By Heather Sohl
What is reclassification you ask? While not many know, it has been around for years and only become popular within the last decade. Reclassification or “reclassing” is when a student chooses to change the year of graduation for the benefit of athletics and/or academics.
I have a son who plays on a very advanced basketball team. On one of our tournament trips, he told me about this reclassing. Honestly, I didn’t believe him. I couldn’t grasp why someone would hold their kid back for sports. To me, it was putting athletics above academics thereby creating no backup plan. So, I asked one of the coaches about it. Why do people do this? Since not many know about it, don’t the kids get picked on as if they failed academically? I just didn’t get it.
He explained to me the reason people do this is to let maturity/puberty hit for late bloomers, in an athletic sense. In holding them back, it gives their bodies an extra year to grow into themselves. So, why is that important? It is important for those that are looking to get into college on a scholarship, most importantly, a Division 1 college. Rather than being the “low man on the totem pole” so to speak, for their age group, they become the “high man on the totem pole” giving better chances of being recognized by a scout.
The same is true academically. So many kids fell behind with the Corona virus pandemic that parents are reclassing their kids to make up for the fundamentals they lost while participating in online school. If a child isn’t athletic but looking for an academic scholarship, this too, is an option. Same principle, position them to be the highest at their grade level.
Now, what are some of the cons? Since not many are educated on the subject of reclassing, like I was not, the child could face bullying issues. A lot of children that are reclassed end up moving to a different school to avoid such issues. In some sports, I feel it doesn’t make an even playing field for those kids who just want to play because they love the sport.
I’ve spoken about reclassing down. Now, let’s talk about reclassing up. Yes. You can. Reclassing down is best done before high school. That year is not a freebee. It is a year to work hard and take classes that haven’t already been taken. There are very strict guidelines from the NCAA on reclassification up or down. When reclassing up, a certain amount of academic credits must be met. Where reclassing down gives a maturity advantage, those that are “ready” can reclass up which gives them a better scout/draft pick opportunity.
Regardless of the decision to reclass up or down, it is imperative that a family educate themselves on the requirements for eligibility, have a realistic sense of the possibilities or lack thereof, and be willing to accept whatever outcome.
I like to end with motivational quotes, so I’ll close with this…
I am in competition with no one. I run my own race. I have no desire to play the game of being better than anyone. I just aim to improve, to be better than I was before. That’s me, and I’m free.
