High School Girls Sports

[Anonymous]

We are relocating to the area and daughter will start high school next year. She has expressed interest in trying out for several sports but she has only played on her middle school team in the past. We are getting the impression that it's so competitive that if you haven't been playing club for years you likely don't have a shot at making a team. She is good but has not spent any time at extra training camps or traveling the country playing top teams.

We are looking at houses zoned for Yorktown, Washington-Liberty, Wakefield and Meridian. Are any of those schools more likely to be less competitive? Are there any girls sports where girls can make a team without already being a star player on a club team? Crew maybe? Feeling discouraged.

[Anonymous]

Sure. Obviously it depends on several factors. Size, speed, strength, interests, etc.

For Fall - Cross country is a good no cut sport. Other sports which won’t have a cut would be swimming, track, girls wrestling. Different schools will also have specific sports that are looking for kids. At my kids’ school softball was always begging for kids, and at other schools softball is a big deal.

Volleyball, soccer, and basketball can often be tough to make a varsity team, but again, depending on the school, it can be easy to play freshmen and jv.

The big thing is to actually get into shape starting now.

[Anonymous]

Thank you! Good tips on the no cut sports and getting in top shape. Appreciate the feedback.

[Anonymous]

Soccer, basketball, and volleyball tend to be the hardest teams to make at many schools.

[Anonymous]

Almost no one starts rowing before high school, so that is a great choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are relocating to the area and daughter will start high school next year. She has expressed interest in trying out for several sports but she has only played on her middle school team in the past. We are getting the impression that it's so competitive that if you haven't been playing club for years you likely don't have a shot at making a team. She is good but has not spent any time at extra training camps or traveling the country playing top teams.

We are looking at houses zoned for Yorktown, Washington-Liberty, Wakefield and Meridian. Are any of those schools more likely to be less competitive? Are there any girls sports where girls can make a team without already being a star player on a club team? Crew maybe? Feeling discouraged.

I'm only familiar with Yorktown and W-L. Both are pretty competitive HSs in every respect, including sports. For example, unless your DD is SUPER athletic, they are not likely making the FH team at Yorktown. Lots of those girls have been on travel for years. And many of the others are in diff competitive sports (like soccer) that has translated well to that sport.

[Anonymous]

What sports does she play? My kids do not attend any of the mentioned schools but…

Track and cross country are no cut at our school- seems to be true for most schools.

Generally it is a lot easier for girls to make teams than boys…

Team sports will be very school specific. At our school- volleyball, soccer, and tennis are extremely competitive teams - very hard to make. Volleyball nearly impossible even for many travel players. Basketball and softball depend on the year- a rec level player will sometimes make those teams. Just depends on numbers.

I don’t anything about our swim team but they seem to carry a LOT of kids. Not sure about golf either but the team is small.

Cheerleading is easy to make but Pomline is very difficult from what I hear.

But that is our high school and each will be different

[Anonymous]

She plays volleyball, basketball and soccer.... but I'm going to work on expanding her interests a little to at least considering some other options. Ill do some digging too - maybe these larger schools have a freshman, jv and varsity team. That might open up the freshman option.

Thanks very much!

[Anonymous]

Cross Country and Track can be no cut BUT only the top 10 compete at Varsity meets and only the next 10 are at JV meets. There are some freshman only events that can extend the competition pool but your kid has to be okay with just practicing if they are not strong runner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She plays volleyball, basketball and soccer.... but I'm going to work on expanding her interests a little to at least considering some other options. Ill do some digging too - maybe these larger schools have a freshman, jv and varsity team. That might open up the freshman option.

Thanks very much!

Meridian will be smaller and not as competitive as the larger high schools. There will still be competition and you will have girls at tryouts who have been playing club/travel for years. Don’t move there only for the sports. There is only one high school in a very tiny district so really do your research to see if it’s a good fit.

[Anonymous]

Look into crew. It can be competitive at all of the APS schools, but the kids mostly start out on an even playing field. Cuts are rare, and there is usually a place for everyone.

[Anonymous]

Field hockey is a good fall sport option because they have a freshman team and many kids are just starting the sport.

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately, soccer, volleyball, and basketball are all very competitive at the schools you listed. That said, there are freshman and JV teams for both volleyball and basketball at Yorktown and WL (I don't know about Wakefield and Meridian). While you generally still need to have skills to make freshman and JV, it's usually not as difficult. However, making varsity is a different story -- I've heard many times that juniors choose to no longer play the sport rather than be cut or stuck on JV.

Soccer is incredibly competitive at both WL and Yorktown. I've heard that both volleyball and basketball are, too, but if your DD has played she might have a chance at making the 9th grade teams. I don't know as much about Wakefield.

As a PP noted, Meridian is much smaller and often travels farther for games because of its size. The Arlington schools you listed are "Class 6", which is for the largest schools. Meridian is Class 4, which is for smaller schools.

My DD is a 9th grader at one of the schools you listed. She's played a spring sport for a long time so made the team, but for a fall sport, she did cross country and loved it. It's no cut, generally a good group of kids, and there's a lot of camaraderie. I've heard great things about crew, too, but it is pretty time-intensive. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Thank you - this is all so helpful! It’s tough to be new - sports are so great to help make new friends. I’m feeling so much better about the options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She plays volleyball, basketball and soccer.... but I'm going to work on expanding her interests a little to at least considering some other options. Ill do some digging too - maybe these larger schools have a freshman, jv and varsity team. That might open up the freshman option.

Thanks very much!

I can speak to W-L. They have freshman basketball and volleyball teams. Some years it's harder to make and some years they take most girls who show up. 8th graders can also try out for volleyball, so that can make it tougher. Just be aware that tryouts for volleyball are around Aug 1-5, so don't plan any trips at that time. There are no makeups.