Sports poll

[kristinannie]

My son is 5.5. He does karate year round and loves it so quitting that really isn't an option. He just started playing basketball and loves it. He is also VERY interested in baseball and football. These all have different seasons so he would be doing 2 at any one time. At this age, I don't want him to be overwhelmed with a lot of sports to learn, but I also don't know what he will be good at or enjoy. I would love to hear your opinions.

 

I wish I could let you pick more than one option. Please post and let me know if you wanted to pick more than one option!!!!

[higginszoo]

Mine all do 1 now, and it's the same one. Even with that, there are many trips, practices, etc. every week to deal with that come once you get 3-4 children all doing sports. I see that you have two behind him. I'd consider that when you decide, unless you're sure that he won't feel things are being taken away from him when you need to balance the time and money for siblings to also do sports. Lots of times, there's a 2 year range on teams, so even my dc who are 12-18 mo apart would be on the same team one year, and then different teams (with different practice times, game times and locations) the next year.

Edited December 11, 2011 by higginszoo

[Dmmetler]

Somewhere between 2 and 3-DD does dance classes, a competitive cheer/pom team (which is really more dance than cheer as well), and recreational gymnastics. I'm not sure whether Dance counts as a sport or not, but between the three she's spending about 5 hours a week in the gym/dance studio.

[Testimony]

I signed my sons up for indoor soccer and basketball. I decided to try this experiment and I am regretting it already. My younger son played soccer in the fall. My two sons played ultimate frisbee too. Now, basketball has started, but they have a few concerts coming up and already there are conflicts. So, I am asking myself why? My husband says that we need to see it as "at least they are getting exercise." A lot of exercise!!!!

 

Just to tell you normally, once soccer is over, I do not do any other sports until the spring. We are trying a little bit of everything. I think I committed sports suicide!:svengo:

 

Ask me in June 2012 how it went.:001_huh:

 

Blessings,

Karen

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

[DragonFaerie]

I chose the obligatory other option. DD10 just quit competitive gymnastics after doing it for six years. She was at the gym practicing 24 hours per week so there was never any time for anything else. Now that she has the time, she wants to try everything! She is dancing 4.5 hours per week and has started band (not a sport, I know, but still a time/scheduling obligation). She wants to do tennis next spring, swimming next summer and basketball next fall, all with the possibility of going year-round if she likes one of them well enough.

 

DS8 is more of a seasonal sports kid. He is just finishing up basketball now and will be starting TNT (trampoline and tumbling) in January. He also wants to do tennis in the spring and swimming in the summer with his sister. And he is considering taking a hip hop/ breakdancing class for boys beginning in January. So how many is that? I didn't count. LOL

[boscopup]

We're just doing hockey right now for oldest. That's all the time commitment I care to do, as he has practice and games every week, and it takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r to get him in and out of his gear (he's a goalie this year), so just the one hour practice adds another hour for dressing and an hour for travel (30 minutes away). 3 hours total. Thankfully, DH handles that most of the time. Occasionally I have to drop him off at the rink if DH goes straight from work to practice.

 

DS1 did soccer one year before he started hockey. That was just on Saturday mornings, so not that bad, but DH usually takes the boys to do "manly errands" on Saturdays, and I'd rather not take that time away for sports. I think Daddy time is more important. He has hockey games very early some Saturday mornings, but that's like 7am (so he has to get up at dark thirty to get there), and there's still plenty of time afterward for them to hit the Lowe's building clinic thingy and eat lunch and such.

[NanceXToo]

My 11 year old daughter does judo weekly on a year round basis, plus periodic Homeschool bowling leagues that run for 8-10 weeks or something like that, in the fall and winter (going once a week). (Then she's got Girl Scouts, guitar lessons, and book club, too)!

 

My 6 year old son plays soccer in the fall, teeball in the summer, and also does the Homeschool bowling leagues in the fall and winter.

[3monkeys]

We do only 1 sport per season per child. With the exception of golf. My oldest loves golf and does a winter golf tour on Sunday afternoons that never coincide with other sports.

 

DS8 Spring/Fall: Baseball

Winter: Basketball & Golf

Summer: Golf

Year around: Piano

 

DS5 Spring: Baseball

Fall: Soccer

Winter: Basketball

Summer: Golf

 

:auto: I am on the go....go....go

 

However, that is why I love to homeschool. My kids are not exhausted from being in school for 7hrs and can enjoy being involved in all sorts of activities.

[Homemama2]

I think this is one of those things that you need to decide what works best for your family. We have Awana once per week and soccer in the winter. Last year we did spring soccer as well and added an after school art class (so 3 activities at once...the boys were on different soccer teams so it meant most nights we had an activity to go to.) For us, that was too much. We like to have a lot of freetime to just hang out as a family. Other families love being busy, and enjoy going different places each night. As long as the running around isn't too much for you with littles in tow, then try it and see. Also every kid is different. My older ds really likes athletics and when he was 5, he didn't mind going to his practices several nights a week. My younger son is now 7 and isn't into sports. He'd like to show up for games (only if they're going to win) and get his medal and be done with it. ;)

[Splinter]

I've always let my kids play whatever sports they want, and my older kids have tried pretty much every sport that you can play in our city. They've never had a problem learning the different sports. When they're that young, it's kept very simple.

