Middle School Sports

[rainbowmama]

My tween is not especially into sports. I think team sports have a lot of side benefits, so we've encouraged dabbling in them. As she reached upper elementary school, the number of sports the park district offered started to dwindle. By next grade, there's very, very little. I don't want the expense, travel, or time commitment of club sports: she's just not that into it. How does everyone handle sports participation for older kids who aren't especially sporty?

[athomeontheprairie]

Don't require sports?

If she really isn't into it, why?

 

Or find a solo activity? Dance, skating, running?

[Miss Tick]

There is an indoor soccer facility in our town and my ds has found a rec team we love, although every season could be their last, which bugs the long term planner in me.

 

A local lacrosse league is offering expensive rec level play for new players, so we will try that. At least it will give him passing familiarity with the game.

 

There is an indoor tennis facility near by that offers lessons that I might push him to interrogate at some point.

 

Part of a boyscout merit badge had him do 12 weeks of regular physical exercise, and he found a few bike routes that took that long, so that is a nice fall back for us.

 

In a totally different city, my mom does adult dance classes. They are 12 week sessions where they progressively learn a choreographed dance in 30 minute classes. I think my mom goes 3x a week. It would be perfect for a middle school homeschooler, although I don't know how hard it is to find.

 

There is a swim team in our area that has daily practice and optional swim meets. Good coaching at a low cost, as I understand it.

 

There are a few yoga studios around that might have appropriate classes.

 

If she wants to be with other girls you could look into gymnastics.

 

The nice thing about a lot of these is that they are activities she can pick back up later on her own. That happened to me in college when I realized I was getting, um, soft and i needed to do some kind of exercise. At one point I swam laps and then later started running. That would not have occurred to me except that we had to ruin before soccer practice in elementary school and looking back I realized it hadn't killed me.

 

This post is focused on my ds because my dds dance ballet and get more than enough activity out of that, whereas he is a little less committed to any particular sport besides recreational soccer.

[regentrude]

None of my kids had the slightest desire to participate in team sports. I value and require physical activity, but that does not have to be an organized sport. We hike and rock climb.

DD was passionate about riding horses. DS tried it out for a bit and then started TKD, branched out to other martial arts, and found his passion in judo.

 

 

[Arcadia]

We use the YMCA for recreational sports. The parks and recreation center most convenient for us does sports for public school kids so their non-school affiliated offerings are very little for middle school kids and is mainly private tennis lessons.

[Guinevere]

I think physical activity in an environment with other people is a really good thing. You can find the comraderie of a team and friendly competition at a lot of martial arts schools. I sold one of mine on the idea by explaining that gym class is a subject kids have to take at school, and I wasn't wasting her time with randomness, but rather allowing her gym class to be the lifelong skill of self defense. She quickly saw that martial arts classes were superior to running laps around the yard.

[sassenach]

Our rec leagues try to keep it truly rec style through 8th grade for most sports. But the truth is that around 11/12, most kids start to narrow their focus and drop the sports that they’re not into. That means even at rec level, the play is more competitive. However, ds tried a brand new sport to him in 8th grade (basketball) and that was a great experience.

[NorthwestMom]

The middle school my DD attends does not have a hyper-competitive sports program. Kids who have never played a particular sport before can comfortably join a team and play with regularity. It is similar to rec sports for elementary kids. Usually there will be different levels of teams but it is not particularly stigmatizing to not play "varsity", a level which is usually full of the kids who are playing in clubs for that sport. Also, our district lets homeschoolers just do sports and clubs, so there's usually one or two around. 

 

It's worth checking out. 

[Bluegoat]

I think the goal really is to enjoy themselves and be active.  Interestingly, studies on what makes people remain active don't show that being super-involved in a sport makes a difference - it's being comfortable in a wide variety of active settings.

 

I'd keep that in mind and think about - what will help this child be active, in the long term.  We've done things like activities that are also social things here - swimming, skating, sledding - people do these for fun in groups, so it's good to know how to do them.  We do things like rec programs that are really just for fun, with no sense that they will lead to something - they've done basketball, yoga, a mixed team sport thing.  These really are just for a little fun, and it's ok if it isn't anyone's favourite, because it is usually just for 8 weeks.

 

Also, think outside the box for what counts as a sport.  Yoga or tai chi, hiking clubs, ethnic dance or social dance, circus, whatever, can al be a lot of fun.  My very non-sporty middle school girl fell in love with sailing last summer, and at school she go involved with the Indian dancing group, which she also really enjoys.

[Dmmetler]

Many All Star Cheer gyms have All Star Prep, which is a much less expensive, less travel required team (levels 1-3, so beginning/intermediate levels-most prep teams are level 1), and the "junior" level is often one of the most common/popular (because of exactly this issue. My DD went from rec cheer to All Star this year because the number of kids and teams dwindled as schools started having teams at middle school).

