Maryville Freshman Class

[GREYRIDER]

there is actually not a junior primary in the MARYVILLE system anymore. as far as holding a child back goes I believe it is up to the parents to make that decision , I have had to make that decision once or twice and it was not based on potential future athletic ability but upon maturity levels and readiness of my children at the time of entry to kindergarten / 1st grade.

[mountainfan9]

Yes, it helps the player and the school if the player is a year more physicaly advanced, it is a situation with no downside. But the way you addressed the question it seems that you disagree and I would like to know why.

 

oldrebel2 after reviewing my comments I have realized I may have presented a slight inaccuracy instead of saying most potenialy athletic males, I probably should have said all males who do not excel exceedingly in academics are put in Junior Primary but the sentiment of my comments was accurate.

 

 

If a child is held back because they are not keeping up with there peers in class, or they seem to struggle with the social aspect I think it is ok for parents to hold kids back. If it is done just to let them develop physically or to wait for a spot on a team to open up it is wrong, as parents we are supposed to prepare them for life after school and for most football will not be there future. I don't understand how holding them back is good for the school like you said unless the only thing that matters is to keep the dynasty alive.

[MaryvilleRebels]

Many of the kids did got o JP. My little brother is now a sophomore at Maryville. He will be 17 in December. He went to JP. He went to JP because he was a POTENTIAL ATHLETE. My parents made this decision (more on why below). When my little brother was 4 years old he was hitting home runs out of MLL's coach pitch field. I mean hitting them into the creek, not just barely over. When he was 3 years old some of the guys on my older brother's traveling baseball team were tossing him a pitching machine ball. He hit it so hard that it broke a ladies nose from about 45 feet away. The kid also had a better glove and arm than most 9 year olds did, and he was only 4 and had never actually played organized baseball. He was dominant in coach pitch and when the decision came to put him in JP my parents didn't hesitate.

 

Why my parents did it:

 

My older brother is a very smart guy. He graduated from Maryville College with a 3.97 and is a 4th year medical student at the moment. When he was in the 8th grade he was much younger than the rest of his class. Due to this my parents wanted to hold him back. He wasn't physically mature and wouldn't be able to compete in sports. The middle school would not allow him to stay another year and stated that they had no more to teach him. He entered the 9th grade and that same week he turned 13 years old. Most his classmates were already 14 turning 15, and some 15 turning 16. My brother was a darn good baseball player. The age difference killed him in baseball. He tried for two years to make the high school team, but just wasn't mature enough. Instead he played a couple years of traveling ball. Derrick Calkin's (Calkin was an ace for Maryville and went on to pitch for Carson Newman, could have gone in the MLB draft, but pulled his name out) team of 13 and 14 year olds (his dad was the coach) would consistently pick my brother up to play for them in big out of state tournaments. Every time my brother played with the team he was their ace and Derrick went to number 2. Since my brother never got to play high school baseball he didn't improve a whole lot. Despite that he walked on at MC (they accept everyone) and developed a nasty circle change. He didn't get to pitch much during the regular season because he was constantly in science labs preparing for medical school, but during the summer league games he was the team's ace. His junior year, his last year of summer ball, he finished the two month long summer league with an era below 1.00. He did this with a fastball that wasn't much faster than 75 and a circle change that dropped off the table. There is no telling how much more potential he might have had if he had been tutored and groomed for 4 years during high school.

 

So that is why my parents chose to put my little brother in JP. They saw how much it can help or hurt an athlete.

 

Sorry for the long post.

[MaryvilleRebels]

If a child is held back because they are not keeping up with there peers in class, or they seem to struggle with the social aspect I think it is ok for parents to hold kids back. If it is done just to let them develop physically or to wait for a spot on a team to open up it is wrong, as parents we are supposed to prepare them for life after school and for most football will not be there future. I don't understand how holding them back is good for the school like you said unless the only thing that matters is to keep the dynasty alive.

 

 

How is it good? Well an older child will probably be able to pay more attention in class. They get an EXTRA year of school and an extra year of free education. When they get to high school they will be more mature and will be able to handle the change much better. They should also be able to think more critically due to having a brain that is further developed. So they can actually prepare for college rather than doing mindless busy work. On top of this they can get physically stronger and be better prepared to face an athletic field. Not only does this give them an advantage but it also helps them in terms of safety. They will be able to start working out sooner (in terms of school year sooner) and when they finally have to face larger players (seniors) on varsity they will have stronger and more mature bodies. It holds to reason that they will be less likely to get hurt due to this.

