Keeping girls in sports

[Anonymous]

I agree with not specializing.

My daughter is a HS senior. She considered running college track, and had a bunch of D3 offers, but then decided she doesn't want to compete in college.

Most of her friends also made it through senior year, still avidly playing their sports.

My daughter was a gymnast when she was little. She was never on the top track, so she would squeeze in other sports when she could. She liked rec-level volleyball and softball. She was often asked to try out for travel softball, but that was her least favorite sport, so she said no.

Tried track in junior high.

Hit a growth spurt and gymnastics became incredibly challenging, so she quit in 9th grade. Decided to give track another try and did really well (she was a hurdler and a sprinter). Some of her former gymnastics teammates transitioned into diving.

A lot of her track teammates also play soccer, and brought a lot of speed to the table from that. Just from chatting with her friends, it seemed like a lot of them did summer swim, too. So, I would say they are a bunch of good overall athletes who never jumped on the travel bus.

[Anonymous]

My varsity athlete followed a different path than everyone else on the thread I think. Played mostly rec and all-stars / select, but took lessons to specialize in a position. That kept it fun but not intense. But she had friends who followed the same path and definitely hit the drop-out point, so I don't think her path is a guarantee of anything. Having multiple daughters I have seen over and over again that sometimes early specialization really works for a girl. Sometimes it really doesn't. Sometimes kids will bounce to a new sport even in high school. Sometimes kids will act like they aren't interested and yet keep playing. There are SO many variables.

I think the biggest things is: know your own daughter, make sure being active and involved in sport is a team value, and support her taking things the direction she wants to take them (with a little pushing on follow-through where needed, but again know your kid).

[Anonymous]

My DD now 13 currently loves basketball and soccer. Plays both for her MS and does travel soccer and rec basketball. Travel soccer is only twice a week practice and the traveling is less than 90 mins and usually not even that far so its not crazy.
WE have tried various sports over the years, she swam club for 3 years then wanted to stop so she did
gymnastics, baseball, martial arts, bike riding, hiking, ballet and tap. You dont know what they like until you try stuff with them.

It can be easy to get caught up in the sports rat race but you don't have to.

[Anonymous]

14-year-old DD played a bunch of rec sports over the years: basketball, soccer, volleyball, lacrosse, softball. At age 11 she tried out for travel for two of them and made both, but we made her pick one. She picked softball and still plays in HS.

I honestly think waiting until she was in 6th grade to play travel helped her keep her love of the game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My varsity athlete followed a different path than everyone else on the thread I think. Played mostly rec and all-stars / select, but took lessons to specialize in a position. That kept it fun but not intense. But she had friends who followed the same path and definitely hit the drop-out point, so I don't think her path is a guarantee of anything. Having multiple daughters I have seen over and over again that sometimes early specialization really works for a girl. Sometimes it really doesn't. Sometimes kids will bounce to a new sport even in high school. Sometimes kids will act like they aren't interested and yet keep playing. There are SO many variables.

I think the biggest things is: know your own daughter, make sure being active and involved in sport is a team value, and support her taking things the direction she wants to take them (with a little pushing on follow-through where needed, but again know your kid).

So are you saying that your kids only played one or two sports their whole lives?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My varsity athlete followed a different path than everyone else on the thread I think. Played mostly rec and all-stars / select, but took lessons to specialize in a position. That kept it fun but not intense. But she had friends who followed the same path and definitely hit the drop-out point, so I don't think her path is a guarantee of anything. Having multiple daughters I have seen over and over again that sometimes early specialization really works for a girl. Sometimes it really doesn't. Sometimes kids will bounce to a new sport even in high school. Sometimes kids will act like they aren't interested and yet keep playing. There are SO many variables.

I think the biggest things is: know your own daughter, make sure being active and involved in sport is a team value, and support her taking things the direction she wants to take them (with a little pushing on follow-through where needed, but again know your kid).

So are you saying that your kids only played one or two sports their whole lives?

We did a little dabbling in the preschool years but other than a year of swim she picked softball only at 8, her choice.

Look I'm not saying it is the right answer. I'm saying it was right for her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My varsity athlete followed a different path than everyone else on the thread I think. Played mostly rec and all-stars / select, but took lessons to specialize in a position. That kept it fun but not intense. But she had friends who followed the same path and definitely hit the drop-out point, so I don't think her path is a guarantee of anything. Having multiple daughters I have seen over and over again that sometimes early specialization really works for a girl. Sometimes it really doesn't. Sometimes kids will bounce to a new sport even in high school. Sometimes kids will act like they aren't interested and yet keep playing. There are SO many variables.

I think the biggest things is: know your own daughter, make sure being active and involved in sport is a team value, and support her taking things the direction she wants to take them (with a little pushing on follow-through where needed, but again know your kid).

So are you saying that your kids only played one or two sports their whole lives?

We did a little dabbling in the preschool years but other than a year of swim she picked softball only at 8, her choice.

Look I'm not saying it is the right answer. I'm saying it was right for her.

There is no right answer. I’m just asking she never bounced a basketball. She never was in a sports camp that did kayaking. She was never introduced to any other sport than the other than the two?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids played a gazillion sports from 3 to 10.

Martial arts
Soccer
Football
Basketball
Sailing
Rock climb
Hiking
kayaking
Swimming
Tennis
Archery
Horseback riding
Lacrosse
Golf

And then in middle school, we asked them to pick their two favorites.

Two of them ended up playing in college.

We ask them to pick one junior year of high school.

i'm sorry but that list is ridiculous. they didn't actually play any of those seriously

No, of course, not. Are you a psychopath?

I introduced them to a multitude of sports and activities and determined which ones they were interested in.

