4 hours ago, Hoopstars said:

Interesting- my experience is the opposite- more- in fact many many boys start schooling later- enter kindergarten when 6 and repeats occur less often. 

I understand the advantages of that - you lay them out in an earlier post.  But think about what that requires:  it requires the presumption of above average athletic ability when a kid is 5 or 6 years old, and holding them back on that basis.  You're just not going to see that much in Jefferson or, especially, Oldham County.   Just not the culture.  If a kid is an athletics standout, then you some repeating a grade, but you won't know that until the kid is close to or even in middle school.  All of this reminds me of stories I've heard about counties down I-75 close to the Tennessee border.  When my oldest kid was in middle school and we played in the "state tournament" at the old KBA in Lexington, we got the final four one year and played a team from Pulaski County.  Now, I know some parents just insist that bigger stronger opposing kids are automatically older, it's a built in excuse for losing.  And I know some kids just develop early, and look like they are 15 when they are 12.  Check.  But you'll have to trust me when I say the entire team appeared to be much older than 6th grade.  At the half, my wife overheard one dad telling his son to settle down, and to "go out and have a smoke if you need to" to calm down.  heh.  Later, one of my younger son's coaches had taught in that area of the state and confirmed that it was common practice for boys to be held back, long before you could tell whether they were athletic or not. I asked him what the principal of the school thought of that - his kid was a holdback, too!  he said........

The issue that you run into if a kid is held back is their confidence. As many of you have mentioned before, when you are younger your confidence will be higher than relatively everyone's that you are playing against. However, you might run into some problems when they begin to grow older. 

When you are dominating at your age, most decide to begin playing up. When playing up at a young age (any age before middle school) you won't see a huge jump in skill level and athleticism. This allows the kids confidence to grow even more than it already was. Once you begin playing middle school, the gap from 6th-8th grade is relatively large, and that is where if kids are playing up to 8th grade as 6th graders you will not dominate the game, but can still handle their own. 

Now let's face it, when you are a kid starting varsity as an 8th grader your team is not very good at the time. When you lose night after night, your confidence begins to fall. Let alone the fact that you are playing against kids possibly 4-5 years older than you each game. 

Everyone says the experience is great, but I do not think people take the mental aspect into it. Most kids are going to struggle as an 8th grader starting varsity (unless your name is Travis Perry), and those struggles could possibly be the first in their basketball career. I think the differences of how they handle those struggles is what makes a great player, or not so great player. 

The biggest example is Teagan Moore, played on a horrendous team for a couple years, appeared in the region his sophmore year thanks to his 50+ point performance in the semifinals of the district tournament. Last year he won his first district title, and now he is looking for his teams second consecutive title and possibly a run in the regional tournament. 

6 minutes ago, Adrian Woj Burner said:

The issue that you run into if a kid is held back is their confidence. As many of you have mentioned before, when you are younger your confidence will be higher than relatively everyone's that you are playing against. However, you might run into some problems when they begin to grow older. 

When you are dominating at your age, most decide to begin playing up. When playing up at a young age (any age before middle school) you won't see a huge jump in skill level and athleticism. This allows the kids confidence to grow even more than it already was. Once you begin playing middle school, the gap from 6th-8th grade is relatively large, and that is where if kids are playing up to 8th grade as 6th graders you will not dominate the game, but can still handle their own. 

Now let's face it, when you are a kid starting varsity as an 8th grader your team is not very good at the time. When you lose night after night, your confidence begins to fall. Let alone the fact that you are playing against kids possibly 4-5 years older than you each game. 

Everyone says the experience is great, but I do not think people take the mental aspect into it. Most kids are going to struggle as an 8th grader starting varsity (unless your name is Travis Perry), and those struggles could possibly be the first in their basketball career. I think the differences of how they handle those struggles is what makes a great player, or not so great player. 

The biggest example is Teagan Moore, played on a horrendous team for a couple years, appeared in the region his sophmore year thanks to his 50+ point performance in the semifinals of the district tournament. Last year he won his first district title, and now he is looking for his teams second consecutive title and possibly a run in the regional tournament. 

All good points. To me I don’t begrudge a parent for starting a kid late or holding a kid back. I do feel like there is a “stigma” to hold backs vs late starters which I don’t totally get. Let’s face it- biology is the gigantic/overwhelming factor for kids who have great success middle school to early high school. No one can control how fast they grow/develop. You can be in the same grade as another kid and be 10 months younger and 2 years less physically developed.  It’s usually, not always, not an advantage when you hold back- it just gets you to equal…the late starter kid- if they also develop early can be 2-3 years or more ahead of their classmates for years on end. Incredible difference!

Teagan Moore has just been named KABC Player of the Year.

How would you compare Teagan to fellow Owen Countian Carson Williams? 

6 minutes ago, Colonel-Rebel Fan said:

How would you compare Teagan to fellow Owen Countian Carson Williams? 

An argument well worth having. I am not sure how I want to go with it. Moore's stats blows Williams' out of the water, however Williams teammates were a lot more skilled in my eyes. In order for OC to win those big games this year, Moore has to do relatively all of the work, whereas Williams didn't have to. 

I do however think that Williams will wound up being the better college player out of the two.