Is it hard to make the HS tennis team?

[Anonymous]

My middle schooler wants to play tennis in high school but doesn’t have much experience outside of playing rec and some group lessons. Do we need to get kid into more lessons? Are hs teams super competitive? Kid likes tennis but isn’t super competitive.

[Anonymous]

Depends on the high school and the conference.

[Anonymous]

It entirely depends on the school. Generally- it’s directly proportional to percentage of Asian/Indian kids at that high school and wealth.

[Anonymous]

Easy at APS high schools.

[Anonymous]

It’s highly competitive at our MCPS high school.

[Anonymous]

Totally depends on the school. The tennis team at my kids’ HS is quite difficult to make. My kids do not play, but some of their friends do or did (didn’t make the team).

I would highly recommend asking around. Do you have any neighbors/colleagues/friends etc who have kids who attend your daughter’s intended high school? They could probably give you a general idea of competitiveness, even if their own kid does not play tennis. Parents tend to know based on stories from other parents or hearing about how their kids’ friends are doing etc.

Also, if you sign her up for tennis lessons or clinics at a reputable place, ask the instructor- he/she would probably know.

It is good that you are thinking about this ahead of time!

[Anonymous]

The better the academics and the higher SES of the school, the harder it’ll be. The lower levels of academic achievement and SES, the easier. At my title 1 school they let anyone play. There’s just no competition for it as a sport.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Easy at APS high schools.

How about Washington-Liberty?

[Anonymous]

This also very can depend on if your kid is a boy or a girl. Boys teams are usually more difficult to make than girls teams.

Also, there is a big difference between "making the team" and "playing in matches." Some super competitive schools like McLean and Langley will take 20-25 kids on the roster. I think the Arlington schools typically take closer to 12-15. All these teams have a ladder from the top player to the bottom. But no matter the size of the roster, only six play in the matches - they play six singles matches and then 3 doubles matches (almost always the same kids, unless the match is very lopsided, then the better school might allow lines 7-10 to go and play some doubles to get some playing time)

I would advise you to look at W-L's tennis schedule and go watch a match in a few weeks. Figure out which match on court is line 6. The other kids on the team who aren't playing singles are all worse than that kid. If you want your kid to make the team and have a shot at playing, you should aim to get him/her close to the level of the line 6 player by the time of freshman year tryouts.

[Anonymous]

Not a huge interest at our school and they take anyone who shows up to tryouts. Same with track.

[Anonymous]

In an exurb where the kids on the team will play on our tennis ladder. Some of the #1 kids wind up playing D3. The #3/4 kids are usually competitive with the decent adults. The #6 kids are usually the beginners that pick it up the best.

[Anonymous]

Depends on the school. Who knows…

If you don’t know anyone who plays at the HS level, easiest way would be to sign your DD up for a couple of private lessons. After a few lessons, ask the instructor about DD’s high school and DD’s skill level or what she needs to work on. They should be able to give you some basic idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This also very can depend on if your kid is a boy or a girl. Boys teams are usually more difficult to make than girls teams.

Also, there is a big difference between "making the team" and "playing in matches." Some super competitive schools like McLean and Langley will take 20-25 kids on the roster. I think the Arlington schools typically take closer to 12-15. All these teams have a ladder from the top player to the bottom. But no matter the size of the roster, only six play in the matches - they play six singles matches and then 3 doubles matches (almost always the same kids, unless the match is very lopsided, then the better school might allow lines 7-10 to go and play some doubles to get some playing time)

I would advise you to look at W-L's tennis schedule and go watch a match in a few weeks. Figure out which match on court is line 6. The other kids on the team who aren't playing singles are all worse than that kid. If you want your kid to make the team and have a shot at playing, you should aim to get him/her close to the level of the line 6 player by the time of freshman year tryouts.

Maybe this varies by region? Our school plays 4 singles and 4 doubles per meet: making it 12 players that get to play. But then there’s JV too, so that’s another 12 that will get playing time too.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Kid will be attending Oakton HS. High South/Asian population, so from these responses, I think we're screwed lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Kid will be attending Oakton HS. High South/Asian population, so from these responses, I think we're screwed lol.

Do they field a freshman or JV team? That would make it easier, obviously.