Feel bad for the kids who get cut in high school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, it’s gotten crazy. The schools are too large and there are just too many kids who have been playing travel ball since they were like 8 or whatever. It’s not just sports, my son debated in middle school and there were schools that had cuts for *middle school debate.* It’s absurd, kids should have more opportunities to participate without specializing from age 6.

Yes is another benefit of private schools. The smaller size gives students the opportunity to participate in a variety of extracurricular activities and sports.

Too bad we have to spend so much money for this to happen but it makes all the difference for my tweens.

Not true for my family. My kids play basketball and made HS varsity, although they don't start. No way they would make the team at most private HS around here with the recruiting that takes place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^Also what's wrong with rec? If you love it, you'll do it. If you only love it because it's "club" you...don't love "it.".

There are a lot less rec teams available at the high school level. Much more of a thing for younger children unfortunately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do y’all weep for the kids that want to be in the advanced classes but don’t qualify?

No because they still get to go to a class. This is about an all or nothing scenario.

Hypocrite. It’s not all or nothing. There are literally thousands of clubs and rec leagues available. You just feel entitled.

[Anonymous]

No travel player wants to play rec. Rec is for the kids who couldn’t make travel. The kids they teased and mocked and refused to play with in ES and MS.

But now that it’s their turn, it’s a horrible problem the rest of the world should fix for them.

[Anonymous]

OP you seem a bit out of touch.
This is life … Do you live here on earth? 🙄

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No travel player wants to play rec. Rec is for the kids who couldn’t make travel. The kids they teased and mocked and refused to play with in ES and MS.

But now that it’s their turn, it’s a horrible problem the rest of the world should fix for them.

I wouldn’t say it’s entitlement. Rec is really just a different level of playing. They practice 1 day per week versus the HS team which is practicing 4 or 5 days per week. And Rec is “easy”, there is little competition for the higher level players so they aren’t going to develop more as a player.
My DC was just cut from the basketball tryouts and I am trying to convince them to do Rec but for the reasons above they are resistant.

[Anonymous]

I agree that it's important. We are lucky to live in a town where rec is offered up to age 18, but it's not the same (or even similar) experience as playing for a school team and making friends/deeper connections that way.

We were also quite surprised to find out how many *clubs* are capped or require tryouts at our competitive high school. (Not club sports. Just ... clubs.)

I'm not concerned about cushioning children from the experience of rejection, but I am concerned with creating people who don't have ways to explore interests and find connections with others who enjoy those same interests.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No travel player wants to play rec. Rec is for the kids who couldn’t make travel. The kids they teased and mocked and refused to play with in ES and MS.

But now that it’s their turn, it’s a horrible problem the rest of the world should fix for them.

I wouldn’t say it’s entitlement. Rec is really just a different level of playing. They practice 1 day per week versus the HS team which is practicing 4 or 5 days per week. And Rec is “easy”, there is little competition for the higher level players so they aren’t going to develop more as a player.
My DC was just cut from the basketball tryouts and I am trying to convince them to do Rec but for the reasons above they are resistant.

Well, that’s on your DC then. He can play for fun (because what does it matter if he develops more as a player?) or not play. But if he decides to play rec, he should try leaving the attitude behind when he steps on the court.

[Anonymous]

I think we need to answer the basic question about the purpose of sports in school. Is it to:

A. Help the best kids reach their athletic potential OR

B. Create a place where kids are physically active, healthy and build community?

I happen to think that that B is the purpose and with public dollars, all opportunities should be open to all students in the school. I don’t think our tax dollars should be subsidizing sports development for universities and professional sports leagues.

[Anonymous]

I'm still confused by everyone arguing the moral righteousness of the different options

To me, is it not a logistics problem?

You can only have 11 players on the field at a time, who do you handle that if you are not limiting the number of players on the team? Regardless of selection criteria or ability

Even if this was a random blind lottery, what do you do if 60 kids want to play a specific sport?

