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[quote=Anonymous]There are some sports that you have to prioritize and frankly focus exclusively on pretty early if your kid is going to compete.  Thankfully, these are pretty few:  I would put figure skating and gymnastics into that pile.  Possibly, dance as well (probably the most competitive "non-competitive" activity there is for kids).

Soccer is also a sport that you have to pick up pretty young (9 or 10) or you will forever be too far behind to catch up.  Baseball (but not softball) is also getting this way.  It is not that you must play year round, but you must play, and possibly at a higher level, before age 12.

A good many sports do not really get started competitively until middle school ages.  Track and field, cross-country, wrestling, sking, volleyball, swim, golf, tennis, field hockey, crew, volleyball and even basketball are some examples.  Yes you will find little kids leagues, but the participants are not so far advanced that it is difficult for an athletic kid to catch up in a year or two.

Now -- as far as high school sports participation -- a ton depends on where you live and what school your kid will attend.  And, of course, what sports your kid is interested in.  No cut sports -- no problem.  Other's -- the well rounded kid likely loses out to kids who have focused on that sport.  Small school -- more opportunity to play multiple varsity sports.  Big school -- more requirement to focus if you want to play a sport where there are team cuts.

Don't know about your kids' likely high school?  Get on line.  Look up the football team and see who played quarterback.  What other sports did they play last year (covid permitting).  My nephew graduated last year from a small public school (enrollment about 500).  He played football, basketball and golf.  At the big suburban school my kids' grew up attending -- basketball and golf teams were filled by kids who focused only on those sports.

Can you catch up?  The answer is:  Typically no.  Sure, Dennis Rodman can grow 6 inches from Freshman to Sophomore year in college.  He caught up.  But, your typical kid is not going to catch up.  Why?  Because all the other kids are working hard to get better too.

My daughter played 4 years of college soccer.  To do that she had to play club soccer from u9.  Her u16 year a girl showed up at open tryouts and made the team.  She was tall and fast and her dad had been coaching her at a smaller local club.  She was a nice, hard-working kid, who was the worst player on the team by far.  Had she come to play for the club at 12 versus 16 she almost certainly would have been a top Power 5 Conference recruit, because of her size and speed.  She ended up playing D2 for 4 years which was nice.  But, that was the difference between a kid who played low level club versus high level club through their middle school years.  That same thing goes on all the time, in every sport.

Finally -- as a bit of an aside -- colleges do not want well-rounded kids.  Colleges want well-rounded classes.  They want kids who collectively stand out in a variety of activities and skills.  They want the artist who focused for years on oils and displays in local galleries; the musician who spends 4 hours a day practicing and plays with a band and the local orchestra.  Those are the stand out kids.  Most of our kids are not standout kids.  So -- they need to get in on good grades and pretty much everything else they do is for their own entertainment.

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