Iowa Department of Education

Red Shirting

The Department, as well as both athletic organizations, occasionally gets phone calls from parents wanting to know how to "red shirt" their middle school or high school prodigy. In all cases to date, the student has not been struggling academically. That is, there has been no sound academic reason to retain their children. The parents have been very honest about wanting to have their children repeat a grade solely to allow them to gain physical and athletic maturity.

Because we have the eight consecutive semester rule in Iowa, a parent who has his child repeat 8^th grade or a higher grade level is merely depriving the child of the "senior" year of competition. The rule states that once a child completes 8^th grade for the first time, s/he has 8 consecutive semesters of eligibility for secondary interscholastic sports. The exceptions are softball and baseball, which may be played at the secondary level for five consecutive summers.

The following quote is from a 1989 West Virginia Supreme Court decision, describing the practice of red shirting in high school. Feel free to use it and to pass it along as necessary. "It is the cynical and pernicious manipulation of a student's academic standing for the derivative athletic glory of adults - over-zealous coaches and parents. ...It is a corrupt and mean-spirited practice." That says it all.