What sports can do you at a competitive level without it being crazy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you mean your child is individually competitive or a star? Probably nothing without a lot of hard work and talent.

There are plenty of team and individual sports you can play and have a competitive experience without it consuming your whole life unless you mean your child is at the top and is looking for college scholarships. My 9th grader has been on the same rec soccer team for years. They play and practice hard -- once a week for nine weeks in the fall and spring but that's it. She's also a club swimmer, but very much middle to back of the pack. She works hard and participates in meets but isn't chasing cut times and championships so again it's competitive but not a level of crazy.

Cross country and track are typically no cut at the high school level so your kids could have a competitive experience on a high school team. Will they be the ones to win? Who knows and probably almost certainly without a huge amount of work, but the competitive experience is there.

The slower kids on a cross country team are not getting a competitive experience. They may be no cut, but no everyone goes to meets and the coaches do not care about the slow kids. At best they are getting exercise, at worst they are on the team to have something to put on applications and just walking and talking to friends during practice

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:op here - i have 3 young boys, no one is specialized in any yet and the oldest 2 seem happy doing most things.

talking to friends with older kids, it seems like if you want to play at even the local competitive level, it gets very intense by late elementary for most common sports. it also sounds like a lot of the less competitive clubs wind down then or only people that are brand new to the sport stay in them. so you're either playing 4 day a week year round basketball at 12 or you're not playing at all.

i'm looking for the sports that are just a lot less common and therefore you can stick with them, be good at them, compete etc but not 15 hours a week year round at 12. I figure skated and danced and my sister did gymnastic - we both competed and practiced a few times a week through high school. we loved the competition aspects and wouldn't have wanted to just do it for fun practice only - my impression is that that level of commitment in those sports today wouldn't get you anywhere.

There are rec level basketball and soccer all the way through high school where it is one practice a week and one game a week. But those kids aren’t making the high school teams.

+1
I don’t understand how OP wants kids to be competitive while not putting in the same work as the kids who they’re competing with. Kind of a primary lesson we want kids to learn is that hard work yields more success. At some point (middle school?) they have to put in the work to be good.

[Anonymous]

NONE. The Youth Sports Industrial Complex has infiltrated and ruined every sport out there. If there is a buck to be made, they will come. It used to be that there were some sports that were no cut or less competitive but that’s no longer the case. Part of the issue is mega schools where there aren’t enough teams or coaches. Parents have their kids with clubs or taking private lessons just to make the high school teams. It sucks for everyone except those who are making money. The kids are over scheduled and stressed out and the parents feel like they have to spend more time and more money just to give their kid a fair shot at making the team, any team. It’s very similar to the Academic Tutoring Industrial Complex.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NONE. The Youth Sports Industrial Complex has infiltrated and ruined every sport out there. If there is a buck to be made, they will come. It used to be that there were some sports that were no cut or less competitive but that’s no longer the case. Part of the issue is mega schools where there aren’t enough teams or coaches. Parents have their kids with clubs or taking private lessons just to make the high school teams. It sucks for everyone except those who are making money. The kids are over scheduled and stressed out and the parents feel like they have to spend more time and more money just to give their kid a fair shot at making the team, any team. It’s very similar to the Academic Tutoring Industrial Complex.

It's seems to also be very much an American thing (or mostly) as well. We live just over the border from Canada and for DS' sport the best options nearby are in Canada, so we go there a couple of times a month. The overall vibe is so much more relaxed and quite frankly enjoyable. It is also 1/10th of the price (plus a great exchange rate) for way better coaching and program than I can get in the US within driving distance. It's been fascinating to see the differences in every aspect of the sport from the US to Canada - everything from the organizational aspects to the demeanor of the parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NONE. The Youth Sports Industrial Complex has infiltrated and ruined every sport out there. If there is a buck to be made, they will come. It used to be that there were some sports that were no cut or less competitive but that’s no longer the case. Part of the issue is mega schools where there aren’t enough teams or coaches. Parents have their kids with clubs or taking private lessons just to make the high school teams. It sucks for everyone except those who are making money. The kids are over scheduled and stressed out and the parents feel like they have to spend more time and more money just to give their kid a fair shot at making the team, any team. It’s very similar to the Academic Tutoring Industrial Complex.

It's seems to also be very much an American thing (or mostly) as well. We live just over the border from Canada and for DS' sport the best options nearby are in Canada, so we go there a couple of times a month. The overall vibe is so much more relaxed and quite frankly enjoyable. It is also 1/10th of the price (plus a great exchange rate) for way better coaching and program than I can get in the US within driving distance. It's been fascinating to see the differences in every aspect of the sport from the US to Canada - everything from the organizational aspects to the demeanor of the parents.

Yes, it’s pretty F’d up here. I have friends who have moved overseas and reported the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NONE. The Youth Sports Industrial Complex has infiltrated and ruined every sport out there. If there is a buck to be made, they will come. It used to be that there were some sports that were no cut or less competitive but that’s no longer the case. Part of the issue is mega schools where there aren’t enough teams or coaches. Parents have their kids with clubs or taking private lessons just to make the high school teams. It sucks for everyone except those who are making money. The kids are over scheduled and stressed out and the parents feel like they have to spend more time and more money just to give their kid a fair shot at making the team, any team. It’s very similar to the Academic Tutoring Industrial Complex.

Completely agree.

[Anonymous]

Water polo! Fun and not anywhere near as intense club-wise as some of the bigger sports.

[Anonymous]

Our girls had fun with synchronized swimming. Made great friends, everyone participates. And William and Mary does athletic recruiting for synchro girls. Also Stanford has a team but it tends to have olympians on it.

