<p>I did competitive swimming from when I was four to when I was eleven, but I haven't swam in a competition for a few years. Has he taken swimming lessons before? Because if so it probably isn't necessary for him to take lessons, but working on his lap times at the Y or something would be helpful.</p>
<p>What fall sport did you guys pick? my son picked football. He got tons of info from the NMH football coach (workouts, weightlifting, camps to go to) plus he was invited to a pre-registration camp at NMH -- so it looks like he will be there from Sunday until registration on Thursday (and I guess I will just hang around for those four days).</p>
<p>Anyone else doing a sport where they will go early?</p>
<p>steph...They aren't doing early registration for those kids? Last year, when we dropped my son off for sports camp, registration was completed the same day. I don't know what's going on with the sports camps this year....it seems like each coach is doing their own thing.</p>
<p>On the topic of sports camps...how criticial do you think it is for the athlete to go to the "Coach's" camp?<br>
My son is going to the Naval Academy Lacrosse Camp and it's paid for (plus, he went last eyar and loved it and his goal is to attend the Naval Academy so...). We got the flyer from the lacrosse coach encouraging him to attend HIS camp - turns out it is the same week. We thought about trying to change the Navy camp, but my daughter has a big race and it would interfere with that.<br>
Are the coach's camps really used for skill development/evaluation or just a money maker for the coach who has a captive audience? (I know that's cynical thinking)</p>
<p>Keylyme -- it doesn't look like they are doing early registration this year. the letter said that camp ends on Wednesday and that they will provide housing for the kids on Wednesday night since Thursday is registration. I emailed the coach and he said parents are just dropping off kids on Sunday and coming back for registration on Thursday (which doesn't work when you live in Colorado). He is looking forward to meeting some kids before school starts - -the coach said about 15 9th grade boys will be at the camp (which seems strange, since the football roster that was sent to him only listed 6 9th grade boys). They are staying at Gould Hall (which I think is on the Northfield campus).</p>
<p>Well, the high school pre-season camps don't make any money I don't think. We don't pay extra for it. I think if you are being looked at for Varsity, it's important to go. As far as college goes, I definitely think that marketing (of one's self) is very important and you should be in touch with coaches very early on. My son just wrapped up his freshman year and he will be sending out e-mails to coaches this summer (even though they can't write back to him yet). I believe that attending a camp at a college you are interested in (and have a realistic chance of being recruited to) is quite important.</p>
<p>steph...I wonder what's going on this year that caused them to change how they did the camps. I know there is construction on the new admissions building and they are doing something with the infrastructure as well. My son did receive an e-mail from his soccer coach saying pre-season would be on the Northfield campus.
Don't know why so many 9th graders. I know NMH is cutting down on the number of PG's (I was told they were lowering the number from approximately 50 to around 30). Maybe they are looking to build teams now instead of just recruit them.</p>
<p>I didn't mean the pre-season camps at the school just before the season, I meant one that the coach runs as a general summer camp that anyone can attend - but he encourages his team members to attend. I would imagine it's a money maker as it's about $500 for 4 days.</p>
<p>Do they have those at the high school level? I know colleges do them, but I've never seen one run by a hs coach. If your child is a strong enough athlete to make the team, the preseason camp would be fine, I would think. So, yes, moneymaker.</p>
<p>Yes, I have seen several that run camps. Mostly it is colleges and they sometimes run them AT a prep school, but this one is definately run by the coach and we got a letter encouraging him to attend. </p>
<p>At this point, we have not gotten any other paperwork except health forms from his school - pretty much all his friends have, so he's getting anxious.</p>
<p>My son was sent the preseason roster for NMH football -- on this list are 12 ninth graders and 6 new PGs, so it does look like they are still doing some recruiting for football (not surprising, since size matters almost as much as experience and skill in football).</p>
<p>keylyme -- when does your son head to the pre-season camp? and are you just dropping him off for the pre-season camp and them coming back for registration, or are you not planning on going to registration since this is not his first year.</p>
<p>keylyme - do only the varsity players do the pre-season soccer camp? Will someone be in touch if they want my son to attend? </p>
<p>I received a call fom the dean of academic studies (or a similiar title). We spoke about class choices and he also said that they have a swim team for beginners. We also found out that my son could take Latin and Spanish this year but he would have to drop Science. He will just drop the Latin and study on his own if it interests him in the future.</p>
<p>I am still amazed at all the options that are available for cocurriculars.</p>
