Late to sports

[Anonymous]

Don't let this get him down! There are lots of things he can try at this age, in the right environment....
Your local rec soccer or basketball league is full of kids who have been playing since kindergarten.
Pretty much anything else is on the table
My DS started ice hockey in 6th grade. He's in 8th now and there are new kids every year. Find a good learn to play program at you local ice rink

DD in 5th is taking rock climbing classes.

Rowing is a late start sport for sure.

We have a neighbor who is really heavily into BMX bike racing and you're not even allowed to start that (at least in her league) until middle school.

Any martial arts class should be a good option.

If he does want to do basketball or soccer or something, find a skills clinic or small group coach first, then he'll be more confident when he joins the rec team.

[Anonymous]

Is he interested in any sport?

I'd vote for flag football, it's a team sport that's easy to pick up, and it will give him the mechanics for all the other team sports (offense v defense, knowing how to support star players, handling a ball). It may not be a sport he plays every year but it gives an idea of what a sport means. My other choice would be basketball because many people play casually, but you already tried that.

And I agree w/the other posters that he can start training now. Part of sports is being in shape which means going to the gym/running/shooting hoops even when you don't quite feel like it or the weather is bad etc. Learn the rules. He's at an age where he can understand that anything you want would require preparation and some work (and I say this with an 8 year old who is also trying late to get into his chosen sport).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is he interested in any sport?

I'd vote for flag football, it's a team sport that's easy to pick up, and it will give him the mechanics for all the other team sports (offense v defense, knowing how to support star players, handling a ball). It may not be a sport he plays every year but it gives an idea of what a sport means. My other choice would be basketball because many people play casually, but you already tried that.

And I agree w/the other posters that he can start training now. Part of sports is being in shape which means going to the gym/running/shooting hoops even when you don't quite feel like it or the weather is bad etc. Learn the rules. He's at an age where he can understand that anything you want would require preparation and some work (and I say this with an 8 year old who is also trying late to get into his chosen sport).

Correct.

Get a membership at Equinox or Lifetime Athletic so that both you and your son and workout there. I did it with my son at Equinox for almost 12 months before he started going head first into tennis and golf. The membership at Equinox was worth every penny in my situation. He worked out with me for an hour on light weigh and another hour in the swimming pool, everyday for 12 months. Don't forget to put him on a healthy diet. He will thank you by the time he gets to college.

[Anonymous]

Ultimate frisbee. Most don’t start playing until middle school.

[Anonymous]

Pickleball!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 7th grader didn't fare so well when signed up for sports in elementary school, maybe in part, because of not starting in Kindergarten, but also because of ADHD, mind wandered off too much. We allowed too much screen time during lockdowns and we want to require our child to take up a sport. The challenge is, what sport at this point? It seems like even rec teams are highly competitive and last year the basketball rec experience was negative - two kids on the team hogged the ball and the coach totally enabled it because the coach was too focused on winning, rather than teaching team work and sportsmanship.

What can a 7th grader start doing, while being behind peers in most sports? Thought about rowing, but that won't be possible, really, until 8th grade.

Thoughts?

OP do not listen to DCUM

Your DC can do anything they want.

My DS was a very easy boy. When he played on the neighborhood sports teams the dad coaches never played him. Long story short in 8th grade he took up lax himself. Played on an indoor league with some friends. No formal training. Opps bye dad coaches hello HS. By 9th he was on the Varsity team. By college division 1.

Boys change a lot in MS and HS.

OP what about track like shotput? Or cross country, or just track.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 7th grader didn't fare so well when signed up for sports in elementary school, maybe in part, because of not starting in Kindergarten, but also because of ADHD, mind wandered off too much. We allowed too much screen time during lockdowns and we want to require our child to take up a sport. The challenge is, what sport at this point? It seems like even rec teams are highly competitive and last year the basketball rec experience was negative - two kids on the team hogged the ball and the coach totally enabled it because the coach was too focused on winning, rather than teaching team work and sportsmanship.

What can a 7th grader start doing, while being behind peers in most sports? Thought about rowing, but that won't be possible, really, until 8th grade.

Thoughts?

OP do not listen to DCUM

Your DC can do anything they want.

My DS was a very easy boy. When he played on the neighborhood sports teams the dad coaches never played him. Long story short in 8th grade he took up lax himself. Played on an indoor league with some friends. No formal training. Opps bye dad coaches hello HS. By 9th he was on the Varsity team. By college division 1.

