Which HS Sport To Consider?

[jyl]

Looking for comments on the various high school sports.

My son will start HS next year and is interested in joining a sports team. Not real set on a specific sport - I think it is more for the fun of being on a team. So, which sports to consider?

I'm thinking:
- A sport based on athleticism rather than specific technical skills, since this is a large HS with competitive teams which mostly require tryouts, though some are no-cut sports
- A short season, for reasons I'll explain later
- Ideally something he can continue doing, for fun or competitively, later in life

The choices are basically all the usual HS sports. Track & field, XC, basketball, football, crew, sailing, lacrosse, soccer, skiing, water polo, wrestling, swimming, equestrian, snowboarding, golf, tennis, racquetball.

He is average height, slim, athletic, fast, agile, excellent balance. He is an advanced dancer, good at parkour, decent on skateboard, excellent on Ripstick. He has good endurance and rode a century w/ me last year. He has no particular background in any sport other than non-competitive swimming, some soccer back in grade school and a smattering of tennis.

He is going to be doing theatre and, I hope, continuing in dance. Hence my interest in a sport with a short season.

My initial thoughts - based on very limited research - are:
- track (spring; season is only Mar-May; practice 5 afternoons/wk)
- XC (fall; season is Aug-Oct; good preparation for track distance events)
- crew (year-round but people seem to participate on and off)
- swimming (winter; daily practice for 1.5 hrs)
- sailing (a fall and a spring season; they sail "Club 420" and "FJ" boats on the river)

What do you think?

[speeder]

My normal advice would begin by asking what sport or sports he likes best and is good at but it sounds like he hasn't tried many yet? As you've mentioned, a large HS in CA. is going to have competitive teams in all the major sports so there may be an issue of making the team.

It's interesting that he has a background already in dance. One of the best athletes we ever saw in HS, (big football and track star, seriously fast), went on to be a big ballet star, top man in a prestigious company. Those guys are real athletes for sure.

One thing I would consider, unless my son was an absolute Sherman tank, is the potential for injuries in contact sports like football. I think that FB is a great team sport and I love it but the injuries these days even at the HS level are something to really think about.

Baseball is a great game, (my favorite spectator sport), but if he has not been playing competitively since childhood there is no way he is going to play at a big HS. Same goes for many other sports.

I'd encourage him to start practicing some sports that he might like and have a chance of really playing at this school, he sounds athletically gifted enough.

[mjohnson]

Track and XC. No stupid butt-crack-of-dark practice like swimming sometimes has.

It seems like at the HS and collegiate levels that I've experienced it the distance crew was a supportive and relatively tight knit group. Many still gather 15 years after their college careers ended. The people in the speed events were a little more aggro and contentious.

Plus, those teams in college can be pretty huge. If you're D2 or D3 you can probably stay on the team by showing up to practice. A real "student athlete" experience...

[Evans, Marv]

I think your "I'm thinking" and "My initial thoughts" are great. I'd especially try to steer him in the direction of sports he can enjoy on a private basis through the years. I'd try to dissuade him from sports that take a certain amount of size, strength, maybe specialized & innate ability. Back in the day if you weren't participating in one of the "major" sports, you were considered to be slightly pussified. I remember my reaction to learning about the guys I knew that were on the golf team. What? That isn't a sport! I played on the football team ( I was one of those 150 lb. guys who ran a 9.9 hundred yard dash & got smashed up in the games) and was captain of the track team. Some of my buddies were in theater, singing groups, and other activities. At the time my attitude was to be a real guy, you had to be prominent in one of the major sports. It was only years later I realized these other guys weren't getting creamed on a daily basis or devoting major effort to just a couple of things. Plus another big thing was they were doing activities, and getting on good terms with lots of the hot female students. And guess what, there weren't any hot female students on most of the major sports teams - at least the ones I participated in. You are right in trying to get him to take the long term view.

[jyl]

Originally Posted by speeder

My normal advice would begin by asking what sport or sports he likes best and is good at but it sounds like he hasn't tried many yet? As you've mentioned, a large HS in CA. is going to have competitive teams in all the major sports so there may be an issue of making the team.

That is exactly the situation. He won't make the team in the more popular sports that are skill based (baseball, basketball, etc) vs kids who have been doing those sports for many years.

It's interesting that he has a background already in dance. One of the best athletes we ever saw in HS, (big football and track star, seriously fast), went on to be a big ballet star, top man in a prestigious company. Those guys are real athletes for sure.

I wish there was a gymnastics program at his HS, but there isn't.

One thing I would consider, unless my son was an absolute Sherman tank, is the potential for injuries in contact sports like football. I think that FB is a great team sport and I love it but the injuries these days even at the HS level are something to really think about.

Agree, but probably moot for him.

Baseball is a great game, (my favorite spectator sport), but if he has not been playing competitively since childhood there is no way he is going to play at a big HS. Same goes for many other sports.

