I just saw this on an Ohio Forum - New age limit

[Zebra 546]

http://www.ohsaa.org/members/refvote/20150518ReferendumVotingResults.pdf

 

For some reason I cannot copy and past text but I can the link.

 

People on the Ohio message board are saying that this can lead to a kid graduating at 20 while having still been eligible for all 4 years of high school. I read it that way too provided you turn 20 after the end of your senior season, i.e. after State.  

 

 

 

[RichB 227]

Looks like a student could be eligible for football in september, but maybe not for wrestling in December, or Wrestling but not then Baseball. That was the rule in Penna in the 1960s.

 

Right now the Pa rule would allow a kid who turned 19 on July 2, 2014 to be in the Baseball Championship game June 12, 2015, then turn 20 less than 3 weeks later.

[BobDole 1,200]

Indiana has the same rule. You can turn 20 the day after the state championships and be eligible.

[FreezeWrestling 39]

In Michigan, you cannot be 19 before September 1st to be eligible for that school year. So essentially you can be 19 yr 9 mth when you graduate. I have seen two extreme cases in Michigan were kids pushed the boundary very close and they were both elite wrestlers. 

[cornercoach 448]

...... redshirt that 3rd grader..........

[Plasmodium 2,254]

Anyone know what the impetus was to raise this? Losing 20 year old 'kids' to Illinois and Michigan?

[JerseyJoey 25]

It is a disgrace. A complete joke. You should not be able to compete if you turn 18 before the end of your junior year. Sad part is most people that turn into really elite athletes don't go this route. This is a sure fire recipe to get more college busts.

[funkroll 1]

I live in Michigan.  My son is a 2nd grader.  His birthday is in October.  He did Developmental Kindergarten and regular K.  He will be 18 his senior year in October.  He has ADHD and needs another year of 2nd.  So in MI he will still be able to play sports as a senior (at 19).  He is by no means an elite athlete who is going to be redshirted.  We have WAY more circumstances like this than the 8th grade redshirt.  You just never hear about them. That is not a "disgrace". 

[vhsalum 43]

It is a disgrace. A complete joke. You should not be able to compete if you turn 18 before the end of your junior year. Sad part is most people that turn into really elite athletes don't go this route. This is a sure fire recipe to get more college busts.

 

Uggghh.... Emotional platitudes without the context of facts.

 

Hate to break it to you, but it is far more likely that the elite athletes are "older."  Feel free to do some research before you shout from the mountaintop.  

[Krupnyakov 0]

In Iowa the day you turn 20 your done.

[Frank_Rizzo 336]

The final year a kid should be allowed to compete in high school sports in the academic year in which he/she turns 18. 

[Zebra 546]

Rizzo I don't agree with this at all.

 

While I think 20 is a bit much there are a certain percentage of students, who because of the kindergarten enrollment date and child's date of birth are never held back yet turn 19 in their final year of high school.   

Edited May 20, 2015 by Zebra

[Frank_Rizzo 336]

Rizzo I don't agree with this at all.

 

While I think 20 is a bit much there are a certain percentage of students, who because of the kindergarten enrollment date and child's date of birth are never held back yet turn 19 in their final year of high school.   

 

I don't recall anyone who fell into this category when I was in high school.  The only kids who were 19 in my senior class were kids who had been held back. 

 

If someone legitimately enrolled in school in the proper year and still turns 19 as a senior in high school, I suppose that's one thing.  I've just never been aware of that happening. 

Edited May 20, 2015 by Frank_Rizzo

[Zebra 546]

Rizzo this conversation comes up every year and I've done some digging around, it looks like somewhere between 10%-15% of kids turn 19 in the latter 3 months of their senior year.

Edited May 20, 2015 by Zebra

[WRfan1 152]

If you're 19 before the start of school, you shouldn't be eligible.  

[Zebra 546]

That would be my take as well but I've done a bit of digging and I think there are at least 4 states where that is not the case.

[heelpick 116]

I had one classmate that managed to get an extra year. He had to petition the school district in order to play sports. Supposedly he had to take the extra year because of illness as a junior. He wasn't elite. He did qualify for state though.

[BobDole 1,200]

Here is the reality of it, people will skirt the rules and bend them as much as possible to get an advantage. Whether that is holding a kid back, cheating on hydration tests, or a million other things. The ones that are held back for athletic reasons are in an extreme minority, but they are the ones we hear about. We never seem to hear about the kid who had dyslexia or some other developmental reason for being held back.

[Plasmodium 2,254]

As mentioned in the rule itself, there are existing provisions for those that are disabled. If I were a voting member of OSHAA, I would definitely have voted against this.

[cornercoach 448]

... the OHSAA is a very responsible, top notch organization- there must be some/several good reasons for something like this ...

[Coach_J 2,181]

So many kids "redshirt" today by repeating the 8th grade,  and many of them purposely started kindergarten late.  Ridiculous.  You can have, essentially, a 20 year old wrestling a 14-15 year old in a "fair" bout.

[LHN94 82]

How conscious of age are college recruiters? Winning championships is more impressive at 15, 16, and 17 than 17, 18, and 19. Of course some kids are full grown men at 14 so perhaps physical maturity is the more important variable than age for gauging college potential.

[OCGrappler 44]

A very prominent coach (perennial top 5 program) told me last summer that he takes the age of HS kids into account and definitely discounts the value of some accomplishments of older kids and particularly in the middle and heavier weights where it is more physical.

[GoNotQuietly 1,175]

I remember wanting to be out of high school so bad when I was a 17 year old senior, I couldn't even imagine having to do public education for another 3 years.

[JasonBryant 2,094]

I was 17 when I graduated high school, but 24 when I graduated college.