Can someone tell me about middle school sports in MCPS?

[Anonymous]

We are entering Sligo MS with two boys who will be in 6th and 8th. The website just has info on covid era sports, and I wonder if anyone has info on which sports they have, how much they practice and play, how hard to make the team etc.

[Anonymous]

6th won't be eligible. They are only for 7th and 8th and I think they only offer 1 sport per season. It's a very thin program.

[Anonymous]

The "baseball and softball" programs are all underhand soft toss. It is like 8U rec all over again. Most kids that actually play those sports don't dare play on them. It is embarrassing.

Not sure how the basketball program is.

[Anonymous]

Athletics → Events → MS Schedules

MS SCHEDULES

Schedules for MCPS middle school athletic teams are generally available in August for the upcoming school year.

Boys

Softball (Fall)
Basketball (Winter)
Soccer (Spring)

Girls

Softball (Fall)
Basketball (Winter)
Soccer (Spring)

Coed

Cross Country (Fall)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Athletics → Events → MS Schedules

MS SCHEDULES

Schedules for MCPS middle school athletic teams are generally available in August for the upcoming school year.

Boys

Softball (Fall)
Basketball (Winter)
Soccer (Spring)

Girls

Softball (Fall)
Basketball (Winter)
Soccer (Spring)

Coed

Cross Country (Fall)

OP here

Why would softball and soccer be backwards from when they are scheduled in high school?

Does anyone have any experience Cross Country?

[Anonymous]

Above are the sports available to 7/8th graders in a typical year.

Ability to make the team and quality/competitiveness vary between schools/teams. Many schools do not limit kids on cross country, but they may limit how many get to run at the meet.

They practiced on days the activity bus ran, I think this is standard, but was Tu/W/Th in my experience. Maybe a couple weeks of practice then games about once per week for 5-6 weeks. Schools are geographically grouped and play schools in that group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Athletics → Events → MS Schedules

MS SCHEDULES

Schedules for MCPS middle school athletic teams are generally available in August for the upcoming school year.

Boys

Softball (Fall)
Basketball (Winter)
Soccer (Spring)

Girls

Softball (Fall)
Basketball (Winter)
Soccer (Spring)

Coed

Cross Country (Fall)

OP here

[/b]Why would softball and soccer be backwards from when they are scheduled in high school?[b]

Does anyone have any experience Cross Country?

Maybe for field scheduling, but our MS group only used MS fields, so maybe there are other reasons. Could be coaches who work with both?

XC runs 1.5 miles at meets. One gender runs the course, then the other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Above are the sports available to 7/8th graders in a typical year.

Ability to make the team and quality/competitiveness vary between schools/teams. Many schools do not limit kids on cross country, but they may limit how many get to run at the meet.

They practiced on days the activity bus ran, I think this is standard, but was Tu/W/Th in my experience. Maybe a couple weeks of practice then games about once per week for 5-6 weeks. Schools are geographically grouped and play schools in that group.

This has been my experience too. DS did XC and basketball. No cuts in XC but there were cuts in basketball (with only a couple of 7th graders making the team). Activity bus was great for getting kid home after practice but didn't work for away XC meets or most basketball games.

[Anonymous]

My kids both did soccer in MS, one boy, one girl. Lots of intense practices (and tough to make the team at a large MS), and the season was like 5 games.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Above are the sports available to 7/8th graders in a typical year.

Ability to make the team and quality/competitiveness vary between schools/teams. Many schools do not limit kids on cross country, but they may limit how many get to run at the meet.

They practiced on days the activity bus ran, I think this is standard, but was Tu/W/Th in my experience. Maybe a couple weeks of practice then games about once per week for 5-6 weeks. Schools are geographically grouped and play schools in that group.

This has been my experience too. DS did XC and basketball. No cuts in XC but there were cuts in basketball (with only a couple of 7th graders making the team). Activity bus was great for getting kid home after practice but didn't work for away XC meets or most basketball games.

OP here,

Is there transportation back to school after meets and games and just not home from there? We are lucky enough to live in walking distance.

Do you remember if XC meets were during the week or weekends, and how often? We are trying to figure out if it makes sense to do XC instead of another sport, which would require an earlier commitment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Above are the sports available to 7/8th graders in a typical year.

Ability to make the team and quality/competitiveness vary between schools/teams. Many schools do not limit kids on cross country, but they may limit how many get to run at the meet.

They practiced on days the activity bus ran, I think this is standard, but was Tu/W/Th in my experience. Maybe a couple weeks of practice then games about once per week for 5-6 weeks. Schools are geographically grouped and play schools in that group.

This has been my experience too. DS did XC and basketball. No cuts in XC but there were cuts in basketball (with only a couple of 7th graders making the team). Activity bus was great for getting kid home after practice but didn't work for away XC meets or most basketball games.

OP here,

Is there transportation back to school after meets and games and just not home from there? We are lucky enough to live in walking distance.

Do you remember if XC meets were during the week or weekends, and how often? We are trying to figure out if it makes sense to do XC instead of another sport, which would require an earlier commitment.

We carpooled (coach organized team parents) from school to away meets, but parents were responsible for arranging transportation home from the meet site. So, no organization of rides back to school. We certainly carpooled with friends as necessary.

Meets were school days only (and actually only Tu/W/Th), there were 4 meets over 5 weeks or so.

You can actually see the 2019 schedule still posted on MCPS website https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedFiles/departments/athletics/events/ms_cross_country.pdf

[Anonymous]

Thank you! This is hugely helpful!

[Anonymous]

I’ve always been baffled by the scarcity of sports in MS here. When I grow up we had it all, track (not just long distance) and field, basketball, football, baseball, volleyball, cheerleading... the whole enchilada. I know lots of kids do club here but I still feel like it is an integral part of the public schools to build community and provide opportunities for kids to recreate and grow.