is juggling a weekday year round sports easy along with academics?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 7yo son plays Academy soccer, which is about a ten-hour per week commitment. It is tough on him on the days he has practice. He is basically on the clock from the time he wakes up to the time he falls into bed at 9PM. It is a lot for such a little guy, and while he wanted to play up a year and try this out, I wonder if we will go back to rec next year.

I thought travel soccer started at 8? Seems sort of silly to have a kid playing up before he's even old enough to start. Once you get on that soccer treadmill it only gets worse (and I say this as a parent whose kids have played travel since U-9 and are now in high school). I'd resist the urge to push kids to play up so early. At young ages, soccer should be about fun, and kids should be given plenty of opportunities to try other sports and activities. Too much intensity too early is the road to burn out.

My 7yr old daughter was asked to try out for competitive gymnastics. She made the team and has a similar time commitment as the PP's son in soccer. I am trying to be supportive because she lives for gymnastics but it makes me sad at the same time. I wish I'd put off trying out till next year. In her elite rec. league there were many more smiles on the kids faces as they trained. The conditioning this year is brutal. The fundraising and parades and all the other stuff you get sucked into eats even more time and energy. I do agree it's intense.
Having to train from after school until bedtime wasn't my idea of how her life would be. I really wish the coach would have talked to me about trying out, before he got her all excited about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a kid I swam - practice 2 hrs before school 3 days per week and every day after for another 2 hours. And the driving between home / pool / school. Can be done but you need to be very efficient and really love the sport/activity. My social life was the other kids on swim team and it worked well.

My daughter is like this. We are at the pool at 4:30 a.m. 3 days/week and then have later practices 4 days/week. A meet takes most of an entire weekend (Fri night, Sat. and Sun.) Getting the pools is about 30 minutes (getting there, changing, getting on deck) for practices and meets are typically an hour drive each way.

[Anonymous]

My son is an 8th grader this year in a sport that he is now doing at the "elite" level. Practice 4 times a week, plus weekend tournaments. I am rather annoyed that he came home at 10 a few times already with practice running long.

Since we are at a middle school and not a secondary school the new 7:30 start time is going to work for us this year, since he'll be out at 2:15 and even with clubs (once they start) he'll have time for homework. DS loves the sport and he asked to try out for the elite level this year. We told him he had to cut something to do that, and he did. He is going to try and keep scouts for now. My DS isn't going to go to college on a scholarship for this sport (despite what all the other parents in this sport plan, there are no scholarships for this sport. But I'm not telling the other parents!). DS knows only classes I require As are the high school classes. He doesn't really struggle with school.

I'm taking each year at a time. AP/IB classes will start for him sophomore year. And with the later start time for high school, that will cut into homework time. We'll cross that bridge then.

[Anonymous]

OP, in answer to your question, it is certainly not "easy" to do both high level sports and high level academics. Whether it's possible to do it, and in a way that allows some life outside of the two big commitments, depends on the kid and the sport. We are doing this experiment now with a son who practices soccer 4 nights a week for 3-4 hours including the commute and has a number of away games on weekends that require overnight travel. He managed it well in middle school. We felt like his devotion to soccer actually helped him take school more seriously because he saw how well it worked out for the older kids in his program who were good students. But high school has a lot more homework, and we'll have to see if he's able to juggle everything successfully. It's very stressful, though he does manage to spend time with close friends most weekends (in addition to his many soccer friends, who he sees almost daily).

I will say that we are pleased that his soccer schedule limits his social life for most of the year. When he has free time in the summer to hang out with groups of friends from school and accept more party invites, we become much more aware of how tricky it can be for teens to stay on a smart and safe path.

[Anonymous]

What is the option for people who don't want to home school and yet want to continue the time consuming activity?
My DD is in high school and is part a music team and practices and meetings are pretty time consuming.
Attendance is mandatory otherwise they will kick out from the team.
Quite expensive investment of instrument and registration fee.

Why can't the practices be on weekend?
why are they scheduled on weekdays?


How can I talk to the instructor to give us flexibility to take a day off occasionally to focus on test preparation and homework?

[Anonymous]

I would not say that it is easy, but I would say that it is doable, for a bright child who really loves the sport. Kids who need a lot of repetition and outside tutoring to learn their schoolwork will not be able to manage it.

One of mine trained at a high level in a sport. He graduated with a lot of Honors courses and eight APs. He learned to be very organized and efficient with his studying time. He continued to train through college, has graduated, and is doing the sport professionally now. He loves his sport, but he will probably move on in a few years to work in the field of his college major.

