Virginia Fails to Pass "Tebow Rule"

[Fifer Dad]

The hopes of a lot of homeschoolers and prospective homeschoolers were dashed today when the Senate failed to pass the bill out of committee by a vote of 7-8. The bill had been passed by the House of Delegates and the governor was behind the bill.

 

My daughter is a rising ninth grader who really wanted to be homschooled next year if the "Tebow Bill" had passed. She is an avid tennis player who made All State in her eighth grade year and wants to play at the NCAA level. Without the ability to play tennis at the high school level, homeshooling is not a viable option for her. I have spent a lot of time sorting through the options over the last three weeks and we both were looking forward to embarking on a homeschool path. Maybe the General Assembly will pass it next year.

 

It has been a pleasure using this Board as a tool to get up to speed and I pray that God's blessing will be on you and your family.

[Karis]

There ARE homeschool sports leagues.

 

IF you have been sincere in posting to this forum and are serious about homeschooling your daughter then every decision you make will be motivated by this desire.

 

Homeschooling is always a viable option. Just takes a little more effort. Everyone isn't up for it.

 

Prospective homeschoolers are encouraged to consider all of their options.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Sorry that homeschooling seems closed of to your dd now. I know that the desire to let my son continue with competitive swimming and have the possibility to swim in college means that I have to have a high attention to detail with his academics.

 

There are a number of families here who have pursued sports and have had NCAA eligibility as freshmen. I will add a tag for NCAA here to help you fnd some of those threads.

 

Homeschool leagues vary greatly by location and sport. For my son it means staying with competitive club swimming, with 0430 am practices and a $10,000 price tag over four years (and that is without the possibility of meets requiring travel.) had the bill passed he could have moved to just the school team or picked school and club.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

There ARE homeschool sports leagues.

 

IF you have been sincere in posting to this forum and are serious about homeschooling your daughter then every decision you make will be motivated by this desire.

 

Homeschooling is always a viable option. Just takes a little more effort. Everyone isn't up for it.

 

Prospective homeschoolers are encouraged to consider all of their options.

 

Am I no longer a sincere homeschooler if I weigh the costs in sports options alongside the benefits in academic freedom?

 

What if I'm trying to figure out if pure academics; scores on SAT and AP exams; or the teamwork, self-discipline and leadership learned on the playing field will make my son the most attractive candidate to his desired colleges?

 

Yes, homeschooling and some competitive sports is an option. For some, however, it is almost an impossibility. Or it comes with a cost measured in pre-dawn practices and thousands of dollars. Our eldest is fortunate that his sport has its most competitive training at the club level. Thank goodness I never went down the football road. And I can pretty much rule out rowing for any of them.

 

I think it's more than a little harsh to call our a new poster as not trying hard enough if he's decided that homeschooling isn't going to be the best choice for the whole person that is his daughter.

 

I'm not trying to call you out either. But there are lots of reasons why families feel called to homeschooling. I've found there is plenty of negative attitudes towards homeschoolers from the outside without blue on blue attacks.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Am I no longer a sincere homeschooler if I weigh the costs in sports options alongside the benefits in academic freedom?

 

What if I'm trying to figure out if pure academics; scores on SAT and AP exams; or the teamwork, self-discipline and leadership learned on the playing field will make my son the most attractive candidate to his desired colleges?

 

Yes, homeschooling and some competitive sports is an option. For some, however, it is almost an impossibility. Or it comes with a cost measured in pre-dawn practices and thousands of dollars. Our eldest is fortunate that his sport has its most competitive training at the club level. Thank goodness I never went down the football road. And I can pretty much rule out rowing for any of them.

 

I think it's more than a little harsh to call our a new poster as not trying hard enough if he's decided that homeschooling isn't going to be the best choice for the whole person that is his daughter.

 

I'm not trying to call you out either. But there are lots of reasons why families feel called to homeschooling. I've found there is plenty of negative attitudes towards homeschoolers from the outside without blue on blue attacks.

 

:iagree:

[Sebastian (a lady)]

The hopes of a lot of homeschoolers and prospective homeschoolers were dashed today when the Senate failed to pass the bill out of committee by a vote of 7-8. The bill had been passed by the House of Delegates and the governor was behind the bill.

 

My daughter is a rising ninth grader who really wanted to be homschooled next year if the "Tebow Bill" had passed. She is an avid tennis player who made All State in her eighth grade year and wants to play at the NCAA level. Without the ability to play tennis at the high school level, homeshooling is not a viable option for her. I have spent a lot of time sorting through the options over the last three weeks and we both were looking forward to embarking on a homeschool path. Maybe the General Assembly will pass it next year.

 

It has been a pleasure using this Board as a tool to get up to speed and I pray that God's blessing will be on you and your family.

