cobracoach Posted September 10, 2015 Report Share Posted September 10, 2015 TO: TSSAA Legislative Council and Board of Controls FROM: Jay Lowery, Huntingdon High School DATE: September 21, 2015 SUBJECT: 8th Grade eligibility This proposal is in regards to 8th graders being eligible to play at the High School level when they are housed in the same building. Numerous 1A (Single A) schools throughout the state are located in one small town with a middle school at a different location, but in the same town. Their student population may be the same as those that are in the same building, however, they are not eligible under the current stipulations for eligibility. This is giving some students 5 years of valuable experience at the high school level. As we all know experience is a very valuable component for athletes. Some sports are affected differently as to when their middle school season is over only allowing a portion (4 1/2 years) of the high school season. However, Spring sports does give athletes a full five years of eligibility. We are seeing parents, players, friends, etc. encouraging (recruiting) players to enroll in their school, which is all under one building, in order to have more eligibility. We are also seeing middle school girls attending summer camps with the high school team at a high school only camp. Our proposal is to allow schools located in one town with only one middle school within one school district to be eligible to move up to the high school sports once their middle school (8th grade) season is complete. Therefore these are the items for consideration within this proposal. Students enrolled in a school district with one middle school and one high school be allowed to play high school sports once their middle school season is over. By setting the ruling with a student population for a certain number or less be allowed to play high school sports once their middle school season is over. Eliminate 8th graders the ability to move up at all. I would be happy to discuss this further with you and express the ramifications this would have for Tennessee athletes should this proposal be considered. The following signatures are supporting this proposal. If you are a high school coach and you support this proposal please contact Coach Jay Lowery at jlowery3@k12tn.net and let him know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hrdcrwrestler Posted September 10, 2015 Report Share Posted September 10, 2015 Not wanting to ruffle feathers but why should any athletes be treated any different from other athletes. I feel that if an 8th grade kid can handle high school competition then let them compete. The only rule should be that if you go up to high school level, you must stay at high school level. That would mean no middle school wrestling at any level! I would have loved the same opportunity to have sent my 3 boys to high school level as 8th graders! I have always seen this as an unfair advantage to certain lucky kids! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newestguy Posted September 11, 2015 Report Share Posted September 11, 2015 (edited) Why would some 8th graders be able to compete and not others simply because the buildings touch, or they have a common Principal or they're in a small town? That makes zero since. Either allow all 8th graders to be eligible or none. Edited September 11, 2015 by Newestguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pantheon Posted September 12, 2015 Report Share Posted September 12, 2015 (edited) Why would some 8th graders be able to compete and not others simply because the buildings touch, or they have a common Principal or they're in a small town? That makes zero since. Either allow all 8th graders to be eligible or none. I imagine the reason is related to transportation for HS practice. Not all 8th graders would have access to transportation. Public school systems would be expected/pressured to provide the service, which would be added expenses and logistically difficult for some school systems. So, the rule allowing 8th graders to compete up if MS and HS share facilities appears to be a compromise. Given institutions like the TSSAA (see also NCAA) paint every issue with one broad brush, small towns with MS & HS on different campuses would not get special consideration. If there are some instances, I'm not aware of any. -TH Edited September 12, 2015 by pantheon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbg Posted September 12, 2015 Report Share Posted September 12, 2015 (edited) I am for allowing everyone the opportunity to compete. If it helps teams have a full lineup by using 8th graders, I don't care if they are on the same campus as the high school or on the moon. It's time for all of the political correctness to be thrown out of athletics and let's just get after it for a state title. For whatever reason we have allowed soft people to become the decision makers in this country and the result is that we are raising a generation of soft kids. Edited September 12, 2015 by cbg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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