In KY you are ineligible for all sports if you turn 19 before 8.1 of your senior year.

 

Indiana? As long as you do not turn 20 before the state championship of your sport you are eligible.

 

Two kids:

 

One kid born on 12.25 and will turn 20 this on Christmas.

 

Another kid who is in his correct grade but his birthday is 8.31.

 

So in game one on 8.15 you could have a kid/young man who is 19.75 years old going against a kid who is two weeks shy of his 15th birthday.

In KY you are ineligible for all sports if you turn 19 before 8.1 of your senior year.

 

Indiana? As long as you do not turn 20 before the state championship of your sport you are eligible.

 

Two kids:

 

One kid born on 12.25 and will turn 20 this on Christmas.

 

Another kid who is in his correct grade but his birthday is 8.31.

 

So in game one on 8.15 you could have a kid/young man who is 19.75 years old going against a kid who is two weeks shy of his 15th birthday.

 

Wow I am surprised we haven't seen a lot of kids move to Indiana for sports.

Heck, wait too much longer and some players in Indiana can go have a beer to celebrate winning a state title.

I am not suprised at the Indiana eligibilty, and here is why. (Not trying to defend anything here--just stating some facts.) I have a kid born in Indiana, on June 30th, 1994. When she started kindergarten in Indiana, the kindergarten cut-off date was JUNE 1st--so she missed the cut-off, and started kindergarten at age 6. Eventually moved to KY, and she is of course quite "old" for her grade. She will turn 19 on June 30th, a month after graduation. Now--if she ever had to repeat a grade for some reason, she would be even "older", starting senior year already 19 years old, and turn 20 the month after graduation.

Since then Indiana moved the cut-off, and I am pretty sure that the current cut-off date for the Indiana is now August 1st. But that date did not happen until 2002. So basicly, the high school kids in Indiana right now will tend to be older...as the summer birthday kids had to wait a year to start kindergarten. And if those "older" summer birthday kids ever repeated a grade---they would be turning 20 right around graduation time.

Again--just stating the facts. I firmly beleive that all 50 states should implement a "National Cut-off standard". I like September 1st, or even August 15th, so all kids start school at age 5. I personally think that Kentucky's Oct. 1st cut-off is late.

All interesting stuff, but I have been shocked at how early people are starting their children in school. My son has an October birthday, so we started him in Kindergarten at age 5 and he turned 6 on October 12th of that same year. So, he will be 18 in October of his senior year. What surprises me is, he is one of the oldest kids in his class. For that to happen many parents had to start their kids at age 4 and let them turn 5 in kindergarten. Heck, he is a year and half older then many in his class. He has never been held back.

All interesting stuff, but I have been shocked at how early people are starting their children in school. My son has an October birthday, so we started him in Kindergarten at age 5 and he turned 6 on October 12th of that same year. So, he will be 18 in October of his senior year. What surprises me is, he is one of the oldest kids in his class. For that to happen many parents had to start their kids at age 4 and let them turn 5 in kindergarten. Heck, he is a year and half older then many in his class. He has never been held back.

 

My daughter turned 18 in October of her senior year.

 

My son, August birthday, turned 17 two weeks after his senior year started. He had a classmate who was 18 months older.

 

Just depends on which side of the 10.1 cutoff date you are.

All interesting stuff, but I have been shocked at how early people are starting their children in school. My son has an October birthday, so we started him in Kindergarten at age 5 and he turned 6 on October 12th of that same year. So, he will be 18 in October of his senior year. What surprises me is, he is one of the oldest kids in his class. For that to happen many parents had to start their kids at age 4 and let them turn 5 in kindergarten. Heck, he is a year and half older then many in his class. He has never been held back.

 

This type of stuff kills me. So many parents nowadays almost make this a flag waving competetion thinking that their child is far more advanced just because they watched a Dora the Explorer video over and over that allowed them to count to 10 in Spanish when they were 4, and they were "advanced". I have two cousins that started each of their boys at age 4 because they thought they were "Advanced" for reasons like I gave above, ironically, they both struggled once they got to be juniors and seniors in high school. I firmly believe their struggles were due to their lack of maturity. My reason? Both of these two boys have younger sisters that graduated high school having been 18 at least half of their senior year and they were Honors/AP type students. As a matter of fact, the two girls are the only ones still on track to finish their degrees. The boys that were "advanced" when they were 4? Mid 20's and nowhere close towards degrees nor have held a steady job for any length of time.

 

There is no doubt in my mind that had the boys been 18 or even 19 years old during their senior year, instead of 17 (immaturity), they'd be up there with the girls. Granted, theres exceptions to every rule, but this opinion is just based off my opinions and observations from members of my family that are on both sides of this age gap (17 or 18/19 when they graduate high school).