 

 

[wintermom]

I'd redefine your statement to read: "I think physical activity has a lot of benefits."    Then I'd look for opportunities where your dd can participate in physical activities that she enjoys.

 

And yes, the number of options for teen girls does generally decrease in number as this is the time a lot of girls drop out of sports. It's still very important for girls to be physically active, though, so widen your scope of activities and you should be able to find things to try. Sometimes there are program set-up specifically for girls, and these can be less intimidating for some girls. 

[rainbowmama]

Don't require sports?

If she really isn't into it, why?

 

Or find a solo activity? Dance, skating, running?

 

My daughter is competitive and likes the social aspect of team sports. She just doesn't like the physical activity aspect of it. Keeping her moving as we approach the teen years is important to me. We've tried dance, but a lot of the dance programs around here get pretty serious by eight years old. She did skating last year and thought it was okay. She doesn't like running, though she will run for soccer or basketball or whatever

[bettyandbob]

We required a regular fitness activity. That does not mean team sports.

Martial arts (not just TKD, also look for things that might spark interest beyond fitness like Kendo)

Dance

Local walking or hiking club outings

Playing drums can be quite a workout

Check local rec and community offerings some have teen only fitness, CrossFit, Zumba, weight training and yoga classes

Geocaching

Family walk

Family bike

My nephew was in marching band, my very team sport oriented sister watched one practice and quickly realized her son was getting a workout hauling that tuba around.

I found cheap personal training on groupon for one of my dc

 

Anyway daily movement is important, along with longer and/or more intense activity 3-5 times a week.

[rainbowmama]

None of my kids had the slightest desire to participate in team sports. I value and require physical activity, but that does not have to be an organized sport. We hike and rock climb.

DD was passionate about riding horses. DS tried it out for a bit and then started TKD, branched out to other martial arts, and found his passion in judo.

We actually do a "hiking club," but I have small children, as do others who participate, so it does not end up high enough intensity. We've looked into rock climbing, as she loved climbing trees when she was younger, but it was pricey and she was unenthusiastic.

[rainbowmama]

I think physical activity in an environment with other people is a really good thing. You can find the comraderie of a team and friendly competition at a lot of martial arts schools. I sold one of mine on the idea by explaining that gym class is a subject kids have to take at school, and I wasn't wasting her time with randomness, but rather allowing her gym class to be the lifelong skill of self defense. She quickly saw that martial arts classes were superior to running laps around the yard.

 

I will have to look more into this. We have not tried martial arts.

[rainbowmama]

We required a regular fitness activity. That does not mean team sports.

Martial arts (not just TKD, also look for things that might spark interest beyond fitness like Kendo)

Dance

Local walking or hiking club outings

Playing drums can be quite a workout

Check local rec and community offerings some have teen only fitness, CrossFit, Zumba, weight training and yoga classes

Geocaching

Family walk

Family bike

My nephew was in marching band, my very team sport oriented sister watched one practice and quickly realized her son was getting a workout hauling that tuba around.

I found cheap personal training on groupon for one of my dc

 

Anyway daily movement is important, along with longer and/or more intense activity 3-5 times a week.

 

We daily as a family walk and do some yoga. I had a baby this summer too little for biking, but it's something we'll probably pick up again once it warms up. It's the higher intensity workouts that we struggle with more and have outsourced to sports

[SKL]

I would not push group sports if she/s not into it at this age.  It can get awkward as a non-athletic, non-enthusiastic tween doesn't really support the team and everyone (including her) wonders what she is doing there.  I agree that individual sports may work better, as nobody else is invested in how fast or slow she progresses.

 

I have one sportsy kid and one who is only marginally interested in playing.  I do not push team sports, but I do insist that they have some physical activity most days.  My less athletic kid does horse riding 3x per week.  I also require both kids to be in TKD, and swimming is a good filler for days when they don't have something else.  (If they were still learning to swim, I would insist on swimming at least weekly.)

 

I would recommend hiking as a family etc, but to be honest, my kids are to the point where they moan and groan the whole time.  Forget that.  I want to enjoy my hike.  :P  Sometimes we will go for a nice long walk though.

 

Some other ideas for winter might be ice skating if you have a rink nearby, training for a race, rock climbing or ninja courses.  Snow shoveling can also be great exercise depending on where you live.  :)

[KungFuPanda]

Try other physical team activities. A dance team? A Girl Scout group focuses on a specific activity like kayaking or camping? I see the value of a physical pursuit and a teamwork situation. It doesn’t HAVE to be a situation where someone is literally keeping score.

[SKL]

I should add, since you indicated that your daughter is competitive, that she might enjoy having a different role at sports where she support the team without actually running around - either a team of her peers or her sibling's sports.  Another thought is maybe a chess or academic challenge type club.  Remind her that her mind will work better if she has plenty of exercise, which can be individual running or swimming etc.