Playing three sports at a high school like Sidwell Friends?

[Anonymous]

We are not in DC -- we are in NYC.

DD goes to a private day school like Sidwell here in Manhattan. Next year she will be a freshman and wants to play three sports - soccer, basketball and lacrosse. She has been playing all three in middle school but I think it will be too much in high school.

Anyone have a kid who play a sport every season?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are not in DC -- we are in NYC.

DD goes to a private day school like Sidwell here in Manhattan. Next year she will be a freshman and wants to play three sports - soccer, basketball and lacrosse. She has been playing all three in middle school but I think it will be too much in high school.

Anyone have a kid who play a sport every season?

Yes. My DD is at another "big 3" school in DC and there is a year-round sports requirement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are not in DC -- we are in NYC.

DD goes to a private day school like Sidwell here in Manhattan. Next year she will be a freshman and wants to play three sports - soccer, basketball and lacrosse. She has been playing all three in middle school but I think it will be too much in high school.

Anyone have a kid who play a sport every season?

Yes. My DD is at another "big 3" school in DC and there is a year-round sports requirement.

You mean all kids have to play a sport in every season? Interesting...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are not in DC -- we are in NYC.

DD goes to a private day school like Sidwell here in Manhattan. Next year she will be a freshman and wants to play three sports - soccer, basketball and lacrosse. She has been playing all three in middle school but I think it will be too much in high school.

Anyone have a kid who play a sport every season?

Yes. My DD is at another "big 3" school in DC and there is a year-round sports requirement.

It is different if it is a requirement as all students are in the same boat. I asked my son to pick just two sports as some kids in his school play no sports and have the time advantage in homework and ECs. In schools where there is no requirement, time matters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are not in DC -- we are in NYC.

DD goes to a private day school like Sidwell here in Manhattan. Next year she will be a freshman and wants to play three sports - soccer, basketball and lacrosse. She has been playing all three in middle school but I think it will be too much in high school.

Anyone have a kid who play a sport every season?

Yes. My DD is at another "big 3" school in DC and there is a year-round sports requirement.

You mean all kids have to play a sport in every season? Interesting...

yes. They get to take a pass one season but most use it during Sr. year.

[Anonymous]

playing a sport (especially a varsity sport) is a big difference from meeting PE requirement. Varsity practices 5 days (sometimes 6 days) a week - PE can be one or two days a week! PE is like taking a dance class or yoga or gym workout.

DD played 3 sports during freshman and soph years (soph all varsity) plus a club sport. Kids do it but rare and challenging. She dropped a sport in Junior year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:playing a sport (especially a varsity sport) is a big difference from meeting PE requirement. Varsity practices 5 days (sometimes 6 days) a week - PE can be one or two days a week! PE is like taking a dance class or yoga or gym workout.

DD played 3 sports during freshman and soph years (soph all varsity) plus a club sport. Kids do it but rare and challenging. She dropped a sport in Junior year.

Should I discourage my DD from even attempting three sports before she starts high school? Thx

[Anonymous]

I did sports 'year-round' for freshman and sophomore year and had better grades (and more organized) when I played in comparison to junior and senior year. Let them do it; they can just take a day or two when they have a major paper or project.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are not in DC -- we are in NYC.

DD goes to a private day school like Sidwell here in Manhattan. Next year she will be a freshman and wants to play three sports - soccer, basketball and lacrosse. She has been playing all three in middle school but I think it will be too much in high school.

Anyone have a kid who play a sport every season?

I'm an academic teacher who also coaches a sport at a private day school. First, I would say "Hooray for your daughter!" Great that she loves sports so much. In terms of your question, for a kid who loves sports and recognizes that there will be some sacrifices of free time to balance academics and sports, it is very do-able. Many athletes have better GPAs in-season than out-of-season as playing a sport really forces them to be organized with their time. You can also take a bit of a wait-and-see approach -- she may find that after playing high school soccer in the fall she realizes HS sports/homework is more of a juggling act and that she wants to scale back and only play one other season. Or she may play three sports as a freshman/sophomore and drop one as the academic requirements ramp up junior year. I would encourage her to give it a try, while counseling her to be realistic and periodically self-check if she feels overloaded. The three sport athletes I have coached and taught tend to be active kids who love the decompression/stress-relief of their sport.

