Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I was on the recruiting committee of biglaw firm I learned that the managing partner nearly insisted that the good candidates have strong team sports on their resume -- preferably at the college level. So you can't just blanket say "better grades equals more opportunities". You'd be wrong.

I have seen this in other fields also. People who have never played a team sport frequently are missing a lot of important skills that are important in a business setting. Working with teammates to win at a sport has many similarities to working with associates to put a winning case together or write a winning sales presentation. Sports develop a lot of qualities that the classroom does not.

sports teaches discipline, motivation, drive, teamwork, handling success and failure. As an aside, more than half of top female executives played sports in college:

https://hbr.org/2014/10/research-more-than-half-of-female-execs-were-college-athletes

Interesting article. Of all top C-suites (CEO, CCO etc..) that are women in this country, only 3% never played sports.

Anonymous wrote:They do it so their kids will be more popular. Plain and simple.

I guess popular is one way to phrase it - I think kids who excel in team sports gain a lot from their experience: they develop leadership skills, learn how to interact well with others (kids and adults), stay physically fit (which can contribute to physical attractiveness and good health), build confidence from success that comes from hard work and training, and gain the respect of their peers for their accomplishments in that sport. This is a nice complement to their accomplishments in the classroom and, IMO, helps prepare them to be a successful adult. It's less about being "cool" and more about being well rounded and developing life skills that help them interact better with others.

This comes from someone who got excellent grades and test scores, went to a very good college but was not encouraged to do sports by her parents and wish she had been. Took up sports later in life and learned that I was actually a pretty good athlete.

Some people are more gifted in sports than others and it really helps their self esteem to participate--and they have a natural talent that should be developed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because it gives some parents a social life. Because parents can't stand against the wall in the classroom and cheer their kid on through a test. Becuase no one will notice your new boots or stadium coat when Junior's report card shows up in your mailbox. Because the amount of time they spend with traveling and scheduling makes them feel like they are doing something important for their kid.

This. Plus bragging rights about whatever weekend travel they are doing because their child is so great at their sport.

Not. That is like 1% of folk involved in sports. Like the same 1% abnoxious about anything....

Not at our school. More like 25% of the parents with kids in travel.

Anonymous wrote:The fallacy here is that kids who get Bs and play sports would get As if they didn't play sports. Some probably would, but some wouldn't. In either case, if it's not your kid it's not something for you to worry about.

+1000

The fallacy here is that kids who get Bs and play sports would get As if they didn't play sports. Some probably would, but some wouldn't. In either case, if it's not your kid it's not something for you to worry about.

For teen girls, playing a sport can be a healthy source of self-esteem. It can help them to turn off some of the messaging we get in society about beauty, body issues, etc. because it allows them to think of themselves as strong and capable, rather than simply pretty and decorative. I also think it's great for girls to have friendships that are based around being on a team together, rather than, for example, being in a clique together. It also keeps them busy so they have less time for boys!

I have a kid who was healthy, well-rounded, well adjusted and a B student. If I had said "no sports because you're not getting A's", I probably would just have had a neurotic unhappy kid with low self-esteem who got in with a bad crowd. She's swimming in college, getting great grades and has an awesome group of friends. For us, it was a win-win.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I was on the recruiting committee of biglaw firm I learned that the managing partner nearly insisted that the good candidates have strong team sports on their resume -- preferably at the college level. So you can't just blanket say "better grades equals more opportunities". You'd be wrong.

I have seen this in other fields also. People who have never played a team sport frequently are missing a lot of important skills that are important in a business setting. Working with teammates to win at a sport has many similarities to working with associates to put a winning case together or write a winning sales presentation. Sports develop a lot of qualities that the classroom does not.

sports teaches discipline, motivation, drive, teamwork, handling success and failure. As an aside, more than half of top female executives played sports in college:

https://hbr.org/2014/10/research-more-than-half-of-female-execs-were-college-athletes

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because it gives some parents a social life. Because parents can't stand against the wall in the classroom and cheer their kid on through a test. Becuase no one will notice your new boots or stadium coat when Junior's report card shows up in your mailbox. Because the amount of time they spend with traveling and scheduling makes them feel like they are doing something important for their kid.

