Anonymous
Post 12/03/2025 14:43     Subject: It’s frustrating high school sports don’t matter for admissions when they are so hard to join here
Anonymous wrote:We actively discouraged HS sports for our two sons. Way too much time for any meaningful payoff in terms of college admissions. GPA is much more important than 4 years on the baseball team or whatever. Kids play club sports that don't have grueling travel schedules and focus on academics.

But we seem to be the minority. I'm baffled by the number of people I know whose kids spent 30+ hours a week around sports in HS. Very few will be recruited anywhere attractive and even among those who are, it's not uncommon to lose interest, get injured, etc and ultimately you may be stuck at a school that wouldn't have been optimal without the team aspect. I really think there is some kind of mania/obsession that sets in and skews perspectives.


At my kid's high school, easily 40% of kids do literally no ECs at all. My kid enjoys sports and in fact did get recruited to play at one of his top college choices and is playing there (and loves it...and yes, there is a great professional network for this sports team), but we made it clear that we would only pay for club if he put in the work and that was the goal. If he had no interested playing in college, he would have just played a different sport in one of the off-seasons vs. club...I guess we are lucky that our HS has some very competitive teams, and then a number of teams where any decent athlete can play.

The sport actually kept him focused on his grades...so it was a win all around.
Anonymous
Post 12/03/2025 14:39     Subject: It’s frustrating high school sports don’t matter for admissions when they are so hard to join here
Anonymous wrote:We actively discouraged HS sports for our two sons. Way too much time for any meaningful payoff in terms of college admissions. GPA is much more important than 4 years on the baseball team or whatever. Kids play club sports that don't have grueling travel schedules and focus on academics.

But we seem to be the minority. I'm baffled by the number of people I know whose kids spent 30+ hours a week around sports in HS. Very few will be recruited anywhere attractive and even among those who are, it's not uncommon to lose interest, get injured, etc and ultimately you may be stuck at a school that wouldn't have been optimal without the team aspect. I really think there is some kind of mania/obsession that sets in and skews perspectives.


My son played 3 high school sports, but I generally agree. He knew he wasn’t going to get a scholarship, and did it because he enjoyed the competition and social life. Academics came first.

Too many parents have these scholarship fantasies and unscrupulous travel coaches take advantage of them. I respected the travel baseball coach who told us, I’m just trying to get the kids on the HS varsity team.
Anonymous
Post 12/03/2025 14:32     Subject: It’s frustrating high school sports don’t matter for admissions when they are so hard to join here
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Sports are not more important than other extracurriculars like music. And those go all year, not just a season. [/quote

And my kid did both sports and music/arts. If you’re not a recruit, it means nothing more than an extracurricular. Get ready.


This. If the kid is not going to play the sport in college (as a recruit) then the sport is of no more interest to the college than if the kid were in knitting club.
Anonymous
Post 12/03/2025 14:32     Subject: It’s frustrating high school sports don’t matter for admissions when they are so hard to join here
Anonymous wrote:Sports are not more important than other extracurriculars like music. And those go all year, not just a season.


Another Captain America, emerging from the ice after being frozen for decades.

Varsity HS sports are nearly all year round, with training, AAU and travel competition as well. Soccer parents probably spit out their coffee reading this.
Anonymous
Post 12/03/2025 14:26     Subject: Re:It’s frustrating high school sports don’t matter for admissions when they are so hard to join here
Wasting time on sportsball is a waste of time.
Anonymous
Post 12/03/2025 14:21     Subject: It’s frustrating high school sports don’t matter for admissions when they are so hard to join here
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Sports are not more important than other extracurriculars like music. And those go all year, not just a season.


This is where parents of athletes lose perspective; being in a sport is not more important than other ECs. There seems to be a belief that sports should be considered the most important EC for college admissions, and it just isn't, nor should it be. Parents list all the sports that their kids are in, but parents of nonathletes generally don't list them because unless you are national award winner, the type of EC isn't important. It is the quality of your participation in it that matters in college admission - how long, do you have a leadership role, and does it fit your intended major?


My kid played 3 varsity sports in hs, captain of 2, mvp, all-state, all-met, but only had room on activities list to list 1 and that was at the bottom.Yes, sports was important to him, but not the most important thing he did during hs


WTH were his other activities?


Internship, robotics team, math team, STEM camp counselor, president of honor society, physics tutor....A bunch of stuff that related to his intended major (engineering) and showed his interests outside of school.


It sounds like BS.

When my DC played a sport, it required practice 4-5 times a week plus evenings and weekends for tournaments - at least 10 hours a week.

It takes a lot more hours to prep for math competitions. Our robotics team is 20hour/week commitment.

There is no way you can do all these activities meaningfully. They probably just created some fake clubs for college application. I hope admission officers see through this.


There are many things beyond sports that also practice/work 4-6 times a week for hours at a time. Theater, significant science competitions, jobs to name a few. And there are kids,
mine was one of them, able to do several, including a varsity sport, at the same time

Anonymous
Post 12/03/2025 13:38     Subject: It’s frustrating high school sports don’t matter for admissions when they are so hard to join here
Anonymous wrote:We actively discouraged HS sports for our two sons. Way too much time for any meaningful payoff in terms of college admissions. GPA is much more important than 4 years on the baseball team or whatever. Kids play club sports that don't have grueling travel schedules and focus on academics.

But we seem to be the minority. I'm baffled by the number of people I know whose kids spent 30+ hours a week around sports in HS. Very few will be recruited anywhere attractive and even among those who are, it's not uncommon to lose interest, get injured, etc and ultimately you may be stuck at a school that wouldn't have been optimal without the team aspect. I really think there is some kind of mania/obsession that sets in and skews perspectives.


