School summer break vent!

[maxiesmom]

Due to some really cheap airfares, I was looking into a trip to Disney World with my sis and her kids this June, once the kids were out of school. My oldest niece plays many sports, so I thought that would be a good time to go.

Wrong! Can you believe that the first day of practice for fall basketball is the very first day they are out of school? They get no time off at all! And when you look at my nieces schedule, because of drivers ed and sports she has only 2 times this summer where she has 5 days off in a row without something going on!

I just can't believe it! What happened to having summers to play and recharge for the next school year? It is just insane to have sports practice the very first day of summer break!

Do all school districts do this?

 

[imthatgirl]

I think it's fairly common to start a summer sport right away. I think kids still look at it as a break since they are doing somehting they want to do, not just going to school. I don;t think it's odd to keep a kid busy with things they love. espacially since it sounds like your neice wants to do these things.
I also don't think it would hurt anyone for them to miss a practice or 2 so they can vacation, I would even guess most of the kids miss at some point for a vacation.

 

[maxiesmom]

I think it's fairly common to start a summer sport right away. I think kids still look at it as a break since they are doing somehting they want to do, not just going to school. I don;t think it's odd to keep a kid busy with things they love. espacially since it sounds like your neice wants to do these things.
I also don't think it would hurt anyone for them to miss a practice or 2 so they can vacation, I would even guess most of the kids miss at some point for a vacation.

But she plays basketball, and they actually play until the winter. If they played right when school started, that would be different. But they don't start having games until the end of October.

 

[msmayor]

My guess is its summer workouts, and is not mandatory.

At least here in NJ, the NJSIAA has very strict rules on when "official" practices can be held. Summer workouts are scheduled, but cannot be made mandatory until the official practice season begins so that it is fair to all schools.

My daughter played field hockey all four years of high school and not only did they have summer conditioning sessions 3-4 nights a week in the summer, they also had offseason conditioning through the winter and spring. NONE of it was mandatory, though...but coaches 'could' consider the student's effort at participating as evidence of their dedication to the sport. Mandatory practices began the second week of August, with start of season 6 weeks later.

 

[auralia]

if i were your neice i'd ditch basket ball for a week! disney is way better!

 

[imthatgirl]

But she plays basketball, and they actually play until the winter. If they played right when school started, that would be different. But they don't start having games until the end of October.

I'm not really understanding the problem, does your niece not want to go to Disney because of basketball? I still think it's normal for kids to be kept busy during summer vacation. Is her coach not willing to let her miss a few practices? Because most coaches are pretty reasonable, and I bet most kids will miss some fro their family vacations.

 

[dallastxcpa]

Here in Texas sports and band are HUGE. So something like that wouldn't suprise me. I hate it and think it is ridiculous. Most kids that participate in high school will never go on to play in college or professionally. Yet, during high school they are expected to dedicate their lives to their "drug" of choice. It is typical for sports, band, and drill team kids to practice close to 9 hours a day in the month before school.

what happened to the days when kids particpated in extra curricular activities for the fun of it?

 

[turkeymama]

I have the opposite gripe with sports. We play our last summer league softball game during the last week of school. So we're all done before summer break ever starts.

My husband's cousin is a high school basketball coach and they practice A LOT. There are very few times when they aren't practicing. And like someone else mentioned, during the summer months, these aren't usually "mandatory" practices due to LHSAA (our high school sports governing body).

I would pick a week and let the kids skip practice. I know it isn't totally up to you, but this sounds like it is almost your only choice.

 

[maxiesmom]

My daughter played field hockey all four years of high school and not only did they have summer conditioning sessions 3-4 nights a week in the summer, they also had offseason conditioning through the winter and spring. NONE of it was mandatory, though...but coaches 'could' consider the student's effort at participating as evidence of their dedication to the sport. Mandatory practices began the second week of August, with start of season 6 weeks later.

My niece is rather short for a basketball player, so I'm guessing she feels like she has to show her dedication to the sport as a way for making up for her lack of height. 5'1 is not very tall to be playing high school basketball. Lucky thing is she is really good at it. Now if she would just grow!

 

[Becky2005]

I know I was shocked when my DD made cheer squad Freshman year and her first practice was literally the last day of school.

Now, legally, here they can't have a winter sport practice in the summer but they get around that by offering "camps" which on paper they can't say is required but it pretty much is.

She doesn't do sports anymore not due to that but it has certainly made having a summer real.

I know when I was in school for Volleyball, we started 2 weeks before school started.

 

[scrapbookmommy]

My DD is playing high school volleyball and they have been having "open gym" a couple days a week for quite some time now. They will have it daily as soon as school is out but it's not mandatory until sometime in July. But their coach is very understanding and he said he felt like family vacations and camps and such were just as important and he did not expect them to miss those things because of practice. KHSA also has a mandatory "dead period" for two weeks at the end of June into July were they are not allowed to have open gym, practice or even call or have any contact with their players. This applies to all KY high school sports.

