What happens to all the kids who get cut for high school sports?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:thank you. my kids (girls) are not very interested in sports, i can't imagine them even trying out for a team. but what do all those kids do in high school? do they not have PE?

My girls are serious dancers… more than enough exercise/physical activity for them and all their dance friends.

[Anonymous]

I have 3 athletic boys. Oldest quit basketball his junior year during covid and became a gym rat and focused on heath sciences and school and was much happier.

Middle stopped growing at 5'6" and saw the writing on the wall and quit baseball and went to track, jujitsu, and the gym and much happier and has also taken up guitar.

Youngest is a freshman and on the freshman basketball team and seems to be the most invested. I hope he keeps growing because he is the one who seems the most committed to being there for 4 years.

[Anonymous]

My kid is just going to play Club/travel soccer the last 2 years. He's on a top team (hard to make) and starts/plays whole game. His older brother was cut and playing D1--whereas nobody else on the high school team his year (many who didn't play club, much less high level) are not playing in college, were never recruited.

High school soccer is, how do I say this: different.

[Anonymous]

New to this area and disgusted with the team cuts. Where we lived before, almost anyone could join a team and have that experience, but at our giant high school a kid has to be elite to make the team. It's awful to me that kids are missing out on a high school experience that can do so much for their development. Our kid did his sport from the age of 5 and is pretty good, and was still cut from the high school team - the performances of the kids who made it are elite-level. I'd say maybe 5 out of a hundred kids that tried out made the team. I wish we had moved somewhere else, where our kid could have normal high school experiences. This whole area is so elitist and closed off, I just really regret the move.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have 3 athletic boys. Oldest quit basketball his junior year during covid and became a gym rat and focused on heath sciences and school and was much happier.

Middle stopped growing at 5'6" and saw the writing on the wall and quit baseball and went to track, jujitsu, and the gym and much happier and has also taken up guitar.

Youngest is a freshman and on the freshman basketball team and seems to be the most invested. I hope he keeps growing because he is the one who seems the most committed to being there for 4 years.

Smart kids. Be practical. There’s something for everyone.

[Anonymous]

Talking from my personal experience, I was cut my Jr. year of high school from playing Basketball. Reason they gave was they didn't have enough big uniforms but actually growing up without a father and not having that male political comradery with the coach didn't help. Funny I was 1st string from 7th thru 10th grade, so I had the talent to play but the coach didn't want to be put into a spot of setting a Sr. on the bench with whom the coach and dad were buddies. To let the better player aka me play instead. So back to the point of this post. I was devastated, stopped playing basketball and turned to drugs. Came very close to flunking out of school and went from 6'4 at 165lb to 315lb in 1 years' time. Took me the better part of 15 years to get my life back on tract. All from being cut from a high school sports team.

[Anonymous]

There are high school sports that are “no cut” at every school. And, there are schools that will have opportunities for younger students but then they may not ever make the “varsity” team.

Now - “no cut” does not mean that you will play a lot in games, or even earn a varsity letter. But, you will be part of the team.

Common “no cut” sports are; football (boys), flag football (girls), cross country (boys and girls), wrestling (boys and girls), track&field (boys and girls), and swimming (boys and girls).

High schools also have many other activities to consider getting involved in. All of my kids enjoyed being the school musicals. None were great singers but they liked the other kids and thought it was a different group than they normally socialized with.

[Anonymous]

At our school you have many sports in which there are no cuts. Some have strict cuts. Other teams you can be a part of but not guaranteed play time, so it's your choice whether that works for you or not, but you do get to go to all practices and get the exercise benefit. My ds was on one team on which he had very little play time and he switched to swim instead. I think learning to pivot and find alternatives when choice #1 doesn't work out is really valuable. From my point of view as someone from a different country, there are endless sports opportunities at school in the US, something US parents often take for granted. I think it's amazing it's very much built into the day the way it is not many other places.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do they just stop playing?

America is such a sports obsessed country. All these kids who have played soccer, basketball, baseball, volleyball, tennis for years end up not making teams. I know so many boys who have played soccer their whole lives and then get cut from high school soccer. Same for baseball. Just heard of a boy who got cut from freshmen basketball. Basketball was his whole life and he didn’t make it. I have a middle school son who also loves basketball. I’m 99% certain he won’t make the basketball team in 9th grade either.

Track everyone can do it

One of my DD got cut from
Soccer freshman year. She played travel highest division we weren’t in the in soccer crowd at her HS. She moved to track won states all four years HS .
Mine played intramurals in college loved it, graduated and has a fantastic career CTO age 31. Soccer was her love however we always stressed soccer was not her life.

[Anonymous]

They switch to no-cut sports and/or find other things to do.

My son switched to track and field. Enjoys it.

There are a lot of kids who do both cross country and track (which keeps them busy nearly year round, with off season workouts etc as well)

There are a ton of boys at our HS who do some combination of football + wrestling + track and spend a lot of tine year round in the weight room.

A lot of girls seem to do dance, and there are a million different studios/different tracks to take for all skill levels.

Many kids are super into band, orchestra, or chorus (all of which are pretty time consuming it seems- often traveling to competitions etc)

Many kids become busy with part time jobs, especially as they become upperclassmen.

I’ve seen a fair number of kids switch schools for their sport (either because of not making the team, or not getting any playing time) as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you think competition is bad in BB, baseball, or soccer, it is even worse with tennis and golf in wealthy areas such as Langley/McLean and Potomac. This applies to both public and private schools. There are only six starters on the tennis teams for single and three teams for double. The same six single starters also play doubles so the rest of the team is just benchwarmers. There are more starters in golf but competition is just as bad, if not worse than tennis.

This is terrible! Why can’t every child be a starter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do they just stop playing?

America is such a sports obsessed country. All these kids who have played soccer, basketball, baseball, volleyball, tennis for years end up not making teams. I know so many boys who have played soccer their whole lives and then get cut from high school soccer. Same for baseball. Just heard of a boy who got cut from freshmen basketball. Basketball was his whole life and he didn’t make it. I have a middle school son who also loves basketball. I’m 99% certain he won’t make the basketball team in 9th grade either.

America is sports obsessed yet so fat

I think this is linked

“Making the team” is so central to activity levels


Whereas in Switzerland, Austria, Italy there is less stress in youth sports and people stay more active throughout their lives

Many parents think because the child is playing a sport that they’re fit but not necessarily true. It’s common knowledge that a large majority of kids quit sports in middle school. A lot of them were signed up as five year olds and it’s just a routine. By 12 or so they are able to say that they don’t like playing sports and quit. The schools and park & rec departments need to come up with more creative activities to keep teens busy and off of social media. You don’t need to be running around a field to keep active.

[Anonymous]

Ours know they won't make high school teams and are content to continue playing in the local rec league.

[Anonymous]

Mine went onto play the sport in college. Lol

HS coach was awful

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine went onto play the sport in college. Lol

HS coach was awful

+1 played Club