My kids play soccer which really requires year-round travel soccer in order to play for the high school team. It's brutal.

The Freshmen high school team was also 5-days per week and sometimes there were 2-3 games midweek which required long bus rides. This while trying to manage the Travel Club Coach and the High School coaches which both wanted to be #1 priority. Fall HS soccer is particularly brutal for kids that play for a VA travel Club because the majority of the travel team plays Spring High School soccer and in the Spring the High School age travel teams basically go into hibernation because so many kids play public Spring HS soccer.

With our oldest, by Sophomore year we didn't allow him to do both in the Fall. He just played high school and then played indoor/Futsal and was able to jump on a travel team for just Spring season. Junior year he had an injury that sidelined him the entire Fall/spring season. With a very rigorous AP/Honors schedule, as disappointed and depressed as he is, he let him focus on grades and maintain straight As.
In the Fall, he is leaning towards only playing Club because that is what the college coaches he's been in contact want to see. They don't care about HS.

Our current Freshmen is in for a rude awakening next Fall. He managed the Club & HS fine with the Freshmen HS team, but given his ramped up Honors/AP schedule and the even more demands on JV/Varsity team I really do not see how he will be able to play 2 teams and not be exhausted and keep his all As.

In our house, academics are Number 1. He will have to make a choice like his older brother did--or hopefully, have an understanding Club coach in the Fall.

My kids are in college now (playing their primary sport FWIW) and both were 3 sport varsity athletes, one was at TJ. And yes the schedules are insane esp for working parents. We lived and died by carpools. That said the upsides were instant friends for the start of freshman year and the absolute ability to manage their time. We also made sleep as much of a priority as we could ie no mindless tv watching, phones off after homework etc. But our lives did revolve around our kids sports. It's doable, but your kid has to want to do it. Both mine did or we would have stopped the madness.

We quit

Anonymous wrote:Unearthing a zombie thread here . . . tossing some zombie powder this morning I guess . . . but . . . we just got the practice schedule for freshman sports (FRESHMAN not even JV!) for school year 2023 and it is not only now a six day a week commitment-- it's now starting AUGUST 1. Hope you didn't take vacation days lol.

Practices are every day, starting AUGUST 1 . . . Practices are mandatory, they are at school, and on no set schedule. Ok, I can cope, right, they're at the same time everyday, right? RIGHT??

Nope. This is the schedule of the damned. If a freshman could drive, MAYBE it would make sense.
. . . Timewise, practices are literally all over the map-- sometimes they're 11am, sometimes 2pm, oh now it's 2:30pm, sometimes 7:30am, sometimes 7:15pm? 7:15pm one night 8:30am the next day, whee!

We absolutely cannot hire a nanny to get our kid to practice on such an all-over-the-place bananas schedule, we work, and the kid cannot drive, this is nuts.

I guess only Christians are playing apparently, too, because every single Friday and Saturday night is a practice!

If the kid drops below a 3.3 in any subject they're benched. If they miss a practice they're benched.
I just can't see this as at all sustainable. I guess if you lived next door to the school it would be fine but we are 6 miles from school. . . Absolute madness. I'm honestly looking at youth clubs outside of school, something I never ever thought I would do.

Freshman teams are going to get whatever field space is left over. I'm not surprised there is no standardized schedule

Anonymous wrote:Unearthing a zombie thread here . . . tossing some zombie powder this morning I guess . . . but . . . we just got the practice schedule for freshman sports (FRESHMAN not even JV!) for school year 2023 and it is not only now a six day a week commitment-- it's now starting AUGUST 1. Hope you didn't take vacation days lol.

Practices are every day, starting AUGUST 1 . . . Practices are mandatory, they are at school, and on no set schedule. Ok, I can cope, right, they're at the same time everyday, right? RIGHT??

Nope. This is the schedule of the damned. If a freshman could drive, MAYBE it would make sense.
. . . Timewise, practices are literally all over the map-- sometimes they're 11am, sometimes 2pm, oh now it's 2:30pm, sometimes 7:30am, sometimes 7:15pm? 7:15pm one night 8:30am the next day, whee!

We absolutely cannot hire a nanny to get our kid to practice on such an all-over-the-place bananas schedule, we work, and the kid cannot drive, this is nuts.

I guess only Christians are playing apparently, too, because every single Friday and Saturday night is a practice!

If the kid drops below a 3.3 in any subject they're benched. If they miss a practice they're benched.
I just can't see this as at all sustainable. I guess if you lived next door to the school it would be fine but we are 6 miles from school. . . Absolute madness. I'm honestly looking at youth clubs outside of school, something I never ever thought I would do.

Does your child have any friends with whom you can arrange a carpool?

