As the mom of a HS freshman son who is 5’5” and skinny (and may grow a bit more but definitely not much), mid sized UMC suburban high school:

- I really really wish I had put him in golf and tennis. While height can absolutely also be useful for both, I see plenty of shorter boys (boys of various body types really) succeeding at both at the high school level. Also, there isn’t much potential for random discrimination based on height, in individual sports.

- Definitely cross country and track- especially distance events if he is slender. Those can be started in high school. My son is going to do track and field this Spring.

- Wrestling, for sure. It is extremely unpopular in our area and my son refuses. But in many areas it is a great choice.

- Most of the popular team sports will be an uphill battle for a short boy. Not impossible, but definitely very very tough. I can’t think of even one boy of that height who contributes on any of the following varsity teams at our school: football, basketball, baseball, soccer, lacrosse. (I teach, and have a DD who is a Senior- so know most of the kids)

- Swimming, I don’t know. Our team is huge. But- I think swimming favors height as well.

We do not have rowing or fencing at our school.

Wrestling
Soccer
All depends on whether kid is also hard working.

Mine did fencing for 5-6 yrs and was the coxswain in rowing in MS.

Anonymous wrote:Cross country definitely. Top distance runners are frequently quite small.

I am looking into this for my 5th percentile son as well and I’ve been told golf may be good. I’m also wondering about tennis?

The shortest kids on my son's cross country team are the fastest. Same for the girls' team.

And the short, scrappy kids on his tennis team are great. Same for those in martial arts; it surprised me, but I guess it was always the same in my high school for the wrestlers.

My short male cousins went to top schools on sports scholarships: one in diving and one in lacrosse. The lacrosse cousin also did rowing.

You never know how tall he will be, OP. I know so many kids who have turned out unexpectedly taller (or shorter) than their parents’ heights would suggest. It is more of a crapshoot than you think.

Body type (beyond just height) also comes into play- muscular/stocky vs thin/lanky.

Timing of puberty is also a big factor. Boys late to puberty are at a big disadvantage regardless of height. Early puberty confers a large advantage- the other kids eventually catch up but an early puberty kid can often continue to coast on early success.

So- it is more than just height.

All that said: if you are expecting your son to be fairly small, I’d avoid investing much time- if any at all- in the popular “traditional team sports”- basketball, baseball, football. Similar for lacrosse from what I hear. Sounds like soccer might be a possibility.

Track and cross country don’t need to be started until much later on. When young, how about golf and/or tennis? Size doesn’t seem to be a factor at all at the high school level

Anonymous wrote:Jockey

Not sure if this was a joke or not, but I used to love to ride horses. But by high school the bigger boys can ride a smaller and smaller number of horses.

Smaller boys could get into a range of horse related sports.

I have two boys who play baseball and I don't think being short is particularly good for that sport. All the pro baseball players are tall. Adam Eaton and Jose Altuve are real outliers I believe.

There is a chapter in Atomic Habits about shorter men being good for middle / distance runners though.

Anonymous wrote:My son was very short in ES and MS but he was very athletic and played baseball, basketball and tennis at a high level. He sprouted up to 5’10” in HS but his height never stopped him early on.

So your situation is not applicable.

My son was very short in ES and MS but he was very athletic and played baseball, basketball and tennis at a high level. He sprouted up to 5’10” in HS but his height never stopped him early on.

Anonymous wrote:I don't really see this short kid phenomenon you guys are talking about in baseball. The coaches like height. All other skills being equal, they take the bigger kid.

+1

Agree - ideally you need height and long arms in baseball. But OP, your kid is too young. Let him explore all sports and all activities and let him gravitate towards what he likes. If he needs you to encourage him, you have time for that much much later . Like 8-10 years from now