Where to play sport if rejected from HS team?

[Anonymous]

What do u do if your kid is a solid athlete but is at a powerhouse-athletics HS and doesn’t make the team?

Kid is a very solid athlete but almost certainly not good enough to play baseball beyond the freshman team at his HS (which cranks out D1 kids). The outside-of-school league he played with for years only carries kids thru 9th. But now he’s in 10th grade….. and desperate to play in the Spring.

I just wonder if others have solved this. In particular for baseball.

[Anonymous]

Is there a local rec league he can play on?

[Anonymous]

Club baseball

[Anonymous]

Club baseball pauses during the HS spring season and the “primary” season becomes summer. He can do training workouts in the spring on his own if he doesn’t make the team.

If he does not have a club team—and I assume that’s why you are asking, he could reach out to coaches/friends about taxi’ing this summer. Another option would be trying to link up with a public school summer ball team playing in a rec league like MCBA in MD. Many of the public school coaches put together teams for the summer and fall but they often need more players in the summer because of conflicts with kids’ club schedules, many coaches actually want the team to be a mix of kids who go to their HS and kids who do not so it doesn’t look like their are “recruiting” or playing favorites. I wish the answer was as simple as the standard DCUM suggestion “play rec” but a rec team option is a little more challenging to come by for baseball than say basketball. If someone has an easy solution for MD kids, I’m all ears because we will be in a similar boat and cannot continue with our club team.

[Anonymous]

Club / travel sport.

[Anonymous]

I don’t think there is travel baseball in the spring, but he could look. Not sure where you live, but prime time will take anyone, BBA, Stars has some mid level teams. This was one reason my son chose to go to public instead of the private I wanted him to go to. It’s also hard to mags the public teams and there’s much more competition.
ASBR has a spring rec league if you are in Arlington. In Bethesda, try bcc.

[Anonymous]

Transfer high school

[Anonymous]

You might want to ask in the General Sports section of the forums, they might have more specific advice to offer

[Anonymous]

May want to leave St John's and go to another school.

[Anonymous]

Not trying to be a jerk but what made you pick this school?
If sports/athletics are a big part of your son’s life he might enjoy a different school experience.
I have an 8th grader athlete in private and sports are a big part of what we’re looking at because a she’s bright but not interested in academics

[Anonymous]

Play a different sport…have your kid play rugby as example at SJC which is club but no cut.

I don’t see the point of finding some random club HS baseball team with a spring season…since most don’t have a spring season.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Play a different sport…have your kid play rugby as example at SJC which is club but no cut.

I don’t see the point of finding some random club HS baseball team with a spring season…since most don’t have a spring season.

+1 This. You say “rejected” in your subject line which implies

[Anonymous]

Oops— meant to say: in your title you say “rejected” which implies you thought he deserved to make the team. Teams around here are very competitive and guaranteed spots/playing time isn’t really a thing. Hope you can encourage DS to pick up a new spring sport if he wants to play something at school or look into finding a Rec-like or club team for summer ball.

[Anonymous]

DS plays baseball for a competitive high school team and a travel team. Many travel teams go through the end of high school and carry an A, B and sometimes a C team at each age level through the end of the program.

You’re right that most travel teams take a break in the spring, as usually all/ most of the kids on the A team play HS baseball and I think many on the B team do as well. But travel baseball at the HS level picks up for the summer season in late May when the HS season ends and goes through the end of July/ early August. It then starts again with fall ball in late August/ September through late October/early November. Travel teams also usually do some winter workouts. So it’s really just the spring season that he might not be able to play if he doesn’t make his HS team. I would look at a number of different travel programs, find out when tryouts for the summer season are (it’s often months in advance so the teams can do winter workouts together), and go from there. If he’s a good player with travel experience, he should be able to find a travel team.

In terms of what to do in the spring, some suggestions are:

1. Try a new HS sport - many high schools with competitive teams also have a number of no cut sports.

2. Focus on school and new clubs/non-sports activities.

3. Workout with a hitting/ pitching coach or do strength training.

4. Look into house teams. I think there aren’t a ton of options, as many kids playing at that age play for their HS team. But it’s worth considering.

[Anonymous]

My kid never played baseball before and got to play on his high school team, and they won the small school league championship. If playing the sport in school is that important to your kid, there are places where he could play.

His friend is a great player and goes to a different school, but didn't make the very competitive team, so he switched to a new sport and is enjoying it.

You just have to decide what matters most to you in a high school.