[OldRebel2]

There is little doubt that, on occasion, kids are held back or started later for various reasons, including athletics. 'thedumbestpersonalive" posted that generally "ALL" males who show athletic prowess are held back. This is simply not true.

 

BTW, holding a kid back for athletics is NOT WRONG, IMO. Holding a kid back might be the difference between a college scholarship or not. That's a lot of money and if holding a kid back improves the chance of scholarship and might be the difference in being able to even go to college or not, I'm for it at ANY school.

[lumberjack]

There is little doubt that, on occasion, kids are held back or started later for various reasons, including athletics. 'thedumbestpersonalive" posted that generally "ALL" males who show athletic prowess are held back. This is simply not true.

 

BTW, holding a kid back for athletics is NOT WRONG, IMO. Holding a kid back might be the difference between a college scholarship or not. That's a lot of money and if holding a kid back improves the chance of scholarship and might be the difference in being able to even go to college or not, I'm for it at ANY school.

 

 

 

So, should all parent's of "potentially" good athletes hold their children back? There is no way in this world that a parent can tell at the age of five or six whether or not little Johnny or Susie will succeed at sports at the high school level. We all know the percentage of athletes that receive a scholarship after H.S. They should be held back if academically or socially not ready although most catch up anyway. However, it is a parent's perogative to hold back for whatever reason. Just not sure if I agree on holding them back for sports. My son was not held back and has a late spring birthday. He is a starter on (not a senior) an MHS team. So his youth has not hurt him.

[fairplay2121]

So, should all parent's of "potentially" good athletes hold their children back? There is no way in this world that a parent can tell at the age of five or six whether or not little Johnny or Susie will succeed at sports at the high school level. We all know the percentage of athletes that receive a scholarship after H.S. They should be held back if academically or socially not ready although most catch up anyway. However, it is a parent's perogative to hold back for whatever reason. Just not sure if I agree on holding them back for sports. My son was not held back and has a late spring birthday. He is a starter on (not a senior) an MHS team. So his youth has not hurt him.

 

Interesting discussion. I will throw some thoughts out there.

 

I have seen several kids held back in elementary school due to athletics. Sometimes it is blatently to gain an athletic advantage. Other times it is due to a child struggling in studies because they are in year round baseball, basketball, and play football, leaving little or no time for studies. I think it is a potentially dangerous thing to send the message that athletics are more important than academics. Usually, this is done by parents that do not realize how few actually get scholarships or go on to play on a professional level. A few other parents in this camp are those ridiculous parents trying to achieve the popularity for their children that they wanted when they were young.

 

The question becomes, Is the extra year for those held back helping a child struggling with maturity and academics or is it designed to make him look like a man amoung kids in middle school and high school? I am not trying to judge their intentions or whether it is right or wrong. It is a parent's call. For the sake of fairness, I am not sure that a senior that has graduated on time should be lose a scholarship to a child who is a year older than him because he was held back. However, that is up to the University. My experience is that the extra year looks huge during puberty, (6th grade - 11th grade) but levels off later on. However, the only fair thing would be to change the age for start up for all kids. Let the ones that want to accelerate academically do so. Those that can't keep up should be excluded from extracurricular activites so that they can focus on school. It seems like that would make for a level playing field.

[OldRebel2]

So, should all parent's of "potentially" good athletes hold their children back? There is no way in this world that a parent can tell at the age of five or six whether or not little Johnny or Susie will succeed at sports at the high school level. We all know the percentage of athletes that receive a scholarship after H.S. They should be held back if academically or socially not ready although most catch up anyway. However, it is a parent's perogative to hold back for whatever reason. Just not sure if I agree on holding them back for sports. My son was not held back and has a late spring birthday. He is a starter on (not a senior) an MHS team. So his youth has not hurt him.

