Setting ANY age limit will penalize certain kids versus others. I first thought, heck, maybe the limit should be that a high school athlete cannot turn 20 before the end of the school year. However, thinking about it, I think the age cut off must be BEFORE school starts. If not, can you imagine schools? I know if this was the rule and I was on the calendar committee, I would GUARANTEE that I established the last day of school before my stud turned 20.

I don't believe any kid should be held back for sports, but if a student is held back due to academics or medical condition should they be punished for this.

 

I have a son that will not get to play his senior season because of the current age limit, he is presently a freshman. The reason for his ineligilbility is while serving in the Army the family was station in Korea. His mother was diagnose with brain cancer near the end of the school year. To treat her cancer the family moved back to the states near the end of the year. When arriving in the states the board of Education (KY) decided that in his best interest the child should should stay in the same grade. Since than his mother has past, and now we find out that he is not eligible to play his senior year. Wow like getting kick in the ribs when your down.

 

First he is no super star, but sports provided a good avenue for him to take. I believe there should be a case by case decision on age limit. Nothing should be writen in stone, because it will leave some deserving young man or women behind, when this might be there best opportunity. After all isn't this the state where Education pays.

I think we sometimes forget that not all kids or thier families are normal. the parents did the right thing by holding the girl back so she could improve her reading. I see no reason why this girl should not be allowed to play another year, I don't really think we need kids on the feild that are 20 all the time but I do feel there are circumstances that qualify for an exception, being held back for academic reasons (not failing) or a serious illness or something should be allowed. Maybe the solution is to come up with a strict appeal process that would need to be filed and reviewed by the KHSAA. We do have such a process for a fifth year of competition in kentucky don't we, why not for an age exception.

 

Hard and fast rules are the only way to go in this area. Being held back does not forbid a child from athletics. Being held back two years does.

JD Dog

 

I totally agree with your post I personally think the current rule is good in most cases but I believe that there must be some exceptions sports are for the kids.

JD Dog, & Old-One I can understand you points but if you allow a few things to get by then you open the flood gates of every possible complaint there is. Example( He/she was born a month early, I was unable to send him/her to school at the right time (money). I moved at the wrong time and the school wouldn't allow him/her to start on time.) The list just begins. I know it's bad and if we could change it for a chosen few I'm all for it but reality is you can't. You really can't have late 19 year old kids play sports with 16 year olds.

Here's a funny one...but legal...

 

Tony Driver's birthday is 25 days before mine, same year.....

 

I graduated in 1995, he graduated in 1997 :scared:

If there is no hard and fast cut-off, then we'll just end up with Texas football !! (LOL)

Hard and fast rules are the only way to go in this area. Being held back does not forbid a child from athletics. Being held back two years does.

 

 

Thank you. A familar voice of reason.:thumb:

If I remember correctly, when I played high school ball many years ago, you could complete the sport you were participating in when you turned 19 but play no further sports. I remember a player who turned 19 in January, finished the basketball season, but could not play baseball. That seemed fairly reasonable at the time.

I didnt say enforcing the rule would be easy, the right thing is not always the easiest way. However I am confident that if it could be totally messed up our KHSAA would be the ones to do it.

I am 20 years old, and will not turn 21 till June. I will be a senior in college (credits wise) before I am 21!!!

 

19 or 20 is wayyyy to old to be playing HS sports IMO. I think the current rule is pretty solid, but I still think that the difference between a 14 yr old freshman and a 19 year old senior is a HUGE gap. No way a kid should be 20 and playing HS sports at all.

 

The goal IMO should be to keep the age limit between 14-18. That is 4 years, and still quite a large gap, but fair IMO. I think the current rule does this, but you still have a few kids who make the cut and end up playing their senior year at the age of 19.

I remember having a lot of the guys on the team who were only a grade above me but about 3 years older than me in high school. It's a pretty big jump considering how much your body changes within those years. I won't be 20 until my 3rd year of college.

 

I remember that too in high school. It is a big difference. Just one year can make a difference. Sometimes that really good player was two years older than his peers. It has it's advantages. Nineteen years after Aug. 1 is ok and fair. Twenty is a little to old. My brother graduated from college not long after he turned twenty.

If I remember correctly, when I played high school ball many years ago, you could complete the sport you were participating in when you turned 19 but play no further sports. I remember a player who turned 19 in January, finished the basketball season, but could not play baseball. That seemed fairly reasonable at the time.

When I played HS ball you could play until you turned 20, then you were done. It was changed to turning 19 on three separate dates. Fall sports was before Aug 1, Winter sports was before Nov 1 ( I think ) and Spring sports was before Feb 1 ( I think ) But I know there were 3 cutoff dates. I maybe wrong on the winter and spring dates, but don't think so. I don't remember the exact year this new rule was adopted by KHSAA. I do agree that it would create a major problem if the date was changed for one particular athlete.

I think we sometimes forget that not all kids or thier families are normal. the parents did the right thing by holding the girl back so she could improve her reading. I see no reason why this girl should not be allowed to play another year, I don't really think we need kids on the feild that are 20 all the time but I do feel there are circumstances that qualify for an exception, being held back for academic reasons (not failing) or a serious illness or something should be allowed. Maybe the solution is to come up with a strict appeal process that would need to be filed and reviewed by the KHSAA. We do have such a process for a fifth year of competition in kentucky don't we, why not for an age exception.

 

See these two by-laws regarding age and number years of eligibility:

 

http://www.khsaa.org/handbook/bylaws/bylaw3.pdf

http://www.khsaa.org/handbook/bylaws/bylaw4.pdf

 

The only exception to gain another year would be if the student was prevented from schooling because of an illness. Say a student has cancer and is in the hospital for 6 months. They could have an extra year of eligibility. However, there is no provision if an illness or injury only limits participation in sports. If the student is able to attend school there is no exception.

I could have started school a year earlier than I did, but my parents held me back a year. So I started kindergarten when I was five and turned six in October. I managed to be eligible under these same rules my whole high school career.

 

It sounds like in this case, the parents held the girl out of school an extra year and then she needed to be held back again. She would have been 6 when we started kindergarten, 7 when we was in first and then 8 when she repeated first grade. I guess that is a gamble you take when you start your child a year later in school. If the child's birthday is before August 1, you cannot hold the child back if you start the child a year late.