Do you have a 6 foot tall child? They could do volleyball make the hs team without joining the year round clubs, and just play seasonally
Maybe bowling? Badminton? Depends on how big your high school is and what they offer.
Golfing if they can devote the hours and have natural ability
Are you rich? Equestrian, they can compete regionally through HS, if they have the talent, ride just 3 days a week, as long as you have the money (mid to high five figures) to buy a great horse, board the horse at a great barn, and can pay the trainer to ride the other days of the week.

Sailing and bowling.

Tennis. Less intense and easy travel. No massive bags of gear.

Track and cross country?

Depends. My 7th grader runs a 7 min mile and didn't make the cross country team that goes to meets and competes. Was allowed to attend practices only. So if you're fine with participating at that level, then yeah, cross country.

The question is very vague OP.

None that involves winning. So perhaps Rock climbing with a group and a few others like that.

Anonymous wrote:Pickleball I guess crew maybe

Crew??? No. It takes forever - drive/run to boathouse, pre row warm up and boat launching, workout, take care of and put away boat, drive home. A basketball practice is shorter. It also gets very intense - boats tend to get very tight, and competition for seats on a boat are often intense head to head races, either in a boat or on an erg. It’s a lot.

And it’s WONDERFUL.

Do you mean what sports your child can do where they can play on a HS team without having to do years of club first?

Are you male or female? Because that is how we can guide this discussion

They all pretty intense the dmv

There's two things you have to think about:

(1) the culture around that sport *at your specific school*; and

(2) what you are willing to do/accept in order to keep your involvement more relaxed and less intense.

If the tennis team at your kid's high school is intensely competitive, it will be hard to do it in a more relaxed way. But if it's not, it might be kind of chill. Same with pretty much any sport -- there are high schools with mediocre soccer and basketball teams or in areas where those sports are not as focused on, and even those sports can be less intense there. So if you don't want an intense sport, don't pick one that is known to be highly competitive at the school your kid will attend.

Same with non-school sports like gymnastics. Some gyms are insanely competitive with Olympic aspirations for their competition teams; others are more recreational and just about teaching skills and having fun at meets. Do your research.

You can also do certain sports in different ways. Some kids never swim club but do summer swim team into high school. If the league isn't super intense and your kid doesn't mind not winning, it's a fun way to hang out with friends at the pool all summer while getting exercise.

IME, more individual sports can be the easiest to control in terms of commitment level.Cross country is a school sport where it's not too hard to be a middling runner and still make the team and get something out of it (assuming kid likes it).

And then there are the athletic activities that are not competitive. Rock climbing, yoga, aerial arts, non-competitive dance classes. All great, stuff they can do into adulthood, and a way to make friends or discover a real passion.

Pickleball I guess crew maybe

Not understanding your question

Track and cross country?

Do it at a level where you can keep competing through highschool without needing it to be your life. Rock climbing? Fencing? Ninja warrior type thing? Dive team? Tennis?

Serious question. It seems like all the common activities (soccer, basketball, gymnastics etc) get super intense in terms of hours per week if you want to continue to compete at a challenging level.