Thread: Sports?

Personally she sounds like academically she was trying her best even with extra help and was constitently getting C which is not horrendous. Not every child is ever going to be academic some will get on life via other directions like apprenticeships etc...If she was my child I wouldn't be taking her sports away no,as you have said she is not a lazy girl!!! Everyone wants there child to achieve theree potential but not every child will be a straight A student across the board and it kind of annoys me when people find anything less un acceptable but that is just my opinon

I have had a similar.. but very different situation with my 17yr old daughter.

Victoria was on the Varsity Swim Team for 3 years. She is not a natural A grade student.. more B or C BUT she doesn't try, nor does she care. We threatened with pulling her off the team every semester. She would pull her grades right back up just in time for eligibility, then let them drop again. So, finally, last year we pulled her. She can't keep up her grades AND swim - then she is out. Practice and meets are heavy going. 3hrs practice every day, practice all holidays, meets on weekends... if she couldn't keep up with grades and swimming then swimming HAD to go. Grades gets you a life.. for *most* people, swimming does not.

It is a LOT of work to keep up with a sport and keep up grades.

Part of me agrees with the parents, if she did not do sports then she would have more time to work on her grades, learn and improve. I know how much physical time and dedication it takes.

Of course it depends on the sport - but most high school sports here require a LOT of time. Victoria would not get home till nearly 7 every night, then there would be dinner, then homework, when all she wanted to do was go to bed after swimming for 3.5hrs SOLID.

One needs mental and physical energy to study.

Grades are more important. The kid could do some less competitive sport on the weekends or something.

Sammy, in your situation, I'd probably do the same. If she can pull the grades up when she wants to, that's another story.
I can only speak for what this girl was like 2 years ago (she's in grade 10 now, so it's possible she's changed), but back then she was a little worker bee. She put waaaay too much time into her studies! (She'd work for hours!). I used to tell her to give her homework a solid hour, then close the book and walk away because the poor kid would be spending 3-4 hours a night trying to do her work (which IMO is too much for a 13 year old). I tried to get her "identified" as special education (which basically means that if you can prove that B's are beyond her capability, you can modify your program to teach to her level), but you need parental permission for testing and her parents wanted none of that.

I just feel really badly because sports were the one thing she was really, really good at and I'm pretty sure they had a lot to do with her self-confidence. I'm just worried her self-esteem is going to take a major hit, when she doesn't have something she can shine in.

Agreed, Sammy. I could see making her pick one sport (they're in seasons here, so if she picked, say Basketball, she'd only be training from Oct. to February). That, I completely get, but from what I gather, they pulled her from everything.

If she has to work 3-4hrs to maintain a C average, then if you add a sport into that there is no way her grades would have stayed at a C as there is just not enough hours in the day..

Originally Posted by SammyPajammy

If she has to work 3-4hrs to maintain a C average, then if you add a sport into that there is no way her grades would have stayed at a C as there is just not enough hours in the day..

Yeah, you're probably right. Poor kid. :(