Inattentive ADHD and Team Sports - Any Success Stories?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

things like regular private lessons (because learning in a group is a challenge), and driving all over the place for training, camps and tournaments, and to what end?

PP here. So private lessons can be helpful with some skills (e.g. learning to head the ball, improving the accuracy of your shot). But for other skills, there really is no way to learn them except working with other kids. This may be why the private lessons are not paying off. Can you get one or two other kids interested in joining the sessions?

OP here. Private lessons thus far have been necessary for DC to keep up on the individual skill components of the sport because group learning is a challenge. DC does some small group training, and is really strong in privates, small group training and small area games like 2v2 or 3v3. However, DC is inconsistent in actual games - body language often suggests DC is bored or disinterested during games, which I believe goes back to ADHD, and wonder if the ADHD is an insurmountable obstacle to play a team sport at a high level. DC is still young so maybe as a teenager focus will improve.

Some of it might be sport/position specific. My young teen son plays at a high level for lacrosse, LSM and defense. He definitely might appear disinterested but he snaps “on” when the ball comes to his side of the field - it’s not that he isn’t paying attention otherwise but he is absolutely more focused (and importantly, it shows) when it comes to what is going on for his specific position. He is combination not inattentive - so some of the same issues although not completely the same. Medication helped but so far I wouldn’t say ADHD has held him back, if anything I think it has helped because he can hyperfocus and also has a lot of energy. In addition, I think the way his brain works with his out-of-the-box thinking helps him anticipate what the opposition is doing. Will he be college level? Not sure yet.

[Anonymous]

^ adding on, I’m not sure he would do as well in a sport like say, soccer, where your attention needs to be at 100 percent for a longer period of time.

[Anonymous]

Your attitude is really strange. Your goals are all wrong. You should be asking if your DC is happy in the sport, does it help him with his self confidence, would he be lost without doing so well in the sport. Many kids with ADHD do well in life because they can excel in an area outside academics and develop a strong sense of themselves. It has nothing to do with college sports or even whether he is “successful” in HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I'm starting to feel like we're wasting our time and money on DC's sport, because no matter how fast and technically competent they are, slow processing speed plus inattentiveness seem like insurmountable obstacles in team sports. DC is already medicated and playing at a high level but puts in a ton of extra time with private skills lessons to keep up. Does anyone have a success story in a sport like soccer, hockey, lacrosse or basketball? For example, an athletic kid who struggled with inattentive ADHD but still managed to play a team sport in college? Would a sports psychologist with experience in this area help?

Whose interest is this sport? It sounds like my son is younger (he is 14), but he has combined type ADHD, and is fairly successful in travel soccer - because he's highly interested in it. If he weren't, he would definitely not be able to be successful.

DC is the one interested in the sport, and is younger than your son. I unsuccessfully tried to push DC toward individual sports like tennis and swimming because they seemed better suited. We spend a lot of time and money supporting DC's sport - things like regular private lessons (because learning in a group is a challenge), and driving all over the place for training, camps and tournaments, and to what end? Some days I think DC's best hope is a successful high school career, or maybe playing at the club level in college, both of which are great, but if that's the case, I think I could pull way back on all the extra stuff that we're doing to keep up with DC's current level of play. All this said, DC really likes all the extra training - I'm the one that is burning out.

I think that investing in sports at any age on the off chance that it will pay off in college is a mistake.

At the same time, if I had a kid, particularly a kid with a disability, who was busy with a healthy activity they loved, then I'd think hard about giving that up. It's really common for kids with this diagnosis to struggle in high school, and stopping something he loves because he's not in the top 2% seems like it could be really hurtful.

Could you rethink your goals. Maybe your goal is for him to be happy, and active, and busy, and have a strong body, and strong self esteem, and social connections? Then, provide whatever level of support you think those goals warrant?

OP again. Of course I agree and we would never take away the sport. I do think that redefining our goals would lead me to discourage DC from playing on a travel team that requires a lot of travel time to get to practices and costs us so many weekends to tournaments, and we could cut back on the amount of extra lessons we're doing and get our evenings evenings back. If inattentive ADHD is a barrier we can't work around and no matter what we do and DC is unlikely to play this sport at least through college, then it feels like the sacrifices to play at the current level are futile and we should try to shift our and DC's approach to the sport going forward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your attitude is really strange. Your goals are all wrong. You should be asking if your DC is happy in the sport, does it help him with his self confidence, would he be lost without doing so well in the sport. Many kids with ADHD do well in life because they can excel in an area outside academics and develop a strong sense of themselves. It has nothing to do with college sports or even whether he is “successful” in HS.

