Hey everyone! I’m an incoming freshman this year and would really appreciate some direction from someone who’s had experience.
This is, as you know, my first year of high school. I’m having trouble (and some disagreements with my parents) in deciding whether or not I should do a sport this fall season. Here’s the thing - This will be my first year in a very competitive school. It’s considered a top-ranked school yadda yadda and basically the workload is crazy. I’m coming from a private middle school that also had an insane workload so I feel pretty well-prepared, but I’m still not completely sure what to expect.
Since the school is so academically rigorous, it does not offer high school sports. If you would like to play a sport, you are districted to your local high school and play with their team. I’m in Florida, and here swimming is a fall sport rather than a winter sport. The thing is, swimming has been something I’ve been yearning to get back into for a long time since I dropped it years ago. I know that if I don’t join now, there’s a good chance I never will. I also know it’s important to be consistent in high school, which is why if I’m going to participate, it’s best if I do it all 4 years.
I’m not sure about the practice schedule, but it doesn’t seem to be considered an extremely vigorous sport for the local high school. I plan on getting more information from the high school about varsity vs. JV, practice times, etc. later on, but their varsity team only has about 8 meets throughout the season, which isn’t bad at all compared to sports like soccer, volleyball, football, etc. However, I do know practices can be long and are both physically and emotionally draining. I’m at the advantage in which my school offers an early start (7:21), and if I leave at lunch time (right after 6th period, when I’m done with all my classes), I’ll be done at 1. This leaves my with some time until whenever practice may be (not sure if it’s normally right after their school ends, which would be around 2:30, or whether it’s in the evening).
The problem is, if practice is right after school, I don’t want it to interfere with any clubs or after school activities I may be interested in participating. If you guys can, I would also love some advice on what good clubs/EC’s would be to join!
The other issue is academics. My parents don’t want me to participate in a sport my first year because they want me to adjust, which I totally understand. I’m taking all honors with one AP (Human Geography), and I’ve been told 9th grade is actually one of the most intense years here. At the same time, I want to have a consistent 4 years of sports if I am going to do so. I did 2 sports per year throughout middle school, but of course at a private school (or at least mine) the sports teams tend to be awful and aren’t really serious haha. I know that high school level sports are the real deal and are a huge commitment. In your opinion, do you think it would be better for me to join this fall or drop it? I’ll update you guys when I get more information about practice times. However, if you know how long swim practices normally are (be it JV or varsity), please let me know!!
Thank you so much, sorry it was so long!