This was our experience. It will certainly vary for other kids and families. We just paid attention to our child and what he wanted and what he was capable of handling. We sometimes made adjustments as a family, but school was always a priority and our child knew that.

[Anonymous]

One thing I believe is a benefit to the high level sports participation is that it teaches discipline and mental toughness. One thing I'm worried about is that everyone wants 100% of the kid and something has to give.

[Anonymous]

I think it depends on the child. Both my children do better when they have more scheduled sports time. They understand that they only have certain time to get their work done so they do it. When we aren't busy, we tend to let things slide.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would not say that it is easy, but I would say that it is doable, for a bright child who really loves the sport. Kids who need a lot of repetition and outside tutoring to learn their schoolwork will not be able to manage it.

One of mine trained at a high level in a sport. He graduated with a lot of Honors courses and eight APs. He learned to be very organized and efficient with his studying time. He continued to train through college, has graduated, and is doing the sport professionally now. He loves his sport, but he will probably move on in a few years to work in the field of his college major.

This was our experience. It will certainly vary for other kids and families. We just paid attention to our child and what he wanted and what he was capable of handling. We sometimes made adjustments as a family, but school was always a priority and our child knew that.

That's great that your son was able to balance school and his training so well. Did you have any worries about him going the pro route instead of getting the sort of job that's more traditional for kids who are academically high-achieving?

I think about this issue a lot in connection with the discussions about what changes would be needed in order for the US to become a soccer super-power on the men's side. There's not much doubt that playing 4 years of college soccer is going to disadvantage a player's development severely compared to an equally talented player who is able to play in a high level league overseas for those years. But if your child is both academically and athletically gifted, it's awfully hard to think about giving up the guarantee of a college degree from a good school when the odds of being a successful pro are so small.

[Anonymous]

It would be plumb impossible for DC!, who is disorganized and slow.
It might be possible for DC2, but not the kind of life I would want her to lead, or the kind of commitment I would want for my family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would not say that it is easy, but I would say that it is doable, for a bright child who really loves the sport. Kids who need a lot of repetition and outside tutoring to learn their schoolwork will not be able to manage it.

One of mine trained at a high level in a sport. He graduated with a lot of Honors courses and eight APs. He learned to be very organized and efficient with his studying time. He continued to train through college, has graduated, and is doing the sport professionally now. He loves his sport, but he will probably move on in a few years to work in the field of his college major.

This was our experience. It will certainly vary for other kids and families. We just paid attention to our child and what he wanted and what he was capable of handling. We sometimes made adjustments as a family, but school was always a priority and our child knew that.

That's great that your son was able to balance school and his training so well. Did you have any worries about him going the pro route instead of getting the sort of job that's more traditional for kids who are academically high-achieving?

I think about this issue a lot in connection with the discussions about what changes would be needed in order for the US to become a soccer super-power on the men's side. There's not much doubt that playing 4 years of college soccer is going to disadvantage a player's development severely compared to an equally talented player who is able to play in a high level league overseas for those years. But if your child is both academically and athletically gifted, it's awfully hard to think about giving up the guarantee of a college degree from a good school when the odds of being a successful pro are so small.

No, I'm not really worried about him being a professional now instead of having a more traditional job. Life is short and I know he is having an incredible experience right now which he will always be able to look back on. (The sport is not soccer, btw, and it is not one he will ever be famous for playing. ) Most people playing this sport do not go to college, so getting the degree did set him back a bit and maybe limited some athletic opportunities, but getting the degree was a priority for us. He double majored, so he has options. It is possible that contacts he makes now may help him later, but you never know about things like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:is juggling a weekday year round sports easy along with academics?

lets say student returns back from school at 5:30pm and then has sports from 6 to 9:30pm. (including commute)
You can replace sports with orchestra or dance etc.
If activity is missed more than thrice, then they will remove from the team.
the student is in high school doing AP papers. there is a lot of homework and a lot of tests.

is it possible to have this kind of schedule and still succeed in academics?
please discuss.

I have a high schooler who is doing AP/IB courses while juggling 12 hrs/week of competitive dance classes and playing a fall and a spring sport at school. She makes it work by using every minute of school day time wisely and forgoing a social life away from these activities. She knows academics come first (she's chosen a private school and knows I will not pay tuition if she is not putting in the effort) She's hitting the honor roll consistently but she is also far more focused than she (or I!) ever thought possible. The key is she is self-motivated. If we had to push for any of these (sport, dance or academic) she wouldn't be as successful.