Do you really think the kids are being brought up because it's what's best for the KID, and not what's best for the TEAM she's being brought up to? Most situations are the opposite. Why would it be bad for a strong player to spend a year on the middle school team with her classmates? It really depends on each individual situation, quality & quantity of players available, strength of the teams, who the coach is, etc.
I'm sure most of this is coming from parents who don't want their kids to lose a spot to a younger kid. That's what parents do - look out for their kids' best interests. Mine was brought up too but I definitely see the point of the people on the other side. Especially if it's a case where the player is brought up and doesn't dominate or make any more of an impact as the older kid would have.
Again that's just seems so silly, your kid was brought up and was dominant ? Then she was not brought up in the past 4 years because no 7-8th grader has dominated. If its better for the kids development as a player to play JV or Varsity , regardless of age , then that is where the kid should be as long as the coach ,AD, and parent are all in agreement. As far as making more of an impact than the older kid , that's up to the coach to decide and a young player developing is rarely about them being dominant its really about them playing at a level that they can compete at but that is also challenging for them.
However, it is a big problem when you have an incompetent athletic director, coach who has no involvement or touch with reality on what is going on in that district. On top of that a coach who bypasses players that would have a better impact physically then younger player, maybe not as much skill but sometimes you just need those bigger bodies in there to play. Nothing wrong with playing JV a year or even middle school. Last time I checked girls are still getting recruited out of travel and how they are performing over the summer and fall.
