Iowa 8th graders cleared for high school sports in effort to boost participation
· Yahoo Sports
OSKALOOSA, Iowa — Varsity sports could be coming a year sooner for some individuals in Iowa. The Iowa State Board of Education has recently approved emergency rule changes including allowing eighth graders to be eligible to participate in varsity sports starting this fall.
Eighth graders already could compete in the summer sports of baseball and softball, but now they could compete year-round at the varsity and JV level if their district allows it. As the new ruling opens up the possibility but each individual school district ultimately decides if they want to implement it.
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“I have very mixed feelings about it,” Oskaloosa Activities Director Jamie Jacobs said. “I think it can be a great thing. I definitely understand both sides, where there's the fear of it hurting middle school athletics and maybe pushing students to specialize at a younger age and then I understand the other side of it where it doesn't push students more to clubs or not to participate in the middle school level if the middle school team isn't giving them what they need at the competitive level. I think for us as a community, we just really need to look at what works for us. What are our program numbers like? Do we have a large population of kids who are participating at the eighth-grade level?”
The change will likely have the biggest impact at smaller schools, which could use the eighth graders to help fill out rosters, while concerns about the safety of the middle schoolers facing kids five or six years older than them have also been a reason for pause.
Still, in non-contact sports, it could be a quality change.
“We've talked a lot about it, especially in those non-contact sports that we don't have at the middle school level, we see it aiding them,” Jacobs said. “Golf, tennis, swimming, cheer, dance, bowling and things like that. We don't have a middle school program for those and as long as it doesn't impact our numbers for other activities and as long as it is safe for them to participate, working in those sports could absolutely be impacted in a positive way, especially at those JV and developmental levels.”
Another key factor will be how this affects middle school teams. Since eighth graders who play up won’t be able to play on their middle school team during the same season to prevent doubling up and overplaying, how affected will those teams be if they lose three, four or five of their best players? Will they still have enough players to compete at the middle school level?
“I think that's a great question and one that we're still kind of looking at what that looks like,” Jacobs said. “I do think it really varies sport to sport and what that will look like. I would say it's a concern, but I just don't know what that looks like in reality right now.”
Oskaloosa announced this week that it will not be implementing a blanket policy that automatically places all eighth graders at the high school level. Instead, they will approach it as a case-by-case situation on an individual basis. The process will start with a recommendation from the respective varsity head coach, followed by an AD review.
Factors considered will include the student’s physical, emotional and academic readiness as signed off on by a medical professional, the needs of both the middle school and high school programs, the student’s overall readiness and future success and the alignment of the district’s values of providing safety, connecting with kindness, inspiring through learning and making decisions that best support students.
“I think it's possible for us to implement it,” Jacobs said. “I don't think a blanket policy is best for our community. I don’t think it’s absolutely no eighth graders or absolutely free rein for eighth graders. We have to find what's best and to get that community input. It’s really just a hurry up and wait because we didn't know exactly what it was going to look like or if it was going to happen this year. I think in some form or fashion, it will be here. We're just looking at what does it look like for our community in the best way.”
The state-wide rules officially go into effect on Aug. 1. A public hearing is scheduled for Aug. 11 where the final rules could return to the Board in September or October if changes are needed.