What happens to all the kids who get cut for high school sports?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you think competition is bad in BB, baseball, or soccer, it is even worse with tennis and golf in wealthy areas such as Langley/McLean and Potomac. This applies to both public and private schools. There are only six starters on the tennis teams for single and three teams for double. The same six single starters also play doubles so the rest of the team is just benchwarmers. There are more starters in golf but competition is just as bad, if not worse than tennis.

This is terrible! Why can’t every child be a starter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do they just stop playing?

America is such a sports obsessed country. All these kids who have played soccer, basketball, baseball, volleyball, tennis for years end up not making teams. I know so many boys who have played soccer their whole lives and then get cut from high school soccer. Same for baseball. Just heard of a boy who got cut from freshmen basketball. Basketball was his whole life and he didn’t make it. I have a middle school son who also loves basketball. I’m 99% certain he won’t make the basketball team in 9th grade either.

America is sports obsessed yet so fat

I think this is linked

“Making the team” is so central to activity levels


Whereas in Switzerland, Austria, Italy there is less stress in youth sports and people stay more active throughout their lives

Many parents think because the child is playing a sport that they’re fit but not necessarily true. It’s common knowledge that a large majority of kids quit sports in middle school. A lot of them were signed up as five year olds and it’s just a routine. By 12 or so they are able to say that they don’t like playing sports and quit. The schools and park & rec departments need to come up with more creative activities to keep teens busy and off of social media. You don’t need to be running around a field to keep active.

[Anonymous]

Ours know they won't make high school teams and are content to continue playing in the local rec league.

[Anonymous]

Mine went onto play the sport in college. Lol

HS coach was awful

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine went onto play the sport in college. Lol

HS coach was awful

+1 played Club

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you think competition is bad in BB, baseball, or soccer, it is even worse with tennis and golf in wealthy areas such as Langley/McLean and Potomac. This applies to both public and private schools. There are only six starters on the tennis teams for single and three teams for double. The same six single starters also play doubles so the rest of the team is just benchwarmers. There are more starters in golf but competition is just as bad, if not worse than tennis.

Try getting on the McLean HS boys varsity soccer team. It’s nutty. For a high school team!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They play rec sports, sometimes travel sometimes house league, and have a lot more fun than HS teams. I've even known a kid or two who could have made their HS team but chose rec ball instead for this reason. Some kids play just for the fun rather than for the drive to achieve and possibly get a scholarship.

My kid, barely missed the school team, was cut and was devastated. But he pulled it together and played rec, which he hadn’t done in years. It honestly gave him back his love of the game. He has a bit of anxiety and would get anxious or replay mistakes etc. And it would not have been fun to be a benchwarmer on the school team after putting in so much time.

He didn’t worry about playing time in rec, just went out and played. I guess in a previous generation it would be the equivalent of going to your neighborhood court and playing regularly. It has been such a positive experience for our family. He has been able to try other extracurriculars he didn’t have time for. Win win for our family after the initial sadness of not making the team.

I do not think I wrote this two years ago, but the same thing happened to our kid, and +1 to all of this. It has been a joy to watch him play rec and just play for pure fun.

[Anonymous]

My kid plays senior babe Ruth as an 8th grader and is an Umpire (he makes $$) that’s a great way to stay involved. The team is fairly low commitment. He’s pretty good but might not make his HS team. He’s never played travel and that seems to be an unspoken requirement.

[Anonymous]

Welp. I gave my solution to the structural issues (not for OP’s son, but for everyone).

It’s on the general sports discussion. I’ll see if I find it.

[Anonymous]

DS was on JV for two years but did not make varsity soccer. In the end, it was good to step away from the travel grind that is necessary to play HS soccer. Too much with APs and SATs and all the other ECs (internships, research) that colleges are apparently looking for. He ended up being far more balanced and mentally strong.

The varsity team ended up being a complete sh*t show, with infighting and one coach allegedly arrested for DV. Terrible. There’s a lot of great HS coaches, but these teams of wealthy kids also attract some grifters. Better off not being around it, in my opinion.

This was awhile ago, but hope our story helps.

[Anonymous]

You don't realize what a waste of time HS & club sports are until you step away. HS sports back in my day were not 2.5 hours per day 5-6 days per week. Parents were not spending entire weekends at tournaments in depressing locations eating bad food. The majority of HS players will not be recruited. Your child is better off doing rec and spending time on studies and other interests.

[Anonymous]

They join the track team of course.

[Anonymous]

Best friend's kid got cut from soccer at the HS level as a freshman after playing since age 3 and was devastated -- but then ended up taking up both tennis and ultimate frisbee and went on to play national tournaments at both sports. They were club teams through his town but not affiliated with his school. The cut ended up being a growth experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You don't realize what a waste of time HS & club sports are until you step away. HS sports back in my day were not 2.5 hours per day 5-6 days per week. Parents were not spending entire weekends at tournaments in depressing locations eating bad food. The majority of HS players will not be recruited. Your child is better off doing rec and spending time on studies and other interests.

Itda. Sports were a huge factor in my kids’ high school success, despite zero hopes of getting recruited, and a no cut sport for one of them. They got to learn how to balance academics and physical health, have coaches who taught great lessons on effort, sportsmanship, be part of a team working towards a goal… Many kids get some of these same lessons from other pursuits like drama, band, robotics or whatever other interests, but I would not minimize the importance of non-academic pursuits.

[Anonymous]

Here are the numbers for football.
About 1,000,000 kids play high school football. That is 1 out of 8 male high schoolers play in high school.
6.5% will play in college with 3% playing for a D1 school.
1.6% will get drafted or signed with the NFL. Over 1/2 will not make the team.

The number are pretty similar with all sports.

The travel programs(specially pay to play looking at you soccer) keep a lot of kids playing when they should move on to other things.

You can still play a sport but you do not need to put all your free time in to it. Do rec or something else.

I have seen two kids play in high school who went on to become pro athletes. They were just on another level. Be objective with your kids.