One aspect of boarding school that appeals to us in principle is the ability to play on a “thirds” team. My son likes team sports and having the opportunity to play even though he is not at the level of Varsity or JV players would be a great thing. I just wonder if they use this team as a “feeder” or if it is an option that one could carry through high school. How do kids and the school generally view it? In my high school sports were highly competitive. This to me was very unfortunate even though I found my niche at the school (in student government). I do remember the disappointment of trying out for the JV basketball team as a 10th grader, making it through several difficult “cuts” over the course of a couple of weeks of practices only to be told in the end that it would be an all 9th grade squad. . . .In high school, JV was a feeder meaning that they used it as seasoning for varsity. By 9th grade (when I entered the school) if you hadn’t been playing well in a team in middle school you were blocked out of JV and I had gone to a middle school that did not play intramural sports due to its size. This was generally the approach of my high school for other areas like theater or newspaper . .no experimentation–you were all in or you were out. We are looking at relatively small schools and hope that the size will encourage students to try out new activities.
I imagine that it may vary from school to school, but the point of thirds teams is largely to let kids who aren’t good enough to play on varsity or JV still play a competitive sport. How good the thirds team is depends on how popular a sport is (i.e., how many kids are likely to have played that sport before coming to boarding school). So, for instance, my son played thirds soccer his 9th grade year, and it was pretty competitive – there were a number of kids who got cut and had to play club soccer instead. But my daughter played thirds volleyball this year and I think at least half the team (like her) had never played volleyball before. The thirds teams were primarily made up of 9th and 10th graders, but there were some 11th and 12th graders too. It’s not uncommon for a senior to decide they’d rather stick with thirds, and maybe be the captain, then move up a level or two and get no playing time.
And don’t forget crew – the one sport a student can start as a complete novice (most kids haven’t rowed before) and end up on the varsity team or just enjoy at whatever level they end up at. Our non-athletic son found crew at BS and is rowing in college. It changed his body; it changed his life.
Our school’s student newspaper just ran an article this week on the very successful thirds soccer team. They won a lot of games and played against tough opponents, including traditional rivals like Hill. There are upperclassmen on the team, it’s not just 9th and some 10th graders. I think it is a great option, letting pretty much everyone who wants to play a team sport do so.
I think it depends on the sport, too. Hill only had a JV and V football team, and everyone on JV was on V, also. (Even though some of them never got to play in a varsity game.) Boys Basketball has a 3rds, JV and V, and not everyone made a team. I think there are only 12 on a team, and 23 tried out for 3rds and JV. Don’t know how many tried out for V, but those that didn’t make it dropped down to JV, those that didn’t make JV dropped down to 3rds, etc. Boy said there were quite a few that didn’t make a team at all and will do some type of community service in the winter for their afternoon activity. 3rds play traditional opponents…L’ville, Peddie, Hun, etc.
That’s a good point about in some sports, you can actually play on JV or varsity even if you’ve never played before, depending on numbers. SoxBoy played football for the first time in his life in 10th grade, and was on varsity this year as an 11th grader just because they needed every body they could find. But if your interest is in being able to try some new sports and not get shut out because you haven’t been a star [fill in blank] player since 4th grade, boarding school is a great place to do that. For some sports, novices will be able to start off right away on an interscholastic team. For other sports, kids will learn it by playing on the school intramural team for a year or two, and then develop enough skill to move to a competitive team (for instance, SoxBoy had never played squash before, played club squash 9th and 10th grades, and hopes to make thirds or JV this year).
I think it depends on the school and the sport. As ChoatieMom stated, crew at Choate is a sport that welcomes novices and teaches/trains you to reach your best. That could be JV, Varsity, or you stay a novice. They all have the same practice times and are seen as a team. The only “cut” is the training trip to FL. In order to go, a certain number needs to be reached on the ergs, but you can keep working on it after the season, all winter, until you make it.
However, the swim team is undergoing its “cuts” practices this week. Yesterday, most of those who were not on club teams could not make the time intervals and were cut. Yes, some were quite sad. Today is another practice with those who had made the New England Championships; I think this is what is considered the Varsity team? And tomorrow is the final day for cuts. Keeping my fingers crossed for my DD, who is a year round swimmer. The actual practices will start after Thanksgiving.
So, it really does depend on the school and the team. I do not have any knowledge about other sports.
This is a great question to ask on tours and/or re-visits. Like everyone else has said here, the answers will vary by school and by sport.
As mentioned each school/sport will vary. DS played 3rd soccer in 9th grade which was all 9th grade. They also had V/JV/JV2 and intramural but 9th graders are not allowed to play on intramural teams. He played JV ultimate frisbee in 9th grade but more kids tried out in 10th and he got cut from that team and played intramural.
Thank you for all of your replies. Good luck for your daughter mexusa. A question re. crew–my son is tall and has a long reach . . how much of it depends on cardiovascular endurance? Would successful rowers be runners? Thanks!
@sadieshadow – tall is good! Endurance is key. Rowers come from all backgrounds. Work on the erg is what gives them the type of endurance they need, but any sport that requires high output over long distances is going to help. The only way to tell if crew is for you is to try it, and I highly recommend having your son try it. He’ll either love it or hate it but, if he loves it, it will change his life. Crew is a calling.
BTW: “Tall” means over 6’. 6.5’ is really good. 
Thanks ChoatieMom. I will surely encourage him. He will be tall . . how tall remains to be seen. Father is 6"3 + . . He is 12 1/2 with size 12 sneakers so that says something .
I played on a thirds team this fall so if you want to know what it’s like, PM me!
As it depends on sports and the schools, you can get the best answers directly from the schools that are interesting to your child. Just ask the admissions people there and they will gladly explain how their system works.
Also be noted that the size of the school plays a significant role in shaping the team structure. My son goes to a small school (Thacher) and they have only one third team in boys basketball.
He played in the varsity soccer when he was a sophomore not because he was good enough but he was big enough to be a defender and the school is so small. 
Many freshman kids with no previous experience go directly to the JV teams because there is no third team. The atmosphere is that they enjoy playing any team sports. Levels don’t matter there although they have been pretty successful in their own leagues against other schools.
It also varies year to year and sport to sport at every school. This year, DD tried out for volleyball at Loomis and didn’t make JV. They just had an incredible amount of great players. Coaches said she probably would have made Varsity if it was last year. She is going to play JV hockey and everyone makes the team because there are not too many girls who play hockey. It really just depends.
I agree with dreamcatcher. My son played ice hockey since he was 5 and was cut to 3rds at his school because they had so my ice hockey players try out that year. Kids go straight to college from boys varsity hockey at many of the boarding schools - no junior hockey for them. The JV teams are more similar to our public school varsity hockey teams. My son could have been on JV but with the deep bench would have received little playing time. Coaches said Thirds would develop him more. I think the key question is whether a school is committed to developing the athlete if the child is hungry to play at a higher level. Some schools bring in PGs for key spots bumping existing seniors.