Then you put him in the sport/s that are most convenient for your family as far as location and schedule. Extra consideration for sports that he can play over a lifetime (tennis, swim, golf..)

At my kids’ zoned high school, even kids who have played travel soccer since elementary aren’t guaranteed a spot on the team. I wouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket when it comes to sports.

Natural ability/what he does better relative to other kids
Body type
What suits his personality and your budget/schedule

Some of what OP says I understand. My 4th grader can't play soccer with his friends because he's never played and they're on a high level team. That's our one regret, not starting soccer earlier. But he's joined basketball and baseball at later stages and done well. Does it guarantee playing in high school? Absolutely not. But part of it is also drive, as they get older, they decide what sports are worth that extra commitment, what they're good at (it's not every sport). As a parent, my only guidance was to recruit his soccer friends to start basketball.

I don’t think you really need to worry about it, I’m sure as he gets older he’ll choose what he’d rather do. You don’t have to do something year round to be good at it. My friends high schooler plays on the football team in fall and on the baseball team in the spring.
My daughter did competitive gymnastics from 6-9 years old and it was 12-16 hours per week with no time for other sports. She decided to quit and try new things. She tried rec soccer and loved it, only played one season with them and moved onto club soccer. So you don’t have to do something from preschool or first grade to excel at it later on.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stop worrying about the HS team.

If your kid is enthusiastic about the activity, you can afford it and the logistics aren't too difficult, it's the right choice. If he loses interest and wants to try something else, do that.

My problem isn't him losing interest, it's that he wants to do everything. I also don't want him to do 2 sports a season, move to the next 2, and not have continuity. Like... if he plays soccer in the fall on a rec team. Shouldn't he do SOME kind of soccer to keep his skills developing before the following fall?

Or is it ok to just keep cycling through 2 sports per season and only play each once a year? For example: Fall soccer and basketball, winter hockey and football, spring tennis and baseball, summer swimming and golf, repeat same or similar following year... until when? I just feel like at some point he needs to choose and work on skills. And also the social aspect of continuing on the team with the same kids.

My 1st grader is like yours - loves all the things while doing them and wants to do ALL THE THINGS. We rotate through like you do, not just sports but activities overall. There's one I keep him in in an ongoing basis because I think its particularly good for him and then cycle through others. I'd of course let him drop the one if he wanted. From what i've heard, HS teams are so competitive to get on these days, I don't think its worth eliminating variety and exploration now for off chance he'd make a HS team some day (and i'm not sure i'd want to even do the intensity now needed to make a hs team) In the last 2 years he's done

Soccer
Tennis
Swimming
Ninja
Pottery
Lego robotics
iceskating
baseball

Can you say the one activity you keep constant?

Yes sounds like our kids are similar and I’m having to balance letting him do what he wants vs knowing when to rein it in or encourage him to focus. If it were go to him he would be doing a different activity or two every day, 7 days a week.

It seems like people are mostly saying let him do what he wants and how much he wants until he says it’s too much or he’s not interested. I’m just worried that will never happen because he is a go-until-you-drop busy bee like his dad.

haha too bad they can't be friends! I was talking with mine to pick his spring activities and when I said the absolute most he could do is 3 and that's only if they are each 1x a week he said "but there are 7 days in a week and weekends have time for at least 2...."

I do limit the # of activities at a time because I want him to still have down time at home some and playing at the playground with his little brothers (in addition to logistics of driving and ultimately needing his siblings have time for their own activities)

ninja is the one he has stuck with for awhile - he loves it (as he does many of the activities) but I particularly encourage it b/c he's a sterotypical super competitive first born. In ninja - you have to keep working on a skill for quite a while and focus on the improvement vs the quick hit of a win or loss, you can just do it 1x / wk forever or you can join a team in a few years but even that doesn't sound super intense. its full body coordination, they have family open gyms on weekends that we can do together (don't make it much), there's no direct competition between the kids - just with yourself and the kids are supportive of each other. I could be wrong but it feels to me like it builds the things I hope for for him (grit to keep trying when it feels impossible at first, focusing on the long term and running your own race, doing something because you enjoy it and love the challenge vs the obvious external motivators) more so than most sports.

