Are kids still doing it all? Rise of travel sports and scheduled kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a very interesting thread. I have 4th grade boys. They have done tennis, rock climbing, swim team. They are now doing rec basketball and rec baseball this year. They also have been playing an instrument since they were 4 and are in orchestra now: so that's two days a week we go to their music class. They also play chess competitively. They love everything I have introduced them too, but are not yet passionate about one sport. I am glad they have been exposed to many different activities.

But it seems people are saying by age 12 at the latest they will have to choose one sport, get on a good travel team, and get expert coaching/training in order to make the high school team. I had no idea making the high school team was so competitive!

How did you not know this? Do you have no friends or relatives with high school aged kids? This has been true for awhile now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a very interesting thread. I have 4th grade boys. They have done tennis, rock climbing, swim team. They are now doing rec basketball and rec baseball this year. They also have been playing an instrument since they were 4 and are in orchestra now: so that's two days a week we go to their music class. They also play chess competitively. They love everything I have introduced them too, but are not yet passionate about one sport. I am glad they have been exposed to many different activities.

But it seems people are saying by age 12 at the latest they will have to choose one sport, get on a good travel team, and get expert coaching/training in order to make the high school team. I had no idea making the high school team was so competitive!

How did you not know this? Do you have no friends or relatives with high school aged kids? This has been true for awhile now.

She may not have known because her kids are otherwise engaged and it shouldn't have to be like that. Unfortunately, that's the reality though

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a very interesting thread. I have 4th grade boys. They have done tennis, rock climbing, swim team. They are now doing rec basketball and rec baseball this year. They also have been playing an instrument since they were 4 and are in orchestra now: so that's two days a week we go to their music class. They also play chess competitively. They love everything I have introduced them too, but are not yet passionate about one sport. I am glad they have been exposed to many different activities.

But it seems people are saying by age 12 at the latest they will have to choose one sport, get on a good travel team, and get expert coaching/training in order to make the high school team. I had no idea making the high school team was so competitive!

Actually I think OP is questioning all of it, travel sports but also scheduled kids like yours, with all their various activities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a very interesting thread. I have 4th grade boys. They have done tennis, rock climbing, swim team. They are now doing rec basketball and rec baseball this year. They also have been playing an instrument since they were 4 and are in orchestra now: so that's two days a week we go to their music class. They also play chess competitively. They love everything I have introduced them too, but are not yet passionate about one sport. I am glad they have been exposed to many different activities.

But it seems people are saying by age 12 at the latest they will have to choose one sport, get on a good travel team, and get expert coaching/training in order to make the high school team. I had no idea making the high school team was so competitive!

Actually I think OP is questioning all of it, travel sports but also scheduled kids like yours, with all their various activities.

Agree. Yes, my kids are scheduled. They go to a small private school that has no sports. I think exposing them to all these activities is giving them opportunities to try new things. Last summer we learned how to sail and dive and this summer we will learn to paddle board. I also didn't get to do anything growing up, but back then we had neighborhood kids to play with and big backyards and my parents had no time nor money to enroll me in activities. I am raising my kids in a condo and no kids on the block. I also want them out of the house more because their dad just wants them to play video games and watch movies. I don't have any friends whose kids are in high school so this is all new to me about how competitive sports are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a very interesting thread. I have 4th grade boys. They have done tennis, rock climbing, swim team. They are now doing rec basketball and rec baseball this year. They also have been playing an instrument since they were 4 and are in orchestra now: so that's two days a week we go to their music class. They also play chess competitively. They love everything I have introduced them too, but are not yet passionate about one sport. I am glad they have been exposed to many different activities.

But it seems people are saying by age 12 at the latest they will have to choose one sport, get on a good travel team, and get expert coaching/training in order to make the high school team. I had no idea making the high school team was so competitive!

How did you not know this? Do you have no friends or relatives with high school aged kids? This has been true for awhile now.

She may not have known because her kids are otherwise engaged and it shouldn't have to be like that. Unfortunately, that's the reality though

Does she live in a bubble with no outside exposure? No family or friends? My kids aren't in high school but I've seen the struggle with the competitive sports and kids who were formerly standouts in their sports not making teams. OP needs to talk to more instead of just paying attention to 4th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. As a rec parent, my goal with DD is just for her to learn some basics of the game and get some exercise. I would rather she be focused on academics, not athletics. Signed- Nerd who outearns all the jocks from my high school.

Nobody wants to be a nasty troll like you.

Uh no, there are a great many comments in this thread that are nasty and insulting to Rec families.

[Anonymous]

Getting into a varsity team in a good high school is extremely competitive. For example for a junior to make it to varsity volleyball, they is often just one spot and there are 20 kids competing for it. I don’t know about other areas but McLean and Langley have extremely competitive teams and you really need to be excellent at your sport if you want to make it on the varsity team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Getting into a varsity team in a good high school is extremely competitive. For example for a junior to make it to varsity volleyball, they is often just one spot and there are 20 kids competing for it. I don’t know about other areas but McLean and Langley have extremely competitive teams and you really need to be excellent at your sport if you want to make it on the varsity team.

I have a kid trying out for Langley tennis next week. There is only one varsity team for the entire school and I am told there is only 1 actual open spot.

I have heard of volleyball cutting girls who were on the team freshmen and sophomore JV. It is hard to get on the team and then to stay in sport through senior year.