 

BTW, is competitive club tennis an option for your daughter? Keep in mind that NCAA elibibility is based on high school academics, not the nature of the sports experience (as long as they stay amateurs).

 

(My sympathies if it's partly an issue of cost. I try really hard not to add up how much several years of swimming will cost. Those numbers tend to leave me in real need for a gin and tonic.)

[snowbeltmom]

The hopes of a lot of homeschoolers and prospective homeschoolers were dashed today...

 

My daughter is a rising ninth grader who really wanted to be homschooled next year if the "Tebow Bill" had passed. She is an avid tennis player who made All State in her eighth grade year and wants to play at the NCAA level. Without the ability to play tennis at the high school level, homeshooling is not a viable option for her...

Tennis is one sport where you do not have to play tennis for your high school if you wish to play at the NCAA level. In fact, some of the elite players in my state do not even play for their high school teams because my state's athletic association will not permit these players to play in U.S.T.A. tournaments during the high school season.

 

The only criteria many college coaches use to evaluate tennis players is the player's "star" rating. College coaches don't care one iota whether a player made it to states for his/her high school team because the coaches realize that many of the top players are not even playing for their high school teams.

 

Just like SAT/ACT scores are an academic benchmark, an athletics "star" rating (listed on the website, "tennisrecruiting.net" is used by every college coach. Playing U.S.T.A. tournaments is the only way for a player to build his star rating.

 

My oldest had a friend who graduated from high school last year. He never played U.S.T.A. tournaments but he did play on his high school team and went to states. He applied to a top-tier school, and my husband knew the coach at the college. My husband told the coach that this boy had applied to his school and that he had beaten a "5 star" in the high school season and then went on to states. The coach asked my husband for the players "star" rating. When the coach learned that the player did not have a "star" rating, the coach said that he could not go to admissions because all they care about is the "star" rating, not high school tennis.

 

ETA: In order to be ranked a "5 star" the player has to be around at least number 75 in the country. The ranking goes from "1 star", 2 star,...5 star and then Blue Chip (top 20 or so I believe).

Edited March 2, 2012 by snowbeltmom

[Karis]

It was not meant to be harsh.

 

There are options when it comes to sports and homeschooling and all of those things have to be weighed.

 

cost, time, travel, distance, etc...

 

there's hspn, aau, club sports, private schools... - ask around.

 

If someone wants it "all" - it's going to come at a cost. Things won't always be convenient.

 

To me, the issue of homeschooling not being a viable choice because a student can't participate in public school sports is interesting. I encourage the OP to "think outside of the box."

 

I don't know of any independent private schools who'd say "No, you're great but you can't play for us."

(and there are plenty of private schools)

 

also doesn't Virginia have thriving homeschool sports programs?

Edited March 2, 2012 by Karis

[regentrude]

To me, the issue of homeschooling not being a viable choice because a student can't participate in public school sports is interesting. I encourage the OP to "think out of the box."

 

I don't know of any independent private schools who'd say "No, you're great but you can't play for us."

(and there are plenty of private schools)

 

That depends on where you live.

I happen to live in a town where there are no private high schools. Only one single public high school. And driving somewhere else is not an option, since the closest city with school choices is two hours away.

 

In our home school group we have some students who consider public high school because that is the only opportunity for them to participate in competition sports.

[Finnella]

I can sympathize. My older DS is still in ps because I couldn't find anything in our area to rival the level of Spanish he's taking in the local immersion program. We do outside enrichment activities, but he's staying in ps. This meant he was also able to try JROTC which is only now becoming available to homeschoolers in our area.

 

His younger brother is homeschooled. I had to pull him out of an arts magnet, and now we have to pay for his acting classes out of pocket. It's a serious financial hardship and frequently a logistical nightmare.

 

Certainly parents should try to think creatively, but I understand that sometimes we have to make difficult choices. You know your child and your family situation better than we do, so good luck. I'm sure you'll make the best decision you can for her.

[Gwen in VA]

also doesn't Virginia have thriving homeschool sports programs?

 

That's quite a generalization!

 

I don't know of any independent private schools who'd say "No, you're great but you can't play for us."

(and there are plenty of private schools)

 

Not all private schools are as inclusive as you think they are. And if the ONE local private school has an extremely weak team, the presence of the private school doesn't help at all.

 

Certainly parents should try to think creatively, but I understand that sometimes we have to make difficult choices.