[Anonymous]

Water polo is another wealthy pay to play type sport. Our public HS doesn’t have a water polo team or synchronized swimming.

[Anonymous]

Ultimate Frisbee!!! Arlington county has it in every HS. Many Ffx HS participate in the Fairfax Ultimate league. There are middle school programs thru YULA and Ffx Ultimate. In Maryland, the DC Breeze (the semi-pro team in the area) has clinics/leagues for middle schoolers and many of the HS also have teams....

All you need is a pair of cleats and a disc !!! And such a warm, welcoming community....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:op here - i have 3 young boys, no one is specialized in any yet and the oldest 2 seem happy doing most things.

talking to friends with older kids, it seems like if you want to play at even the local competitive level, it gets very intense by late elementary for most common sports. it also sounds like a lot of the less competitive clubs wind down then or only people that are brand new to the sport stay in them. so you're either playing 4 day a week year round basketball at 12 or you're not playing at all.

i'm looking for the sports that are just a lot less common and therefore you can stick with them, be good at them, compete etc but not 15 hours a week year round at 12. I figure skated and danced and my sister did gymnastic - we both competed and practiced a few times a week through high school. we loved the competition aspects and wouldn't have wanted to just do it for fun practice only - my impression is that that level of commitment in those sports today wouldn't get you anywhere.

If you plan to go to public HS, look at your feeder school and how they perform in certain sports. As one example, Jackson-Reed in DC has a nationally ranked ultra-competitive basketball team, but their football team is awful. Literally, anyone can play on the football team...though you may not want them to play football.

I am not aware of any public school that is ultra-competitive in every sport they offer. I do find that if they are very competitive in one sport...it is sustaining because some people literally move into the boundary to play the sport. Madison HS in VA is another example with baseball.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our girls had fun with synchronized swimming. Made great friends, everyone participates. And William and Mary does athletic recruiting for synchro girls. Also Stanford has a team but it tends to have olympians on it.

This surprises me. My friends with kids involved in synchro describe it as cutthroat!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NONE. The Youth Sports Industrial Complex has infiltrated and ruined every sport out there. If there is a buck to be made, they will come. It used to be that there were some sports that were no cut or less competitive but that’s no longer the case. Part of the issue is mega schools where there aren’t enough teams or coaches. Parents have their kids with clubs or taking private lessons just to make the high school teams. It sucks for everyone except those who are making money. The kids are over scheduled and stressed out and the parents feel like they have to spend more time and more money just to give their kid a fair shot at making the team, any team. It’s very similar to the Academic Tutoring Industrial Complex.

It's seems to also be very much an American thing (or mostly) as well. We live just over the border from Canada and for DS' sport the best options nearby are in Canada, so we go there a couple of times a month. The overall vibe is so much more relaxed and quite frankly enjoyable. It is also 1/10th of the price (plus a great exchange rate) for way better coaching and program than I can get in the US within driving distance. It's been fascinating to see the differences in every aspect of the sport from the US to Canada - everything from the organizational aspects to the demeanor of the parents.

This used to be very common in my circles for hockey before local teams started to improve. We live close enough to the border that I’ve thought about sending my DD (dual citizenship) up there for weekends for her non-hockey sport. The Canadian funding model for international/olympic sports is so much better and creates a much better club atmosphere. She has cousins who are very involved in gymnastics in their province. Very few girls seek out NCAA or the elite path, yet they’re still competing at a very high level at some of the same meets as DD’s friends. It’s interesting to see how the exact same sport can change when you have a different endgame.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NONE. The Youth Sports Industrial Complex has infiltrated and ruined every sport out there. If there is a buck to be made, they will come. It used to be that there were some sports that were no cut or less competitive but that’s no longer the case. Part of the issue is mega schools where there aren’t enough teams or coaches. Parents have their kids with clubs or taking private lessons just to make the high school teams. It sucks for everyone except those who are making money. The kids are over scheduled and stressed out and the parents feel like they have to spend more time and more money just to give their kid a fair shot at making the team, any team. It’s very similar to the Academic Tutoring Industrial Complex.

It's seems to also be very much an American thing (or mostly) as well. We live just over the border from Canada and for DS' sport the best options nearby are in Canada, so we go there a couple of times a month. The overall vibe is so much more relaxed and quite frankly enjoyable. It is also 1/10th of the price (plus a great exchange rate) for way better coaching and program than I can get in the US within driving distance. It's been fascinating to see the differences in every aspect of the sport from the US to Canada - everything from the organizational aspects to the demeanor of the parents.

This used to be very common in my circles for hockey before local teams started to improve. We live close enough to the border that I’ve thought about sending my DD (dual citizenship) up there for weekends for her non-hockey sport. The Canadian funding model for international/olympic sports is so much better and creates a much better club atmosphere. She has cousins who are very involved in gymnastics in their province. Very few girls seek out NCAA or the elite path, yet they’re still competing at a very high level at some of the same meets as DD’s friends. It’s interesting to see how the exact same sport can change when you have a different endgame.

Exactly - the kids DS practices with represent Canada at the same events as the Americans he knows, and they do about the same internationally. The end result - Olympics, world level competitions, pro in the sport, etc., is pretty much the same, but the path to get there is very different. And the funding truly makes a difference, for example, last summer DS did a 2 day clinic in Canada with their world team coaches, very high-level, and it cost $100 Canadian (about $73 USD). The same type of clinic in the US would be at least $600, and probably not even that level of coaches. So much more support and funding is given, no matter what level. In the US parents are constantly sizing up DS (and me), in Canada they could care less and are just fun to be around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Track and cross country?

6 days a week practice is what our HS has and it is pretty intense and drama-filled. But the kids are nice.