Do you mean your child is individually competitive or a star? Probably nothing without a lot of hard work and talent.

There are plenty of team and individual sports you can play and have a competitive experience without it consuming your whole life unless you mean your child is at the top and is looking for college scholarships. My 9th grader has been on the same rec soccer team for years. They play and practice hard -- once a week for nine weeks in the fall and spring but that's it. She's also a club swimmer, but very much middle to back of the pack. She works hard and participates in meets but isn't chasing cut times and championships so again it's competitive but not a level of crazy.

Cross country and track are typically no cut at the high school level so your kids could have a competitive experience on a high school team. Will they be the ones to win? Who knows and probably almost certainly without a huge amount of work, but the competitive experience is there.

Anonymous wrote:Crew squash fencing bowling sailing equestrian . Ones where money excludes the super athletes

This is the correct answer. If you are rich, you can ride, fence, sail and your competition is limited to those who can afford the sport. For sports like basketball or soccer, you can spend all the money in the world on training but the returns are diminishing and but you are going to have to compete with a very large pool of gifted athletes at a competitive level

Anonymous wrote:Crew you can make high school team wiyj ko experience whatsoever if you are a decent athlete. Cut the bullshit

What? Public schools have massive cuts in most sports and larger privates have recruited teams for popular sports

Brazilian jujitsu

Anonymous wrote:op here - i have 3 young boys, no one is specialized in any yet and the oldest 2 seem happy doing most things.

talking to friends with older kids, it seems like if you want to play at even the local competitive level, it gets very intense by late elementary for most common sports. it also sounds like a lot of the less competitive clubs wind down then or only people that are brand new to the sport stay in them. so you're either playing 4 day a week year round basketball at 12 or you're not playing at all.

i'm looking for the sports that are just a lot less common and therefore you can stick with them, be good at them, compete etc but not 15 hours a week year round at 12. I figure skated and danced and my sister did gymnastic - we both competed and practiced a few times a week through high school. we loved the competition aspects and wouldn't have wanted to just do it for fun practice only - my impression is that that level of commitment in those sports today wouldn't get you anywhere.

That is the way it is now. If you want your kids to be at a high level, it’s a big commitment.

Anonymous wrote:Crew squash fencing bowling sailing equestrian . Ones where money excludes the super athletes

I would put equestrian in a whole different category because you have another athlete to also be responsible for - which costs way more than day to day care for a human. But I also think some of the "regular" sports can get up there with ones that people consider elite once you get to a certain level.

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Anonymous wrote:Sailing bowling fishing

I invite you to join me at one of my kids regattas, it’s so intense. Like many sports it wasn’t this way “back in the day.” But now…wow. I’d venture to say though you see that in anything that is “competitive.” Im sure there are fishing tiger moms out there.

Agreed. - Sailing parent, who also grew up sailing.

PP - Same, did junior sailing, high school and college. And then basically didn't pay attention to small boats for almost 20 years until DS got involved and I am shocked almost daily by what it's like now.

Crew squash fencing bowling sailing equestrian . Ones where money excludes the super athletes

Anonymous wrote:op here - i have 3 young boys, no one is specialized in any yet and the oldest 2 seem happy doing most things.

talking to friends with older kids, it seems like if you want to play at even the local competitive level, it gets very intense by late elementary for most common sports. it also sounds like a lot of the less competitive clubs wind down then or only people that are brand new to the sport stay in them. so you're either playing 4 day a week year round basketball at 12 or you're not playing at all.

i'm looking for the sports that are just a lot less common and therefore you can stick with them, be good at them, compete etc but not 15 hours a week year round at 12. I figure skated and danced and my sister did gymnastic - we both competed and practiced a few times a week through high school. we loved the competition aspects and wouldn't have wanted to just do it for fun practice only - my impression is that that level of commitment in those sports today wouldn't get you anywhere.

The challenge is you asked for a competitive sport that isn't so intense. But competitive sports are by nature, competitive, and therefore intense. If you mean an activity, what about theater, or helping out at an animal shelter?

We've pretty much ruined all the sports for kids. It used to be you could do a whole bunch of different sports throughout the year depending on the season. Football in the fall. Basketball in the winter. Baseball in the spring. And so on and so forth. Now you need to choose one by sixth grade and stick with it.

I think we messed up with how we approach kids sports.

In any event, everything here is extremely competitive, particularly varsity high school sports. But if you just want to participate for the fun of it, there's rec basketball. There's rec baseball. This would be a practice and a game every week. Very chill.

For genuinely competitive sports, track and cross country seems to be the most sane. Practice is usually right after school at the school itself. Very convenient. Kids are home at a sane hour with plenty of time for dinner and homework. The vibe in track and xc is usually very welcoming. People do get very fit. It's a good workout.

