Just Curious - does your Middle School cut?

[nugov2]

You could make the same argument for middle school sports. The middle school age is when most sport specific skills are learned and the optimal solution would be to have as many kids play as possible. It isn't always possible to not cut but many middle schools around here will run a team at each grade level and possible a tier 2 team for anyone left.

We do have two tiers for a lot of things, but our school is big so kids still get cut. Only so many people can be in a play or make the volleyball team. It is difficult to play other schools when they have two teams and another has 4. It seems all the schools we compete against follow the same one or two team structure depending on what sport it is. Honestly that's just the way the cookie crumbles. I don't expect the schools to start adding teams that really have no one to compete against just so that everyone gets a chance. We have rec everything around here and the cost is similar to what you pay to participate in the school sport so if you don't make a team I think it isn't a big deal. Middle school is also a good time to learn that you don't always make the team/play and that if it is something you want keep trying. Student council is another one that they only take so many grade representatives. I'm sure there are lots of kids who want to do it, but it just isn't feasible.

ETA I saw someone post about intramural leagues and we do have that as well. It isn't for everything but I think it is basketball and volleyball if I remember right.

 

[EMom]

Class size of about 500 and yes, there are cuts in middle school/junior high.

Before that, she attended a school of about 1200 per class and not only were there cuts, to make the team you had better be one of the kids who played club sports since age 5-6 and excelled. Even then, plenty of kids who had been playing club sports (specializing in volleyball, baseball, softball, soccer, etc.) since age 5-6 and training with a vengeance, didn't even make the team because the competition was too intense. Of course, this is a school that regularly goes far into the playoffs and even wins state in the various sports.

Problem is, you need to pick ONE sport at age 5-6 and stick them in it because they are expected to specialize. We weren't in the know and thought we were being good parents be letting our child try lots of sports. But at that school, our willingness to let her try various sports meant we cut her off from making ANY team. Same for drill team and cheer. You had better train for years if you expect to make the team in junior high. And you can only really do ONE thing.

So we moved to the smaller district with 500 per grade and she was able to participate in multiple sports and even shine. It was a good move for her.

 

[verleniahall]

nope - here anyone that trys out gets on the team - you may be on C-Team if your really bad, but you make the team

Middle School doesn't have cheerleading around here - its the only one that you have to "try out for" and you do it over the summer - same time as Drill Team/Dance Team

 

[tvguy]

No cuts. The league they play in prohibits it. It's is middle school after all and in reality is a recreational team. But there is no minimum play rule, so no promise you will play, but it was a small private middle school, and they needed every player they could get.

 

[brockash]

DS has attended 2 middle schools and both do cuts for sports.

 

[dotfurio]

Middle schools cut. So do elementary schools that I've encountered.

 

[TanyaS]

Yes, but what I find even more frustrating is that the elementary school cuts.

Like a PP said, it is crazy to me that by forth or fifth grade children need to have already need to have began playing a sport with private organizations in order to be "good enough" to make it onto the public school teams. Ten year olds ought to still be able to try new sports and be given a chance to learn skills. They ought to be encouraged by their schools to participate in athletic activities. Not cry themselves to sleep because they didn't make the team.

Sigh. Yup. That was my kid this year. What really stunk is that she talked a friend into going to the try-outs (who didn't know about them and wouldn't have gone otherwise), and the friend made the team and she didn't. That's a lesson in competitiveness I'd rather her not learn.

I read complaints online about the "everybody gets a trophy" mentality, but I just don't see it in my area. What I see instead is very competitive specialization starting younger and younger. You pretty much need to decide in kindergarten what sport your kid might want to do in high school and start them immediately or they get left out entirely.

 

[mom2rtk]

Our middle schools do not cut. Heck our high school hardly ever cuts. It's great because if kids want to try out a sport, they typically can. But as you might expect, our teams typically aren't very good. Most of the kids in our district don't have the kind of home support it takes to stick with sports in big numbers (rides to and from school, involvement from parents, lessons, etc.) By the time they turn 16, most of them are in a hurry to get jobs and earn some money.

 

[#1hoosierfan]

Yes, pretty much every sport has cuts at our middle school.

One local rec basketball league has drafts.... Even for kindergarten and first graders.