This. Plus bragging rights about whatever weekend travel they are doing because their child is so great at their sport.

Not. That is like 1% of folk involved in sports. Like the same 1% abnoxious about anything....

I wrote this a couple of weeks ago on another thread, but it seems a propos on this one:

I went to an HYPS many years ago and haven't really kept up with developments. But I ran into an old classmate who has. What he said is that even though it has gotten a lot more competitive to get in, the students are not actually as good as they were when we went and many struggle to do the work.

Where we had a very small percentage of students (well under 5%) who were accepted because of football or ice hockey or the occasional person who played an instrument needed for the orchestra, he claims that percentage is now 40%. That is, 40% are accepted because they fill a spot on a spots team, etc and if that spot were not available they would not be accepted.

So if you are going for an Ivy, it really pays off to do a sport you can really excel in, even better in a sport for which colleges are hungry for players. As PP says, however, it can come at a cost of being overwhelmed with the academic expectations in college. And, it may also come at the cost of reducing the academic rigor of these colleges, even as grade inflation makes the students look smarter than ever.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because it gives some parents a social life. Because parents can't stand against the wall in the classroom and cheer their kid on through a test. Becuase no one will notice your new boots or stadium coat when Junior's report card shows up in your mailbox. Because the amount of time they spend with traveling and scheduling makes them feel like they are doing something important for their kid.

This. Plus bragging rights about whatever weekend travel they are doing because their child is so great at their sport.

Or maybe they are just parents who let their kids do kid things and participate in activities the kids are interested in and enjoy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is an a/b student, with one subject that is around the c range and we get him extra help for it (math). He plays a lot of sports and does a travel team. Honestly, I think he would be an A/B student regardless- may be a few more As, may be that C would be a B. BUT he gets a lot of fun, self-esteem, self discipline, etc. from his sports. We value that too. And I am in the boat of hiring people who played sports. It was always a plus for me when looking at resumes.

Unless you are hiring coaches, this is potentially illegal. You cannot discriminate based on gender or physical disability, so you certainly can't say "Amy is more qualified, but then again Joe was a college football player and Amy walks with a cane so let's hire Joe."

No, but you can say "Amy and Joe are both qualified. But joe edges her out--he grew up
Playing sports and I bet he has great qualities from those experiences". It happens--happens in my office!

Ramped up my child's sports participation and grades went through the roof. Some students are better students with major physical activity.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For some kids, Bs might be what they are getting for their best efforts and sports is an area where they can easily excel. We all have our strengths and challenges and we need to learn to make the best of our strengths and work hard at our challenges. It's good to have a balance in our days of things we are good at and things we have to work at. In addition, athletic participation teaches kids a lot about cooperation, leadership, how to win and lose in a graceful manner, persistence, and discipline, not to mention the physical fitness and health benefits.

Why do some people allow their kids to spend all their time on academics and make no effort to improve their athletic skills?

Because kids with good grades have more options and opportunities than kids with bad grades. If two kids are competing for the same opportunity, the kid with the good grades is going to have an edge over the low B kid.

First of all, a B is a good grade.
Second, i disagree. A solid B kid who goes to a good college and has grown up playing sports has a lot to offer an employer. Leadership, persistence, ability to work on a team and bounce back over and over when losing? I'll hire that kid any day.

In fact, one of the Chiefs I work with looks specifically for candidates with sports in their background. As long as they have a degree, college name is pretty meaningless to him.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For some kids, Bs might be what they are getting for their best efforts and sports is an area where they can easily excel. We all have our strengths and challenges and we need to learn to make the best of our strengths and work hard at our challenges. It's good to have a balance in our days of things we are good at and things we have to work at. In addition, athletic participation teaches kids a lot about cooperation, leadership, how to win and lose in a graceful manner, persistence, and discipline, not to mention the physical fitness and health benefits.

Why do some people allow their kids to spend all their time on academics and make no effort to improve their athletic skills?

Because kids with good grades have more options and opportunities than kids with bad grades. If two kids are competing for the same opportunity, the kid with the good grades is going to have an edge over the low B kid.

Unless the kid with the higher grades is an a-hole. Someone with lower grades, but good social skills, good life skills and a good work ethic can go very far.