DS and HS

[tiggerlover]

DS is entering HS and was very excited when he found out they offered golf as a sport. Today I was looking to get information from the school on a different matter and the HS office directed me to their website. Once I found what I was looking for I was just looking around and found out that the golf team try-outs were last week! I called the school asking why we weren't sent a notification that sports try-outs were occurring in early August and I was told it was a shame because freshman usually miss out. HELLO, if it is a known problem then why not send out a notice or let the kids know when they go to orientation at the end of the previous school year! DS is so disappointed.

 

[Jennasis]

DS is entering HS and was very excited when he found out they offered golf as a sport. Today I was looking to get information from the school on a different matter and the HS office directed me to their website. Once I found what I was looking for I was just looking around and found out that the golf team try-outs were last week! I called the school asking why we weren't sent a notification that sports try-outs were occurring in early August and I was told it was a shame because freshman usually miss out. HELLO, if it is a known problem then why not send out a notice or let the kids know when they go to orientation at the end of the previous school year! DS is so disappointed.

I would call the athletic director or golf coach directly and see if he can try out anyway. If he's good, the coach will not want to turn away a potential player.

 

[SydSim]

I totally agree! Dd would have missed the cheerleading tryouts if I hadn't seen a flyer at the actual high school (I was there for something else).

I can only assume that they don't actually want freshmen on the teams

 

[dislaney]

They really should make sure all students know about tryouts! That being said, I would contact the coach as well and see if there is anyway he can still tryout? It can't hurt to try!

 

[jen0610]

DS is entering HS and was very excited when he found out they offered golf as a sport. Today I was looking to get information from the school on a different matter and the HS office directed me to their website. Once I found what I was looking for I was just looking around and found out that the golf team try-outs were last week! I called the school asking why we weren't sent a notification that sports try-outs were occurring in early August and I was told it was a shame because freshman usually miss out. HELLO, if it is a known problem then why not send out a notice or let the kids know when they go to orientation at the end of the previous school year! DS is so disappointed.

DS is an incoming freshman as well and I can tell you that for our school district, they don't send this info home, but it is posted at the middle schools. They do this for 2 reasons. The first one - the cost of sending home notices for every student, on every activity would not be cost effective. The second one - they are of the stance that by middle school, the kids should be learning to take responsibility to make sure they have and/or get any information that they need. They don't feel that mommy and daddy should be the ones holding Jr's hand - if he/she wants to be in something, they need to me the ones to make sure they cross their T's and dot their I's and get the info.

For us with the school stance on it being the kids responsibility, I knew I would need to ride DS on getting the marching band paperwork. I knew info he didn't because of the history I have with marching band, so I knew that sign ups were April/May. I kept telling DS to make sure he got the paperwork from his band director. DS, in his normal way, kept forgetting. Finally, I told him that if this is something he wants to do, he had better get the form home by X day or we wouldn't sign him up if he brought the paperwork home after that day. It got home that night.

The last band concert of the year was May 18th. We noticed that there was a HUGE posting of all the activities for the following year that were based on try-outs. It gave the dates of try-outs and if there was an info meeting, that was noted as well. There was one thing I was suprised that DD didn't tryout for. When I asked her about it, she said it wasn't something that she really wanted to do.

 

[golfgal]

Our district has an email system where you can sign up to receive daily announcements, etc. I would look to see if your district has something like this. Also, fall sports have ALWAYS started before school starts around here so most people just know that in our area.

I agree, contact the coach and see if he can still join. Chances are this comes up every year and the coaches expect the calls. He may have to earn a spot on the team over time because he wasn't at tryouts but if he is good enough to make the team he will eventually do that.

 

[SydSim]

Also, fall sports have ALWAYS started before school starts around here so most people just know that in our area.

See, that's my issue. Things are operated as if most people know that. But not everyone does. If this is your first child going to HS, and they haven't been in this school activity before, they wouldn't know. DD was never been a cheerleader before and the signs weren't post in the middle school, they were in the high school and I just happened to be there one day for something completely different.