 

 

I'm just saying that if a parent decides to do it for athletics at any school, I don't have a problem with it and, in fact, if the TSSAA had a real problem with it, the maximum age for players as of Aug 1 (at the beginning of the school year) would be lowered from 18 to 17. A player can turn 19 anytime AFTER Aug 1 and still be eligible to participate in HS sports.

 

It is a fact, according to experts, that kids mature physically and mentally at different rates....usually + or - 2 years. I agree that it would be very hard to predict at age 5 whether a child will succeed in sports, but holding the child back certainly won't decrease his/her chances. Sending "a very young one" on MIGHT decrease those chances for success academically, socially and/or athletically, but a parent couldn't know for sure till much later. You are right that it probably has not hurt your son, but someone else’s son may be much further behind on the maturation curve with the same birthday as your son. This matter is obviously is not one size fits all so I refuse to criticize those who do it. (BTW, I didn't do it either with any of my boys)

[GREYRIDER]

I really do not see where there is anything unfair about this practice. It has gone on since Iwas young. When my wife and I were faced with this decision the first time it was purely on the basis of whether or not my child was ready to move on or not , not whether the child was possibly destined for some type of athletic greatness. The second time it was suggested to us by faculty at the preschool where my child attended we chose not to delay in either case. I believe that in 99.9% of the cases the parents will make the decision to delay or not based on what is best for their child and not what is best for everyone else. Now I do believe based on personal knowledge that when high school age youth reach their senior year and they have been delayed their maturity levels (mentally , emotionally & sometimes physically) tend to be higher or further along and this makes them better leaders most of the time. imo I really hate it when we start trying to micro manage the playing field of life on everything because this makes us complacent as a society and it does not endorse healthy competition which is what drives as humans. Life is not fair and everybody does not win , this is reality.

[STARSNBARS]

Fellers we haid a kid in hour klass at tha 'Wick and he wuz 16 in tha 6th graid....He didunt wont to be helt back butt tha teechurs wood 'unt lett him go on..... /blink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":blink:" border="0" alt="blink.gif" /> .......Hit did haiv sum good bennyfits... he wuz a hit wif tha 6th graid gurls when 'st he drove hiz 396 Chevelle two skool... /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

[lumberjack]

Interesting discussion. I will throw some thoughts out there.

 

I have seen several kids held back in elementary school due to athletics. Sometimes it is blatently to gain an athletic advantage. Other times it is due to a child struggling in studies because they are in year round baseball, basketball, and play football, leaving little or no time for studies. I think it is a potentially dangerous thing to send the message that athletics are more important than academics. Usually, this is done by parents that do not realize how few actually get scholarships or go on to play on a professional level. A few other parents in this camp are those ridiculous parents trying to achieve the popularity for their children that they wanted when they were young.

 

The question becomes, Is the extra year for those held back helping a child struggling with maturity and academics or is it designed to make him look like a man amoung kids in middle school and high school? I am not trying to judge their intentions or whether it is right or wrong. It is a parent's call. For the sake of fairness, I am not sure that a senior that has graduated on time should be lose a scholarship to a child who is a year older than him because he was held back. However, that is up to the University. My experience is that the extra year looks huge during puberty, (6th grade - 11th grade) but levels off later on. However, the only fair thing would be to change the age for start up for all kids. Let the ones that want to accelerate academically do so. Those that can't keep up should be excluded from extracurricular activites so that they can focus on school. It seems like that would make for a level playing field.

 

 

You make a lot of sense. I know parent's personally who would rather their children excel in sports than in the classroom. They are OK with a C on the grade card as long as they are scoring touchdowns on the field or baskets on the court. Way too many parent's are waiting on U.T., Florida, Michgan, etc. to come calling.

[MaryvilleRebels]

My parents held my little brother back for athletics, and nothing more. They didn't think that he might get a scholarship if he were held back. They didn't care about that. They just knew that when tryouts for hihg school came around (8th-9th grade) he would be more mature and would have better control over his body than the other kids if he were older. Since my older brother failed to make high school sports due to his age, he clearly had the talent, my parents didn't want the same to happen to my younger brother. They saw potential in him to be a great baseball player, but of course that doesn't mean anything. He has given up baseball and is focusing on football. My parents aren't waiting for any big D-1 offers or any offers. They still make sure he has straight As and the extra year probably gives him a slight advantage over some other kids and allows him to play a little sooner.