[Anonymous]

I think this is an unfortunate byproduct of living in a high density area, combined with the emergence of the youth sports industrial complex. There is a large population here, and a large population of people with money. So you have a lot of kids who start sports very young plus a lot of parents paying for club teams, private lessons, camps, etc. A less densely populated/less affluent area won't have as much of either, thus creating more opportunity for the kids who live in that community.

I wish I had thought of this back when we decided to settle here. I grew up somewhere that had the nice middle ground of there being enough competition to push the really good athletes, but not so much that an average kid couldn't join a sports team. You might not be a starter or a star, but you could at least be on JV or feel like you were a part of something for your school.

I was one of those top athletes and would make a varsity team here. But I saw the value in having teams made up of kids with varying abilities, not just the ones who had made the sport their life. I think it helped me keep things in perspective.

It's a shame that most HS sports here are only an option for the kids whose parents paid a lot of money for them to train year round, but it really is a numbers problem here.

My children are relatively athletic but I do not foresee them being elite athletes like I was. I have already tried to prepare my oldest for the possibility that they make not make the HS team in a sport they are pretty darn good at, but not national level good... because that's who is on the roster even for JV at our zoned school. They would absolutely make the team at a different school, and they are probably going to have a hard time seeing club teammates make the team at other nearby schools because it's not equally competitive everywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No travel player wants to play rec. Rec is for the kids who couldn’t make travel. The kids they teased and mocked and refused to play with in ES and MS.

But now that it’s their turn, it’s a horrible problem the rest of the world should fix for them.

I wouldn’t say it’s entitlement. Rec is really just a different level of playing. They practice 1 day per week versus the HS team which is practicing 4 or 5 days per week. And Rec is “easy”, there is little competition for the higher level players so they aren’t going to develop more as a player.
My DC was just cut from the basketball tryouts and I am trying to convince them to do Rec but for the reasons above they are resistant.

Well, that’s on your DC then. He can play for fun (because what does it matter if he develops more as a player?) or not play. But if he decides to play rec, he should try leaving the attitude behind when he steps on the court.

PP here. Yes, I agree. It’s up to them to make the most of it. They probably want to try out for AAU teams in the spring, that’s why they want to keep training. And no they’re not trying to play in college or something, they just like playing on a challenging team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do y’all weep for the kids that want to be in the advanced classes but don’t qualify?

No because they still get to go to a class. This is about an all or nothing scenario.

Hypocrite. It’s not all or nothing. There are literally thousands of clubs and rec leagues available. You just feel entitled.

We are talking about playing FOR YOUR SCHOOL! OP was lamenting that more kids cant enjoy a sport with their school. Its a special community activity and kids are proud to represent their school. Its not a question of playing elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do y’all weep for the kids that want to be in the advanced classes but don’t qualify?

No because they still get to go to a class. This is about an all or nothing scenario.

Hypocrite. It’s not all or nothing. There are literally thousands of clubs and rec leagues available. You just feel entitled.

We are talking about playing FOR YOUR SCHOOL! OP was lamenting that more kids cant enjoy a sport with their school. Its a special community activity and kids are proud to represent their school. Its not a question of playing elsewhere.

OP is bad at math. I wonder if she minds that not EVERY kid gets to take all the advanced classes offered at their SCHOOL. Resources are limited all around, but it’s only a problem for DCUM when little Timmy gets cut from the team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do y’all weep for the kids that want to be in the advanced classes but don’t qualify?

No because they still get to go to a class. This is about an all or nothing scenario.

Hypocrite. It’s not all or nothing. There are literally thousands of clubs and rec leagues available. You just feel entitled.

We are talking about playing FOR YOUR SCHOOL! OP was lamenting that more kids cant enjoy a sport with their school. Its a special community activity and kids are proud to represent their school. Its not a question of playing elsewhere.

OP is bad at math. I wonder if she minds that not EVERY kid gets to take all the advanced classes offered at their SCHOOL. Resources are limited all around, but it’s only a problem for DCUM when little Timmy gets cut from the team.

Everyone gets a math class tho.