At the first HS marching band meeting (which she did knew about from middle school band), the instructor was talking to us a if everyone was familiar with HS marching band - and many were repeats, but some weren't.

It would be nice if at orientations, the instructor would explain things as if you don't already know them. JMHO

 

[ZuZugal]

DS is entering HS and was very excited when he found out they offered golf as a sport. Today I was looking to get information from the school on a different matter and the HS office directed me to their website. Once I found what I was looking for I was just looking around and found out that the golf team try-outs were last week! I called the school asking why we weren't sent a notification that sports try-outs were occurring in early August and I was told it was a shame because freshman usually miss out. HELLO, if it is a known problem then why not send out a notice or let the kids know when they go to orientation at the end of the previous school year! DS is so disappointed.

I agree with other PP's; contact the coach directly and ask if anything can be done. If your DS is good, the coach will find a way. Don't wait; call right away. You never know unless you ask.

I hope it all works out for him.

That being said, I would also like to say that parents/students in general need to be more pro-active concerning sports/band/clubs when entering HS. When my DD was in 8th grade we were already researching all that her HS had to offer and made sure we got all the info we needed. Her class size is almost 700, and we made sure to make contact with the golf coach well before tryouts. Numerous people have asked just this week "when/where are golf tryouts? How do we get info?" I tell them to look on the school website under athletics. It has been posted for a month.

OP your son may have just decided he wanted to try out for golf, and there are always those last minute decisions that are different. I guess I have heard so many "i wish i knew about xxx" comments this week when a little research or looking on a school website would have given the person more than enough info.

 

[SydSim]

.

That being said, I would also like to say that parents/students in general need to be more pro-active concerning sports/band/clubs when entering HS. When my DD was in 8th grade we were already researching all that her HS had to offer and made sure we got all the info we needed. Her class size is almost 700, and we made sure to make contact with the golf coach well before tryouts. Numerous people have asked just this week "when/where are golf tryouts? How do we get info?" I tell them to look on the school website under athletics. It has been posted for a month.

I guess I have heard so many "i wish i knew about xxx" comments this week when a little research or looking on a school website would have given the person more than enough info.

I understand what you're saying. Trust me, I'm quite anal about researching things in advance I've been checking out the HS for over 4 years now. They do have a website, but the tryouts weren't listed. Plus, I never even thought that 8th graders could actually tryout for things before actually getting to high school. I thought that you did those things once you get there. An e-mail, flyer sent home or something on the website would have helped a lot

You don't know what you don't know.

 

[barkley]

Our district has an email system where you can sign up to receive daily announcements, etc. I would look to see if your district has something like this. Also, fall sports have ALWAYS started before school starts around here so most people just know that in our area.

I agree, contact the coach and see if he can still join. Chances are this comes up every year and the coaches expect the calls. He may have to earn a spot on the team over time because he wasn't at tryouts but if he is good enough to make the team he will eventually do that.

our district has an e-mail system too-and once you're assigned to the highschool (the previous spring when the soon to be freshman submit their course choices) you are added to the e-mail list.

i can't begin to count the number of e-mails i've gotten about sports over the summer. when tryouts were, what the scheduals are, downloadable forms that have to be completed to be brought to tryouts...

 

[ZuZugal]

I understand what you're saying. Trust me, I'm quite anal about researching things in advance I've been checking out the HS for over 4 years now. They do have a website, but the tryouts weren't listed. Plus, I never even thought that 8th graders could actually tryout for things before actually getting to high school. I thought that you did those things once you get there. An e-mail, flyer sent home or something on the website would have helped a lot

You don't know what you don't know.

My post was not directed at you...looks like we posted at the same time so I hadn't even read yours! Sound like you did what you could and there should have been more info available to you.

Like I said I have run across so many people this week who said "gosh, wish I knew they were having golf/soccer/cross country tryouts this week!" I know the info has been available on our HS website for a month now, and I also know every sport had a table WITH A SIGN-UP SHEET to receive more info available at orientation. Might sound mean but I just have no sympathy! I said to one parent in particular "there are 700 incoming freshman. NO ONE is going to call you to ask what your student is interested in. That info was made available to you many times".

