<p>Is anyone else starting JV or freshman football today?</p>
<p>No football here, but Spyboy starts a pre-soccer workout before soccer tryout camp next week. We donāt start school until the day after Labor Day so we still have a few weeks to get in as much summer fun as possible.</p>
<p>Vegaskid decided at the last minute to run XC instead of going out for football. He envisioned concussions and broken bones (heās usually the first to get hurt) and not being able to play lacrosse this winter. </p>
<p>D14 is quite upset about it - she was looking forward to bragging rights for her football-playing brother. Evidently XC isnāt cool. 
</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Thatās funny, vegasmom! My sister met her best friend early in her first year of HS. The girls were all swooning over this one football player, and one girl shrugged and said, āHeās not that great.ā The rest gasped in shock. Turned out that Mr. Senior Cool Football Jock was the girlās brother, lol. My sister started up a conversation with this blase girl and they became fast friends.</p>
<p>CuriousKid has 1 more week before football starts. Based on feedback he got at team camp this summer heās hoping to switch from lineman to linebacker. Iām not sure I know what a linebacker does, but he seems excited about this new role.</p>
<p>In the meantime, heās enjoying a week almost entirely off between summer school and football. Heāll put in a few hours with his museum job at an Asian-Latino arts festival, but otherwise Iām sure it will be lots of video games and hanging out. A much needed break!</p>
<p>CuriousJane:</p>
<p>Is your son a brand new football player?</p>
<p>No, heās played the past 2 years, but around here the middle schoolers play by weight, and he happened to be at the top of his weight class so he could play the line. In HS where thereās no weight limit heās not big enough for the line so the coach wants him to try linebacker.</p>
<p>I know nothing about football though.</p>
<p>It sounded like you were new to football, so I wondered if your son was new as well. Around here it is unusual for someone to start playing football during their freshman year.</p>
<p>My son also had to change positions when he moved from youth football to HS football. In youth football he was always right at the weight limit and played guard. Now that there is no weight limit he is a little small to play guard so they have him playing center.</p>
<p>School starts Aug 26 so the football players are allowed to start their workouts on August 5. Tomorrow is my sonās favorite day of the year. The first day in pads!</p>
<p>I know nothing about football, despite the fact that my kid plays. The first football game I ever watched was the first one my kid played in. I went to HS in another country, and had never watched more than a minute of a game on TV. Since then I took him to the Howard-Morehouse game last year (Go Bison!), and this year I made an effort to watch the Redskinās last game of the season on TV. I also went to all of CuriousKidās games, but I usually volunteered on the sidelines so I was too busy moving the chains or counting plays to watch and figure out what was going. So, I really donāt have a clue. When CK was a ālinemanā I figured that out because, well, they stand in a line, but when he told me ālinebackerā I had to have him draw me a picture. </p>
<p>Around here itās not unusual to start football in HS though. Soccer and lacrosse are the big sports and the teams are incredibly hard to make. Crew is also very popular. In contrast, football is always pretty close to no cut. If you show up at practice and donāt do something to make the coaches hate you, youāre on the team. So some kids who make it to HS and realize that they donāt have a chance at soccer switch to football.</p>
<p>Jane, I grew up here and my dad was a huge football fan, and I STILL couldnāt tell you anything about any position other than the quarterback. I know very little about how the game works. I go shopping on Superbowl day. Youāre not aloneā¦</p>
<p>We are in the heart of football country. It is very hard to make a HS squad without playing in the youth leagues. It isnāt impossible. We did have a player recruited by Notre Dame who never played until he started HS but he is unusual.</p>
<p>My son is excited. They get pads today.</p>
<p>DS survived the first day of high school. He likes his teachers but the school bus is a different story. We had budget cuts so they combined routes and it so kids ended up having to stand on the bus and it took an hour for him to get homeā¦ When my oldest took the bus it was less than 25 minutes. I may end up having to pick him up from school until he gets his learners permit and can drive the golf cart to school.</p>
<p>I didnāt think standing on school buses was allowed! In Seattle, the high school kids all get passes for the countyās Metro system, so on busy routes kids DO stand, but at least there are rails to hold onto. </p>
<p>But long routes are common-D had a one-hour trip each way in 4th-5th grade. My drive to take her out of district only takes 20 minutes. Maybe you and some other parents can set up a carpool?</p>
<p>I donāt think itās allowed either. I believe they are hoping kids will dump the bus and use alternative ways to get to school. Most kids only ride it for the first year of high school.
Iām going to wait and see if the time gets any better. Youngest goes to middle school and the middle school bus drives by the high school on the way home. His commuted time is less than 20 minutesā¦</p>
<p>An hour each way, standing up so you canāt study, seems like an awful thing to add to a teenagerās day. I am excited that CuriousKid can walk to school, for the first time since Kindergarten, but Iām also aware that his school day, with sports, will be 11 hours long (First bell is at 7:20, football practice ends at 6:30 on non game days). I canāt imagine adding 2 hours to that!</p>
<p>Well, actually if DS was in football he wouldnāt be coming home on the busā¦heās just not into most sports. However once he joins some clubs he probably will have meetings after school anyway so Iām sure it will turn out ok. DS is studying the drivers license information so he can pass the written test for his learners permit so I guess motivation can come in many ways.:)</p>
<p>Hi all,</p>
<p>Finally caught up on all the posts here. Really appreciate all the info. Looking forward to the next 4 years sharing/learning together. </p>
<p>Have a DD17 starting school in about 3 weeks (school starts really late this year). Cheer practice starts this week and she is very excited about that. Her courses will be:</p>
<p>English honors
Geo/trig honors
Spanish 3
Amer history
Physical science
Science lab/ gym
Health/art
Cooking/mythology</p>
<p>Various interests have come and gone over the years. Cheer has emerged as a keeper and can be time consuming with practices, games, competitions and gymnastics. She is not showing interest in other ECās right now but is excited about the idea of working in a popular teenage retail store next year. ( I think they can start ārealā jobs at 15 but not sure.). Her enthusiasm may wane once she actually starts working but at this point the appeal of a store discount and extra spending money are really attractive to her. What are your thoughts on a job as an EC? </p>
<p>Also, in our school, the kids take 8 classes a day. Is that typical of most schools?</p>
<p>At CuriousKidās school they take 7 classes a year, and almost everything is year long. I think CK would love to have options like mythology and cooking!</p>
<p>His courses this year:</p>
<p>Geometry
Honors English 9
Honors Biology
Honors American History
Arabic 1
Intro to Engineering
Theater 1</p>
<p>Had a great trip to California and we got back this past week after watching swimgirl swim in her last meet of the summer. She had some really good races which definitely gave her a boost of confidence. SG started school this past week and so far, so good. She plans on taking a much needed break from swimming and just concentrate on school for the next few weeks.</p>
<p>DS got through his first week of high school. His schedule is:</p>
<p>Gifted Biology
Gifted English
Latin I
Coordinate Algebra & Geometry
Health
Acting I</p>
<p>Classes are a year long except health next semester he has PE. I wish they had 7 classes he had to give up Band to take Actingā¦ They start at 8:45 and get out at 3:45. Which seems to me would be enough time for 7 classes. </p>
<p>I think a job could be a good EC if she sticks with it. Colleges like to see kids in ECās for multiple years. Or at least thatās what it seemed like with DS13.</p>