100%
Anonymous
Post 12/03/2025 13:37     Subject: Re:It’s frustrating high school sports don’t matter for admissions when they are so hard to join here
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:PP here who said they matter. My kid played travel soccer and JV/V soccer all 4 years of HS. They were a referee and youth coach as well. They were captain of their travel team and their JV team. This was a significant and worthwhile endeavor, both on their applications and beyond. They were an excellent student and are now at a T20 school.


The bolded is why your kid got into a T20--not the athletics.



+1

Zero sports. no hooks. Admission to multiple T10/ivy. There are many ways to show you can commit to an endeavor for multiple years, not just sports. Sports is just another EC unless you are recruited.
Anonymous
Post 12/03/2025 13:34     Subject: It’s frustrating high school sports don’t matter for admissions when they are so hard to join here
We actively discouraged HS sports for our two sons. Way too much time for any meaningful payoff in terms of college admissions. GPA is much more important than 4 years on the baseball team or whatever. Kids play club sports that don't have grueling travel schedules and focus on academics.

But we seem to be the minority. I'm baffled by the number of people I know whose kids spent 30+ hours a week around sports in HS. Very few will be recruited anywhere attractive and even among those who are, it's not uncommon to lose interest, get injured, etc and ultimately you may be stuck at a school that wouldn't have been optimal without the team aspect. I really think there is some kind of mania/obsession that sets in and skews perspectives.
Anonymous
Post 12/03/2025 13:32     Subject: It’s frustrating high school sports don’t matter for admissions when they are so hard to join here
Anonymous wrote:In the other thread about cuts, everyone mentioned how you many kids on travel teams since 8 don’t pass freshman tryouts in high school. Even if your kid is lucky enough to make varsity, it doesn’t matter much for admissions. It’s just crazy when it’s so hard to make the high school team


Who cares? focus on academics. Sports should not have anything to do with admissions to colleges. College should be academically based. Both of mine at ivies, no hooks, no varsity sports, one did JV one year then quit. Both top 1% academically, one truly off the charts. No other country values sports as much as US, it is silly. It is DEI for white rich athletes with mediocre academic stats at ivies, and it shows when they flounder on the calc and econ curves compared to non-recruited freshman.
Anonymous
Post 12/03/2025 13:29     Subject: It’s frustrating high school sports don’t matter for admissions when they are so hard to join here
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Sports are not more important than other extracurriculars like music. And those go all year, not just a season.


This is where parents of athletes lose perspective; being in a sport is not more important than other ECs. There seems to be a belief that sports should be considered the most important EC for college admissions, and it just isn't, nor should it be. Parents list all the sports that their kids are in, but parents of nonathletes generally don't list them because unless you are national award winner, the type of EC isn't important. It is the quality of your participation in it that matters in college admission - how long, do you have a leadership role, and does it fit your intended major?


My kid played 3 varsity sports in hs, captain of 2, mvp, all-state, all-met, but only had room on activities list to list 1 and that was at the bottom.Yes, sports was important to him, but not the most important thing he did during hs


WTH were his other activities?


Internship, robotics team, math team, STEM camp counselor, president of honor society, physics tutor....A bunch of stuff that related to his intended major (engineering) and showed his interests outside of school.


It sounds like BS.

When my DC played a sport, it required practice 4-5 times a week plus evenings and weekends for tournaments - at least 10 hours a week.

It takes a lot more hours to prep for math competitions. Our robotics team is 20hour/week commitment.

There is no way you can do all these activities meaningfully. They probably just created some fake clubs for college application. I hope admission officers see through this.

Anonymous
Post 12/03/2025 13:28     Subject: It’s frustrating high school sports don’t matter for admissions when they are so hard to join here
Anonymous wrote:Who doesn’t have sports on the application? Almost all high school students do at least one sport.

There are dozens of schools that make it to state every year. You are not going to stand out unless you have something special.


See above post about sports parents losing perspective. Plenty of students do not play sports in HS and go on to have happy, productive college careers and lives. Really!



Anonymous
Post 12/03/2025 13:27     Subject: Re:It’s frustrating high school sports don’t matter for admissions when they are so hard to join here
Anonymous wrote:PP here who said they matter. My kid played travel soccer and JV/V soccer all 4 years of HS. They were a referee and youth coach as well. They were captain of their travel team and their JV team. This was a significant and worthwhile endeavor, both on their applications and beyond. They were an excellent student and are now at a T20 school.


The bolded is why your kid got into a T20--not the athletics.

Anonymous
Post 12/03/2025 13:26     Subject: It’s frustrating high school sports don’t matter for admissions when they are so hard to join here
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Sports are not more important than other extracurriculars like music. And those go all year, not just a season.


This is where parents of athletes lose perspective; being in a sport is not more important than other ECs. There seems to be a belief that sports should be considered the most important EC for college admissions, and it just isn't, nor should it be. Parents list all the sports that their kids are in, but parents of nonathletes generally don't list them because unless you are national award winner, the type of EC isn't important. It is the quality of your participation in it that matters in college admission - how long, do you have a leadership role, and does it fit your intended major?


Absolutely does not need to fit intended major. Selective colleges that care about ECs do not have "indented major" because they don't trust your lame high school to expose you to options.
Anonymous
Post 12/03/2025 13:23     Subject: It’s frustrating high school sports don’t matter for admissions when they are so hard to join here
Who doesn’t have sports on the application? Almost all high school students do at least one sport.

There are dozens of schools that make it to state every year. You are not going to stand out unless you have something special.