I was pointing out that squash courts, like tennis courts, tend to be available to recreational players when the team isn’t practicing.
Tennis is a great sport, and one I would never discourage someone from picking up at any age. OTOH, the commitment and talent it takes to become a candidate for recruitment are huge, so it’s not something I’d recommend to a parent looking for an admissions boost for a new athlete.
Regarding how long to ask the kids to play, we had a “finish the season” rule unless we had to buy expensive equipment. Then it was two seasons. I still just got rid of SO MUCH sports equipment when I downsized…
@Sue22 Tennis is a great sport for life, but if I didn’t get a scholarship with 12 years and 15000 hours of practice. Then it’s proof that it does not reward hard work the same way many sports do, with that level of commitment. I was also a national level player.
Squash is very under appreciated, in the northeast many schools have tennis players that double on the teams just so they can be competitive.
Senior, you are one example. One kid who had one set of experiences. As someone said, some here are parents who took several kids through recruiting opportunities for various sports.
The OP has said she’s not looking for scholarships. She wants to know what sport to get into an elite D3 school or maybe an Ivy. It doesn’t matter to her question that there are wrestling scholarships available in Kansas or tennis scholarships available in Georgia. She wants to know about elite schools in New England and which sport(s) are going to give the biggest edge. Throughout the thread, she’s ruled out a few - lax, soccer, track, football, probably rowing because the kids in question may be short.
Just let the kids play what their friends are playing.
@lookingforward I realize, I, myself are one example. However, parents really aren’t the ones that go through the process. The kids are the ones that do the overnights, that text and email the coaches, that choose the school. Parents are there for support, but they are not the ones directly in contact with coaches.
@lookingforward Tennis is also unique, it is not a hook for the nescac schools. Kids ranked top 50 in the nation give up full rides to go to amherst. http://www.tennisrecruiting.net/team.asp?id=668
3 kids rated 5 star recruits are going to amherst. These kids had full ride offers to plenty of schools.
While I realize I am not the only person that’s gone through the process, I would always take an athletes perspective over that of a parent. Parents don’t do the talking, the kids do.
My mom didn’t even talk to all the coaches I was talking to. She talked to my final choice and that was it. Most coaches don’t really care to talk to parents either in my experience, though they will offer if it means they have a better shot at landing you.
To OP, the sports to get an edge at these schools are women’s field hockey, lax, and squash(just good overall).
For guys, wrestling and baseball.
Have 2 kids, one who tried many sports and dropped out of all of them (and gained weight).
One who tried many sports, found multiple he really loved and dropped some because he could only do so much.
He is very fit and did get recruited. Did not select a sport based on getting recruited, just spent lots of time
playing one he loved and decided to pursue further when the time came.
Most kids in our town have tried many sports by the age of 10 already and start to focus in on a smaller
number of them (not one at the age of 10). If they have not found 1 or 2 they love, try anything else until
finding one you love, but do it right away. intramural where everyone plays only lasts until maybe 10 or 12 in
different sports. Try team sports now, when the intramural league is an option. Leave other sports where you
can try at any point, for later (bowling, golf, track can be started later, not baseball or ice hockey, at least not easily).