There is an 8th grade team in your county that could start five 15 year old 8th graders on their middle school team and bring a few more off the bench

 

Maybe,doesn't mean I agree with it..

It is not just southern ky any more either. Its big all over the country now. Many kids in the ville and northern ky doing it too. It is not something new though. I was held back in 8th grade in 1984. My 8TH grade class held 8 back that year.

I've not gone and read the actually release. So based on what is here it means that Kentucky can have a grade based State Championship also?

 

This is better than what we use to have two years ago because there are no 2 year hold backs.

From what I have read of it its the exact same rules as two years ago.

Maybe,doesn't mean I agree with it..

 

Yeah I don't agree either but it is the world we live in now unfortunatley. What cracks me up are the parents that try to say it is for academic or emotional reasons. Be real and just say its for athletics and that for whatever reason you don't think your kid can cut it or be at the level you want them to be at against their own age group and you feel it is best for them to play against younger kids. I can take that rather than trying to say its for academics.

I guess there are some that just hold back to get off on middle victories. We have our kids take practice ACT tests, pre ACT test before we ever take the actual ACT test. That prepares them to take the real test I guess. Having an extra year to prepare for anything cant hurt, especially a year older going out in the real world. To each his own is my opinion as long as they are playing by the rules we are given.

Agree, but will never understand the thought process.

From KBA this morning.

 

They will offer both age based and grade based State Tournaments for middle schoolers.

From KBA this morning.

 

They will offer both age based and grade based State Tournaments for middle schoolers.

 

Age based is great. Grade based you can have over a year age difference. It should all be age based and if you are good enough, play up!

Personally,

I like what they've done with the age situation. I just wish they'd tweak it by moving it to the front of the season.

 

But honestly like Ky Playmaker said. A lot of the best teams don't even play AAU anymore.

 

Based on some information being passed down to my teams. I predict with in 5 years AAU doesn't even deal with high school teams hardly. The shoe companies are starting to control many clubs. When this happens AAU will join up with Nike/UA/Adidas or someone. It's coming.

 

Having kids that are just starting 1st grade and kindergarten I'm starting to look to future basketball options. What leagues do kids play in if they don't play AAU and how young do they start playing more than just a school team? My son is playing little colonels and school this season.

I have a little one ready to start school. I haven't decided yet if i will hold him back now just in case he wants to play basketball. :ylsuper:

I have a little one ready to start school. I haven't decided yet if i will hold him back now just in case he wants to play basketball. :ylsuper:

I guess you are being funny but all cases are not as they seem. My youngest boy went to corner stone christian school for two years of pre school ages 3 and 4 . He has a april b day so the next year it was time to put him in regular school. Corner stone told us he was in no way ready for school. lol he was a little strong headed and caused trouble. they wouldn't even take him back in their school the following year. We made the choice to hold him a year and hoping he matured a little. He did and he has done really well ever since.

Plenty of kids do well with the extra year,but just for athletics is what makes no sense. Maybe do it,but if the kid is superior athleticallylet them play up so it makes them better. That will help even more. I know some schools won't allow because it takes away playing time for others.... that's what upward is for, everybody wins!!! There will always be someone better at something than you are in real life so they need to learn to deal with it.

Age, grade, emotional maturity, athletic ability, and physical development are all variables that should be addressed independently by the parents. If little Johnny is not emotionally or academically mature enough to begin school with everyone else his age, then by all means hold him back a year until he is ready if it will help. This, however, should have no bearing on what group he plays aau basketball for. I know several gifted athletes who failed to ever mature mentally. Why not separate school and aau altogether. They have no relationship. You go to school by their rules and play school ball by their rules. As parents you make educational decisions that work within the rules of the school. Why should this carry over into a summer sport? Make AAU age based and it eliminates all of the confusion with holdbacks and so forth. There should never be an athletic holdback except in college if they want to redshirt you. So if you want to hold your child back to mature more for educational purposes, then by all means do so, but realize that they would be required to play against their age in summer ball. If you are doing it to give them a better chance at playing a sport, then you are not really comparing apples to apples are you?

On this note, I do realize that with every cutoff date there will be kids that are affected negatively by a couple days or a week or so. Kids who may develop slowly. For that reason, I am not opposed to having an exception in AAU that allows for say two per team within a given time period. Possibly two months? It is the teams that are made up of 8 grade exception players who are all up to one year older and physically dominate at events. This is not apples to apples.