At the elite level, it's very competitive. The times high school students are getting are amazing. Most teams will have four or five runners that are just better than everyone else. And coaches will naturally work with them a little more to shepherd them to states and the more competitive regional events. But usually at school to school meets, everyone participates to the best of their ability. And kids are pretty kind these days. Everyone gets cheered. It's a good sport with a pretty healthy atmosphere..

Anonymous wrote:op here - i have 3 young boys, no one is specialized in any yet and the oldest 2 seem happy doing most things.

talking to friends with older kids, it seems like if you want to play at even the local competitive level, it gets very intense by late elementary for most common sports. it also sounds like a lot of the less competitive clubs wind down then or only people that are brand new to the sport stay in them. so you're either playing 4 day a week year round basketball at 12 or you're not playing at all.

i'm looking for the sports that are just a lot less common and therefore you can stick with them, be good at them, compete etc but not 15 hours a week year round at 12. I figure skated and danced and my sister did gymnastic - we both competed and practiced a few times a week through high school. we loved the competition aspects and wouldn't have wanted to just do it for fun practice only - my impression is that that level of commitment in those sports today wouldn't get you anywhere.

It's not the sport. You live in the wrong part of the country. There are areas of the country where varsity sports are no cut.

Anonymous wrote:op here - i have 3 young boys, no one is specialized in any yet and the oldest 2 seem happy doing most things.

talking to friends with older kids, it seems like if you want to play at even the local competitive level, it gets very intense by late elementary for most common sports. it also sounds like a lot of the less competitive clubs wind down then or only people that are brand new to the sport stay in them. so you're either playing 4 day a week year round basketball at 12 or you're not playing at all.

i'm looking for the sports that are just a lot less common and therefore you can stick with them, be good at them, compete etc but not 15 hours a week year round at 12. I figure skated and danced and my sister did gymnastic - we both competed and practiced a few times a week through high school. we loved the competition aspects and wouldn't have wanted to just do it for fun practice only - my impression is that that level of commitment in those sports today wouldn't get you anywhere.

Don’t worry about this if your kids are young. You won’t know what they will want to do. Many sports have rec options through high school and are 15 yo surprised us by dropping his long time sport this year completely anyway because he wanted to get a job. Some don’t want to play on the hs team after experiencing it.

Anonymous wrote:Pickleball I guess crew maybe

Crew was a huge commitment and year round training when I rowed in HS. It’s the same at my kid’s school now and one reason I haven’t encouraged them to go out for the team.

The answer depends on the school. If you are at a small, non competitive school you might be able to play any sport in HS without it taking over your life. It will be busy in season but won’t be a full year commitment. Forget it if you are at a large public or a highly competitive program.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pickleball I guess crew maybe

Crew??? No. It takes forever - drive/run to boathouse, pre row warm up and boat launching, workout, take care of and put away boat, drive home. A basketball practice is shorter. It also gets very intense - boats tend to get very tight, and competition for seats on a boat are often intense head to head races, either in a boat or on an erg. It’s a lot.

And it’s WONDERFUL.

Bless your heart. The first day after the varsity team was announced at DS’s school (a Saturday) there were 7 hours of practice scheduled (morning and afternoon, pm with a break for lunch). Multiple schools in the DMV are consistently ranked in the top 25 nationally, and they send a few kids to the NBA (e.g. Markelle Fultz). Basketball is 7 days a week all year, at least 2 hours per day (more when there’s practice or a game) every day.

Are high school sports allowed to practice year round now? Growing up we asked our coach why we didn't practice year round and I thought the answer involved seasons you were allowed to meet as a team with specific start and end dates.

Technically no, but practically yes. The high school team can only practice during the season, certain Green Day’s, and non-sport specific exercise for off season conditioning. But most high school sports teams around here very highly encourage off season club teams. For basketball they even wear their school name in the off season. For crew it is seperate private clubs (one Arlington, pbc, tbc, resilient). But competing with teammates in the offseason is very highly encouraged for most high school sports now.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pickleball I guess crew maybe

Crew??? No. It takes forever - drive/run to boathouse, pre row warm up and boat launching, workout, take care of and put away boat, drive home. A basketball practice is shorter. It also gets very intense - boats tend to get very tight, and competition for seats on a boat are often intense head to head races, either in a boat or on an erg. It’s a lot.

And it’s WONDERFUL.

Bless your heart. The first day after the varsity team was announced at DS’s school (a Saturday) there were 7 hours of practice scheduled (morning and afternoon, pm with a break for lunch). Multiple schools in the DMV are consistently ranked in the top 25 nationally, and they send a few kids to the NBA (e.g. Markelle Fultz). Basketball is 7 days a week all year, at least 2 hours per day (more when there’s practice or a game) every day.

Are high school sports allowed to practice year round now? Growing up we asked our coach why we didn't practice year round and I thought the answer involved seasons you were allowed to meet as a team with specific start and end dates.