<p>I saw the post that stated that it is was uncommon for a BS athlete to be a three sport athlete. I was trying to understand just how competitive sports are in BS. For example, there are many private day schools in our area where the tennis is less competitive than the public school. The public school kids have played in USTA tournaments and some may even have a national ranking. On the other hand, there was a kid from one of these private day schools who was drafted by a professional baseball team straight out of high school. Most of the BS require a student to participate in a sport each season. Do most BS students have one sport that is their main sport and than just compete on thirds teams or do dance for the other seasons? I was just wondering because my child wants to do sports but would also like to be competitive in the sport. So do you meet Gold league level players in squash? Are most of the tennis players on the varsity teams of Exeter/Andover etc USTA players who play national tournaments in the summer? </p>
<p>I have a couple friends that are three sport athletes at boarding school. Some of them have a main sport and do the others just to meet the after school activity requirement but I have another friend who is really into sports - varsity 2/3 sports as a freshman at a very athletically competitive school. Some kids have main sports which they play at a high level and then do other sports/activities at a lower level just to stay active, try something new, fulfill a requirement, etc. Some kids are more into sports and play 3 (one for each season) at a more advanced level. It just depends. You can do either.</p>
<p>As far as sports teams at boarding schools in compared to sports teams at other schools (publics), it really varies at each school with each sport. For a better sense of how competitive your child would be with a certain sport(s) at a certain school, contact the coach. Their information is typically found on the school website. Some boarding school sports programs are really competitive and would crush public schools. Sometimes it’s the other way around. Funny, I have a math teacher from New England that played ice hockey back in the day (probably 60’s-70’s) and he said that his public high school team used to crush the prep schools. He said nowadays, it would be the prep schools that would crush the publics. Looking at how competitive the hockey teams are at these prep schools and based off of what I’ve heard in a general sense, he’s right.</p>
<p>Thanks for the information. The coach is in contact with my kid I just wanted to know for my kid’s sport choice for the other seasons. This kid does not want to be just a nerd. I don’t think anything is wrong with that but this kid wants to be on varsity and contribute to the team vs being a bench warmer. From other posts, I get the impression that being on varsity for more than one sport would be tough. As an incoming freshman, I am not even sure that varsity in one sport is achievable. Just wanted to keep the kid realistic. </p>
<p>The short answer: “It varies.” It depends on the athlete, it depends on the sport, it depends on the school. Most schools have different requirements for different grades. e.g. 3 terms for 9th and 10th. 2 terms for 11th and 12th. Freshman are rarely going to make a varsity team in a sport with JV and thirds. 3 sport athletes exist, but less frequently than in the past. X-Country/Winter Track/Spring Track is the most common, but other combinations exist. In larger schools, club sports/intramurals are an option for the non-main sport.</p>
<p>In addition to the three running, there’s also (at schools with fall crew or water polo) water polo/crew, swimming, and water polo/crew. </p>
<p>@skieurope I know you are attend one of the major BS. For example are most of the tennis players on the varsity tennis teams that compete in the Founders league USTA tournament players? Is it just the students who play number one varsity? I was just curious because a nationally ranked USTA player will usually be greater competition than a country club player.</p>
<p>I’m generalizing, as I do not know all the various schools programs, but I would say USTA tournament caliber are in the distinct minority. Certainly the entire varsity A team does not compete in USTA tournaments. People who play tennis here come from a variety of backgrounds, and many have experience with tennis academies and come here nationally ranked. However, the level of practice needed to maintain and improve these rankings is often at odds with the academic and co-curricular demands of boarding school life.</p>
<p>At the large BS, 600+ kids, the level of athletics is very high. These schools attract/recruit globally. Day schools can only attract/recruit locally.</p>
<p>Agree with skieurope and GMTplus7. The big schools DO recruit nationally ranked athletes, but often succeed in having a really great team in just a couple of sports (the others still might have one or two nationally ranked, depending on the year). The level of varsity play in many sports will be high, and a couple of kids get waivers to focus on a single sport all year, but most will not be USTA tournament players or their equivalent in whatever sport, often because of the time commitment. But I don’t know of a public school where MOST are ranked USTA players either. The level of play at big BS will be high, most freshmen don’t get on varsity (though a few do, again depending on the sport and the school). And if the school is known for a particular sport, they will attract more super players, so their reputation in that sport often continues year or year. Do check out what schools are known for your sons particular sports: the level of play will be high on those teams, but making varsity and then not sitting on the bench will be tougher freshman year. So it depends what he wants.</p>
<p>In our local public school the high school teams would win the state championships in it’s division for girls/boys tennis. I would recognize some of the players from the USTA circuit. There would be at least one highly ranked child on boy/girl teams that would play for the local high school. Sorry, I did not mean to imply that all were ranked really high. I just wondered about the Founders league because the AO at Exeter said that many of the tennis players go to FL for training in the many tennis academies there. I was surprised by this statement but realize that these may be the students who get waivers. By the way the level of play at our public HS would lead many parents to bemoan the fact that if you kid was not in travel soccer etc as a wee child than your kid could not expect to make the HS varsity team. Thanks for the information from both of you.</p>
<p>@skieurope thanks for the information. I would think that the demands of BS would preclude the involvement in USTA tennis but was surprised by the AO’s comment that at Exeter there were students who continue to play the circuit. In my experience, the parents have to be very involved transporting the kid to National tournaments. @pd100 it seems like running i.e. X-country etc is the sport for the nerdy athlete. I think that is great and locally saw one nerd turn it into an acceptance at Columbia. Thanks again for the information.</p>
<p>@grx567 There is an easy way to find out if the players in the Founders League are USTA players. Go to the school team roster and look up the players in the USTA site to determine whether they play USTA and their ranking. I would imagine that it would be extremely difficult to keep up a high USTA ranking while attending boarding school, especially one with Saturday classes. It is also possible to be a really good player and not participate in USTA tournaments. I think tennis is one of those sports that if you are good you can make varsity as a freshman as tennis is such a speciality sport.</p>
<p>@buddysmom Thanks. I guess I was being a little lazy. </p>