 

In the summer, ds9 played all-star baseball and house league soccer. He also practiced hockey once a week and went to several camps. Dd played houseleague soccer and took tennis and horseback riding lessons. Ds6 and ds4.5 played soccer and baseball and took tennis and swimming lessons. Playing several sports in the summer can make traveling a bit tough, but that depends on the level of commitment the team requires.

 

During the school year, ds9 plays hockey about 10 hours per week and he just finished his flag football season. After Christmas, he wants to play rugby, but I'm trying to convince him to do tennis or swimming instead. Dd does figure skating, dance and gymnastics. The younger boys play hockey and will start basketball after Christmas.

[QuirkyKapers]

We do soccer which takes up a lot of time. They also have a gymnastics class during the day once a week.

[MinivanMom]

I don't think there's a right answer to the sports question. It depends on your child's age, the time commitment of the individual sports, and your family's energy level. We are doing 2 things per season (with summers completely off), but that will probably change as the children get older and the commitment to each activity increases.

 

My dd7 does gymnastics and ballet. My ds6 is currently taking gymnastics during the school year plus soccer in the fall and baseball in the spring. This works, because gymnastics and ballet are scheduled in the afternoon and our town sports always hold practices/games in the evenings. This has prevented conflicts so far. Still, I'm very glad to have a break from seasonal sports in the winter and summer. We withdraw both kids from gymnastics for June and July (gymnastics is year round), so that we have a genuine break from all structured activities in the summer. I really believe there is a lot of value in unstructured physical activity. We like to hike, go to the beach, and hang by the pool during the summer. We enjoy having a lot of activities, but a summer break is good for all of us.

[lauracolumbus]

I allow my middle dd to do 3-4 sports/week. She swims as part of a homeschool class (not sure if that counts), does club volleyball 2 nights a week, does 1 night of gymnastics and 2 nights of fencing. My other two need more down time, but are still very active. My oldest fences 3x/week, does MMA 1 night, and does the same swim class. My youngest does gymnastics 1 night and vb 1 night, and the swim class. So, she's only out 2 nights. I'd prefer they play outside more, but the older two have reached that age where the kids don't play much--they've all discovered electronics.

So, I'd rather have mine physically active (the ideal is at least 60 mins/day) than wanting to play computer games. They still seem to have plenty of down time. Both dh and I were high school (he was college) athletes, so this is what we know.

 

Laura

[Candid]

At his age you can continue doing two at a time, but make sure as your next children come up they don't loose chance due to his double involvement (but usually leagues help you work that out). My bet is that he'll loose one or two as he gets older. Somewhere around age 12, most kids reach what I think of as the age of decision where they have to choose among interests (although some do manage more than one).

[Spy Car]

I've always let my kids play whatever sports they want, and my older kids have tried pretty much every sport that you can play in our city. They've never had a problem learning the different sports. When they're that young, it's kept very simple.

 

In the summer, ds9 played all-star baseball and house league soccer. He also practiced hockey once a week and went to several camps. Dd played houseleague soccer and took tennis and horseback riding lessons. Ds6 and ds4.5 played soccer and baseball and took tennis and swimming lessons. Playing several sports in the summer can make traveling a bit tough, but that depends on the level of commitment the team requires.

 

During the school year, ds9 plays hockey about 10 hours per week and he just finished his flag football season. After Christmas, he wants to play rugby, but I'm trying to convince him to do tennis or swimming instead. Dd does figure skating, dance and gymnastics. The younger boys play hockey and will start basketball after Christmas.

 

Rugby is hard to beat.

 

Bill

[Spy Car]

We've done soccer, baseball, rugby, tennis, cricket (informal), just started the first year on a basketball team, thinking about flag or tackle football for next year, and swimming (non-competitive).

 

Bill

[pdalley]

I only have one athlete and he only has one sport he loves - golf.

[Aurelia]

My child doesn't currently do any, but I usually cap things at two, just for sanity's sake. Right now she has Girl Scouts, but has been asking to go back to swimming or dance. At one point she was in gymnastics, swimming and piano, and that was a bit much.

[rafiki]

.

[jennynd]

ds 7 does soccer in spring/fall. swimming in summer and tennis for fall/winter this year and probably will do it all season and ski for winter.

dd3 is swimming only

[TheApprentice]

Each child is allowed one per season, but with 3 boys, I still do a lot of running around.

[MeganW]

One of the great things about homeschooling is having time to try out lots of different things!

 

We are currently doing:

- swimming (2x per week)

- gymnastics (1x per week)

- dance (1x per week)

- one seasonal sport - soccer / basketball / teeball (1x per week)

- homeschool PE (one focus sport per month, meets 1x per week)

 

I do not expect to have the time or money to continue this many in the future. I just feel like these young years are the time to try everything - a time of exposure. I hope that by 2nd or 3rd grade they will have chosen one sport that meets a few times per week.