 

[BearFamily]

No cuts in any middle school sports. Multiple teams (usually color coded, not A and B) if necessary - usually girls basketball, occasionally boys soccer.
No cuts in middle school theater - although some students may be counseled after auditioning that their academic teachers are concerned that they can't handle the rehearsal schedule and maintain their academic workload. But everyone who completes the audition is cast in some role.

It's not about "everybody gets a trophy" - our view as a school community is that middle school is meant to be a time to explore different things and find what you like and/or are good at. Kids that age are changing so much physically, cognitively and emotionally, that they may find out they are now able to be good at something they were never good at before. Also, process over product at that age level.

HS does have A/B teams, and very occasionally cuts, depending on the sport. HS theater definitely has cuts.

Because we are a small school, what tends to happen is that highly skilled and/or experienced middle schoolers may be invited to play on the HS teams rather than less skilled or inexperienced students denied the opportunity to participate.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Just curious - does your kids's middle school hold tryouts for sports, and do they cut?

Ours does, and it's a relatively small school - about 350 kids for 6th/7th/8th. I never thought anything of it until I was talking to my sister. Both my kids have been cut - DS15, in 8th grade, for a sport that he never played before but thought it would be fun (so I wasn't holding out hope he'd make it anyway LOL), and DD was cut this past winter for a sport that she is familiar with, but does a different version of, competition-wise. No big shakes - she didn't seem very bothered by being cut.

So, I was telling my sister this, and she expressed great surprise that a middle school would cut kids from a team. Her kids' middle school will take anyone interested, then plans teams accordingly. I was kind of surprised at that....cuts have always happened here. And it makes sense for some sports like basketball and cheerleading, where there are only so many players on the court/etc at a time, and only so many uniforms.

But today I look at DD's snnouncements (they send them in an email blast a few times a week in efforts to save paper) and there is an announcement for track and field tryouts. Now, DS15 did track last year in high school and I know for a fact that they took every kid or he would not have made it! LOL He is a defensive end/o-lineman for the football team - linemen are never track stars! But in MIDDLE SCHOOL, the kids have to try out for track??!! Track seemed to always be the last holdout as a "no-cut" sport, for some reason.

So, thoughts? Is it GOOD for kids to get cut from teams in 6th grade, or should they all get a chance to try new sports before high school? Or is that "old-school" thinking now that sports specialization starts at such a young age?

Team sports--I think cuts are fine. I don't know that middle schools have teams around here. I don't have a kid in one.

Individual sports--I don't see the point.

I swam in high school and it was open to anyone. We even had a non-swimmer. She spent the whole season learning to swim and finally swam in the last meet. We all cheered her on. And her involvement impacted no one negatively. She just couldn't do a meet until she could make it across the pool. And while I could swim, I was by no means at a competitive level.


For track and field, I think that is a team sport by the way it is set up. Cross Country might be different.

As far as try-outs...it could still be open to all and this is just the formal entry point. They likely need to figure out strengths and weaknesses.

If a school so in any way limited in how many team members they have due to district rules, then I could see justification for having cuts if the number trying out exceeds the number of spots available.

Around here, I think 6th grade is still elementary school. Middle is 7th and 8th.

 

[elphaba91]

I think with childhood obesity being such an issue that everything should be done to include and encourage as many kids as possible to play sports. We don't have middle school in Australia, but my high school (year 7-12) participated in a fantastic program that meant every single kid who tried out made a team. The teams were ranked and played against teams of the same level. I wasn't a very athletic kid so was on the B softball team and even the G netball team, but I loved being able to participate and improve my skills (and progress to the F netball team!). Uniforms weren't an issue because we everyone has a school sports uniform. There didn't tend to be a coach for each team, especially for sports with smaller teams, but coaches were gym teachers or casual employees (usually ex-students or university students) and we coped just fine. I'm pretty sure we only had one badminton coach for around 20 pairs and that was our most successful sport!

 

[Aliceacc]

Both my daughter's middle school, and the middle school section of the middle/high school where I teach typically cut. It depends on the number of kids who come out.

