Tell me about playing a HS sport while playing almost year-round travel in a different sport

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is the HS sport? When DD started playing for the school, I was surprised how her practiced times changed and were sometimes right after school but sometimes late at night. It would have been impossible to balance with a club sport in the same season because of the rotating practices. Check on that and see if they will be consistent.

The other thing that changed is how she still loved her sport but did get sad when she had to miss the occasional social event. This was a big change from middle school to when she was 15. In middle school she could have played 24/7. In HS she still wanted to train hard with intensity but doing the schedule you described wouldn’t have worked. She occasionally wanted to do some social stuff.

This is normal at big public schools where you have 6+ teams trying to practice in the same gym or field that also holds games.

[Anonymous]

This was me as an athlete in high school. I was able to maintain 2 sports at the high school varsity level, plus take honors and AP classes, and play one of those sports on a travel team. By junior year, I had to pick one because it was grueling and exhausting to maintain that schedule and keep up with my grades. I did very well in school and went on to play the sport I stuck with in college, so all worked out. I think it’s really important to left your child take the lead on this. They will know when it becomes too much and be supportive with the decision that they make.

[Anonymous]

Track

[Anonymous]

This past fall, one of my son’s teammates continued to play for the team (2-3 evening practices per week plus some weekend games) while playing for his school JV basketball team (afternoon practices).

He ended up tearing his ACL and is now off all sports for the year!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD is in 8th grade. She plays a "spring" sport but her club team is really in season spring, summer, and fall, and then trains in the winter. Next year, in HS, she would like to play a fall sport (minimal cuts as I understand it) as well as her primary sport in the spring. Travel team will be on hold during the spring HS season but not during the fall. I am confident she could handle a winter sport, but the only one she plays/is interested in is not a team she is likely to make at our high school (even with a freshman, JV, and V team). Is this doable? I am thinking probably not if she wants to get good grades with all honors courses.

Any intensive sport will be in the red zone on recovery and should manage a youth's development to maximize performance in that sport. Unfortunately, that's the way it is to be hyper competitive. Take swimming, by high school they'll be swimming six days a week year-round. Any rest times are built in rest times. Tapering isn't a day off to go play soccer it's time to build up glycogen for the next big meet.

I'm not saying these sports don't have seasons like fall swimming or something where there is noticeably less intense practices or whatever, but they plan these things on a meso-scale, and those are recuperation times building towards that next big meet or tournament.

The resting is accounted for in the sport.

[Anonymous]

Do a HS sport that isn't the club sport if at all possible. The break from all the pressure, the engagement with different kids, the exposure to different coaches and training approaches are all so valuable. Cross training is a thing. My DC is likely on a path to college recruiting in primary sport and takes one season to focus on a HS sport. It has been great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As long as she’s reasonably organized with decent grades, it’s totally fine.

It is doable but it is a lot. And your kid will miss out on a lot of social stuff. And yes, they'll be tired, prone to injury, etc. Doesn't mean they'll get injured or grades will suffer or all of the things. But all of the athletes that I know that did this have been injured due to overuse and/or playing injuries. Including mine. We backed off a bit and stopped shooting for D1 (which DC had a D1 offer but likely could have had more D1 options). DC ended up going to a high performing D3 team and is really happy with the decision (vs. others in the position who have been injured many times, are not playing, etc.)

My 2 cents.

[Anonymous]

what’s the club sport? lacrosse?

if so, they will probably only have one practice on weekends in fall. plenty of club lax girls play a fall sport at their high school.

if the club sport is volleyball, i’m not sure what their schedule is like.

[Anonymous]

and! i know kids who play 3 seasons of high school sports and they make it work. my kids only did fall and spring seasons. it was nice to have a season off from high school sports.

[Anonymous]

Now that you know the main pitfalls are higher injury risk and poor grades, all you can do is let your child give it a try and see how it goes. If it's unmanageable, pick one sport and drop the other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As long as she’s reasonably organized with decent grades, it’s totally fine.

It is doable but it is a lot. And your kid will miss out on a lot of social stuff. And yes, they'll be tired, prone to injury, etc. Doesn't mean they'll get injured or grades will suffer or all of the things. But all of the athletes that I know that did this have been injured due to overuse and/or playing injuries. Including mine. We backed off a bit and stopped shooting for D1 (which DC had a D1 offer but likely could have had more D1 options). DC ended up going to a high performing D3 team and is really happy with the decision (vs. others in the position who have been injured many times, are not playing, etc.)

My 2 cents.

PP and FWIW, my kid isn't shooting for D-anything, just loves sports and thrives on a packed schedule. The social side of sports is kind of the point.

To be clear, I also have a kid who has no interest and couldn't handle it at all. Assume OP knows what kind of kid they're dealing with.

[Anonymous]

OP here. In the two+ months since I started this thread, DD has decided there is no way she could manage the fall HS sport along with her club sport schedule in the fall. She is going to try out for a winter HS sport, but knows she is unlikely to make the team. The missing out on social stuff due to her sport is something she has been doing for years already and something she fully expects to continue through high school and college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. In the two+ months since I started this thread, DD has decided there is no way she could manage the fall HS sport along with her club sport schedule in the fall. She is going to try out for a winter HS sport, but knows she is unlikely to make the team. The missing out on social stuff due to her sport is something she has been doing for years already and something she fully expects to continue through high school and college.

That makes me sad about the state of sports! I know things are different than when we were in HS, but sports were such an integral part of my HS experience, and definitely one I want my kids to have. They like sports, so it’s not like I’m forcing them, but it seems like if they are really good, they might just play club to try to play that particular sport in college, but then, if they’re not good enough, they won’t even make the HS team. Is my type of experience dead?, where a decent athlete could play a role from the freshman team to making JV as a soph/junior and then Varsity as a junior or senior and knowing that your senior year is it, so you have to go for it and win that state championship with all your friends!?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. In the two+ months since I started this thread, DD has decided there is no way she could manage the fall HS sport along with her club sport schedule in the fall. She is going to try out for a winter HS sport, but knows she is unlikely to make the team. The missing out on social stuff due to her sport is something she has been doing for years already and something she fully expects to continue through high school and college.

That makes me sad about the state of sports! I know things are different than when we were in HS, but sports were such an integral part of my HS experience, and definitely one I want my kids to have. They like sports, so it’s not like I’m forcing them, but it seems like if they are really good, they might just play club to try to play that particular sport in college, but then, if they’re not good enough, they won’t even make the HS team. Is my type of experience dead?, where a decent athlete could play a role from the freshman team to making JV as a soph/junior and then Varsity as a junior or senior and knowing that your senior year is it, so you have to go for it and win that state championship with all your friends!?

OP here, and I think that is still true at plenty of high schools around here. But also, at many it is not at all the case. Just depends on the school.

[Anonymous]

My lifelong straight A kid got his first B in an AP class in the fall of 9th grade. He was balancing moving to HS, playing on a new higher level club team, doing HS season and his first AP class. He was stressed and unhappy the whole time too. We both regret trying to do it.

After the season he's back on track and easily balancing school and his club sport.