 

[PEANUT1]

I so don't look forward to dealing with kids sports schedules..I feel your pain

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Can you believe that the first day of practice for fall basketball is the very first day they are out of school?

While our kids aren't quite like that, we do have similar problems. As soon as school is done, there is a marching band boot camp for new band members. Section leaders also have to attend to teach the kids in their section. This year, my daughter is mellophone section leader. Fortunately, we booked our trip for a few days after.

Then marching band starts in earnest about two weeks before school.

But yeah, this is a problem with a lot of sports.

 

[jenn-n-okla]

Same in Oklahoma as Texas. When do kids get to be kids?
I am VERY grateful my kids choose not to participate. As a teacher I personally would hate it. But then again I am not a coach and I know sports is not for everyone.

 

[Pixieflip]

Here in Texas sports and band are HUGE. So something like that wouldn't suprise me. I hate it and think it is ridiculous. Most kids that participate in high school will never go on to play in college or professionally. Yet, during high school they are expected to dedicate their lives to their "drug" of choice. It is typical for sports, band, and drill team kids to practice close to 9 hours a day in the month before school.

what happened to the days when kids particpated in extra curricular activities for the fun of it?

Same here. I'm looking at trying to schedule a graduation trip and have no idea when we can go. Between DH's work schedule and sports...I hate it, too.

I'm thinking sports looses. Disney wins. Family memories will be made. Fun will be had. And the non-existent professional sports career will be still be non-existent. Oh well.

 

[4forMe]

Due to some really cheap airfares, I was looking into a trip to Disney World with my sis and her kids this June, once the kids were out of school. My oldest niece plays many sports, so I thought that would be a good time to go.

Wrong! Can you believe that the first day of practice for fall basketball is the very first day they are out of school? They get no time off at all! And when you look at my nieces schedule, because of drivers ed and sports she has only 2 times this summer where she has 5 days off in a row without something going on!

I just can't believe it! What happened to having summers to play and recharge for the next school year? It is just insane to have sports practice the very first day of summer break!

Do all school districts do this?

In our area, vacations are absolutely scheduled around sports schedules. Baseball and football are the huge sports here. The ONLY week most families have available is the last week of July since most baseball is over. The beginning of August is the start of football season which is practice 4 times per week for 2 hours (yes, even for 8 yr olds).

Do I think this is crazy? Yes! However, I don't see any way to get around it.

My brother is a coach for all of his son's teams and the only free week they have ALL YEAR is the last week of July! Last year, all my kids were in baseball and I was ready for a vacation by mid-June - it was a horrible, never ending season.

This year, they all decided not to do baseball. We have a surprise trip for the Dells planned in June which we never would have been able to do without hearing the wrath of some of these coaches.

 

[a1tinkfans]

I think Everyone deserves a break..especially in summer.
That being said, my ds is constantly getting these Huge packets for the summer (and over most breaks too!) and I absolutely resent them. He stresses over it. They are very time consuming and usually take weeks to complete.
I understand that class "choices" are advanced but regardless, I see no reason why any child that does not need remedial help, should be working on some huge summer packet...Enough already!! Let the kids relax, read, socialize and just Unwind for goodness sakes! Rant Over!

 

[Tam1067]

My oldest will be in high school starting in 2011. He's very involved with junior high band, and will be doing marching band in h.s. The band kids get two weeks in July free from practice (starting July 5). But if they're in summer school, as many of them are because band takes an elective hour at school, so they need to make something up somewhere, they have summer school for another week, so that means there's a grand total of one week plus the weekends on either side of that week when they are not in band or summer school. I'm NOT looking forward to it at all because I really wish we could have a bit more flexibility than being forced to go away during one specific week. I feel for families with kids in different activities or sports because I imagine they'd never match up.

 

[mommyoffive]

My son played high school football, basketball and track. He got off two weeks in the summer. Our basketball team went to alot of games over the summer. We did alot of out of state games with the high school plus there were the football camps. Good luck with it!! I loved loved watching my son play. I made sure we went to every game over the summer and that was our vacation. My girls did not like it but I sure did. Hubby was usually in iraq or at school for the army.

 

[angelisagemini]

Well, my kid is still a toddler so I'm not dealing with this yet. But when I was in high school I was on a very competitive dance team. My first trip to Disney was actually for the Nationals competition. We practiced all year and I loved it. It kept me out of trouble and we never had to play catch up with our skills the way we would have if we had taken breaks. We worked our butts off to be as good as we were and were very willing to work on it all summer long. I have no bad memories of it.