Sports

Not every talented athlete decides to hold back. Fourteen-year-old Rourke Julio of Murrieta, Calif., is around 6-foot-3 with an 84-mile-an-hour fastball and basketball skills he hopes will carry him to the NBA.

Club teammates in both sports opted to repeat eighth grade. After seeking advice from coaches and researching it online, his parents told him they thought it was the right move. Rourke refused.

“‘I don’t take shortcuts,’” he said he told them. His mother, Kimberly Julio, said she burst into tears: “I was like, ‘Why are you more mature than I am?’”

As a freshman this year, he was the fourth-string quarterback on the freshman team, played JV basketball and started for the varsity baseball squad. He said that when other players ask if he held back, he feels pride telling them, “I’m 14. I’m in the right grade.”