28 hrs/week in total extracurriculars- excessive? - Page 3

scualum · 10-29-2009, 08:56 AM

I'm with who ever said this is a bad question. It throws everyone for a loop every year and is just poorly designed. Given it is a computerized form why not something like
Jan Feb Mar ... Dec
Baseball 36 80 100 0
Drama 0 0 0 80

Put the total hours per month in each box - this kid had a play in the fall and played baseball in the spring.

archiemom · 10-29-2009, 09:05 AM

^^What a great idea^^
So it'll never happen...

momofthreeboys · 10-29-2009, 09:15 AM

That was me LOL that thinks it's a "bad" question. I joked with my S2 last week that he should put down "hanging out with friends" and assign some hours. I'm betting that would come back as a question in an interview LOL. I can hear it now, the admissions person looks down, looks at my son and says "So what do you and your friends do when you are "hanging out?" It happened again to S2 a couple weeks ago, we were finishing up a tour and the college president was cutting across campus and came over and asked the kids questions including what are you thinking of majoring in. Of course the girls went first with these wonderful dreams and then S2 the only boy on the tour mumbles, "I dunno" to which the college president laughed and said, we like kids like you, college is a time to explore blah, blah, blah. Sorry, but I'm one who doesn't think all colleges look for "perfect kids", with perfect resumes filled with wonderful "things" and no time for dreaming, thinking, hanging out. Maybe I'm living in a dream world, but deep down I suspect not. Of course the top schools look for someone unique who has some passion about something but if you are just a normal bright kid, you look like a normal kid on paper who has interests, things they do, dreams, etc. Unless they are a world class athlete or an uber-intellect who has been programed since age 5 toward a specific life course, most kids are "trying life on", they aren't fully formed yet and can't be reduced to x hours at this and x hours at that.

ReadyToRoll · 10-29-2009, 09:16 AM

That is light for some varsity sports. If you have a three season sport varsity player, then they are probably spending at least 35 hours each week on their sport, year round during the school year. Some sports also start/continue training in the summer.

momofthreeboys · 10-29-2009, 09:30 AM

In our system, most varsity sports practice 3-6 M-F during season, swimmers 5:30-7:30 am and 3-6 pm M-F during season, plus games/meets, etc. Summer and off season varies by sport and athletic association regulations supervised vs. on one's own or if they are in a travel league.

appdad · 10-29-2009, 10:05 AM

The varsity teams usually set a 3 to 4 limit on varsity team practice. If your HS requires 7 hours of practice per day during the school year something is wrong. If your goal is to play for top 25 college football or basketball program then I can understand committing equal time to sports and academics. However, if the goal is to go to a Ivy or T10 LAC the focus is on academics. Look at the rules they have in place designed to assure the proper balance between sports and academics. The adcoms at selective colleges will be looking to see if the applicant made 'intelligent'' decisions with respect to time devoted to ECs and academics. In the final analysis the outcome depends on the skills and effort of the applicant. My brother played 3 varsity sports won numerous awards and was even drafted by the NFL. However, in HS like me he was required to practice no more than 3 hours per day. If the applicant spent 35 hours a week on sports and earned 3.0 GPA I hope they are not expecting to get into a selective college.

ReadyToRoll · 10-29-2009, 10:26 AM

Appdad, I don't know how old your brother is or where he played, but here in our district, the football players have to be there at 6:00 a.m. for morning runs (school starts at 7:40). Then, they lift weights after school, have their team meeting/review films, and then practice until 7:00 p.m. (School ends at 2:20.) Sometimes the coach keeps them longer and my son walks in the door after 8:00. So that's at least 6.5 hours each day devoted to the sport. That is typical in our area. (Then, there are games or practices on the weekends...there is even practice on Sunday from 12 to 4 typically.)

It's a lot, for sure. My son is not going to play football in college, but it doesn't matter how good or bad you are, you're expected to be there or be suspended from the next game. The only acceptable excuse is illness (and if you were in school that day, you are well enough to practice) or tutoring/make-up testing/anything academic at school.

I can't say that I like it...in fact, I think it's nuts. But it is certainly typical. I think that, fortunately, colleges know how much time is devoted to some of these sports.

appdad · 10-29-2009, 11:19 AM

Interesting!!! The NCAA has a 20 hour per week (max 4 per day) limit on team related activities for a student-athelete. All D-1 teams have a compliance officer who is there to make sure the rules are enforced. I have heard of coaches that try to work around the rule but I also heard it requires some skill.

I have attached a copy of the NCAA D1 20/8-Hour Rule.
http://www1.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect...28be9565dafefc

momofthreeboys · 10-29-2009, 11:27 AM

ReadytoRoll, something doesn't sound right about the practice times. There are very strict rules about practice and the amount of time. I know my son's football coach emphasizes that the kids lift or crosstrain outside of practice hours and during off season, but it's not mandatory and the coaches are not present. I sometimes wonder how the swimmers get around it.

Youdon'tsay · 10-29-2009, 11:40 AM

I think "getting around it" is the key. In our state for my sons' sports, for instance, during the offseason coaches are not allowed to be on the field "coaching" them. But that doesn't mean they don't practice. Ds1 does weights, running and field work three times a week in the offseason -- not part of a conditioning class -- and ds2 is working out with his team twice a week under the direction of the team captains. Plus, ds1 this summer did a league, so under this one EC he has a lot of hours throughout the year even though the season itself is technically only about 10 weeks long.

I've heard the same thing about marching bands at hyper-competitive schools. The directors get around it by making student section leaders conduct the "optional" -- HAHAHAHA! -- sectionals.

I think in both these instances, kids should put down the time they're REALLY spending on these activities, rather than what the "rules" say.

appdad · 10-29-2009, 11:52 AM

I do not get it. Local high school has made the state finals in a number of sports. I am certain the teams spend no more than 20 hours per week on team related activities. In our district the parents would not tolerate overbearing coaches.

Youdon'tsay · 10-29-2009, 11:57 AM

If you love your sport and the team, you don't mind the extra time. Ds1, especially, loves the Friday workout because after that one some of them go eat and then go to the football game. I'm not saying the system is good or bad; I just hope that adcoms understand when kids list a lot of hours on an EC some of them aren't inflating those numbers.

romanigypsyeyes · 10-29-2009, 12:09 PM

vicarious, when I did my ECs, it came out to around 40 hours a week. I couldn't believe it until I realized that I spent around 50-60 hours a week in the school theater for 2/3 of the year (plus a lot more over breaks) plus ran 2 clubs, plus ran a basketball league which ate up most of my weekends.

It kind of just happens. It's not really excessive, don't worry. I would have weeks where I would do 70 some odd hours (generally on breaks and long weekends obviously) and I would have weeks where I did less than ten. It doesn't seem like a lot at the time, only in retrospect.

Oh yeah, and I still managed to have a very nice social life.

I am just trying to show you that she isn't alone, so it is quite all right! Good luck to your daughter!

CountingDown · 10-29-2009, 12:21 PM

S2 has practice 2:30-6 M-TH, 2:30-10:00 on game days, and film Sat. 8-10. If he needs to leave early, the coaches have been supportive. He is the only four-year IB student on the team and they have learned over the past few years that he doesn't miss practice unless he is really swamped.

appdad, a couple of the D-IIIs S has visited mentioned the 20/hr./wk rule, which made S feel a lot more confident about being able to juggle a college workload with playing. Even with extra time for weight training (which he'd like to do anyway), he thinks this is workable.

scu -- that is a great idea. It really shows the ebb and flow and why one's commitments in something may be limited.