This past week, two New Jersey state senators co-sponsored a bill that would penalize student-athletes who were purposely held back a year for reasons other than failing grades, disruptive behavior, or lack of emotional maturity. The bill would limit student-athletes who repeat grades six, seven or eight -- despite being academically on track -- to three years or six consecutive semesters of athletic eligibility once they begin high school. The three years of eligibility would include all levels of play: freshman, junior varsity and varsity.
The proposed legislation has generated a series of articles at NJ.com and its NJ Advance Media Division, including a profile of Damion Hahn, two-time NCAA champ for the University of Minnesota just over a decade ago, who weighed in on the issue, having been held back by his parents in middle school in New Jersey for other reasons.
Damion Hahn (Photo/Rob Preston)"Hahn -- one of the greatest wrestlers to ever slide on a singlet in New Jersey and now the top assistant coach at Cornell -- admits athletics played a secondary role in the decision to stay back. But he says regardless of the specific reasons, it was a life-changing choice that propelled him on a path for success."
Before wrestling for Minnesota, Hahn was a three-time New Jersey state champ at Lakewood High School, and named the state's High School Wrestler of the Century by the Newark Star-Ledger in 2000.
"Unless they can come up with some substantial facts that this is hurting kids, then I don't understand it," Hahn told NJ.com. "None of these things that people are doing I feel are breaking the law. We're not talking about giving kids performance-enhancing drugs or anything like that. We're just talking about if you're holding kids back."
State Sen. Peter Barnes, co-sponsor of the bill, said the legislation isn't about limiting opportunities for student-athletes, but, rather, to ensure everyone plays by the same rules.
"It's not just about your kid; it's about the fairness of all the kids who have to compete, all of whom want to succeed," Barnes said. "If your kid gets a full year of extra eligibility, that's not fair to kids who are playing by the rules, who are going to school at the right age and matriculating through at the right age."
"I've seen the abuses over the years," said Barnes, a father of three who has been involved in coaching youth sports. "This is a gimmick and it's been going on a long time. People are milking the system. They are gaming the system."
State Sen. Richard Codey, original sponsor of the bill, is a long-time youth basketball coach.
"It's clear in 99 percent of these cases it's being done for athletic advantage," Codey said. "This phenomenon has been around, but it's to me, anecdotally, growing by leaps and bounds."
While there is no known or reliable data on how many students have been held back a grade with the hope of boosting their athletic careers, some coaches estimate twenty to fifty percent of top-tier New Jersey high school athletes have repeated a grade. An article published Wednesday at NJ.com names some Garden State athletes, including 2015 No. 1 NBA draft pick Karl-Anthony Towns, 2015 McDonald's All-Americans Isaiah Briscoe and Malachi Richardson, three-time state wrestling champion Johnny Sebastian and former Big East Conference football Rookie of the Year Brian Toal ... all who repeated the eighth grade.
In fact, the proposed legislation -- and recent series at NJ.com -- sprang from a NJ Advance Media special report in September on Josh McKenzie, described as the nation's top-rated football player and wrestler entering ninth grade, who repeated the eighth grade with his idea of advancing his athletic career.
Reactions to proposals restricting middle-school student-athletes repeating a grade are mixed.
"We're losing sight of exactly what high school sports are and what drives it," Nutley High athletic director Joe Piro told NJ.com. "High school sports are extracurricular activities, and the most important thing that happens during the course of the day in a teenager's life should be the quality of the education they're getting. What's happening now is people are doing everything they can chasing the infamous full scholarship."
"You can't deny the benefits," Montclair High football coach John Fiore told NJ.com back in September. "That year of maturity really helps -- with boys especially."
Damion Hahn offered his perspective as a parent, coach and one-time wrestling superstar.
"You're drawing a fine line," Hahn said. "I have two young boys that are 3 and 9 months old and I want better for them than what I had. I want to provide them the same athletic benefits as the next kid. So that is something that me and my wife have talked about. I think it's crazy to say to a parent, 'That's wrong.' You want to give your kid the best possible chance; how can you say that's wrong?"
It will be interesting to see what happens with the proposed legislation in New Jersey ... and whether it will help spark similar efforts in other states.
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