When did it get so hard to play at the high school level?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The sports with intense youth leagues obviously result in hyper competitive high school teams -- soccer, lacrosse, basketball are the toughest ones.

But there are a decent number of sports that don't start kids out crazy young and a kid with some talent and work ethic can start in MS or even HS and still make the team. Wrestling, cross country, track, rowing.

Ironically, because youth swimming is so insanely competitive and kids start really young, sometimes HS teams aren't too hard because the very serious club swimmers don't always swim on their HS teams. Very location dependent though. But diving is a sport kids often don't take up until MS. It's a good sport for a kid who did gymnastics/tumbling when younger and has great aerial awareness -- that's a skill that translates really easily even if you have no diving experience at all.

Also I have seen more schools doing recreational clubs for certain sports. Rowing and other water sports. Rock climbing. Yoga. I think this is great as it's still athletic but it's more social and just for fun and fitness. The rowing clubs will sometimes compete against each other so there can still be a competitive element, but it's not intense. A great option for sporty kids who just like being active but are not interested in or simply cannot do the intensity to make teams for certain HS athletics.

Oh good, the “sport” of running around. And getting your face into someone’s armpit.

Crew is fine but only available to tall people

You sound bitter and completely ignorant about sports. Maybe sit this one out.

My kids want to just participate in a sport while in school, and there are no options unless you are starting travel at age 5. Except running and smelling armpits. And frisbee. Where am I wrong?

[Anonymous]

Yeah, it sucks that all the fun sports are so conpetitive.

[Anonymous]

b/c huge high schools. Lots of consolidation in the 60s, and then growth from there.

Larger high schools=>fewer teams=>harder to make the team

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The sports with intense youth leagues obviously result in hyper competitive high school teams -- soccer, lacrosse, basketball are the toughest ones.

But there are a decent number of sports that don't start kids out crazy young and a kid with some talent and work ethic can start in MS or even HS and still make the team. Wrestling, cross country, track, rowing.

Ironically, because youth swimming is so insanely competitive and kids start really young, sometimes HS teams aren't too hard because the very serious club swimmers don't always swim on their HS teams. Very location dependent though. But diving is a sport kids often don't take up until MS. It's a good sport for a kid who did gymnastics/tumbling when younger and has great aerial awareness -- that's a skill that translates really easily even if you have no diving experience at all.

Also I have seen more schools doing recreational clubs for certain sports. Rowing and other water sports. Rock climbing. Yoga. I think this is great as it's still athletic but it's more social and just for fun and fitness. The rowing clubs will sometimes compete against each other so there can still be a competitive element, but it's not intense. A great option for sporty kids who just like being active but are not interested in or simply cannot do the intensity to make teams for certain HS athletics.

Oh good, the “sport” of running around. And getting your face into someone’s armpit.

Crew is fine but only available to tall people

You sound bitter and completely ignorant about sports. Maybe sit this one out.

My kids want to just participate in a sport while in school, and there are no options unless you are starting travel at age 5. Except running and smelling armpits. And frisbee. Where am I wrong?

Your childish, glibly dismissive attitude about sports you don’t understand is wrong. It’s like describing football as “a bunch of padded up men bending over”, or basketball as “people with berserk pituitary glands throwing a ball at a hoop”. If your kids share that same attitude, no wonder none of the sports teams want them.

[Anonymous]

I think the term for this is sour grapes. It’s ok to say “my kids aren’t into running and wrestling” and leave it at that. No need to be insulting. They might be no cut, but like any other sport they require grit and talent to succeed and very few people excel at them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sports that cut need to evaluate if they need more JV sports or practice teams. I call it practice teams, but this doesn’t exist. You know what I mean .. inventing something where people get to play at a practice level because they are obviously interested.

Problem is $$ for coaches and field space

+1

I agree.

However; why is it setup this way? A public high school with enrollment of 700 kids will have a JV and varsity and one field. A public high school with enrollment of 4000 kids will also have a JV and varsity and one field. And the same number of coaches as the small school. So small schools are spending massively more $ and resources on sports per student.

It won’t change, obviously, but it isn’t really setup well- and is a major contributor to overuse/overspecialization in youth sports (and at increasingly young ages).

Our large HS doesn’t have more room for fields even if they wanted to add more. Most don’t. Perhaps something that could be considered with new builds. Even offering freshman or JVB teams through the school goes a long way- some schools in our area do, some don’t.

Field availability is going to be a problem in increasingly urban areas. In theory the schools can adjust by going upwards (e.g, adding pickleball / tennis / basketball courts to roofs) or adding sports with less space constraints (e.g., yoga / ballet studio, karate dojo). Allowing for 5-6 competitive soccer teams that all play full field is going to be hard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the term for this is sour grapes. It’s ok to say “my kids aren’t into running and wrestling” and leave it at that. No need to be insulting. They might be no cut, but like any other sport they require grit and talent to succeed and very few people excel at them.

Yes, honestly those are two of the most physically demanding sports to do at a high level.