Preseason August practices are pretty standard and always have been. It is annoying to drive them at random times, but with a group of four you should only be on the hook a couple times a week for those couple of weeks. Not so bad.

Unearthing a zombie thread here . . . tossing some zombie powder this morning I guess . . . but . . . we just got the practice schedule for freshman sports (FRESHMAN not even JV!) for school year 2023 and it is not only now a six day a week commitment-- it's now starting AUGUST 1. Hope you didn't take vacation days lol.

Practices are every day, starting AUGUST 1 . . . Practices are mandatory, they are at school, and on no set schedule. Ok, I can cope, right, they're at the same time everyday, right? RIGHT??

Nope. This is the schedule of the damned. If a freshman could drive, MAYBE it would make sense.
. . . Timewise, practices are literally all over the map-- sometimes they're 11am, sometimes 2pm, oh now it's 2:30pm, sometimes 7:30am, sometimes 7:15pm? 7:15pm one night 8:30am the next day, whee!

We absolutely cannot hire a nanny to get our kid to practice on such an all-over-the-place bananas schedule, we work, and the kid cannot drive, this is nuts.

I guess only Christians are playing apparently, too, because every single Friday and Saturday night is a practice!

If the kid drops below a 3.3 in any subject they're benched. If they miss a practice they're benched.
I just can't see this as at all sustainable. I guess if you lived next door to the school it would be fine but we are 6 miles from school. . . Absolute madness. I'm honestly looking at youth clubs outside of school, something I never ever thought I would do.

My son plays varsity baseball and basketball. This must be School dependent, because they don’t have dinners and games are usually over by 8, often earlier, and home by 8:30. It’s an independent school, so perhaps different.

My kid hasn’t started APs yet (10th grade), but he manages the work by doing homework during the day and after school before practice and some work on weekends. He is not an A student - he simply doesn’t like or care about academics enough to motivate himself to work harder.

He is in bed by 9:30 most nights, asleep by 10. Up at 7am.

My daughter trains 3 hours every weekday plus tournaments on the weekend (about 2-3 each month). She takes several honors classes and has an early out for her training. Every night, she is in bed by 9:30pm. Her day starts at 7am. Almost all homework/school work gets done during study halls at school. She loves her sport and being able to train with her friends at the sport facility, so this has created incentives to be super organized at school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yep. My daughters play both a fall and spring sport. My youngest considered trying out for a winter sport but, while leaving the decision solely up to her, I did say it is nice to have a season off.

I don't remember sports being so time consuming when I was in high school. Is there really a good reason to make it a 6 day commitment? I also hate when practices start at 5. I wish all practices were after school.

Ugh. DS’s buddy was bemoaning how he just feels like all he does is go from school to basketball to sleep and repeat. He loves bball but he wishes he had time for other stuff as well. I played bball 3 seasons a year but the two off-season seasons were shorter. Today some kids do 4 plus seasons through middle school (with an overlapping season, like in rec, playing with school friends). I coached for many years at different levels. About 10 years ago I coached some girls who played rec bball as their extra work out. They’d have bball practice before heading off to their travel soccer practice/game (8th graders). I’m not sure if that is possible today — and I thought that was bananas then.

I read an interview with LeBron James who was bemoaning what has become of youth basketball. He was complaining about the sheer number of tournaments and games for his kids and no rest days. He said it has gotten so bad. None of this is for development of the player and none is designed with a player's physical and mental health in mind.

And after that I read an article about FIFA soccer superstar Ivan Ibrahimovic blasting and complaining that he pays $3500/yr for his kid to play soccer. And, how ridiculous it is that kids can't just go out and play anymore that it is such a big business that excludes so many.

My kids are in high school now and I truthfully hate how things have become and no parents will speak up they will do whatever the Club asks for, even when it is not beneficial or detrimental to the kids. And, its the FOMO by the parents---if Timmy's dad is going to do it--we better do it or you won't play..each parent trying to make their kid look more dedicated

This year we've decided that we're just going to start telling coaches no when it's too much for our kids. DD is taking off winter soccer entirely. Her coach had a big talk with us about it and threatened to demote her. We told him to do what he feels he needs to and that we're going to do the same. Making the decision to not care really is liberating

good for you! And good for your dd, who hopefully understands. -OP

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yep. My daughters play both a fall and spring sport. My youngest considered trying out for a winter sport but, while leaving the decision solely up to her, I did say it is nice to have a season off.

I don't remember sports being so time consuming when I was in high school. Is there really a good reason to make it a 6 day commitment? I also hate when practices start at 5. I wish all practices were after school.