[Anonymous]

Don’t worry about it all so much, and just follow your instincts re your own kids. And don’t judge other people’s decisions. Travel sports was great for one of my kids. Rec was enough for the other. Instruments didn’t work out for either. I’ve enjoyed it all with them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But your kids are still unathletic and won’t even play high school . Why put in such effort shoulder 🤷‍♀️

I think because you don’t know at age 8 whether the kid will make the high school team. But if they don’t learn now their chances are pretty slim.

That’s not true. An 8 year old can be coached 5 days a week for years and still not have what it takes. The kid who started at 12 years old who played rec ball and neighborhood ball comes in with unmistaken potential and talent. He’ll be on varsity as a freshman. The 8 year old who gave it all he had won’t be.

This is both true and false…

Intensive training at 8yo is a waste for most sports, absolutely. But these days- age 12 is too late to start from scratch in many sports (not all) and have any expectation of playing in HS. Few kids will be able to begin a sport for the first time and then be able to make varsity 2 years later. That is crazy talk unless it is a tiny high school or unpopular sport.

There is a happy medium: rec sports to learn fundamentals -until the preteen years. Then reevaluate based on the kid’s interests and presumed talent levels.

There’s definitely a happy medium. It’s not going back to the days when school sports started in middle school and the talented ones went on to a professional career. But it’s also not the case that someone can spend money and make their average child as good as the talented ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Getting into a varsity team in a good high school is extremely competitive. For example for a junior to make it to varsity volleyball, they is often just one spot and there are 20 kids competing for it. I don’t know about other areas but McLean and Langley have extremely competitive teams and you really need to be excellent at your sport if you want to make it on the varsity team.

How do you define a good school? For some reason Catholic schools always come out on top. Otherwise the top schools for sports seem like random towns.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Getting into a varsity team in a good high school is extremely competitive. For example for a junior to make it to varsity volleyball, they is often just one spot and there are 20 kids competing for it. I don’t know about other areas but McLean and Langley have extremely competitive teams and you really need to be excellent at your sport if you want to make it on the varsity team.

How do you define a good school? For some reason Catholic schools always come out on top. Otherwise the top schools for sports seem like random towns.

I’m not the pp but I also reside in McLean. I don’t know how our sports compare to other schools. What I do know is that a lot of kids in McLean play baseball and soccer and 100 kids may try out for ~15 spots.

I just posted that my kid is trying out for tennis and there is only one team of 16. There is no freshmen or JV team. 15 players are supposedly returning. There are other schools that may not be able to fill their tennis and golf teams.

[Anonymous]

We stopped doing rec because the coaches were terrible. They were parents who favored their untalented kids, screamed and cussed from the sidelines,[b] and had no clue how to teach the basics. They were all about a snack sign up genius too. I'm happy to play for a travel/club baseball team with quality coaches who are former MLB, have no kids on the team, seem to know what they are doing, and don't have a snack sign up. You get what you pay for.

This
Toxic Dad ball

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Getting into a varsity team in a good high school is extremely competitive. For example for a junior to make it to varsity volleyball, they is often just one spot and there are 20 kids competing for it. I don’t know about other areas but McLean and Langley have extremely competitive teams and you really need to be excellent at your sport if you want to make it on the varsity team.

How do you define a good school? For some reason Catholic schools always come out on top. Otherwise the top schools for sports seem like random towns.

I’m not the pp but I also reside in McLean. I don’t know how our sports compare to other schools. What I do know is that a lot of kids in McLean play baseball and soccer and 100 kids may try out for ~15 spots.

I just posted that my kid is trying out for tennis and there is only one team of 16. There is no freshmen or JV team. 15 players are supposedly returning. There are other schools that may not be able to fill their tennis and golf teams.

I promise I'm not trying to minimize how challenging it is to make the team. But I will highlight that they will (should) take the best 16. And that may mean that some of those returning 15 do not make the team.

I've seen it happen when my freshman DD made the varsity softball team and a returning varsity player did not

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Getting into a varsity team in a good high school is extremely competitive. For example for a junior to make it to varsity volleyball, they is often just one spot and there are 20 kids competing for it. I don’t know about other areas but McLean and Langley have extremely competitive teams and you really need to be excellent at your sport if you want to make it on the varsity team.

How do you define a good school? For some reason Catholic schools always come out on top. Otherwise the top schools for sports seem like random towns.

I’m not the pp but I also reside in McLean. I don’t know how our sports compare to other schools. What I do know is that a lot of kids in McLean play baseball and soccer and 100 kids may try out for ~15 spots.

I just posted that my kid is trying out for tennis and there is only one team of 16. There is no freshmen or JV team. 15 players are supposedly returning. There are other schools that may not be able to fill their tennis and golf teams.

I promise I'm not trying to minimize how challenging it is to make the team. But I will highlight that they will (should) take the best 16. And that may mean that some of those returning 15 do not make the team.

I've seen it happen when my freshman DD made the varsity softball team and a returning varsity player did not

I’m not sure what is worse - to make the team freshman/sophomore and get cut junior year or to never make the team at all.

My son tried out for travel basketball this winter and did not make it. 60 kids tried out for a handful of open spots. My friend’s son played travel basketball all through elementary and just got cut in middle school and is devastated.