Skipping School for Soccer?

[Anonymous]

My son's team is playing in a tournament this weekend... starting Friday morning! Why in the world would they schedule a tournament then? Do high schoolers skip classes to play soccer?! It's one thing to get out a little early but this is a full day of school! It really is hard to catch up in high school. How many of these tournaments are there?!

[Anonymous]

Bethesda Premier Cup is a great tournament for showcase/recruiting. There's an excuse letter on their website. Just print it.

[Anonymous]

You can do a prearranged absence with the school and it should be excused.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son's team is playing in a tournament this weekend... starting Friday morning! Why in the world would they schedule a tournament then? Do high schoolers skip classes to play soccer?! It's one thing to get out a little early but this is a full day of school! It really is hard to catch up in high school. How many of these tournaments are there?!

Yes. Yes they do.

They also do it for high level lacrosse, football, basketball, music and math competitions.

[Anonymous]

Yes, every year kids miss school for sporting competitions.

Don't print the excuse letter, teachers don't care the reason (I'm a HS teacher) and it's not excused to play sports anyway. Just have the student speak to their teachers so they can take any quizzes ahead of time or turn in papers the day before, and then treat it like a sick day.

[Anonymous]

For my sophomore son, the team has at least 5-6 days of school to miss for ECNL travel or showcases. We are driving separately rather than putting him on bus because we can leave later for the first one.

I’m not comfortable with my kids missing school for this stuff and I think these leagues have gotten ridiculous.

My older son will miss a week of school for an MLSnext showcase. He’s never missed for soccer ever—somehow managed to get to Senior year without it. We are only letting him go because college apps are in and he’s had straight As the past 4 years. He’s had pretty much perfect attendance.

But I hate that even local tournaments now do this crap of having games in the middle of a school day. Just not okay!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, every year kids miss school for sporting competitions.

Don't print the excuse letter, teachers don't care the reason (I'm a HS teacher) and it's not excused to play sports anyway. Just have the student speak to their teachers so they can take any quizzes ahead of time or turn in papers the day before, and then treat it like a sick day.

The excuse letters are so ridiculous. I took one look at it (ECNL showcase) and was thinking that if my kid’s admin receives that, they ought to fire off an email to me saying it’ll be logged an an unexcused absence.

[Anonymous]

Daughter misses about 1.5 weeks a year for ECNL. I wish it wasn't like this, regarding their education. Wish all parents would stand up against it but I'm as guilty as all the other parents who put up with it.

How much school do college players miss? Do we as a society care about kids and education?

[Anonymous]

Good practice for college. If your kid plays D1, they will miss A LOT of school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son's team is playing in a tournament this weekend... starting Friday morning! Why in the world would they schedule a tournament then? Do high schoolers skip classes to play soccer?! It's one thing to get out a little early but this is a full day of school! It really is hard to catch up in high school. How many of these tournaments are there?!

Yes they do miss school. And use the excuse letter. My hs asks for it and makes it an excused absence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Daughter misses about 1.5 weeks a year for ECNL. I wish it wasn't like this, regarding their education. Wish all parents would stand up against it but I'm as guilty as all the other parents who put up with it.

How much school do college players miss? Do we as a society care about kids and education?

College players usually miss a couple of classes/days for competitions while they're in season. Not too many if they avoid scheduling classes late in the day/on Fridays, but sometimes it's unavoidable. The absence is generally "excused" as a it's a university-sponsored event... same as if they were traveling with the marching band or another official group representing the university. Students missing class for university events are supposed to provide professors with the event schedule at the beginning of the semester and come up with a plan to make up the work before they leave or soon after they return (whatever the professor decides). They can't be penalized for not attending class on those dates.

Professors have to fill out progress reports for student-athletes. If an athlete is missing a bunch of classes beyond what's in the competition schedule they provided, that gets reported. The student athlete support office does not want kids failing classes, as it can make them ineligible to compete.

[Anonymous]

when i mentioned it to our school they said i would probably see the principle at a tournament and they told me not to worry. With colleges there they said it is considered a college visit

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Good practice for college. If your kid plays D1, they will miss A LOT of school.

But, seriously, most of these boys aren't even going to play in college.

I say that with boys on top area teams. It's not like the girls' side.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, every year kids miss school for sporting competitions.

Don't print the excuse letter, teachers don't care the reason (I'm a HS teacher) and it's not excused to play sports anyway. Just have the student speak to their teachers so they can take any quizzes ahead of time or turn in papers the day before, and then treat it like a sick day.

The excuse letters are so ridiculous. I took one look at it (ECNL showcase) and was thinking that if my kid’s admin receives that, they ought to fire off an email to me saying it’ll be logged an an unexcused absence.

Yep. We are having a 'doctor's appointment' next month for this. Hate it.

[Anonymous]

FCPS itself skips school (declares holidays, teacher workdays, etc) for every reason in the books. Soccer is as good a reason as any to miss a day of this top notch education.