Ugh. DS’s buddy was bemoaning how he just feels like all he does is go from school to basketball to sleep and repeat. He loves bball but he wishes he had time for other stuff as well. I played bball 3 seasons a year but the two off-season seasons were shorter. Today some kids do 4 plus seasons through middle school (with an overlapping season, like in rec, playing with school friends). I coached for many years at different levels. About 10 years ago I coached some girls who played rec bball as their extra work out. They’d have bball practice before heading off to their travel soccer practice/game (8th graders). I’m not sure if that is possible today — and I thought that was bananas then.

I read an interview with LeBron James who was bemoaning what has become of youth basketball. He was complaining about the sheer number of tournaments and games for his kids and no rest days. He said it has gotten so bad. None of this is for development of the player and none is designed with a player's physical and mental health in mind.

And after that I read an article about FIFA soccer superstar Ivan Ibrahimovic blasting and complaining that he pays $3500/yr for his kid to play soccer. And, how ridiculous it is that kids can't just go out and play anymore that it is such a big business that excludes so many.

My kids are in high school now and I truthfully hate how things have become and no parents will speak up they will do whatever the Club asks for, even when it is not beneficial or detrimental to the kids. And, its the FOMO by the parents---if Timmy's dad is going to do it--we better do it or you won't play..each parent trying to make their kid look more dedicated

This year we've decided that we're just going to start telling coaches no when it's too much for our kids. DD is taking off winter soccer entirely. Her coach had a big talk with us about it and threatened to demote her. We told him to do what he feels he needs to and that we're going to do the same. Making the decision to not care really is liberating

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yep. My daughters play both a fall and spring sport. My youngest considered trying out for a winter sport but, while leaving the decision solely up to her, I did say it is nice to have a season off.

I don't remember sports being so time consuming when I was in high school. Is there really a good reason to make it a 6 day commitment? I also hate when practices start at 5. I wish all practices were after school.

Ugh. DS’s buddy was bemoaning how he just feels like all he does is go from school to basketball to sleep and repeat. He loves bball but he wishes he had time for other stuff as well. I played bball 3 seasons a year but the two off-season seasons were shorter. Today some kids do 4 plus seasons through middle school (with an overlapping season, like in rec, playing with school friends). I coached for many years at different levels. About 10 years ago I coached some girls who played rec bball as their extra work out. They’d have bball practice before heading off to their travel soccer practice/game (8th graders). I’m not sure if that is possible today — and I thought that was bananas then.

I read an interview with LeBron James who was bemoaning what has become of youth basketball. He was complaining about the sheer number of tournaments and games for his kids and no rest days. He said it has gotten so bad. None of this is for development of the player and none is designed with a player's physical and mental health in mind.

And after that I read an article about FIFA soccer superstar Ivan Ibrahimovic blasting and complaining that he pays $3500/yr for his kid to play soccer. And, how ridiculous it is that kids can't just go out and play anymore that it is such a big business that excludes so many.

My kids are in high school now and I truthfully hate how things have become and no parents will speak up they will do whatever the Club asks for, even when it is not beneficial or detrimental to the kids. And, its the FOMO by the parents---if Timmy's dad is going to do it--we better do it or you won't play..each parent trying to make their kid look more dedicated

Op again — I’ve read similar stories LeBron is a proponent of good sleep habits. I’ve talked to HS coaches who have expressed concerns about kids not taking time to unwind / rest. And there is definitely a lot of parent FOMO.

Anonymous wrote:I guess our DD was the outlier. She played a spring HS sport all 4 years because she wanted to and had no plans to play in college and didn’t. She took AP classes as well. They had off season workouts a couple times a week and in season it was 6 days a week. Her school started at 7:25 so she was out the door early each morning. She’s a young adult now but she was a kid who always did better when she was busy. She didn’t get more sleep in the off season and definitely was more on top of her schoolwork when she was more scheduled. The more free time she had the more she procrastinated things.

Things have definitely ratcheted up IMO in the past 5 years. I say this as a board member for a ref league with travel team.

Just wait until they get to college if you expect them to keep playing. Two multi sport varsity athletes both playing in college. Lots of AP classes. Just depends on the kid and what they want.

This seems insane. My kids will be taking AP classes. How on earth can you manage these sports schedules and AP classes? I do remember late practices growing up, but I stayed after and did homework for a solid 2 hours. One team dinner maybe a week. But definitely wasn't 6 days a week.

I guess our DD was the outlier. She played a spring HS sport all 4 years because she wanted to and had no plans to play in college and didn’t. She took AP classes as well. They had off season workouts a couple times a week and in season it was 6 days a week. Her school started at 7:25 so she was out the door early each morning. She’s a young adult now but she was a kid who always did better when she was busy. She didn’t get more sleep in the off season and definitely was more on top of her schoolwork when she was more scheduled. The more free time she had the more she procrastinated things.