I'd encourage him to start practicing some sports that he might like and have a chance of really playing at this school, he sounds athletically gifted enough.

We may start playing tennis again this summer and skiing in the winter (there was basically no skiing here last winter). Not that he's going to get on any tennis team, but what I hear about the HS ski and snowboard team sounds pretty good - I wonder if he could start doing it in his sophomore year. They take the bus up Mt Hood every Wednsday, ski and board in the afternoon and evening, do homework on the bus, and races are on weekends. Which suggests this could co-exist with theatre and dance fairly well. I'm sure he has the balance to ski well - I've never known a good skateboarder who wasn't at least "promising" as a skier or skateboarder.

[porsche4life]

I would have done sailing if my school had offered it... Sounds like good seasons and will be something he can enjoy for life!

[on2wheels52]

"Ideally something he can continue doing, for fun or competitively, later in life"

I'll put in a plug for swimming, it was a great sport for our son through high school and (D3) college. He got to meet a lot of girls he wouldn't have otherwise, and there was a nice competitive spirit between the boys and girls teams.
Jim

[stomachmonkey]

My personal choices would be, lacrosse, skill based but can be learned, good for college consideration, crew, this is a great one for college and probably something most tryouts will have little experience with, skiing / snowboarding, not much needs to be said about that.

[Rick V]

Just my own personal opinion but I played football and would not trade my experience for anything even though I now carry a bad knee that I suffered in my final year, I would play again in a New York min if I could. I would also play if I knew then how badly I would limp now.
It really is up to him, and if he wants to play a sport that you aren't comfortable with how does the discussion over the dinner table go?
The only down side is if you don't go further, like college, it ends at the prom and will afford nothing but memories.

[Nostril Cheese]

What kind of dance does he do? That's where I'd start..

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by Nostril Cheese

What kind of dance does he do? That's where I'd start..

Exactly.

I made sure, early, that my kids knew they would have to play a varsity sport in HS, or the equivalent. Competition, learning how to, is the essential HS experience. Knowing how to win or lose when a score is kept or a clock is keeping tally is exactly the right lesson.

My son and I are different, so I let him pick. He flourished because it was his choice.

[mrybczyn]

Tennis, he can continue playing into geezerhood, and can play on school grounds, no need to commute to the slopes or the pool or wherever...

Also, good tennis skills branch out into all the racquet sports, squash, racketball, badminton, pingpong even...

[jyl]

What kind of dance?

He does modern, jazz, tap and ballet. At his arts magnet school, his chosen concentration is dance, so he does that for 1-2 hours every day. For the performances they rehearse intensely.

He's the best male dancer in his school, and wants to keep it up, but is not interested in dancing professionally. During high school he may go to a private dance school close to his HS, a couple nights a week.

The good thing about being a dancer - besides the physical skills, posture, confidence etc - is that he cuts up the floor at school dances, which the girls seem to like.

[BReif61]

Is rugby an option at his school? I think it fits the requirements pretty well.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

My son and I are different, so I let him pick. He flourished because it was his choice.

Very key point. My oldest is a sports fanatic, but we've always let him have a choice. He played soccer one year and hated it, so no more soccer. He has played tee ball/baseball, basketball, and flag/tackle football since he was four. Loves all three, but his passion is tackle football, no question. Let him own it, any sport requires serious commitment if they want to be competitive.

I agree, btw, with previous posters about the more complex team sports. He will be competing with kids that have now been playing for nearly 10 years. Unless is has a natural gift, it will be difficult to compete at that level. Not impossible, but certainly more difficult.

[berettafan]

Sounds like he has legs and endurance...get him swimming and build that upper body.

[JavaBrewer]

If your son has a strong interest/desire in the High School football program he still might have a shot there. I have seen kids become starters their first season with no previous FB experience based solely on their superior speed and intelligence. Much less chance for making the basketball/baseball programs.

As already said many times leave it up to your son to decide. If it were me I would angle him towards swimming/golf/track/cross. Best of luck to you both!

[madmmac]

XC. You can train by yourself and it is pretty much all up to you and what you put into it.....

[Les Paul]

XC, cross country, track. Like has been said you get out of it what training you put into it. It is usually a no cut sport. The more miles he puts in now and over the summer the better he'll be. My brother coaches at one of the biggest most successful programs in Texas. He gets plenty of kids from other sports that didn't make it. There is no favoritism there because guess what, you got it or not. He's coached for 27 years and is seeing many second generation kids.

[Evans, Marv]

Modern, jazz, tap and ballet. There you have it, a great combination. Like I said before, it includes the female connection too. You can't get much better than that, than the coordination, balance, strength, and poise he gains from dance. One thing nobody has suggested yet that may go well along with dance skills is some form of martial art. Since he already has the skills from dance that can be used in martial art, he might enjoy and excel at it. The dance and martial art would be things he could continue to do as he gets older. Also if some guys want to make fun of him for his jazz, tap, or ballet, he can kick their asses.