 

[golfgal]

All of the fall sports coaches also go to the middle school a few times in the spring and hold informational meetings for interested 8th graders so the kids get the information well in advance at those too.

I guess in the day of the internet there isn't any reason a parents shouldn't know this information-even just by clicking on the school calendar I can see when all the team practices start-which is dictated by the state high school league so every golf team in the state or cross country team or whatever team all start on the same day.

 

[jen0610]

All of the fall sports coaches also go to the middle school a few times in the spring and hold informational meetings for interested 8th graders so the kids get the information well in advance at those too.

I guess in the day of the internet there isn't any reason a parents shouldn't know this information-even just by clicking on the school calendar I can see when all the team practices start-which is dictated by the state high school league so every golf team in the state or cross country team or whatever team all start on the same day.

While I agree that the internet is a great tool for communications, I really wish that it wasn't the tool used by the schools for a vast majority of their communication. I know of several friends of both DS and DD, that due to lose of jobs and other family dymantic, that these families don't have the internet.

For our school district, even with the internet site they have, there is a lot of info that they don't give out. Or it's not on the main school website. If you go to our HS main website and try to find any info on the marching band - you find nada!!! Not even a link over to the website that the music department has for the choir and band. If you don't know the websites address, it took quite a while to find it.

Last year, we didn't have money to buy the kids school pictures the day of registration. There was nothing saying when retakes would be done. And even though I told both kids to make sure to bring home a form when the retakes were to be done, they both blitz on it. From the day school started, evey Monday, I was on the website, looking at the calander, looking for notice of retakes. By mid-Sept, when I hadn't see anything and knew from the previous year that they should be coming up (prior year they were done the 1st week of Oct), I called. I called, 2 days after the retakes were done.

When I asked why it wasn't on the calander, I was told that the lady in charge of maintaining the website was on materinty leave and no one else really knew how to do it. Well maybe someone or a couple someones need to know, since the school doesn't send anything home and tells the parents to look on line.

 

[golfgal]

While I agree that the internet is a great tool for communications, I really wish that it wasn't the tool used by the schools for a vast majority of their communication. I know of several friends of both DS and DD, that due to lose of jobs and other family dymantic, that these families don't have the internet.

For our school district, even with the internet site they have, there is a lot of info that they don't give out. Or it's not on the main school website. If you go to our HS main website and try to find any info on the marching band - you find nada!!! Not even a link over to the website that the music department has for the choir and band. If you don't know the websites address, it took quite a while to find it.

Last year, we didn't have money to buy the kids school pictures the day of registration. There was nothing saying when retakes would be done. And even though I told both kids to make sure to bring home a form when the retakes were to be done, they both blitz on it. From the day school started, evey Monday, I was on the website, looking at the calander, looking for notice of retakes. By mid-Sept, when I hadn't see anything and knew from the previous year that they should be coming up (prior year they were done the 1st week of Oct), I called. I called, 2 days after the retakes were done.

When I asked why it wasn't on the calander, I was told that the lady in charge of maintaining the website was on materinty leave and no one else really knew how to do it. Well maybe someone or a couple someones need to know, since the school doesn't send anything home and tells the parents to look on line.

Our district has all kinds of forms and notifications they send out to families stating that if they don't have internet access they can sign up for mailings or to sign up if they don't want mailings. Most schools have gone to the internet because paper is a HUGE portion of a district budget and with an easy solution of the internet it is a pretty easy decision for schools to make. We also have several large computer labs for the students to use and very generous open door policies so the kids can use them. We also have libraries, coffee shops, etc. that people without internet access can use to check these things. You can set up a free email account through yahoo, Gmail, etc. and not have to pay anything to access the internet. Also, if I had any questions I couldn't find on the internet I would simply call the school. The office staff pretty much know everything that goes on there.

Again, OP, call the golf coach. I am SURE this happens EVERY year and probably has a procedure for it.

