Should your Athlete Play Up?

Playing up in Sports

After ten years of working with youth athletes, there is no doubt we have seen our fair share of exceptionally talented athletes in a wide range of sports. We see this exceptional ability at different stages of their athletic careers which require different skill sets for being exceptional. We might hear about the middle school football player that the high school wants to pull up now because they have such a high skill set or the baseball pitcher who throws so hard they bump him up to 16U instead of 14U. This on the surface sounds like the smart decision. Give the athletes with more ability a bigger challenge so they can keep excelling at a higher level and not be held back by lower competition. As someone who has spent most of their life in sports performance both as a competitive lifter and a coach helping others reach high levels of athletics, I think we need to take a look at our long term goals with participation in sports from a physical, social, and mental well being of the athletes. People will often talk about how sports can teach valuable lessons such as teamwork, hard work, persistence, and setting goals. I couldn’t agree more that sports are a great vehicle to learn those great lessons. Let’s look at some statistics with sports to help paint a bigger picture of why it’s important to keep those lessons and the long term goals in mind.

Percentage of High School athletes moving to NCAA Sports- 6%

Percentage of NCAA athletes moving to Professional Sports- 2%

Percentage of NCAA Division 1 athletes receiving athletic Scholarship- 53%

What does this mean to people looking to use sports as the vehicle to drive academic or financial success? It’s not likely that the statistical odds are in favor of anyone. Only 6% of youth athletes go on to play sports in college and then from there only 2% of athletes will go on to become professionals where they receive a salary for their athletic ability. These stats aren’t to discourage anyone from trying to be the best, but simply to drive home the fact that sports are great for some things, but not all. The next few sections we will go deeper into the topic of playing up or staying and seeing what effects that decision can have on the athlete.

Lets first look at when a child should play up as there are certain situations where it makes more sense. 

If a child is physically ahead of their peers on relies solely on physical size and strength to perform well not technical or tactic skills in the sport. This is the one tall kid who plays center in fifth grade basketball that if you can pass the ball to them every time they will make some of the buckets and also get all the rebounds because no one can reach them. 

When their technical and tactical skills in the sport of choice are so far ahead that it’s boring for them and everyone else playing. Being bored too long will create boredom and potentially increase drop out from the sport or decoration in skills. 

A reminder for parents on the fence with a decision, if your child has great physical ability or great skills, but is behind socially or cognitively then it would still be best to keep them in the age group their in in order to not overwhelm them when they move up. Sports are an excellent social tool when used appropriately, but if only the physical ability is focused sports can quickly turn into a social disaster for kids. Many kids love to play sports because of the time they spend with their friends. In any case where the right answer is to move up, there won’t be any question or any debate. If you have to wonder if your child is ready to move up either physically, socially, or cognitively then they’re not. 

Now lets take a look at some reasons not to move your child up in sports as they develop.

The coach at the higher level is way better and will make their skills jump to a new level. While this might be true to some point, the athletes ready to move up are already displaying a skill set higher than all their peers. It doesn’t fall on the coach. 

They play up in all their other sports. This should go without saying, but those are other sports.

They have friends on the older team. And they will have non friends on opposing team that could potentially hurt them if they’re not physically prepared. 

To wrap up this often tough subject, remember the three areas it comes down to when making the decision:

Physically- Are they physically dominating the games they play and noticeably overwhelming the others they play against?

Technically- Are their technical skills ahead of the people they’re playing against and potentially being held back by playing with those they’re currently around. 

Cognitive- Do they seem to always be one step ahead of the competition and their teams in knowing how to make plays before they appear? This has to do with knowledge of the game and situational.

Socially- Is your child able to hold conversations with those who might be 2-4 years older than they are? Will they be able to make friends with them or is their maturity level going to be a limiting factor once moved up?

If you have any questions, feel free to email us. We have seen kids move up when they shouldn't have and we have also seen kids maybe play down a level for too long and hinder their performance. This is a very personal decision that should be made with the true best intention for the child in mind. Not the parents, club teams, or coaches. We’re in this for the betterment of youth sports and the long term effects from that. 

Nick Showman

Showtime Strength & Performance

www.showtimestrength.com