OP. No. I get all of that. However, we're currently playing this sport in the highest level available for DC's age group. I'm questioning the choice to play at this level versus scale back to a less competitive division/team going forward. I think playing a sport is hugely important to DC's self confidence and DC gets so much out of it that will help DC later in life. It's also a life long sport and I can see DC playing with it as an adult as DC's social outlet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I'm starting to feel like we're wasting our time and money on DC's sport, because no matter how fast and technically competent they are, slow processing speed plus inattentiveness seem like insurmountable obstacles in team sports. DC is already medicated and playing at a high level but puts in a ton of extra time with private skills lessons to keep up. Does anyone have a success story in a sport like soccer, hockey, lacrosse or basketball? For example, an athletic kid who struggled with inattentive ADHD but still managed to play a team sport in college? Would a sports psychologist with experience in this area help?

Whose interest is this sport? It sounds like my son is younger (he is 14), but he has combined type ADHD, and is fairly successful in travel soccer - because he's highly interested in it. If he weren't, he would definitely not be able to be successful.

DC is the one interested in the sport, and is younger than your son. I unsuccessfully tried to push DC toward individual sports like tennis and swimming because they seemed better suited. We spend a lot of time and money supporting DC's sport - things like regular private lessons (because learning in a group is a challenge), and driving all over the place for training, camps and tournaments, and to what end? Some days I think DC's best hope is a successful high school career, or maybe playing at the club level in college, both of which are great, but if that's the case, I think I could pull way back on all the extra stuff that we're doing to keep up with DC's current level of play. All this said, DC really likes all the extra training - I'm the one that is burning out.

I think that investing in sports at any age on the off chance that it will pay off in college is a mistake.

At the same time, if I had a kid, particularly a kid with a disability, who was busy with a healthy activity they loved, then I'd think hard about giving that up. It's really common for kids with this diagnosis to struggle in high school, and stopping something he loves because he's not in the top 2% seems like it could be really hurtful.

Could you rethink your goals. Maybe your goal is for him to be happy, and active, and busy, and have a strong body, and strong self esteem, and social connections? Then, provide whatever level of support you think those goals warrant?

OP again. Of course I agree and we would never take away the sport. I do think that redefining our goals would lead me to discourage DC from playing on a travel team that requires a lot of travel time to get to practices and costs us so many weekends to tournaments, and we could cut back on the amount of extra lessons we're doing and get our evenings evenings back. If inattentive ADHD is a barrier we can't work around and no matter what we do and DC is unlikely to play this sport at least through college, then it feels like the sacrifices to play at the current level are futile and we should try to shift our and DC's approach to the sport going forward.

Lacrosse parent - keep in mind most travel sport athletes won’t make it through college sport in general, unless you mean just at college club level. Like PP said, that really shouldn’t be your goal.

I wonder if you are seriously underestimating how hard it is to be a recruited college athlete much less to play all four years.

I’ll add that ADHD has definitely made the travel component harder for us. We work through it because my son loves his sport, but the sleep and schedule disruption is harder for him, absolutely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your attitude is really strange. Your goals are all wrong. You should be asking if your DC is happy in the sport, does it help him with his self confidence, would he be lost without doing so well in the sport. Many kids with ADHD do well in life because they can excel in an area outside academics and develop a strong sense of themselves. It has nothing to do with college sports or even whether he is “successful” in HS.

OP. No. I get all of that. However, we're currently playing this sport in the highest level available for DC's age group. I'm questioning the choice to play at this level versus scale back to a less competitive division/team going forward. I think playing a sport is hugely important to DC's self confidence and DC gets so much out of it that will help DC later in life. It's also a life long sport and I can see DC playing with it as an adult as DC's social outlet.

One thing to ask yourself is how dedicated your child will be in his sport if you do cut back. Will his interest level be the same if he isn’t pushing himself to the max? I know my child wouldn’t. He would slack off and quit altogether.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I'm starting to feel like we're wasting our time and money on DC's sport, because no matter how fast and technically competent they are, slow processing speed plus inattentiveness seem like insurmountable obstacles in team sports. DC is already medicated and playing at a high level but puts in a ton of extra time with private skills lessons to keep up. Does anyone have a success story in a sport like soccer, hockey, lacrosse or basketball? For example, an athletic kid who struggled with inattentive ADHD but still managed to play a team sport in college? Would a sports psychologist with experience in this area help?

Whose interest is this sport? It sounds like my son is younger (he is 14), but he has combined type ADHD, and is fairly successful in travel soccer - because he's highly interested in it. If he weren't, he would definitely not be able to be successful.