 

[asta]

Another view from a private school parent. My children's school was locked up in a court case for many years over the football coach sending a letter to all incoming freshman about football practices that started before school started. He only sent these letters to families who had already signed an enrollment contract. The state sports association said that this constituted unfair recruitment and levied huge penalties against our school. Our school challenged this ruling and the case went all the way to the United States Supreme Court. It doesn't sound like this is anything that big but the Supreme Court took the case and we lost. Any school familiar with our case may be afraid to notify incoming freshman before they are actually enrolled.

 

[golfgal]

Another view from a private school parent. My children's school was locked up in a court case for many years over the football coach sending a letter to all incoming freshman about football practices that started before school started. He only sent these letters to families who had already signed an enrollment contract. The state sports association said that this constituted unfair recruitment and levied huge penalties against our school. Our school challenged this ruling and the case went all the way to the United States Supreme Court. It doesn't sound like this is anything that big but the Supreme Court took the case and we lost. Any school familiar with our case may be afraid to notify incoming freshman before they are actually enrolled.

Private schools are different though-they can't recruit. Public schools can't either but there are already safeguards in place for that requiring kids to live in attendance areas, etc. Also, a general letter to everyone in the district stating that fall sports start on August 16th would not violate this either.

 

[PlutoPony]

In order to try out for a high school sport, students here must have a recently completed sports physical. You might want to inquire about that at your school, as the lead time to schedule those with the doctor can be quite lengthy in my experience. I make my son's appointment in May for July each year. YMMV

 

[mickeysgal]

In our district, the HS band directors were in the middle schools multiple times in the spring talking to the band students and arranging audition times for the students. We have an 8th grade night at the high school in the spring...they get to visit the school with their parents. Every club, sport, and organization under the sun is there. Hard to miss them! Like another poster said, it's the child's responsibility at the middle school/8th grade level to bring home the information that is presented to them for HS sports, band, etc.

If you don't find any info on a school website (some websites are more detailed than others), just call the school and ask for a coach or director's email address and ask! Think about it logically...football season starts immediately in the fall. There is no way are they going to wait until the beginning of school to have enrollment. Many sports/activities start up in the summer.

 

[SydSim]

If you don't find any info on a school website (some websites are more detailed than others), just call the school and ask for a coach or director's email address and ask! Think about it logically...football season starts immediately in the fall. There is no way are they going to wait until the beginning of school to have enrollment. Many sports/activities start up in the summer.

I hear you But realistically, after coming from middle school, where things were started once school started, not everyone thinks "Some HS activities start before school starts so I'd better call the school and find out about them". If this is your first, and you aren't aware that things start up in the summer, what would prompt you to even think about it?

Many people are aware of things because they've seen or heard about them from family, friends or neighbors. But if you haven't, what would make you even think about it? Personally, looking on the website for DD's HS, I knew everything about the academics. But no where on there did it say that you needed to sign-up/tryout for some things during the summer.

When I was in HS, freshmen weren't on the cheerleading squad. You tried out at the end of your freshman year for the next year. I had no idea that things were any different now.

It would have been nice if the school had an activities table at orientation night in the spring, but they didn't.

You don't know what you don't know.

 

[golfgal]

I hear you But realistically, after coming from middle school, where things were started once school started, not everyone thinks "Some HS activities start before school starts so I'd better call the school and find out about them". If this is your first, and you aren't aware that things start up in the summer, what would prompt you to even think about it?

Many people are aware of things because they've seen or heard about them from family, friends or neighbors. But if you haven't, what would make you even think about it? Personally, looking on the website for DD's HS, I knew everything about the academics. But no where on there did it say that you needed to sign-up/tryout for some things during the summer.

When I was in HS, freshmen weren't on the cheerleading squad. You tried out at the end of your freshman year for the next year. I had no idea that things were any different now.

It would have been nice if the school had an activities table at orientation night in the spring, but they didn't.

You don't know what you don't know.

I just find it hard to believe that the school would not have any information anywhere about this--at 8th grade orientation, in the newspaper, on the website, no one visiting the middle schools, etc. If this is really the case, perhaps volunteering to get the word out, manage the website, etc. would be helpful.