I noted that sometimes they were 3,4 or five years old you think that a 345-year-old should do something seriously.?

you are grossly misrepresenting the sports they actually tried then. No what they do at 3-4-5-6-7 doesn't matter at all, but you do seem to focus on some extremely expensive activities for your own ego.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with not specializing.

My daughter is a HS senior. She considered running college track, and had a bunch of D3 offers, but then decided she doesn't want to compete in college.

Most of her friends also made it through senior year, still avidly playing their sports.

My daughter was a gymnast when she was little. She was never on the top track, so she would squeeze in other sports when she could. She liked rec-level volleyball and softball. She was often asked to try out for travel softball, but that was her least favorite sport, so she said no.

Tried track in junior high.

Hit a growth spurt and gymnastics became incredibly challenging, so she quit in 9th grade. Decided to give track another try and did really well (she was a hurdler and a sprinter). Some of her former gymnastics teammates transitioned into diving.

A lot of her track teammates also play soccer, and brought a lot of speed to the table from that. Just from chatting with her friends, it seemed like a lot of them did summer swim, too. So, I would say they are a bunch of good overall athletes who never jumped on the travel bus.

Gymnastics is a great foundation for other sports. So many people are quick to point out that gymnasts quit around puberty, which is true, but many/most go on to other sports, like track, for your daughter - so many sprinters, pole vaulters, high jumpers, etc. have a gymnastics background. The best kid on our lacrosse team was a gymnast. They are just solid athletes with excellent movement patterns who learn how to train well at a young age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have this same question but for boys! It seems like if your kid plays soccer as a kindergartner on a mini-kicks style rec team, and has fun, and is good at it, the expectation is to have him in competitive U8 travel ball by second grade, and if you opt out of that, all that's left of the rec program by age 7 or 8 is the kids who have never played soccer before, or the kids without much athletic talent or much desire to play, since all of the moderately athletic kids who enjoy sports have moved on to a travel team. there seems to be zero middle ground between training for 6 hours a week, and kicking the ball around without a purpose with kids who don't want to be there. at age 7.

Don’t hijwck threads

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids played a gazillion sports from 3 to 10.

Martial arts
Soccer
Football
Basketball
Sailing
Rock climb
Hiking
kayaking
Swimming
Tennis
Archery
Horseback riding
Lacrosse
Golf

And then in middle school, we asked them to pick their two favorites.

Two of them ended up playing in college.

We ask them to pick one junior year of high school.

i'm sorry but that list is ridiculous. they didn't actually play any of those seriously

No, of course, not. Are you a psychopath?

I introduced them to a multitude of sports and activities and determined which ones they were interested in.

I noted that sometimes they were 3,4 or five years old you think that a 345-year-old should do something seriously.?

you are grossly misrepresenting the sports they actually tried then. No what they do at 3-4-5-6-7 doesn't matter at all, but you do seem to focus on some extremely expensive activities for your own ego.

NP, and your degree of hostility here is quite odd considering PP does not appear to have misrepresented... anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your dd plays or played sports in high school, what did her sports life look like when she is young? I am getting increasingly worried that the way sports functions for young girls has the effect of burning them out or injuring them so I am hoping some lessons learned from the BTDT folks.

Most kids, boys and girls, quit sports by 13.

It's a very misleading stat. Many of them didn't care in the first place but were only pushed by their parents. If the kid is actually into it, the #'s are much different. Also, some kids figure it's just not for them and that's fine as well.

That’s why the majority of girls quit sports. They either were signed up by the parents and never had any interest in the first place or lost interest around middle school

It’s too bad that so many parents automatically stick their kids in sports instead of introducing them to various activities at home. Kindergarteners can kick a ball around with their parents, basketball and hoop, bat and ball, soccer ball, etc. see if there’s any interest. They can also do arts and crafts, dance, play drama games, see what sticks. Don’t just pick what’s trendy and popular.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your dd plays or played sports in high school, what did her sports life look like when she is young? I am getting increasingly worried that the way sports functions for young girls has the effect of burning them out or injuring them so I am hoping some lessons learned from the BTDT folks.

Most kids, boys and girls, quit sports by 13.

It's a very misleading stat. Many of them didn't care in the first place but were only pushed by their parents. If the kid is actually into it, the #'s are much different. Also, some kids figure it's just not for them and that's fine as well.

That’s why the majority of girls quit sports. They either were signed up by the parents and never had any interest in the first place or lost interest around middle school

It’s too bad that so many parents automatically stick their kids in sports instead of introducing them to various activities at home. Kindergarteners can kick a ball around with their parents, basketball and hoop, bat and ball, soccer ball, etc. see if there’s any interest. They can also do arts and crafts, dance, play drama games, see what sticks. Don’t just pick what’s trendy and popular.

A lot of us try everything, but kids often end up doing their parents' sports. Maybe they watch it at home on TV, or their parent is more interested in throwing a softball than watching a dance class? It does seem like kids stick with what they're good at which is often their parents sport.

[Anonymous]

Mine tried gymnastics and swimming in preschool, interest waned.

Soccer and running in ES, which stuck through HS. All choices driven by her, except that we put a 20-minute limit on how far we were willing to drive for club sport practices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids played a gazillion sports from 3 to 10.

Martial arts
Soccer
Football
Basketball
Sailing
Rock climb
Hiking
kayaking
Swimming
Tennis
Archery
Horseback riding
Lacrosse
Golf

And then in middle school, we asked them to pick their two favorites.

Two of them ended up playing in college.

We ask them to pick one junior year of high school.

i'm sorry but that list is ridiculous. they didn't actually play any of those seriously

No, of course, not. Are you a psychopath?

I introduced them to a multitude of sports and activities and determined which ones they were interested in.

I noted that sometimes they were 3,4 or five years old you think that a 345-year-old should do something seriously.?

No you’re the psychopath angry bird