Anonymous wrote:Marching Band does not cut.

It did at my high school.

Anonymous wrote:Marching Band does not cut.

It's not a sport. Not germane.

Anonymous wrote:In arlington, kids can join the HS crew team in 8th grade.

In Arlington, most HS sports take eighth graders.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Basically, the larger the school, the harder it will be to make a varsity team...especially in fairfax county where the parents have had their kids in club teams from the age of 5.

At Robinson, where athletics are a big deal, no cut teams include cross country, track, crew. Maybe field hockey???

Everything else is verrrry competitive.

Crew? I didn't realize that high schools around here had crew (I'm from the west coast, and my kids aren't old enough for high school yet!). That is awesome! I was a coxswain for my university's mens team. I would love for my kids to be involved. My oldest (son) is in 7th grade currently, but has absolutely no rowing experience (like I said--I didn't even really know it was in schools around here.) We are not in the Robinson (or even in Fairfax county) district though. I'll have to look and see if the schools we are elligible for have it!

Crew is huge here.

Anonymous wrote:I think you can tell early on if your child has coordination, focus and commitment from a young age for certain sports; that being said, ability could still change. We still did dance and gymnastics for fun for DD for a couple years but now as we head intohomework time age (2nd)- I am canceling out many things and leaving them for summer camp fun.

I don't want to invest their time or mine driving and coordinating if I see no talent.

I hope parents who feel this way find sports that their kids are good at, even if not great, and encourage them to stick with it (as long as the kid reasonably enjoys it). It is extremely valuable for kids, especially girls, to be part of a team and develop athletic ability (general fitness, coordination, flexibility, endurance, etc.). Just because you don't want to be bothered to take a non-Olympic hopeful to lacrosse isn't a reason to take him/her out.

Marching Band does not cut.

I've heard from other kids at my school that my school's football team doesn't cut anyone during tryouts. I think I'll give it a shot.

In arlington, kids can join the HS crew team in 8th grade.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Basically, the larger the school, the harder it will be to make a varsity team...especially in fairfax county where the parents have had their kids in club teams from the age of 5.

At Robinson, where athletics are a big deal, no cut teams include cross country, track, crew. Maybe field hockey???

Everything else is verrrry competitive.

Crew? I didn't realize that high schools around here had crew (I'm from the west coast, and my kids aren't old enough for high school yet!). That is awesome! I was a coxswain for my university's mens team. I would love for my kids to be involved. My oldest (son) is in 7th grade currently, but has absolutely no rowing experience (like I said--I didn't even really know it was in schools around here.) We are not in the Robinson (or even in Fairfax county) district though. I'll have to look and see if the schools we are elligible for have it!

Washington-Lee has crew.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Basically, the larger the school, the harder it will be to make a varsity team...especially in fairfax county where the parents have had their kids in club teams from the age of 5.

At Robinson, where athletics are a big deal, no cut teams include cross country, track, crew. Maybe field hockey???

Everything else is verrrry competitive.

Crew? I didn't realize that high schools around here had crew (I'm from the west coast, and my kids aren't old enough for high school yet!). That is awesome! I was a coxswain for my university's mens team. I would love for my kids to be involved. My oldest (son) is in 7th grade currently, but has absolutely no rowing experience (like I said--I didn't even really know it was in schools around here.) We are not in the Robinson (or even in Fairfax county) district though. I'll have to look and see if the schools we are elligible for have it!

My son is on the crew team at a high school in MCPS. It's a great sport in a lot of ways. As a club sport everyone can be on the team, however the better athletes row more and compete at a bit higher level. Everyone trains together and participates in the regattas, at least at his school. And cox'ing is great for small kids (male and female) who aren't as athletic but are smart and have something to contribute to the team. Not all high schools have crew but many have started clubs in the past 10 years. It's a growing sport for high schools.

For girls in general any sports with a strong and early club/travel sport culture are tough, as are sports with small teams-so soccer, basketball, volleyball and increasingly lacrosse are tough,even at smaller public schools or at private high schools. Field hockey good for an enthusiastic and at least relatively coordinated kid. Crew is fantastic if your kid is not super coordinated in terms of hand eye or feet, but is willing to work hard and can tolerate discomfort. No one starts crew until HS, so everyone is trying it together and if tall and strong legs, likely to be successful.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Usually no one gets cut from track and cross country. They are considered "social sports". In fact at some schools there are so many team members that the coach can't keep track of all of them.

The reason that track and XC don't cut is that it takes years of running to develop a runner, and most kids don't run until MS or HS. Often you can't tell what a freshman will do by senior year.

Runners dislike and are kind of baffled by kids who join their teams looking to socialize. If kids are not good but willing to run hard that's ok. Kids who join the team and then don't do the work are hated. As a coach, I struggled with those kids, but fortunately did not deal with them much.

My sons are D1 college runners; the oldest is now a team captain and both were team captains in HS. Both started out as soccer players, then added XC in MS, and gave up soccer in HS to focus on XC and track. The sport has done so much for them, and we are so grateful to their amazing coaches. Through running they learned discipline, patience, resilience and the value of consistent hard work. The HS running scene in this area is very strong with intense, but friendly rivalries among runners and schools. Kids from the DC area who go on to run in college have a blast when they run into (no pun intended) their former teammates and rivals at college meets.

For those with kids looking for a HS sport, it's true that HS teams running teams don't usually cut. As a parent what I've observed is that the faster kids are respectful of those who aren't fast, but who are trying hard. Those kids get to enjoy the team comraderie and develop more confidence in their physical and mental abilities. Occasionally, they surprise not only themselves, but their teammates and coaches with their progress. That said, however, ITA agree with the coach that kids who are giving at the level this sport demands -- i.e., running every day, year-round, regardless of the weather or school breaks or exams -- are "baffled" when they see kids who don't put in the effort -- even -- and maybe-- especially when they have the potential.

Anonymous wrote:At our public HS soccer, basketball, tennis, golf and baseball are difficult to make even JV. Dance team is very difficult, Cheerleading not so much. Varsity lacrosse is, JV not so much but you can only play JV in 9 th and 10th grade. In fact most varsity sports are tough to make without a reasonable amount of skill. Football is no cut. Field hockey and softball are easy for JV. XC and track are no cut and are huge teams but only a small group does Invitational meets which are top 2 per event or you have to meet qualifying times.

It really varies by school so ask around your neighborhood. Go to some games and get a sense of the kids skills but also the dynamics.

That sounds like our HS, also

Anonymous wrote:Lacrosse for public school

Not anymore, they cut now too. Cross Country, crew, sometimes swimming.

Depends on the school/district.