How hard is it to get on middle school sports teams?

[Anonymous]

My daughter played on the soccer team at Kenmore in 7th grade. She was one of a few kids on the team who did not play travel soccer. She rarely got to play. She did not enjoy the Kenmore team so didn't play as an 8th grader although still plays rec. A friend's daughter who plays travel did not make the team at Williamsburg as a 7th grader. I think she played in 8th however.

My daughter also did swimming in 7th grade at Kenmore and had a much better experience. Again, she was not super competitive against the year-round swimmers from other schools but she improved a lot and liked it well enough to try swim team at our pool last summer. She plans to swim again this year in 8th.

No experience with basketball.

If your child likes sports they should probably try out in middle school. It's only going to get more competitive in high school, especially in sports that have travel leagues and/or year-round training opportunities.