 

:iagree:

[Heather in VA]

Where in VA do you live? I'm in the NOVA area and there are many options for tennis in a competitive club environment. Of course then that costs money. I was watching this bill as well but we are fortunate not to be directly impacted by it. My current 7th grader is on a path for a college scholarship in gymnastics. Gymnastics is not a sport that is ever recruited through the high schools. In fact high school gymnastics is pretty poor in general because the best gymnasts train at clubs and can't take the time for high school. It would be a frustrating decision to have to make if we were faced with needing to be in public school to have access to gymnastics. Especially because you just never know if that NCAA career will pan out - change in interests, injury etc. Things happen in sports.

 

Good luck with your decision and search for options. I hope you are happy with whatever you choose.

 

Heather

Edited March 2, 2012 by Heather in VA

[snowbeltmom]

Gymnastics is not a sport that is every recruited through the high schools. In fact high school gymnastics is pretty poor in general because the best gymnasts train at clubs and can't take the time for high school.

 

What you describe for gymnastics is the exact situation for tennis. Playing United States Tennis Association Tournaments is the way to get recruited for tennis. High school tennis is irrelevant.

 

Another pp mentioned playing for a private school. The athletic association in my state would not permit that; a player must be enrolled in the private school to play sports.

[LisaKinVA]

Sad to hear. Our area does not have homeschool athletic leagues -- and our club sports options are having a difficult enough time with the county. They keep reducing the lanes we can use for swim practice, let alone field usage.

[Candid]

 

I don't know of any independent private schools who'd say "No, you're great but you can't play for us."

(and there are plenty of private schools)

 

I live in an area with many private schools and I know that none of them accept home school students on sports teams or other venues. One school that was near bankruptcy tried this one year, but after that year, despite still being on the edge of total shut down, they did not allow home school students on their teams any more.

 

Maybe you live in a special place where this happens, but not in my neck of the woods.

 

also doesn't Virginia have thriving homeschool sports programs?

 

Virginia is a big state and while I am sure in the NOVA and other eastern areas there maybe thriving programs that will not cover folks in the western part of the state. I am not familiar enough to know how long it takes to drive the length of Virginia, but in its neighbor to the south it would take over 12 hours to drive the state end to end. So for those in the west which is largely rural this is not an option. Further living in a fairly populous area I can tell you home school sports varies in quality and availability by sport.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I live in an area with many private schools and I know that none of them accept home school students on sports teams or other venues. One school that was near bankruptcy tried this one year, but after that year, despite still being on the edge of total shut down, they did not allow home school students on their teams any more.

 

Maybe you live in a special place where this happens, but not in my neck of the woods.

 

 

 

Virginia is a big state and while I am sure in the NOVA and other eastern areas there maybe thriving programs that will not cover folks in the western part of the state. I am not familiar enough to know how long it takes to drive the length of Virginia, but in its neighbor to the south it would take over 12 hours to drive the state end to end. So for those in the west which is largely rural this is not an option. Further living in a fairly populous area I can tell you home school sports varies in quality and availability by sport.

 

I'm now looking into a track and cross country team for homeschoolers. Despite the large number of homeschoolers in our area of northern Virginia, it seems that the only team is on the other side of the county. I'd like to try to make it work, but it may easily mean putting outselves right into rush hour traffic to make practices.

 

There is also the odd issues that you run into when homeschooled teams go into competitions. Homeschool teams of necessity draw from a broader geographic area. They are more like private schools in this regard. Which can get some people worked up that the homeschoolers are trying to build a super team. Or that they have an unfair advantage because they "don't have to go to classes and can just practice all day". :lol: (These were some of the expressed reasons for no longer letting homeschoolers form teams for Math Counts.) And there is still the issue of letting talented homeschoolers compete against private and public schooled athletes. Or debaters or science fair experimenters. I'm not 100% sure that access to competition through the schools is the all around best answer. Though for some sports and locations, it is probably the best solution. Certainly pushing for acceptance of homeschoolers in many competitions is something to work on. And we will all have our chance to try to sway opinion and open doors, even if we are not the family that will end up most benefitting.

 

There are defintely ways of making things work. And working hard to develop homeschooled athletics may well be the push for this decade. I am amazed when I step back and look at what is available for academics that didn't exist ten years ago.

 

For the OP, it may be worth trying to sit down for lunch or coffee with an experienced local tennis coach or governing body rep and discuss what possible progressions exist for your daughter. I know that I talked to my son's swim coach for quite some time after one meet and came away with a very different understanding of what was possible than I had before. From the comments of some of the tennis folks here, it sounds like there might be a similar circumstance for you.

[Dmmetler]

I can see the point the OP has, assuming that the best, most competitive teams in the area are through the PS. I have a 7 yr old competitive cheerleader, and you see almost NO kids in the gym who actually compete on teams past about age 14. Once they make high school varsity, that's where the competition moves to. So, I can easily see us in this situation in a few years, unless DD decides she prefers another sport.