Boys change a lot in MS and HS.

OP what about track like shotput? Or cross country, or just track.

I said lax sailing fencing rowing on first page of this thread. Those are the sports he should play

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't let this get him down! There are lots of things he can try at this age, in the right environment....
Your local rec soccer or basketball league is full of kids who have been playing since kindergarten.
Pretty much anything else is on the table
My DS started ice hockey in 6th grade. He's in 8th now and there are new kids every year. Find a good learn to play program at you local ice rink

DD in 5th is taking rock climbing classes.

Rowing is a late start sport for sure.

We have a neighbor who is really heavily into BMX bike racing and you're not even allowed to start that (at least in her league) until middle school.

Any martial arts class should be a good option.

If he does want to do basketball or soccer or something, find a skills clinic or small group coach first, then he'll be more confident when he joins the rec team.

Where could I find BMX bike racing for this age?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Track & Field. If your 7th grader is a girl, maybe volleyball?

I think sports are ultra competitive in this area, but maybe wait until this summer to sign them up for a week or two of a skill development camp for one of the sports, then they may be able to be better prepared to participate on a team.

Umm, boys play volleyball too.

DD's rec league has a couple hundred girls and less than 10 boys. Not all boys would be comfortable in that situation

There are boys only rec teams for volleyball.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - FWIW, I just want my kid to have an organized sport for the social & health benefits. His personality is not competitive, so I'm looking for a way to be in an organized sport without the harder edged competitiveness that I've seen so far even in rec leagues.

Wrestling is a sport that many start in middle school or even high school and find success in this area. Maybe counterintuitively, it is also an incredibly supportive community. Wrestlers seem to respect each other just for participating, and wrestling organizations are interested in growing the sport. Lots of middle school rec programs for girls and boys around here that will welcome newcomers.

[Anonymous]

What about ultimate frisbee? I don’t think that really starts until middle school.

Does it need to be a team sport? If not, parkour or climbing might be good choices.

[Anonymous]

I have a kid who had health issues and started sports late.
Ultimate Frisbee is a great community and always welcoming!

I have a friends who have kids who decided "late" they wanted to play a sport -
8th grader decided he wanted basketball
6th grader decided baseball
5th grader decided soccer

These were kid driven - but all of these kids wound up on the high school varsity team

To add on to the Ultimate recommendation - there are a lot of programs in the area that are around to introduce the sport to others. It really is a great community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a kid who had health issues and started sports late.
Ultimate Frisbee is a great community and always welcoming!

I have a friends who have kids who decided "late" they wanted to play a sport -
8th grader decided he wanted basketball
6th grader decided baseball
5th grader decided soccer

These were kid driven - but all of these kids wound up on the high school varsity team

To add on to the Ultimate recommendation - there are a lot of programs in the area that are around to introduce the sport to others. It really is a great community.

Where/how do you get started with Ultimate so that you don't start the spring season with zero experience?

[Anonymous]

OP, my suggestion is for him to find out what his friends are doing first. As long as it is not something that requires a high level of training prior to now (e.g. a competitive swim team probably won't work) or where he might be separated by ability from his friends (e.g., travel soccer teams), have him sign up for that.

FWIW, my 8th grader decided to do track and field because he had two friends that were doing it. When I asked how he was liking it, his response was, "being with friends is fun, tons of running would not otherwise be fun at all, but it is worth it overall."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:7th grade is actually a perfect age to start tennis or golf.  My son started tennis and golf at 7th grade but he was doing physical training hard in 6th grade.  I spent quite a bit of money for him to train in both tennis and golf from 7th until the beginning of 9th grade.  He made the varsity golf team as a freshman and played the #1 position in 10th through 12th grade.  In FCPS, golf starts in the fall season.  He also got to play varsity tennis, playing #3 single as a freshman and #1 in 10th, 11th and 12th grade.  The key here is to make sure you train him properly so that he has the physical stamina and strength.  Once that is done, he can pick up golf and tennis very quickly. FWIW, my DS is now playing golf at a D2 school.

Nice! I have a kid that needs a second sport. He's finding it too hard to play two competitive team sports that both require ~ 10 month commitments and thinking an individual sport where we have more control over the schedule would be easier to manage with main travel sport. I was worried we were too late for tennis, but this gives me hope.

Tennis is not the sport for a kid to just pick up be proficient at

I've seen a middle school league where some pretty weak players were making varsity, and JV anyone could make it.