What sport?

First of all, make sure you have an accurate picture of kid’s skill level. Then research the programs at the high schools you are considering (and ask your current parent and coach contacts for feedback and info on the programs). If you are fairly friendly and well connected within your kid’s sport you can get a pretty good sense of who is planning to attend which school and the relative skill levels required to make the teams at certain schools- also definitely a sense of the current talent levels in the grades ahead of your son’s (and for your son’s specific position if that is applicable).

I think that is really all you can do. And even that can fail- kids transfer in, head coaching changes etc.

Of course some kids do get recruited but typically they would approach you- and even that could be a crapshoot TBH.

He needs to make the honor roll

Anonymous wrote:op here, I am not talking about the top athletic schools, my kid just wants to play somewhere. Trying to figure out how to make it happen.

Don’t do this. You are setting yourself up for disappointment. We were there and my kid did all of the right stuff, went to all of the pre workouts in 8th grade, private coaching etc. He made the team but got little to no playtime. We were not prepared for the political side of HS sports. My advice is to find a way he can play outside of school as your backup plan. Are there club or travel teams for the sport in your area?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For basketball, go to clinics the coach either attends or participates in. When your kid plays a team that someone on the staff coaches, make sure they know they have to stand out and have the kid, not you, the kid introduce themselves afterwards. Above all, be honest with yourself about the kid's level of talent compared to the team's. If the kid is a transfer student, how do they stack up against current players?

No to this.
These coaches do this all the time for money and then the kid does not make a team.
W HS had a coach for girls lax this was years ago made a boatload of money off of parents where she told them their kid was amazing and then of course none of them made the team. No it was not my kid but I watched it happen. They lie and take your money.

We watched this go down with a QO HS soccer coach who ran his own travel club. Lots of kids DS played with signed on with the guy thinking that would help with tryouts. It didn’t.

OP, you’ve gotten a lot of really dumb answers from parents who obviously have never been in this situation. In basketball, for example, in the DMV, there are 5 teams that are in the top 25 nationally, so claiming that your kid must be terrible if there’s a question about making the team just demonstrates those parents’ ignorance.

Likewise, people claiming that coaches don’t know or that they won’t tell you are just demonstrating that they haven’t been in the situation.

When our kid was in 8th grade, he was choosing between a school with a nationally ranked team and a school with a pretty bad team where he would have been a varsity starter day one. We didn’t know if he’d make the JV team at the nationally ranked school.

DS did workouts with the team in March, and the coach called me and offered him a spot on the team if he chose that school. Other teammates were also offered spots to come to the school - one from out of state.

That’s how it works. Your question is very reasonable, and you should reach out to the coach and see if your kid can get a workout with the team.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This may seem harsh…but if your child is not good enough to make a high school team, then they are not good enough to have their high school chosen based on where they could play x sport. I would encourage you to zoom out and look at best fit inclusive of that sport but not exclusively around playing a sport.

+1

I agree with this. While it’s likely that my DS will make the freshman team in his sport, I don’t think he was good enough to reach out to coaches to let them know he’s attending.

However, I have another kid who is very good and is already known to a couple of HS coaches so I have no qualms reaching out to them and hope for a generous financial package. Assuming I would even need to. Academic scholarships at high schools are easier to get.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This may seem harsh…but if your child is not good enough to make a high school team, then they are not good enough to have their high school chosen based on where they could play x sport. I would encourage you to zoom out and look at best fit inclusive of that sport but not exclusively around playing a sport.

I'm PP 11:54. My son plays for a top-tier AAU team and parents of his teammates are already planning HS applications and possibly contacting coaches. But everyone is very hush-hush and don't share info. My son is at a disadvantage with "basketball dumb" parents. Actually, we're not too clueless because we've managed to steer him to good teams and training since age 8 and his talent, hard work, and determination took him to where he's at now. Now we need to help him get to the next level. and to play at the next level, he will likely need to attend a private HS because public HS basketball team is not very good.

Thanks!

You are a moron.
Horrible parenting.

Academics before sports. Private HS bec you want your kid to play a sport is just stupid.

My son is an honor roll, mostly-As student in honors level classes. (Maybe he gets his smarts from me, the horrible "moron" parent!?) He's also bored with many of his classes and needs more challenge and a lot more homework.