DC is the one interested in the sport, and is younger than your son. I unsuccessfully tried to push DC toward individual sports like tennis and swimming because they seemed better suited. We spend a lot of time and money supporting DC's sport - things like regular private lessons (because learning in a group is a challenge), and driving all over the place for training, camps and tournaments, and to what end? Some days I think DC's best hope is a successful high school career, or maybe playing at the club level in college, both of which are great, but if that's the case, I think I could pull way back on all the extra stuff that we're doing to keep up with DC's current level of play. All this said, DC really likes all the extra training - I'm the one that is burning out.

I think that investing in sports at any age on the off chance that it will pay off in college is a mistake.

At the same time, if I had a kid, particularly a kid with a disability, who was busy with a healthy activity they loved, then I'd think hard about giving that up. It's really common for kids with this diagnosis to struggle in high school, and stopping something he loves because he's not in the top 2% seems like it could be really hurtful.

Could you rethink your goals. Maybe your goal is for him to be happy, and active, and busy, and have a strong body, and strong self esteem, and social connections? Then, provide whatever level of support you think those goals warrant?

OP again. Of course I agree and we would never take away the sport. I do think that redefining our goals would lead me to discourage DC from playing on a travel team that requires a lot of travel time to get to practices and costs us so many weekends to tournaments, and we could cut back on the amount of extra lessons we're doing and get our evenings evenings back. If inattentive ADHD is a barrier we can't work around and no matter what we do and DC is unlikely to play this sport at least through college, then it feels like the sacrifices to play at the current level are futile and we should try to shift our and DC's approach to the sport going forward.

Lacrosse parent - keep in mind most travel sport athletes won’t make it through college sport in general, unless you mean just at college club level. Like PP said, that really shouldn’t be your goal.

I wonder if you are seriously underestimating how hard it is to be a recruited college athlete much less to play all four years.

I’ll add that ADHD has definitely made the travel component harder for us. We work through it because my son loves his sport, but the sleep and schedule disruption is harder for him, absolutely.

OP here. Yes, thanks, we have direct experience with college sports. I also appreciate the benefit of playing a sport for the values it provides to kids like healthy lifestyle, social outlet, learning to be a team player, etc. DC could get all of those benefits playing on a lower division travel team and cutting back on all the private lessons.

[Anonymous]

No success stories. Sorry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I'm starting to feel like we're wasting our time and money on DC's sport, because no matter how fast and technically competent they are, slow processing speed plus inattentiveness seem like insurmountable obstacles in team sports. DC is already medicated and playing at a high level but puts in a ton of extra time with private skills lessons to keep up. Does anyone have a success story in a sport like soccer, hockey, lacrosse or basketball? For example, an athletic kid who struggled with inattentive ADHD but still managed to play a team sport in college? Would a sports psychologist with experience in this area help?

Whose interest is this sport? It sounds like my son is younger (he is 14), but he has combined type ADHD, and is fairly successful in travel soccer - because he's highly interested in it. If he weren't, he would definitely not be able to be successful.

DC is the one interested in the sport, and is younger than your son. I unsuccessfully tried to push DC toward individual sports like tennis and swimming because they seemed better suited. We spend a lot of time and money supporting DC's sport - things like regular private lessons (because learning in a group is a challenge), and driving all over the place for training, camps and tournaments, and to what end? Some days I think DC's best hope is a successful high school career, or maybe playing at the club level in college, both of which are great, but if that's the case, I think I could pull way back on all the extra stuff that we're doing to keep up with DC's current level of play. All this said, DC really likes all the extra training - I'm the one that is burning out.

I think that investing in sports at any age on the off chance that it will pay off in college is a mistake.

At the same time, if I had a kid, particularly a kid with a disability, who was busy with a healthy activity they loved, then I'd think hard about giving that up. It's really common for kids with this diagnosis to struggle in high school, and stopping something he loves because he's not in the top 2% seems like it could be really hurtful.

Could you rethink your goals. Maybe your goal is for him to be happy, and active, and busy, and have a strong body, and strong self esteem, and social connections? Then, provide whatever level of support you think those goals warrant?

OP again. Of course I agree and we would never take away the sport. I do think that redefining our goals would lead me to discourage DC from playing on a travel team that requires a lot of travel time to get to practices and costs us so many weekends to tournaments, and we could cut back on the amount of extra lessons we're doing and get our evenings evenings back. If inattentive ADHD is a barrier we can't work around and no matter what we do and DC is unlikely to play this sport at least through college, then it feels like the sacrifices to play at the current level are futile and we should try to shift our and DC's approach to the sport going forward.

