Age exemption thoughts

[_MIA_]

Right now kids that were born Sept - December can't play with kids in their same grade....even if they were never held back and started on time.

Yeah..if DD played with kids in her same grade she could still be playing 10U (she is playing her last 12U tournament this week)..no thanks

 

[radness]

Sports have choices of talent levels.
Regardless of age.
Beginner
Intermediate
And so on.

in the same age category/concern/topic
Players opt to play up in age bracket.
That choice has similar factors to size and ability.
Still~Playing up happens often.

 

[PDM]

I deal with this issue fairly frequently as a child psychologist who primarily does testing. When a child is a "micro-preemie" (e.g., born three months or more early-ish), I usually score the child's performance based on their actual birth date and their expected due date. It usually doesn't make much of a difference or change their scores a whole lot. There can be some advantages to being undersized in softball. Turn her left and make her a slapper. Plus she's probably speedy. It will all shake out once she reaches high school age since there are kids 14-18 playing ball together for school and often on 18U teams.

Why would being undersized be an advantage when slapping? Why would she probably be speedy? How would it "shake out" in favor of the younger girl when put on a team of more mature players? This is complete nonsense. Each child is an individual with her own strengths and weaknesses. Being younger and smaller is rarely a physical advantage at any time before reaching adulthood.

 

[Danica]

We joke that people in our town plan pregnancies based on baseball. Like "Honey, if you get pregnant in this month our kid will have a late birthday and dominate in their age group!"
All the kids here are huge and seem like they should be bumping up to the next age group but have those late birthdays. It makes it harder for the average size kids but just because a kid is smaller doesn't mean they came be a fierce athlete. They usually all even out size wise by high school. I preach this to my daughter all the time!
I don't think opening to door to using documents to prove premature birth or any other reason for size/ growth issues is a good idea. Unfortunately, some kids are developmentally behind the average or smaller then their peers and it's just something they have to overcome.

 

[ang2bmd]

Why would being undersized be an advantage when slapping? Why would she probably be speedy? How would it "shake out" in favor of the younger girl when put on a team of more mature players? This is complete nonsense. Each child is an individual with her own strengths and weaknesses. Being younger and smaller is rarely a physical advantage at any time before reaching adulthood.

It won't but I don't think travel sports are designed to be a level playing field.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

[Orange Socks]

Years ago our local rec league for softball used to use grade level cut off to determine age category. When it came to Summer All Stars it became confusing for all the parents. They were used to their kid playing with their classmates. Those kids that had fall birthdays stayed at their age division while the spring birthdays had to move down. If they were playing 12U with a spring birthday, they played (if they wanted to) down to 10U. My DD played 3 Summers at 10U. Then one year at 12U and then skipped her 2nd year of 12U and moved up to 14U so I could coach the team and keep all the kids together.

The league finally changed to match up with USA Softball Age cut offs. Our baseball league had change to their governing body with an April cut off (whatever). As more and more athletes start playing some type of Allstars, AAU, Nations Baseball, etc it became clear that the Grade level age cut off wasn't beneficial other than 1st graders freinds getting play with each other.

 

[Cougars]

Its not something i have ever considered since my daughters started school, but there are times i’ve played the “what if” game in my head.

they were born 3 weeks premature, and have a mid-august birthday. If they had been born on their ‘due date’, they would have started school a year later. Instead of being 2 of the youngest in their class, they would be 2 of the oldest. No, i dont think that magically makes them D-1 softball prospects. However, another year of maturity in all aspects of life might have been a positive.

Not, “hey, what do you think about doing 8th grade again”, but when they had just turned 5, “only 1 more year and you start kindergarten!”

 

[Orange Socks]

We joke that people in our town plan pregnancies based on baseball. Like "Honey, if you get pregnant in this month our kid will have a late birthday and dominate in their age group!"
All the kids here are huge and seem like they should be bumping up to the next age group but have those late birthdays. It makes it harder for the average size kids but just because a kid is smaller doesn't mean they came be a fierce athlete. They usually all even out size wise by high school. I preach this to my daughter all the time!
I don't think opening to door to using documents to prove premature birth or any other reason for size/ growth issues is a good idea. Unfortunately, some kids are developmentally behind the average or smaller then their peers and it's just something they have to overcome.

Sharing a story about a girl that was always undersized and overlooked. I saw something in her back in 10U. There was a fierceness to the way she held herself together. She became a slapper OF'er. Fast! She will be going to a D2 in the fall.

 

[_MIA_]

Sharing a story about a girl that was always undersized and overlooked. I saw something in her back in 10U. There was a fierceness to the way she held herself together. She became a slapper OF'er. Fast! She will be going to a D2 in the fall.

Most people don't know what to look for in 10U/12U...

 

[Danica]

Sharing a story about a girl that was always undersized and overlooked. I saw something in her back in 10U. There was a fierceness to the way she held herself together. She became a slapper OF'er. Fast! She will be going to a D2 in the fall.

Yes!! My daughter is smaller and used to playing with GIANTS I think it's brings out this fight in her that wouldn't normally be there. Sounds similar to your example! And she's fast too! Not to mention, our "giants" get beat by younger, smaller players all the time. If you have good fundamentals it doesn't matter how small you are. Extra large doesn't automatically equal a good ball player.