 

For my sanity's sake, I don't register my kids for anything that doesn't allow all 4 to be on the same team/ in class at the same time. Yep, that means my son is in dance - won't kill him!

Edited December 12, 2011 by MeganW

[NASDAQ]

Mine just run around in circles. We're not really an athletic family.

[TengoFive]

We are a one sport family. With 6 kids, there's no way we could do even one different sport per kid. So, we swim. Everyone practices at the same time, roughly, and the same place. I sit in the bleachers and chase after the little ones while the big ones swim. We have swim meets about twice a month.

Our only other activity is 4H, which is one meeting per month for most of the kids and 2 per month for my oldest. With just these 2 activities, it feels like we are go, go, going all the time!

[Carrie12345]

It varies here, but no more than one at a time per child. They change by season and year frequently, depending on their interest.

For me, that can mean 3 sports at a time spread over multiple children. You WILL NOT catch me running in 6-10 directions at once! Sorry, kids!

[Mom22ns]

I've always said 1 per season, but for dd that has turned into just one because gymnastics doesn't have a season. Ds has never been interested in competitive sports, but has taken swimming and horse back riding lessons at different times.

[twoxcell]

My ds plays about 1 per season. Basketball, Soccer, Flag football. He also does swimming. These are done mainly for exercise. Dd has played soccer, amd she swims.

[golfcartmama]

Both are in 2 sports, plus scouts.

[daffodil]

I voted 2, but maybe I should have voted 2 per season. My almost 6 year old does gymnastics and ballet during the school year and gymnastics and swimming in the summer. These are once a week. She'll have to make a decision about which sport to continue when the activities become more time consuming.

[Delighted3]

I chose one per season. Although, sometimes the seasons overlap and that's when it can get crazy. :) As my children have gotten older, they have pretty much focused on 1-2 favorite things like my 15ds likes to play volleyball and so she plays in several different leagues throughout the year. Some of them are competitive and require a lot more time and family resources and some of them are just rec. My 13ds plays basketball Oct.-March and volleyball March-October. My 11ds play on a rec co-ed softball team in the summer and competitive basketball Oct-March. My 8ds plays on the same rec softball team and rec soccer in the spring. My husband coaches different things throughout the year. Sports can be hectic, expensive, crazy, but we love them, so we try to let our kids participate in what we can manage.

Joy

[Ester Maria]

Regarding seasonal activities, summers are for outside swimming (they typically get to spend an extended period of time at a seaside in summer) and winters are for skiing and other snow fun (they are typically at a ski resort for about a week or two every year).

 

Regarding various activities they did throughout the years when they were younger on a semi-regular basis, they had a shared phase of tennis (which is probably the only sport which they still like enough to play sometimes if an opportunity comes along), they were into fencing for a while (this one was actually a record); plus occasionally they did ice-skating (both general ice-skating for fun and actual classes) and indoor swimming, depending on the season and the opportunities. One of them did gymnastics briefly.

 

None of it really stuck. :lol: I guess we are just not a sports family. By the time they were tweens they pretty much had a clear idea in their minds that sports were a hassle and not something they wanted to do more than the minimum. The middle one occasionally fantasizes about tennis, but it has been words only and no deeds for now.

[...................]

I chose other because my dc take a homeschool PE class. We love it.

[Hockey Mom]

Mine are both in ice hockey, year round. This is the first season they've been able to play on the same team/level, so I've been pretty happy. It's when they're on different teams/levels that it gets crazy.

[Mommy22alyns]

Both of my girls do gymnastics year-round and soccer in the spring. Becca did t-ball for 2 summers, but I hated it (and I love baseball!). I would let him do as much as you can handle, personally and financially.

[Amy1k]

My daughter (10) does competitive cheerleading year-round and picks up seasonal sports throughout the year. Actually my son (13) does the same...he plays/trains for baseball year round and plays seasonal sports through the junior high he attends part-time. My older son (15) plays school sports only.

[Amy1k]

I wouldn't do more than one year round sport, there's just not time for that much focus, imo. For example, my son would like to add a AAU basketball team to the mix, but I don't see how he could swing it. He did play on a team a bit in the spring, but it kept getting bumped for baseball. Coaches don't really like that. ;)

[littleWMN]

I have four kids, three of whom are old enough for sports.

 

They can each pick a sport.

 

DD10 - spring soccer

 

DD6 - winter basketball

 

DD5 - baseball (special needs)

 

Oldest takes piano and voice lessons and we are involved in church and field trips/homeschool group. My DH works many, many hours and I struggle with fatigue. This is absolutely my limit.

 

However, none of them seem to be super athletes. If they were really driven, I'd likely give a little more to sports (but take something else away). I don't know.

[snowbeltmom]

My three play tennis at least 15 hours per week year-round. My oldest also plays on a very low-key community baseball team in the summer. Luckily for me, our tennis club is only 5 minutes from our house. We do travel at least once a month out of state for tournaments. That is getting a bit more complicated now that my dd is also traveling on the weekends as well - it is not easy to divide and conquer when we are outnumbered.

[BigMamaBird]

We have a very firm, one activity at a time rule. But that's what works for our family.