is flying by.

I concur with this post as well. My 2019 is growing and playing JV high school ball. And he is doing well. He is pumped for this summer in his words I am going to get so much better and make Varsity next year. He is on age for 2019. But checking in on this site and bringing up the hold back issue its hard not to think if we had held him back how much he would be killing it playing this spring with his top travel 2020 team.


Exactly why people hold their child back. It does give some..not all.. an advantage.There is no question about it. That is why it goes against all principles of fair play in youth athletics to base teams at the youth level on grade.And this is especially true in Mid Atlantic region where there is an epidemic of children held back at prefirst and then 8th grade. Youths with an extra year are overall better. All these shouting proponents of grade base teams just show their true character. Spin it anyway you want..They want an advantage that everyone does not get at youth level.