How late is your child at team (sports) practice on weeknights?

[tvguy]

I am absolutely astonished by these times! My DS is only 2, so we don't have any experience yet, but I was a very busy teen, involved in a ton of activities, and yet my parents insisted I was in bed by 10ish every night. Kids - even (especially!) teens need sleep! If you're in an activity till 10, even if you get home and go right to sleep it's still approaching midnight. Presumably school starts at 7:30 ir 8, right? And you have to get up and eat and travel to school, so there is no possible way a kid's getting 8 hours of sleep. Talk about setting them up for physical and emotional exhaustion!

A 4th grader in activities until 9pm? Not in my house...

Please note that I'm expressing shock and suprise - not judgement. I know each kid and family is different and that may very well work for some people. It just never crossed my mind that a youth-centered activity wouldn't have the good sense to end in time for kids to have some family time, do some homework, and get a good night's sleep!

It's a tough call for sure. You may have to make some tough decisions.
Soccer and Little League both went until sunset (only because we didn't have lights for our fields), which for soccer can be 5:30 pm in the fall, and can be 8:30 for Little League. But they now play interleague Little League with a league with lighted fields, and the second game is from 8 pm to 10 pm, 10 pm being the mandatory end time whether the game is complete or not.
And those divisions start with 9 and 10 years olds, so it would be about 4th graders.
High school baseball....well....my son's first game Freshman year was a 90 minute drive away.......we couldn't go since I had to be at work at 11 pm so he had to ride the team bus back to school, he got back to school at 11 pm, home at 11:30 pm to eat dinner, shower, and do his homework and get up again at 6:30 am.

Both my kids are in college now, and somehow they survived and got good grades. But, I have to admit, my hat is off to any parent who can do the Leave It to Beaver lifestyle, dinner on the table at 5 pm, kids in bed and asleep at 8 pm. We gave up at about age 3 on getting them in bed by 8 pm, because neither one of them would go to sleep until 10:30 or 11 pm. I worked graveyard and both their bedrooms are on the front of the house and I can't tell you how many times I had tiny faces in bedroom windows waving bye bye as I went to work at 10:45 pm

 

[Planogirl]

DS was in amateur wrestling and his practice was from the end of school until 6 PM. The last class was also wrestling and the classes are long so he got plenty of practice.

What was difficult at times was meets and tournaments. There was always one at a school one evening during the week and it wasn't usually over until 11-12. There were also frequent weekend tournaments and those would go each day until well into the night. Him getting home at 12:30 to 1 and even later wasn't unusual.

 

[#1PoohBearFan]

I'm 13: I was a competitive gymnast for 6 years up until last March, and my schedule was Monday 6 - 9 , Tuesday 5 - 9, Thursday 6 - 9, and Saturday 9 - 1 September - May (competition season). June - August it was Monday - Thursday 9 - 1. The drive home was only 8 - 10 mins though. Being a middle school kid, I hated this schedule, and it was a part of the reason why I quit. The 10 total meets were on weekends. If they were local, just the day. If we had to travel it took up our weekend.

Now, I have competitive (all-star) cheer and dance. My schedule now is Tuesday Cheer 7:30 - 9:30 (although it's a 40min drive) Wednesday dance 7 - 8 (like 10 min drive) Thursday Dance 5:15 - 6:15 Cheer 7 - 9. Cheer Competitions are usually the same amt. of time as gymnastics, but a lot of times shorter, although there are more in a season. I like it a lot better

 

[AC7179]

My daughter is 7, in first grade and is a gymnast. She practices Tuesday/Thursday 4:30-7:00. They are about to add another day and increase the time to 4-7, which may lose us, honestly. We are doing well to make the two days and she does homework Monday and Wednesday, and honestly gets maybe about 30 minutes at home to play during the school year. She also does best with a bedtime of 7:30. I'm trying to juggle her needs as an individual with her desire to compete----not easy!

 

[packofjedis]

I should also add in December my son's soccer team went to a tournament 8 hours away for the weekend. Because they made the finals, no one got back home until after 1 a.m. on Sunday night/Monday morning. Everyone had to be at school the next morning at 7:00. The high school where most of these kids go do not allow but a few absenses and then their grades start to seriously drop, so all the parents were saying their kids had to be in school the next morning.

I wondered about the logistics of a tournament so far away on a school week.

 

[Magic Mom]

DD's cross country practice ends at 6, and horse lessons end at 530. Now that cross country is over, she does working student at the barn once a week (soon to be twice a week) right after school from 315-8. Thoseare long days for her, she works hard exercising horses, helping the really young students, cleaning and running in and out of pastures (rain, snow or shine) fetching horses. She falls asleep almost right away those nights. Then two other nights a week we are at the barn again so she can work her horse until about 6.

I would not have a problem if she were in sports or activities until 930 or 10, if it was something she was passionate about , if the practice/training was worthwhile AND if she was able to keep her grades up. I like the idea of keeping kids busy.

 

[JustineMarie]

My DD13 plays basketball. Her games start at 8:15pm most nights and we get home anywhere between 9:30 and 10:15 depending where the game is.

My DD10 plays soccer. Her practices are 3 days a week and start at 7 and end at 9. The fields are right around the corner so she is home, showered and in bed by 9:30.

I like to keep them busy and they really love playing. I wouldn't take that away from them, even with the late nights.

 

[goofy!]

Just curious. especially team sports which practice inside, such as basketball, gymnastics, etc.

Daughter's allstar cheer gym: different teams practice different times, but there are practices going on till about 9:30. I know the mini's (5,6,7 years) practice from 7-9. But many parents like that because homework and dinner are done before sports, when they are still fresh. Then quick shower and in bed.

DS's HS lacrosse: 7:30 - 9pm

HS Swim team: 4:45am - 7am (school is from 7:30 - 3)

Special Olympics basketball - varies each week due to practice/game schedule, but the three slots are 6-7, 7-8 and 8-9pm.

 

[carone0318]

My dd (15) is a competitive gymnast. She practices M, T, Th & F 3-7, but lately since it's now competition season she has been there 3-8. She also practices on Sat 12-4. These times are very difficult if both parents work, which we do. I set up my work schedule for 6:30-2:30pm. I pick her up from school and she goes directly to practice. She has been getting home between 8 & 8:30pm.

This would definitely be a crazy schedule for any HS kid to jump into, but she has been going to the gym for 20+ hrs since 5th grade and she is used to it. This year's comp schedule is a crazy though in that so many of her meets fall on a Friday, so she has to miss school and that means I have to miss work!

DS (10, 11 in less than 2 weeks) plays travel soccer, which his practices are usually 2x a week (6:15-8pm). He will be starting this schedule again real soon as the Spring season opens the 1st weekend in March - games on Sundays. He is currently playing indoor soccer (on Sat.) & futsal (on Sun). He is also doing CYO basketball, which practices 1 or 2x a week and averages about 1 game a week.

I will admit that their schedules seem crazy, but when they have a night off, they complain they are bored. They also both have good grades, so no complaints there.