Anonymous wrote:My 1st grader says every sport is the best when he is taking it. I do not come from a sports family and I never played on even a rec team. How do you keep your kid in sports and make sure you’re making the right choices long term for making the high school team?

I see other elementary families whose kids are doing two or more sports every season and often skipping half of a season’s soccer practices and games to make basketball or football events. Are they just flakey or is this what you actually need to do to keep a foot in various sports?

Many of my 2nd grader's friends do this, we do not double up on two sports that require a practice and game. It just doesn't work for our family and DS doesn't want to do it either. He has been alternating between baseball and soccer, with a different activity in the winter. However, I'm convinced now that some parents do this to not lose their spot on the team. We may not get DS back onto his team from last spring, even with DH offering to coach, because returning fall players get priority.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stop worrying about the HS team.

If your kid is enthusiastic about the activity, you can afford it and the logistics aren't too difficult, it's the right choice. If he loses interest and wants to try something else, do that.

My problem isn't him losing interest, it's that he wants to do everything. I also don't want him to do 2 sports a season, move to the next 2, and not have continuity. Like... if he plays soccer in the fall on a rec team. Shouldn't he do SOME kind of soccer to keep his skills developing before the following fall?

Or is it ok to just keep cycling through 2 sports per season and only play each once a year? For example: Fall soccer and basketball, winter hockey and football, spring tennis and baseball, summer swimming and golf, repeat same or similar following year... until when? I just feel like at some point he needs to choose and work on skills. And also the social aspect of continuing on the team with the same kids.

My 1st grader is like yours - loves all the things while doing them and wants to do ALL THE THINGS. We rotate through like you do, not just sports but activities overall. There's one I keep him in in an ongoing basis because I think its particularly good for him and then cycle through others. I'd of course let him drop the one if he wanted. From what i've heard, HS teams are so competitive to get on these days, I don't think its worth eliminating variety and exploration now for off chance he'd make a HS team some day (and i'm not sure i'd want to even do the intensity now needed to make a hs team) In the last 2 years he's done

Soccer
Tennis
Swimming
Ninja
Pottery
Lego robotics
iceskating
baseball

Can you say the one activity you keep constant?

Yes sounds like our kids are similar and I’m having to balance letting him do what he wants vs knowing when to rein it in or encourage him to focus. If it were go to him he would be doing a different activity or two every day, 7 days a week.

It seems like people are mostly saying let him do what he wants and how much he wants until he says it’s too much or he’s not interested. I’m just worried that will never happen because he is a go-until-you-drop busy bee like his dad.

OP you sound very much like you are trying to keep up with the rat race. I’m basing this on your comments about having your 6 yo do music, extra math, and trying to pick a sport already.
Slow down and let him be a kid and just play too. You will get too caught up in the rat life and and just stress everyone out, yourself and your kids

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stop worrying about the HS team.

If your kid is enthusiastic about the activity, you can afford it and the logistics aren't too difficult, it's the right choice. If he loses interest and wants to try something else, do that.

My problem isn't him losing interest, it's that he wants to do everything. I also don't want him to do 2 sports a season, move to the next 2, and not have continuity. Like... if he plays soccer in the fall on a rec team. Shouldn't he do SOME kind of soccer to keep his skills developing before the following fall?

Or is it ok to just keep cycling through 2 sports per season and only play each once a year? For example: Fall soccer and basketball, winter hockey and football, spring tennis and baseball, summer swimming and golf, repeat same or similar following year... until when? I just feel like at some point he needs to choose and work on skills. And also the social aspect of continuing on the team with the same kids.

My 1st grader is like yours - loves all the things while doing them and wants to do ALL THE THINGS. We rotate through like you do, not just sports but activities overall. There's one I keep him in in an ongoing basis because I think its particularly good for him and then cycle through others. I'd of course let him drop the one if he wanted. From what i've heard, HS teams are so competitive to get on these days, I don't think its worth eliminating variety and exploration now for off chance he'd make a HS team some day (and i'm not sure i'd want to even do the intensity now needed to make a hs team) In the last 2 years he's done

Soccer
Tennis
Swimming
Ninja
Pottery
Lego robotics
iceskating
baseball