The Florida High School Athletic Association allows middle school students attending K-12 schools to compete on high school varsity teams.
I’ve always thought it was a good idea to help smaller schools fill out the rosters for junior varsity and varsity teams. After all, there have been cases where sixth- or seventh-grade boys were big enough to play high school football or baseball.
Former Kansas City Chiefs offensive lineman Jeff Smith started six years at Meigs County High School in Tennessee. He was close to 6 feet tall and weighed 230 pounds by the time he was in the seventh grade. And Baker School cross country and distance runner Maya Espinosa competes with high school runners while still in middle school.
But it’s one thing for Smith to have played high school football and Espinosa to race against upperclassmen at such young ages. It’s another thing for, say, an undersized sixth-grade boy to compete against seniors — grown men — in baseball or football.
When Laurel Hill hosted Baker in baseball on Feb. 26, it was a mismatch with athletes’ ages. The Hoboes, under first-year Coach Andrew Wirth, are laying a foundation in hopes of rebuilding the program; many of the players are in middle school.
At times, I was afraid for some of the pint-sized Hoboes who might have to run into Baker catcher Bubba Ellis — the Gator football team’s standout defensive end, one of those grown men standing 6 feet, 2 inches tall and weighing close to 220 pounds. Ellis would never intentionally injure an opponent, but collisions happen in every sport.
When I was in the sixth grade, I was a pint-sized kid playing city league baseball against kids my age. The very thought of playing with juniors or seniors in high school would have never crossed my mind because I knew I wasn’t physically ready to compete with the big boys.
City recreation departments have age restrictions in every sport and size restrictions in football for a reason. They do it for the safety of the kids and so boys and girls learning to play a game can compete against others with similar skill sets and development.
I know struggling high school programs need middle school athletes to field a team. Often, the middle-schoolers are good enough to actually contribute in baseball, football or basketball.
I’m not suggesting we ban middle-schoolers from playing high school sports, but I do think we need to take a step back and look at the safety factor involved.
Why would any state high school athletic association or school district allow athletes to compete against those six or seven years older when no city recreation department would dream of such a thing?
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: DICKSON: Rethinking middle school athletes playing high school sports