At the sametime, to each their own.

Heck, wait too much longer and some players in Indiana can go have a beer to celebrate winning a state title.

Like they've never done that in Ky?:banana:

The flip side of the this is those that intentionally "hold kids back" so they have an athletic advantage. Now I know very specifically of parents who have done this and I find it nauseating. First a kid starts late because they have a close birthday to 10/1 and Kentucky does not enforce you have to start if your birthday is in August so the kid is already older................then he gets held back a year in elementary so that he can be bigger and stronger and in some cases almost 2 years older than many of the kids in his class. That is just as bad as the I think my kid is advanced so i start my kid early. Both types ofd parents are detremental to their own kids.

The flip side of the this is those that intentionally "hold kids back" so they have an athletic advantage. Now I know very specifically of parents who have done this and I find it nauseating. First a kid starts late because they have a close birthday to 10/1 and Kentucky does not enforce you have to start if your birthday is in August so the kid is already older................then he gets held back a year in elementary so that he can be bigger and stronger and in some cases almost 2 years older than many of the kids in his class. That is just as bad as the I think my kid is advanced so i start my kid early. Both types ofd parents are detremental to their own kids.

I agree with your comments about having a child "repeat a grade" so that they will be bigger for sports, especially if they are already older in their grade. One of mine has that late Sept bday, was not ready, and we waited. Then in second grade, he was told he had to repeat--due to learning issues. So yeah--he is older, and in some cases almost 2 yrs older than classmates---will turn 19 in Sept. of Senior yr. Also will add that he pretty much has no interest in sports right now. So for sure, many of those "older kids" "hold back" scenarios is based on sports, but there are those kids that struggled, and parents had to make some difficult decisions.

Looks like Pike could move to Indiana and redo his Junior year! JK

Personally, I abhor holding kids back for sports. Yes, it helps some kids succeed in sports. Is that worth wasting a year of their life? The practice hurts kids who aren't held back. My son, who is a senior, won't be 18 until the end of March, 2011. At the recent Best of the Bluegrass All Star game, he said everyone other "kid" he asked was older than him. Seeing that he's 6' 3" and 285 lbs now, he would have been a monster in high school if he had been held back a year. (If held back, he would have been 265 lbs as a sophomore.) I can't see holding back a kid who is an honor student in the National Honor Society just to garner more recognition in sports. I'd had hated it if my parents had held me back.

 

Unfortunately, too many colleges coaches don't seem to realize or care that a 17 year old 6' 3", 285 lb kid will grow and develop more than one who's 18 or 19.

Hoops 5 your point is exactly why I hate the parents who do it for the wrong reasons. Many students (particularly boys) are too immature at a young age and need extra help, etc. The fact that there are parents who abuse the system for athletics makes me very angry. Good luck with your son!!!!!!!! And yes I too have a child with a Sept. birthday who was not ready for school and needed more maturity. I am glad we waited to send him as he still struggles slightly academically.

Then there is also the flip side to holding your kids back due to, at the time, athletic reasons. Personally, I have encountered several young men and women for that matter that have:

 

1) Turned 17 in August/September of their senior year.

2) Turned 18 in the later half of their senior year.

 

Several of these students could have benefitted long term had they been held back, even if for athletics. The reasons? They would have had another year or even two years (for those who turn 17 in August/September of their senior year) to not only physically mature, but to mature mentally and socially. All of us know that when it comes to maturation issues, all of us were more advanced in the areas mentioned the older we became. One of my cousins (who turned 17 in September of his senior year) that I was talking about in the original post, was a 2 year starter on the offensive line at his high school in North Carolina (they were the Class 4A State Runners-Up his junior year). Had he been held back a year or not started school a year or two later than he did, there is no doubt in my mind that he would have had several opportunities to go play small college football, thus receiving more financial aid for his college education and ultimately being able to earn his college degree w/ less financial hardships. He grew from being a 6'0 180, 17 year old (offensive lineman) to being 6'2 230 when he turned 19, and it wasn't a fat 230 either, his body just started to physically (also mentally, socially) between the ages of 17-19.

 

I was redshirted in colleged and played all of my years, thus graduating when I was 23. I don't know about you all, but I was much more prepared to face the real world when I was 23 than I would have been at 20-21 (the age of kids that graduate high school when they turn 17 their senior year). Theres negatives to all of the scenarios being discussed, I guess? Bottom line is, so long as what's being done is for the betterment of the child, that's all that really matters. My grandmother has always told me that there are 3 things in the world not worth arguing; 1) Religion 2) Politics/War and 3) Love. I might suggest to her about adding a 4th (this).

 

Happy New Year to all!

Edited December 28, 201015 yr by Harry Doyle