<p>steph...I am not sure when my son is supposed to be there. I was just speaking with him about that yesterday. He didn't get an e-mail from the coach like I had thought; the coach had spoken with him and told him about the camp. My son, of course, does not remember the specifics. I asked my son to contact the coach. I would assume....but I could be wrong....that if all of the camps are at Northfield, that they will be the same dates. I will probably drop him off and come back for registration (I only live an hour away) whether he needs me there or not.<br>
They really have cut the PG's...I had heard soccer only has 4 so far. Might make it tough to field a strong V team, because their JV team was not very deep. Maybe opportunities for strong incoming freshman??</p>
<p>It will be a whole new experience for us -- and my son is looking forward to it. He is spending the next two weeks attending an afternoon football camp for incoming 9th graders at his local high school (the coaches don't know he will be attending NMH -- and the camp if for any interested students, so he figured he would go). He has also been weight lifting to get ready. He goes to the Air Force Academy football camp for a week at the end of June -- so he is hoping he is competitive. It will all depend on what positions they need and who else is doing them (he is a linebacker). Of course, he is hoping to be competitive for Varsity -- but will be happy with JV. </p>
<p>We went to the doctor for his check up yesterday -- he is now six foot one inch and 200 pounds (no fat). Since he is only 14, I am getting a little scared about how big he will end up. His orthodontist is guessing 6''6" -- yikes!</p>
<p>Wow Stef! My son will definately be jealous! He has not grown in over a year...just turned 15 and stuck at 5'6" (no, he'll say 6 1/2"!!) and about 160 lbs. We're all thinking (he's praying) that he'll have another growth spurt soon. Although we did just buy some clothes for school, so maybe not...</p>
<p>He's wanting to play football as well, but has never played. Our current school is too small to offer it and previously he had to make a choice between motocross and football - motocross always won.</p>
<p>steph...your son is huge! My son is 5' 10", 150lbs. A good size for soccer...not so much football. </p>
<p>I think the coaches invite players to the pre-season camps who have submitted a prospective athlete questionnaire, but I think they have to be the ones the coaches have an interest in....not just for Varsity, but JV as well. There were many JV players at the pre-season camp last year. My son was recruited for Varsity and they asked him if he would mind playing JV before they even saw him at camp.....they were just overloaded with PG's. They felt bad; he definitely would have contributed on Varsity, but they had made a commitment to so many PG's already (they had 18 kids with 2008 graduation dates on the Varsity soccer roster). I don't know when you can expect to hear from them....things seem disorganized this year for some reason. I will let you know what I find out as I am having my son (forcing my son) contact the coach today.
I don't understand about the language thing....if your son took Latin and Spanish, he would forego physics? (I am assuming he place out of algebra I as alg I/physics is a combined course). I had asked about doubling up on a language sophomore year and my son's advisor told him Biology was a required course for sophomores. I didn't see an opportunity to double up on languages until junior year.</p>
<p>I was a little confused about the language thing also. From what I understood, my son could skip physics and take 2 languages. He also said that he could not take it as a sophomore and would therefore have to wait until junior year. Science is too important to miss a year.</p>
<p>I forgot to ask if computers counts as an arts credit. Probably not. Can you ever take more than 6 credits at NMH? </p>
<p>I can't remember if we met the jv soccer coach. I can't imagine that my son would play varsity soccer. He's a solid average premier player. he doesn't really care either way about the presevson camp. Jim did mention that he wanted to come to one of my son's soccer games but we never gave him a schedule. Too nerve wracking!!!</p>
<p>Lacrosse is where he really excels. He will have to play JV because of his size. When he visited there were a couple kids from NESLL (select lacrosse) It'll be interesting to see if they chose to go to NMH. It would definitely help build the lax team. </p>
<p>My next son is a football player and would love to go to school with his older brother. It'll be interesting to see how the jv and varsity teams do next year.</p>
<p>We received the preseason soccer info. Should my son only attend if he sees himself as a varsity player or will there be other potential JV players? </p>
<p>It is a pain that we have to bring him for the long weekend and then go back home, but I guess it gives him a few last days to say goodbye and finish packing. This is making it sooooo real.</p>
<p>At least you get to go home -- I am still trying to figure out what we are doing. We would have to be there Saturday night in order to get him to football camp on Sunday. Then check-in is Thursday -- what do I do for 4 days? I am not looking forward to paying for a hotel room for that time, plus meals and rental car. yikes.</p>
<p>On another note -- we looked up my son's nmh virtual desktop (or whatever it is called). The same thing that they used to register for courses. It looks like he has been assigned to his classes -- they have classes and teachers for each semester.</p>
<p>I have a question about cocurriculars. I wanted to do a few, even though I already had six credits, but I thought it was kind of bogus that they were asking us to sign up before we got there, because there are extremely vague descriptions in the course catalog. How does that all work? Can I sign up for clubs when I get to school, or switch my selection?</p>