Lacrosse parent - keep in mind most travel sport athletes won’t make it through college sport in general, unless you mean just at college club level. Like PP said, that really shouldn’t be your goal.

I wonder if you are seriously underestimating how hard it is to be a recruited college athlete much less to play all four years.

I’ll add that ADHD has definitely made the travel component harder for us. We work through it because my son loves his sport, but the sleep and schedule disruption is harder for him, absolutely.

OP here. Yes, thanks, we have direct experience with college sports. I also appreciate the benefit of playing a sport for the values it provides to kids like healthy lifestyle, social outlet, learning to be a team player, etc. DC could get all of those benefits playing on a lower division travel team and cutting back on all the private lessons.

That’s true for any athlete regardless of ADHD though.

[Anonymous]

My kid with inattentive ADHD is being recruited by D1 schools now and will play in college.

[Anonymous]

College is a really high barrier and that seems like a goal that you shouldn't be wondering if you can reach.

My kid with ADD excels at hockey; he has played house and travel and he is good - he isn't excellent and he has no options for college, but he is enjoying it at the high school level. He simply isn't good enough for college, but his older brother also plays hockey (not ADD and is in college now) and he now plays in an adult league so I feel like his hockey was great - he has a sport for his adult time in his life.

I think ADHD is hard for some team sports and some kids do well and others don't.

But I kind of don't like your idea that you would take away supports (practice training, etc) because then the kid will be frustrated and fall behind and that seems terrible.

I would continue if you can afford time and money and if you kid wants to. You can also try other sports as your kid gets older and changes their mind a bit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid with inattentive ADHD is being recruited by D1 schools now and will play in college.

What was the path like? Was your kid consistently a top player throughout? Did your kid have a hard time with focus in games or have a hard time with spatial awareness, and did it get better in time? Did your kid do any sport specific mental skills type training?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:College is a really high barrier and that seems like a goal that you shouldn't be wondering if you can reach.

My kid with ADD excels at hockey; he has played house and travel and he is good - he isn't excellent and he has no options for college, but he is enjoying it at the high school level. He simply isn't good enough for college, but his older brother also plays hockey (not ADD and is in college now) and he now plays in an adult league so I feel like his hockey was great - he has a sport for his adult time in his life.

I think ADHD is hard for some team sports and some kids do well and others don't.

But I kind of don't like your idea that you would take away supports (practice training, etc) because then the kid will be frustrated and fall behind and that seems terrible.

I would continue if you can afford time and money and if you kid wants to. You can also try other sports as your kid gets older and changes their mind a bit.

Say you've got a hockey player who works almost twice as hard as teammates to keep a spot on an elite/AAA hockey team, and the family is sacrificing a lot of time and money to make it happen because the family is committed to support the kid's dreams to play elite hockey for as long as possible, but the kid's weaknesses related to inattentive ADHD are starting to become more of an issue despite the kid's overall athleticism, technical abilities and work ethic. Anyone with exposure to the expense and time commitment required to play AAA hockey likely understand that families will question it along the way, especially if they are wondering if a learning disability is a barrier to the kid achieving the kid's dreams. Kid could still play AA hockey for a few more years and make the high school team and have a lot of fun doing it. Still, good point about taking away supports, which might feel punitive to the kid. The family should continue the current level of support and just watch how this plays out going forward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid with inattentive ADHD is being recruited by D1 schools now and will play in college.

What was the path like? Was your kid consistently a top player throughout? Did your kid have a hard time with focus in games or have a hard time with spatial awareness, and did it get better in time? Did your kid do any sport specific mental skills type training?

DC was not always a top performer and was a benchwarmer at 13, albeit for a competitive travel team. In fact, DC spent most of the elementary years on the lower-level teams (which was great — that provided a safe and nurturing place to develop). However, DC was obsessed with the sport and dedicated time every day to the sport (self-motivated, not us pushing) and was a starter on a very competitive team by 16. DC was yelled at by coaches for focus probably a bazillion times, but has excellent natural spatial awareness now and has an instinctive sense for where the gameplay is going. The spatial awareness was essentially self-trained due to daily practice; DCs spatial awareness as a child was pretty much non-existent. No sports specific mental skills training. But due to DCs obsession, some form of practice every day, often for hours.

My takeaway is that kids with ADHD, inattentive type can excel at sports, but getting to the college level requires a personal level of passion that other kids without ADHD might not need. My kid is obsessed, and that drove everything.