Agree with all the votes for tennis, height is a definite advantage.

Rowing definitely!

OP here. Thank you all—lots of food for thought and it’s making me excited for all the opportunities she’ll have in the future. She is very typically feminine and reserved but loves camaraderie. My shortlist is softball, rowing and volleyball but of course she will still try whatever she wants. I just don’t want her in an environment that is innately critical of her height (gymnastics?), or one that’s too “in your face” (ice hockey).

Maybe I need to start a new thread but is there a type of dance that favors height? She may grow up to be 6’2”.

She is 8. She should be trying every sport to have fun.

Anonymous wrote:If she wants a team sport field hockey is nice. It is very non-contact compared to many other team sports.

All sizes of girls play, but being tall offers some distinct advantages.

Caution: if your daughter is super tall, you will have to custom order her field hockey stick, or she will be bent in half.
Recommend rowing. She will have her own seat and no one can get in her face.

Basketball!
Show her "One Flew over A Cuckoo's Nest" and tell her to be that chief Indian guy.

Anonymous wrote:If she wants a team sport field hockey is nice. It is very non-contact compared to many other team sports.

All sizes of girls play, but being tall offers some distinct advantages.

Field hockey is a great sport but actually being short offers the distinct advantage.

Track— high jump, long jump, hurdles.

My very tall 8yo tried many sports, she was very athletic and enjoyed a variety of sports.

She's a lefty and I was really hoping volleyball or tennis would stick for that advantage too, but swimming did.

She is now a "regular tall" HS swimmer.

Volleyball!
The person doesn’t have to be particularly athletic either, especially if a middle. how they all rally together after every point - whether gained or lost - makes it even more team friendly. It’s still very girly, and the point is that you are not in another person’s space. It’s more easily coachable. And someone could start late and still end up becoming really good.

Ballerinas are not usually tall. They just look it. Baryshnikov was 5’7. The women he danced with were obviously not towering over him.

Ballerinas are usually tiny but are slender and have long arms and legs, so they look tall.

Volleyball!!!!

Not rock climbing, at least not long-term. It's good at age 8, though, she will be able to reach holds other kids cannot, because of height. Later, though, if she is likely to remain tall, it will be a disadvantage.

High hurdles in Track & Field.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rowing! She can start at 12 or 13. Being comfortable ahead of time with boats and oars is great, so you could take her kayaking, rowing in stable single shells, canoeing.

I think OP meant physical confrontation so I second rowing, but just in case: if OP means she’s not into interpersonal drama, rowing would not be fun for her. Close quarters, seat racing, making boats=lots of conflict.

DP - and former competitive rower - this can be the case, but it really depends on the coach and the culture they set. One great thing about sports like rowing, swimming, running, is that it's objective: the fastest times (or seat race winners, also very obvious) are the fastest times. Not that there's never drama, but IME it's far less than sports with less objective metrics.

Height is HUGE in rowing. Huge.