Question for high school parents

[mousefan73]

Can you confirm if this statement is true. That today in high school, everyone has the opportunity to play football or be a cheerleader. there’s no such thing as tryout in football. They have special teams that allow you to be on the team. Cheerleading everyone enjoying. I’m having a discussion with someone saying that today they try to be all inclusive, and no longer do tryouts or cuts.

Back in my days in the 90s it was tryouts and you were cut. I think 50 girls tried out for cheerleading and only 8 or 10 made it. of course you can’t compare cheerleading back then to what it is now now it’s like basically gymnastics. Then it was based on who had the best smile lol.

 

[soccerdad72]

I think it really depends on the school. In my sons’ HS, I’m pretty sure that football was a no cut sport, but they were a smaller school (800 or so total enrollment), so as long as they had uniforms for everyone, they put them on the team. It didn’t mean that many of those kids ever saw the field, but they were able to suit up for game days.

Much larger schools around us have to make cuts. You can’t have hundreds of kids on a football team.

No clue as far as cheerleading goes.

 

[LoveDaisy]

It depends. My stepdaughter is a senior in high school and had to tryout and make the cut for her sports. A friend teaches high school in a small school system and they do not have tryouts. They have had to cut some sports due to lack of students.

 

[CdnCarrie]

I'm sure it's not a blanket statement across the USA. Would depend on the school, school division, etc.
Pretty sure my kid's school has tryouts for football and hockey. (in Canada0

 

[lanejudy]

High school? No. And while we are D1 in my state, we're a relatively small school (graduated just over 200 last year). It does vary somewhat by sport and by school, depending on the number of students interested in playing and whether the school has a coach for a "JV-B" or "freshman" team. Sports like cross-country and track & field will accept all comers.

Middle school and elementary school, pretty much yes everyone gets on a team.

 

[lanejudy]

I’m having a discussion with someone saying that today they try to be all inclusive

By "all inclusive" does this person mean students with disabilities? Or just all students who want to play? Students with disabilities cannot be barred from trying-out, but more likely will be asked to be manager or something. Possibly such a student might get a spot on a JV level team.

There may be more opportunities today than in the 90s. I see many more intramurals and club sports within high schools now. But maybe just my high school didn't offer those. There are also more opportunities for students with disabilities with Unified Sports which pairs special needs athletes with other students.

 

[bennifer]

I'm sure in some schools that is an accurate statement. In the school district my son is in, 100% not the case.

 

[Allison]

It depends on the size of the school.

 

[robinb]

My daughter graduated 7 years ago, but was a two sport student athlete in swimming and in track. There are 4 high schools with athletics in our school district. In her school and another nearby high school swimming was a no-cut sport. Anyone who wanted to swim was allowed on the team. The other 2 high schools had more good swimmers in their feeder middle schools and they had try outs. Needless to say, those high schools produced more swimmers that went to the high school state meet. My daughter did go to HS State, but only one other girl from the "no-cut" schools made it to state that year while the "try-out" schools sent nearly a dozen girls.

Frankly, the "no cut" nature of the swimming team was more a matter of socioeconomics than any kind of "woke" agenda. Competitive swimming is expensive. We spent thousands a year on club swim team and the tech suits for championship season run $300-$600 and can only be used for a limited number of swims. Many of the families of kids that attended the "no-cut" schools could not afford such luxuries while many of the families of kids that attended the "try-out" schools were more affluent.

So, the answer is "it depends" even within a school district.

 

[EACarlson]

I think a large part depends on the sport and what limitations there are. When I was in high school in the '90s everyone was allowed to be part of the team and practice, but dressing, playing and travelling with the team were limited. Football we brought everyone, but wrestling we only brought the people that were going to wrestle that night. I remember a large HS in MN that had 200+ on their football team but could only dress 100 for regular season games and 62 for playoffs.

 

[piglet1979]

It depends on the sport at our school. Both DD and DS played soccer. They both had tryouts but the tryouts were only to decided on JV or Varsity. DS also plays tennis and there are no tryouts. Cheerleading has tryouts and they do cuts as well.

We did have some students with disabilities on the football team (he was a manager) and I know of one on the cheerleading squad. I do not think he needed to tryout. He did cheer at each of the games too.

 

[amylevan]

I coach HS cheerleading - and I cut, and that is whether I’ve been at a small or large school, small or large turnout.

DS plays HS soccer, and this year they didn’t cut because they lacked numbers, but that is not typical.

Football doesn’t always cut at DS’s school because its a small school and so there is roster room. It doesn’t mean you will see playing time though.

 

[mjkacmom]

I think it really depends on the school. In my sons’ HS, I’m pretty sure that football was a no cut sport, but they were a smaller school (800 or so total enrollment), so as long as they had uniforms for everyone, they put them on the team. It didn’t mean that many of those kids ever saw the field, but they were able to suit up for game days.

Much larger schools around us have to make cuts. You can’t have hundreds of kids on a football team.

No clue as far as cheerleading goes.

Those non cut football players are pretty much tackle dummies here. Cheer is cut, the only other sport here with no cuts is xc/track, but not everyone gets to compete at all meets.

 

[cabanafrau]

Entirely dependent upon school and sport.

 

[tvguy]

My daughter tried out for her High School Soccer team. It was a cut sport, however, they were adding girls Lacrosse that year so anyone cut from the soccer team was automatically on the Lacrosse team. She decided she did not like the soccer program before cuts were made, and worked out for a little while with the Lacrosse team but decided that wasn't for her either.

 

[brockash]

Can you confirm if this statement is true. That today in high school, everyone has the opportunity to play football or be a cheerleader. there’s no such thing as tryout in football. They have special teams that allow you to be on the team. Cheerleading everyone enjoying. I’m having a discussion with someone saying that today they try to be all inclusive, and no longer do tryouts or cuts.

Back in my days in the 90s it was tryouts and you were cut. I think 50 girls tried out for cheerleading and only 8 or 10 made it. of course you can’t compare cheerleading back then to what it is now now it’s like basically gymnastics. Then it was based on who had the best smile lol.

We have tryouts and cuts. I will say football here cuts are very minor. They keep a ton of kids as it doesn't really cost them much and football teams can be big. Our other sports all cut like normal though.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Neither my children or grand attended high schools with football teams or cheerleading squads so can’t help with your question.

 

[JediBonas]

Depends on the school and sport but we have even some middle schools that have cuts for modified teams. I know one school had 80-ish kids try out for 22 spots for modified 7/8th grade soccer; my kids school had cuts for modified girls volleyball and I think boys modified basketball.

 

[mousefan73]

By "all inclusive" does this person mean students with disabilities? Or just all students who want to play? Students with disabilities cannot be barred from trying-out, but more likely will be asked to be manager or something. Possibly such a student might get a spot on a JV level team.

There may be more opportunities today than in the 90s. I see many more intramurals and club sports within high schools now. But maybe just my high school didn't offer those. There are also more opportunities for students with disabilities with Unified Sports which pairs special needs athletes with other students.

That everyone can join. I didn’t mean to imply a disability issue or anything like that. I live in Germany now, and the background to my question is that people are marketing exchange programs in the US implying that if you go to a school in the US you can join the football team or cheerleading squad. And I was just like how’s that gonna happen? Back in my day if you were cheerleader , you basically had tryouts early summer and you went to camp first during summer break. And the same thing with football for varsity they had cuts so you can’t just come over as an exchange student in August and expect to be on the varsity football team back in my days. Maybe really does depend on how big the school is and where it is.

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

Definitely try-outs here (Southeastern US). COMPETITIVE is an understatement.