*Baseball & eligibility*

[Mike Honcho]

I know its football season so don't nail me to the cross on this lol. My son who's 13 and in the 8th grade has always played fall baseball with his travel team. This year he's not and is instead working out with the local high school baseball players a few times a week in the afternoons, since middle school football really doesn't take up much time. Football practice is in the mornings.

One of the parents asked me if I thought the coaches would let him tryout for the freshman team in the spring. He's in 8th grade. I never really thought about it, but curiosity got the best of me and I looked up the UIL rules. The only information I can find is if he was too old to compete at the 8th grade level, which he's not. Or if the sport is not offered the kid is interested in, middle school baseball is not offered in Texas.

The last part which is eligibility worries me. It says students only have 4 consecutive calender years to complete high school varsity eligibility. To me that sounds like only 4 years of high school play regardless of freshman, jv or varsity. Is that right? The last thing I want to do is jeopardize a year of eligibility. 

 

Thanks 

[d0tc0m]

Yes. If he played varsity as an 8th grader, he could only play until his junior academic season. He would have exhausted his eligibility going into his senior season.

[Mike Honcho]

What if he just played on the freshman/jv squad? I wasn't implying playing varsity as an 8th grader.

Thanks

[ShoelessJoe]

He only has 4 years of playing in HS.  Like the previous poster alluded to, he would be out of eligibility after his junior year if he played on the JV or varsity as an 8th grader.  Find a fall league team in the area if there is one.

[Mike Honcho]

Thanks that's what I thought.

[ObiOne]

Does anybody know if it would make a difference if the kid played at a varsity level at a private school (Tapps) in 8th grade?  Would that effect eligibility at a UIL school in the future?

[Eagleborn]

3 hours ago, Rhino said:

I know its football season so don't nail me to the cross on this lol. My son who's 13 and in the 8th grade has always played fall baseball with his travel team. This year he's not and is instead working out with the local high school baseball players a few times a week in the afternoons, since middle school football really doesn't take up much time. Football practice is in the mornings.

One of the parents asked me if I thought the coaches would let him tryout for the freshman team in the spring. He's in 8th grade. I never really thought about it, but curiosity got the best of me and I looked up the UIL rules. The only information I can find is if he was too old to compete at the 8th grade level, which he's not. Or if the sport is not offered the kid is interested in, middle school baseball is not offered in Texas.

The last part which is eligibility worries me. It says students only have 4 consecutive calender years to complete high school varsity eligibility. To me that sounds like only 4 years of high school play regardless of freshman, jv or varsity. Is that right? The last thing I want to do is jeopardize a year of eligibility. 

 

Thanks 

Four years or high school ball is all he’ll be allowed.