My 5th birthday fell right before the first day of K, and I come from a long line of late bloomers, so as a male with some of these physical disadvantages that redshirting is supposed to prevent, I have some perspective.
Bullying was a BIG problem up 'til the end of 7th grade. After that, not it tapered off. I only had one fight with someone who picked on me in 9th (and I won), in 10th I had a guy bothering me all year but it never got to a physical exchange, and 11th on there were no issues.
Fitting in socially was also a problem... til the end of 7th grade. Noticing a pattern?
Sports were not really a problem. I played football outside of school, in Pop Warner. They group people by age and weight, so grade isn't a factor. After I quit that, I didn't have any further interest in organized sports, because I was doing other things. I played informally with my friends, and did well enough.
Probably the most important indicator is who I hung out with in high school. Everyone I hung out with was older than me, often by more than one year. As I moved through the years, I became more exposed to kids younger than me, and I just had no interest whatsoever in them. So, take that and factor in what a sheer torture the slow pace of school was for me in elementary school, and there's no question that redshirting would have been the wrong choice for me.