It's a matter of numbers. If they end up with too many kids to fit on one bus, they have a problem... Do they leave kids behind for away games or try to get 2 busses?? (Coordinating the bus schedule is a huge headache for athletic departments.) Do they have enough uniforms for 2 or 3 times the number of kids they really want on the team? If not, do the pull money away from academics to order more uniforms for the extra kids? If not, where will the money come from?

It's also a safety issue. The more kids they have playing at a time, the more eyes they need on the practices to ensure safety. (I'm thinking specifically of the gymnastics team my daughter is trying out for next week, but the idea extends to other sports as well.) Do they pay for extra trainers/coaches? And where does that money come from?

And if there are no cuts, how do they manage playing time? Do those kids who honestly don't have the skill to help a team win get much playing time? Or are they accepted onto a team for which they'll warm the bench 90% of the time? Or do they play equally, knowing that as a result their team won't have a winning record, and that the stronger players will recognize the reason why?

In an ideal world, sure everyone would make the team. The odds are at least decent that my daughter will get cut at next week's tryouts. But I can certainly understand why cuts are sometimes necessary. So my daughter may need a little ice cream therapy when the team is announced.

I don't know of any team that would cut 2 or 3 kids. But if the numbers are really too big, then cuts are sometimes necessary.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I'm not sure there is a good solution. I'd like to see everyone play who wants to, but I don't want the school's entire budget going to sports uniforms and extra busses either. It's a tough call.

There is a large rec program around here, but it's actually so popular that it's difficult to schedule all the teams and the games get pushed to crazy times. DS simply gave up basketball in middle school (7th/8th here) because he wasn't good enough to make the school team, but the rec team games were at 9:00 at night! (Because the 3rd and 4th grade played at 5:00 and 6:00, the 5th and 6th grade at 7:00 and 8:00...)

I kind of miss the days when kids just played pick-up games around the neighborhood.

 

[monorailsilver]

Yes and no.

Soccer they didn't cut even though they said they would but there just aren't enough kids-3 towns with about 18000 people.

Basketball and baseball they do.

Track they don't.

 

[ICF]

It depends on the sport. Most sports in MS are for 7/8 grades (but MS school is 5th -8th).

In football I think they keep pretty much anyone....same for something like track.

Other sports if they don't have an A/B team then you have to cut. You generally don't want 15 kids on a basketball team, as many will never ever play. Same with something like softball....13 kids or so is usually enough. A team of 20 would be too many.

Also -- it seems that most schools likely only have X number of uniforms -- so they would only been able to dress that # of kids.

All kids play and make the team in local rec sports.....by the time you get to 7th grade, you need to realize that not everyone makes a team (or get a trophy)

 

[kjpotter]

Middle School for 6-8 grade here. All sports have cuts except for Field Hockey. You even needed to audition for Drama and Chorus although I do not think anyone was cut.

 

[bjscheel]

I don't think our school has cuts for anything at any grade. There are 50-70 in a grade and they are just happy to have kids go out for a sport. There aren't lots of opportunities for younger kids to do sports. The fitness center runs some basketball, softball, and soccer things each year but none of it is a major deal. DD14 is about to start HS soccer and the only experience she has had is playing a few weeks each fall for a few years at the Fitness Center, usually with kids 2-3 grades below. But they have the same coach and he is eager to have her on the HS team, so we'll see how it goes! We combine girls soccer with 2 other schools to get a nice sized team together, and it's enough to do JV and Varsity. In 7th grade she went out for track, and then was a manager for it in 8th. DD17 has only ever done track, starting in 7th grade. She thinks now she might have liked doing basketball, but as a junior it's not a great idea to start. But they would have let her I'm sure!

I like the fact that in our small school you can try your hand at whatever you want. If you're not good, you won't get that much playing time but you still get to try the sport.

 

[Hikergirl]

Yes sports makes cuts in middle school. They have to, so many kids go out that it doesn't make sense to carry 100 boys on the basketball team (NOT an exaggeration on the # that try out). But there are a lot of opportunities for recreational sports here starting as young as age 3 (soccer), virtually all of which don't make cuts.

That is how it is here. When my ds tried out for soccer it was 100 boys trying out for 20 spots. For track it is going to be around 90 trying out for 45 spots. We also have a lot of rec sport opportunities so kids who really want to play sports can do it outside of school.

 

[ElsieAstronaut]

The one I attended did