At DSs school there were no excuses for missing preseason. The JV coach (a teacher) was a little more flexible than the V coach (a travel coach) but 3 days would be pushing it. So it is probably program dependent and depends on whether the team has been picked or not. At DSs school the tryouts were only about 3-4 days of a 2 week pre-season. There were also scrimmages and play days against other schools every couple of days in preseason so missing 3 days would likely mean missing some of those. DSs school had 100 kids trying out for about 40 spots across the two teams so unless a kid was a superstar there were more than enough to skip over a kid who wasn't seen to be committed.

While logic would definitely say do the eclipse, my DS wouldn't have been willing to miss soccer if it meant being off the team.

I'd bench the kid for the game after, but that would probably be it.

Anonymous wrote:We are traveling for the eclipse (though my kids are too young for this to be an issue). I would travel. Your kid is too young to understand what this once in a lifetime opportunity means, but in the long run he will remember.

There were a couple times my parents simply pulled rank on me w.r.t. high school activities, and they were right to do so in retrospect. I remember those things way more than the school activities I missed.

+1 Don't leave it up to your kid. He will almost certainly say he wants to stay for practice because he's only concerned with making the team and the immediate impact on his life. You have the perspective and long-term understanding to realize that the eclipse is a really unique event and sports practices aren't actually the highest priority in life.

I can't even believe you are questioning this OP. Go see the eclipse. There is a tremendous difference between being in a zone of 80-90% totality and being in 100% totality. And it's an incredibly rare opportunity we have this year.

It's freaking JV high school sports. If a coach holds it against a kid, than he's just a jackass.

Anonymous wrote:Eh we are going to be 97% covered here. I don't think it's worth it to travel 1000 miles to see totality. Ask your son if he's prepared to not make the team. Every coach will be differnt.

Your response only covers 50% of your ass, however

1. DC area gets 81% coverage

2. The path of totality in South Carolina is well under 500 miles.

We are traveling for the eclipse (though my kids are too young for this to be an issue). I would travel. Your kid is too young to understand what this once in a lifetime opportunity means, but in the long run he will remember.

There were a couple times my parents simply pulled rank on me w.r.t. high school activities, and they were right to do so in retrospect. I remember those things way more than the school activities I missed.