Aren't you proving the PP's point, though? Your son is a very good student, and needs more challenging classes . . . but you're choosing his school based on his prospect to make the basketball team. Not great.

Kid is dreaming if he thinks he can use sports to get into sidwell

Does the kid want to win or do they want a starting spot?

Unless you know your kid is a real stand-out, the thing you will never know is how successful a private HS coach may be in their recruiting efforts.

They will recruit 10 kids and make them feel special, but assume they only get say 3 of them based on historical averages.

Well if they end up getting 7-10...if your kid was actually 10th on their list, well you won't get much playing time.

There really is no way to get good answers to this. You can ask the HS coach how many QBs, or Short Stops or (insert sport position here) that he is recruiting to get a sense of where your kid may land...but not sure how many coaches will give you an honest answer.

Anonymous wrote:Your kid won’t make the cut if you’re asking. This question here

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This may seem harsh…but if your child is not good enough to make a high school team, then they are not good enough to have their high school chosen based on where they could play x sport. I would encourage you to zoom out and look at best fit inclusive of that sport but not exclusively around playing a sport.

I'm PP 11:54. My son plays for a top-tier AAU team and parents of his teammates are already planning HS applications and possibly contacting coaches. But everyone is very hush-hush and don't share info. My son is at a disadvantage with "basketball dumb" parents. Actually, we're not too clueless because we've managed to steer him to good teams and training since age 8 and his talent, hard work, and determination took him to where he's at now. Now we need to help him get to the next level. and to play at the next level, he will likely need to attend a private HS because public HS basketball team is not very good.

Thanks!

You are a moron.
Horrible parenting.

Academics before sports. Private HS bec you want your kid to play a sport is just stupid.

My son is an honor roll, mostly-As student in honors level classes. (Maybe he gets his smarts from me, the horrible "moron" parent!?) He's also bored with many of his classes and needs more challenge and a lot more homework.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This may seem harsh…but if your child is not good enough to make a high school team, then they are not good enough to have their high school chosen based on where they could play x sport. I would encourage you to zoom out and look at best fit inclusive of that sport but not exclusively around playing a sport.

I'm PP 11:54. My son plays for a top-tier AAU team and parents of his teammates are already planning HS applications and possibly contacting coaches. But everyone is very hush-hush and don't share info. My son is at a disadvantage with "basketball dumb" parents. Actually, we're not too clueless because we've managed to steer him to good teams and training since age 8 and his talent, hard work, and determination took him to where he's at now. Now we need to help him get to the next level. and to play at the next level, he will likely need to attend a private HS because public HS basketball team is not very good.

Thanks!

You are a moron.
Horrible parenting.

Academics before sports. Private HS bec you want your kid to play a sport is just stupid.

Anonymous wrote:My kid doesn’t fit into this situation- but out of curiosity how does puberty factor in, especially for boys? For example my DS was teeny tiny the summer before 8th grade and has grown about a foot in the last 2.5yrs. And he does play for his high school team. Some of the “big” boys from middle school haven’t grown any further. Hard to believe coaches are making predictions or guarantees about 7th and 8th graders- with the exception of maybe a few.

Yes, this is a thing.

My kid was a shy shorter kid when he was younger.
He wasn't interested in organized sports because parents on his t-ball and soccer teams through third grade where horrific.

9th grade Varsity Lax, Division 1 college.

Boys grow.

Anonymous wrote:This may seem harsh…but if your child is not good enough to make a high school team, then they are not good enough to have their high school chosen based on where they could play x sport. I would encourage you to zoom out and look at best fit inclusive of that sport but not exclusively around playing a sport.

I'm PP 11:54. My son plays for a top-tier AAU team and parents of his teammates are already planning HS applications and possibly contacting coaches. But everyone is very hush-hush and don't share info. My son is at a disadvantage with "basketball dumb" parents. Actually, we're not too clueless because we've managed to steer him to good teams and training since age 8 and his talent, hard work, and determination took him to where he's at now. Now we need to help him get to the next level. and to play at the next level, he will likely need to attend a private HS because public HS basketball team is not very good.

Thanks!