PIAA- All 9th Graders to High School Football

[Steve92]

Some of you guys don't get it. A 140 year old freshmen isn't going up against a 250 pound senior in 99% of cases.

Coach, not in a game.  I'm talking about at practice.  I know from experience that at a small school they do line up against each other.  It's up to the coaches to ensure that the standout senior tackle goes only 50-75% strength against the younger kids, but there are no guarantees, and incoming freshmen may not even understand that the coaches have protections in place.

[guru1]

I totally disagree with the idea that it should be parent based on where they play, sure every dad who is reliving their glory days is going to want to keep little Johnny down at the 9th grade level, so they can be the big man on campus.  The pulling up of 9th graders is for the betterment of the 10, 11 graders.  For example, FH only had 6 juniors in 2015, some of whom did not play JV, without 9th graders there would not have been JV.  Then the 10th graders get no varsity time, no JV time so they quit, this in turn kills the program.   
How much change in body size is there from 9th to 10th grade?

So what about small schools that dont have enough kids for 3 teams? They are forced to either have some varsity kids risk injury playing in a JV game or not having a JV team and then your 9th graders have a year without playing. And at that same school there is no gurantee of enough to field a jr high team out of 7th and 8th graders. Most 7th graders can still qualify for pee wee ball but now 8th graders have no games. So in the end kids may not play in a game for 2 years (8th and 9th grade)... this is the reality at the smaller Class A schools being forced to do this in the ICC.

[12HankQB]

Well you can't please every situation, but there should be no problem with 9th graders in varsity other than hurting their draft stock.

[knowitall]

I know of one school that had no ninth graders go out for football in 2016.  The same school had just twelve kids dressed for junior high games.  Somehow it won a few games.  Will that school field a team in 2018 and beyond?

[stang4life]

I know at times my boy had to put his big-boy pants on when he was in JH..

With only 3 eighth grade starters him and 7 other seventh graders played both ways..They did go up against some teams with ninth graders. Think that year they went little over .500 record.
Thought that whole seventh grade class benefitted down the road for taking a few lumps.

[12HankQB]

I know at times my boy had to put his big-boy pants on when he was in JH..

With only 3 eighth grade starters him and 7 other seventh graders played both ways..They did go up against some teams with ninth graders. Think that year they went little over .500 record.
Thought that whole seventh grade class benefitted down the road for taking a few lumps.

And it probably did benefit them a lot, but in today's society...that's unacceptable. Everyone needs to have fair treatment, trophies for everyone, no bullying, bad grades are the teachers fault and not the kids, parents can't discipline their children mostly because they and the children wont look up from their phones....rant over. Instead of them taking a lump, learning from it, we'll just give them an easier path.

[stang4life]

Coaches are there for a reason..You have to trust they going to put you kid into the right position, so he/she can be successful, thrive at the position along with having fun.
Any coach I've dealt with, or talked to, have no intentions in putting your 110lb kid against a 200lb plus monster. That is for safety or moral reasons! If a coach is doing that..He definitely should NOT be in that position to coach..Period

Injuries are going to happen in football.Did I worry about my kid? Yes I did..To an extent. You hope it doesn't happen..But there is a chance.  Even with the modern equipment, Is your kid 100% safe out there? Not a chance!

[dadw/2sons]

CoffinCorner, Let me get this straight. If you had a son that was on the small side, you would be okay to allow the school or league make a decision that could affect yiur son's safety and not you? I wouldn't. It is my responsibility for my son's safety, not somebody else.

Guru's comments on the small schools in the ICC is exactly right on point. You are hurting either your junior high program or the JV program. You can't benefit both so IMO opinion the safety of the ninth graders should be the deciding factor. Don't force all the ninth graders up. If the kid's ability allows him to compete at the next level then great. He can move up and help the JV team. If his frame or ability isn't ready then allow him to stay at the JH instead of making the choice of sitting out or moving up without being ready.

[stang4life]

Your right dad, you are the protector of your own children, like all of us. That's were I say communication with your AD or head coach would benefit all involved.
Talk to them about your concerns..I'll bet there is something that can be resolved..

[12HankQB]

CoffinCorner, Let me get this straight. If you had a son that was on the small side, you would be okay to allow the school or league make a decision that could affect yiur son's safety and not you? I wouldn't. It is my responsibility for my son's safety, not somebody else.

Guru's comments on the small schools in the ICC is exactly right on point. You are hurting either your junior high program or the JV program. You can't benefit both so IMO opinion the safety of the ninth graders should be the deciding factor. Don't force all the ninth graders up. If the kid's ability allows him to compete at the next level then great. He can move up and help the JV team. If his frame or ability isn't ready then allow him to stay at the JH instead of making the choice of sitting out or moving up without being ready.

And you're what's wrong with America today. Your kid better not ride a bus to school. That's all I can say. 
If your son is so small that you want him to stay at the JH level, what good is it doing to keep him down and have him be even further behind in the program. He might be physically okay, but you don't think his buddies are gonna give him crap for getting out of school at 2 for a 4 o'clock jr high game? This goes both ways. For you to say it's your responsibility alone is a bunch of crap. As a parent you can only do so much. If your going to hold true to what you say above, you better be coaching the team, driving the bus, teaching the class, making the lunch, and wiping his butt.