Many highschool students are involved in sports throughout their four years of highschool.
Some sports such as wrestling, cross country, track and softball all allow middle school students to play up on highschool teams.
Although these sports might allow middle school athletes to play up, many others do not.
“We have what is called an ‘acceleration policy’ in place to lay out guidelines for student athletes to make the transition to high school sports,” BHS Athletic Director Matthew Crane said. “We also look at sports that might not have the number of kids coming out needed to fill teams.”
There are many reasons for why some sports allow middle school students to play up and others do not. Main factors include the number of participants, opportunities and club sports. The common question that may be asked is if it is helpful or not for middle schoolers to be playing up at the highschool level. Many students are not prepared mentally and physically to be playing at a high level, and it can be difficult for many middle schoolers to maintain their grades and school work while being in a high school sport.
“We have a plan in place for those individual sports where we need athletes to fill a team,” Crane said. “That plan revolves around success in their sport, a recommendation from the varsity head coach, academic performance of the student, and some sports like golf, requiring them to compete in a minimum number of competitions at the club level in the summertime.”
Softball is one sport that is not an option at a middle school level and only highschool. Many middle schoolers involved in sports that allow them to play up are starting their high school sports career ata young age due to being able to play up at a high school level.
“Middle schoolers have an option to play softball. We had to bring up middle school girls to fill our programs out. It comes down to numbers of participants and club programs that provide opportunities for kids to play,” Crane said.
Although softball allows middle schoolers to play up, baseball does not have a middle school program, and they do not allow them to play up.
“We have to limit the number of baseball teams because of the vast amount of kids that are coming out, limited umpires and limited space in our facilities for our spring season. Baseball has a great club program in the summer that allows them to compete and progress,” Crane said
Many students in middle school worry about making the top team and in turn become stressed over making a lower team than they thought.
“Middle schoolers should worry about having fun and playing the sport that they love with their friends. If they want to be successful at the sport when they get older, they should,” Crane said.