[Anonymous]

Most kids will just spend the extra time on their electronics. My kids are both at schools that require team participation or a theater/dance commitment each semester.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are not in DC -- we are in NYC.

DD goes to a private day school like Sidwell here in Manhattan. Next year she will be a freshman and wants to play three sports - soccer, basketball and lacrosse. She has been playing all three in middle school but I think it will be too much in high school.

Anyone have a kid who play a sport every season?

I'm an academic teacher who also coaches a sport at a private day school. First, I would say "Hooray for your daughter!" Great that she loves sports so much. In terms of your question, for a kid who loves sports and recognizes that there will be some sacrifices of free time to balance academics and sports, it is very do-able. Many athletes have better GPAs in-season than out-of-season as playing a sport really forces them to be organized with their time. You can also take a bit of a wait-and-see approach -- she may find that after playing high school soccer in the fall she realizes HS sports/homework is more of a juggling act and that she wants to scale back and only play one other season. Or she may play three sports as a freshman/sophomore and drop one as the academic requirements ramp up junior year. I would encourage her to give it a try, while counseling her to be realistic and periodically self-check if she feels overloaded. The three sport athletes I have coached and taught tend to be active kids who love the decompression/stress-relief of their sport.

OP here and thank you so much! My DD truly does love her sports (she did not get her athletic ability from me!) and always tells me that she "needs to run" when she feels stressed or overwhelmed.

[pbraverman]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are not in DC -- we are in NYC.

DD goes to a private day school like Sidwell here in Manhattan. Next year she will be a freshman and wants to play three sports - soccer, basketball and lacrosse. She has been playing all three in middle school but I think it will be too much in high school.

Anyone have a kid who play a sport every season?

I'm an academic teacher who also coaches a sport at a private day school. First, I would say "Hooray for your daughter!" Great that she loves sports so much. In terms of your question, for a kid who loves sports and recognizes that there will be some sacrifices of free time to balance academics and sports, it is very do-able. Many athletes have better GPAs in-season than out-of-season as playing a sport really forces them to be organized with their time. You can also take a bit of a wait-and-see approach -- she may find that after playing high school soccer in the fall she realizes HS sports/homework is more of a juggling act and that she wants to scale back and only play one other season. Or she may play three sports as a freshman/sophomore and drop one as the academic requirements ramp up junior year. I would encourage her to give it a try, while counseling her to be realistic and periodically self-check if she feels overloaded. The three sport athletes I have coached and taught tend to be active kids who love the decompression/stress-relief of their sport.

I worked in schools for a long time, and concur with the teacher's wisdom above. My own daughter is a HS senior who plays one sport, but it goes for almost three full seasons when club teams are figured in, and the more active she is in sports, the more focused she is at school. That's not to say that every student will find the same thing — I'd encourage you to observe and listen to your daughter and see how it's going, probably once each season. If she wants to take a season off, that may be very healthy. But I don't see any reason it can't be done by a student who wants to do it and who meets the challenge adeptly. (You don't sound like the kind of parent who's pushing her child to do that, but if a child's motivation in sports is really her parents' motivation, that's a different question...)

Peter
_____________________

Disclaimer: The anonymity here makes me uncomfortable; it's easy to be uninformed, personal, or simply mean-spirited if people don't identify themselves. For that reason, I have an account so you know whose words you're reading. I have more than 20 years' experience as a teacher and administrator in independent schools, and I hope I can be helpful to some folks. If you don't like something I've said, you're in good company — there's a long line of past students ahead of you. If you want to chat further, please feel free to contact me offline: peter <at> arcpd <dot> com

[Anonymous]

Sidwell has a PE requirement vs three sport requirement. What the kids do vary with the individual and she can decide a season at a time as she goes through the years. She'll meet new friends in all types of ways but one of the easiest is to play a Fall sport as they spend so much time together. In terms of how doable it is to play three sports that will depend a lot on how easy academics are for her, the grades she's happy with and the mix of classes and teachers. Once the college process starts in Junior year is when some athletes have to seriously consider dropping one or two sports to focus in on recruiting for their primary or need more time to devote to the college search, testing and applications. The important thing is not to encourage or discourage her. There's a LOT of very interesting ECs in all of our area schools. The decisions she makes navigating the choices is a great training ground for college and beyond.