"This is what redshirting is all about," said Charles Breithaupt, director of athletics of the Texas University Interscholastic League. "That [older] child is taking someone else's place."
The PAL's solution was to limit seventh- and eighth-grade kids to just two years of eligibility. If a child repeats either one of those grades, he or she isn't granted an additional year of athletic eligibility.
"It's a huge growth period for boys, in the eighth and ninth grade, and parents are doing it for athletic gain, not academic," said the PAL's Russ Smith. "I've heard of it so often and finally found a way to stop it all together by going cold turkey. If a child does legitimately need to repeat, they should be spending time in the academic field, not on the athletic field."
And the CIF? Staunton says there are no formal investigations of redshirting or any proposals to limit the practice at this time. "The only thing I have received about this matter recently is one letter from one parent in the Capistrano Unified School District," he said. "Tom White, the athletic director of that area, forwarded the rules and bylaws back to the parent."
And it may be the CIF's attitude that inhibits parents from coming forward with their complaints. If you're wondering why you haven't read or heard more stories about this practice, it could be because parents are afraid, in Cook's words, "of being blackballed." He says reporters have talked to him over the past few years about redshirting but never wrote stories because "angry" parents were afraid to talk for fear that coaches would bench their kids—or, worse, send them to the JV team.
"Try to get one of those parents who say it's unfair to go on the record. You won't be able to," Cook said. He recalled a San Diego radio talk show host who intended to discuss the subject a few years ago—and then cancelled when he couldn't persuade an upset parent to go on the air. The woman scheduled to be interviewed backed down after her child panicked that she would be ostracized by coaches and teammates.
You can understand a parent's reticence. Competition to make varsity sports teams, especially in a prep hotbed like Orange County, is fierce. Dan, who asked that his real name not be used, has a high school-aged son who plays several sports, but doesn't enjoy them because he competes against so many older kids. At the moment, his son is one of 60 kids competing for only 10 spots on a freshman basketball team. By his son's sophomore year, incoming freshman and transfer students will try out for 10 positions, and then more incoming freshmen and sophomores compete for 10 junior varsity spots. Competition peaks for the varsity team, with three classes below competing for the 10 to 12 available spots—or fewer, if only a few seniors have graduated.
"It isn't fair that a 15-year-old sophomore should be competing against kids in his grade who are a year older for spots on a sophomore team where they should be trying out for the varsity team against the 16- to 18-year-olds," complains Dan.
Through elementary and middle school, Dan's son was slightly above average in height and weight, and that seemed to help him excel at every sport he attempted. "In high school, he's still considered a very good player compared to kids his own age, but not great with the taller, faster, older kids." He said his son has gone from being an enthusiastic player who plays most of the game to a humble benchwarmer watching older kids play.
"Something is wrong with the picture when I drive my 15-year-old son to practice and other teammates are driving themselves."
Ryan Cook, who declined to be interviewed for this story, is a junior at USC—proof positive, Bruce says, of the advantages of holding a kid back. Ryan had wanted to attend UCLA but Bruce pushed him toward his alma mater. Ryan played as a freshman but had difficulties adjusting and, Bruce said, took "a break from sports."
He says he doesn't regret holding Ryan back and still believes it was the right thing to do. Still, while hopeful his son will someday compete again for USC, he wonders "if I did the right thing by putting so much pressure on him."
