Anonymous
Post 01/12/2026 08:53     Subject: School sports for 9th grade non-athletic DD
I was going to say crew but the time commitment is a lot. It is beginner friendly, not super loud. My son had ADHD and does crew. He likes it but not 6 days a week. We are trying to push through freshman year but I fear we may not make it. He does need down time and I respect that.

Some schools practice after school not in the morning.
Anonymous
Post 01/12/2026 08:44     Subject: School sports for 9th grade non-athletic DD
Anonymous wrote:Crew?


Crew starts in high school, so its a good "new sport", but I don't think it would be a good fit for this kid.

There are two roles in crew: Rower: benefits from height, strength especially leg strength, and team work. Cox: benefits from being small, loud and commanding with a huge amount of pressure of steering the boat and providing the leadership to the team. A small kid who doesn't like loud noise doesn't fit in either of those roles.
Anonymous
Post 01/12/2026 06:30     Subject: School sports for 9th grade non-athletic DD
Anonymous wrote:Crew?


This is such a hard and time intensive sport with long hours, often early mornings, and lots of running and strength training in addition to the rowing. I would not recommend it for anyone unless they are really into fitness and serious. It’s a great sport, but not for OP.
Anonymous
Post 01/11/2026 18:57     Subject: School sports for 9th grade non-athletic DD
Crew?
Anonymous
Post 01/11/2026 18:42     Subject: School sports for 9th grade non-athletic DD
My AuDHD/anxious daughter did theater tech (putting sets together, running lights, etc). It wasn’t super aerobic but it was out of the house with peers, so it met our goal.

HS sports do NOT sound a fit for this kid. Forcing it will just make her hate movement more.
Anonymous
Post 01/11/2026 18:33     Subject: School sports for 9th grade non-athletic DD
My AuDHD DD joined cross country her 9th grade year and the kids are so nice. But as others said, she needs to really like running. And if she’s not eating enough it can be very unhealthy, so you’d have to stay on her about eating. If cross country is not the right fit, what about pickleball, bocce, frisbee or crew? And as others have said, theater/music have nice kids, too.
Anonymous
Post 01/10/2026 08:32     Subject: School sports for 9th grade non-athletic DD
I would not encourage her to do a HS sport but encourage her to join something else. Even if your school has no cut sports, HS sports are so time consuming. My kids love sports and played in 9th grade and were completely exhausted. This is after both had been on travel teams before.

With practices and games, even for no cut sports, they will be at school 5-6 days per week for this from Aug 1 on. Depending on the sport, practices might not even be right after school and you might have to drive her back later at 5, 6 or even 7pm.

There’s so much they can get involved in freshman year. I’d definitely encourage her to join something but I’d only do a sport if she really wants to unless you know your HS is greatly different from our experience.
Anonymous
Post 01/07/2026 20:51     Subject: School sports for 9th grade non-athletic DD
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Our daughter will be entering HS this fall, and we're in the process of getting her evaluated for anxiety/adhd/autism. I've always thought it would be beneficial for her to do some kind of school sport. But she's always been resistant, and I wonder if it's too late, and if this is just a pipe dream that will never come to fruit.

Or, are there certain sports that might be good for her as a complete beginner? She's small, strong, flexible, but lacks any interest in any sports. Particularly ones that involve any kind of balls. She's a skilled climber (rock climbing). She's also a fish in the water, but has never taken any formal swim instruction. She's resistant to instruction.

The last team sports she has played was when she was in 2nd grade (baseball).


If she lacks any interest, why push it? Help her find something she does like to do. Theater? Chorus? Art? Plenty of other things out there for her.


She refuses all activities, so in the end, we have to force her to do SOMETHING. There is nothing else she'd choose to do as an alternative.


There was a point when my kid had quit prior activities. I told him he had to do one activity. He could pick and in fact I wanted him to. Could be anything. But had to be something. I insisted. He ended up doing tech theater and loved it. Did it all 4 years, went deep, got into leadership. Met a lot of great kids. Was amazing for him.
Anonymous
Post 01/07/2026 19:45     Subject: School sports for 9th grade non-athletic DD
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Our daughter will be entering HS this fall, and we're in the process of getting her evaluated for anxiety/adhd/autism. I've always thought it would be beneficial for her to do some kind of school sport. But she's always been resistant, and I wonder if it's too late, and if this is just a pipe dream that will never come to fruit.

Or, are there certain sports that might be good for her as a complete beginner? She's small, strong, flexible, but lacks any interest in any sports. Particularly ones that involve any kind of balls. She's a skilled climber (rock climbing). She's also a fish in the water, but has never taken any formal swim instruction. She's resistant to instruction.

The last team sports she has played was when she was in 2nd grade (baseball).


If she lacks any interest, why push it? Help her find something she does like to do. Theater? Chorus? Art? Plenty of other things out there for her.


She refuses all activities, so in the end, we have to force her to do SOMETHING. There is nothing else she'd choose to do as an alternative.


This does not sound like a child who will be successful in HS sports. It takes a lot of drive and commitment. It’s hard work. To make it even harder she didn’t have experience in most sports. Very few sports are no cut and the competition is fierce in many/most HSs.

She might do better in clubs. If she like theater and has talent or plays an instrument, those might be options.
Anonymous
Post 01/07/2026 17:52     Subject: School sports for 9th grade non-athletic DD
Our school had a rock climbing club. Once a week after school, they went to Earth Treks. There may be other clubs that involve some physical activity. I’m not sure what kind of school she is going to, but high school sports can be quite competitive around here and usually involve practice after school every day during the season. My similar DD could not have handled that. She was spent after a day people-ing, as someone mentioned. Also, we also found the poor diet contributed to low energy which makes any physical activity harder and less appealing. See if you can increase protein (shakes, powder) and complex carbs to improve her energy. We worked with a dietician to help us make changes. It was moderately successful. We still have some issues there.