What @dadof4kids said! He has way more experience than me but I just would echo that high academic schools anywhere in the country will be very familiar with acronym boarding schools and will be able to place a boarding school GPA into the context of that particular school. Cross that off your list of things to worry about.
I’ve been getting a ton of help from the BS people the last couple of weeks. I’m happy to finally be able to contribute!
A further contribution I will make is recommending asking questions on the athletic recruiting forum. I have found it to actually be pretty similar to the BS forum, in that it is a smaller and overall less snarky group than some other places. Just as happens on the BS forum, I have seen many posters have different versions of “please help me” posts and people will come out of the woodwork to offer guidance and support. Like BS parents it’s a smaller community that 95% of the College Confidential posters aren’t familiar with and don’t care about. Even though the details differ many of us felt like we had to forge our own path without guidance from people we knew IRL, because our kid was on a different path than his or her peers. So there is more of a common bond I think.
I know @cinnamon1212 is active on both forums, I’m guessing she would agree.
If you have questions, don’t be afraid to head over there, or send me or others you see a PM.
I have a couple questions from stuff that has surfaced lately. It seemed like BS kids will have a big disadvantage this year since there won’t be any real sports for the foreseeable future and even practice time is really riding on how are things with regards to covid, and schools are very cautious promising anything. Plus most schools do not allow kids to leave for tournaments and prospect days this fall. Meanwhile, a lot of states seem to be managing some version of HS sports season and club sports are also chugging along.
And I just heard from a couple people that some BS are doing their version of the ‘bubble’ and are having their varsity teams practice and play still. The ones I have heard of are known to be very sports focused but I am wondering if it may be more common than I thought. Our school is doing no such thing sad to say.
Also, is the lack of availability of SAT/ACT testing for the last 6 months going to force the colleges to focus more on grades instead? That would not necessarily be good news for boarding school kids either. And it seems like more and more colleges are cutting sports as their budgets collapse with canceled football season, bound to get worse if basketball gets canceled as well. Seems like not great time to have a kid wanting to play college sports fo sure.
I think if you have an athlete graduating in 2021 it is very tough this fall. For the 2022’s (and I guess 21’s too) our school is filming scrimmages (within the team) and may invite some college coaches to come watch a scrimmage/training session. There is a faint hope of some games with other very local boarding schools.
It’s a very tough year for 21’s and 22’s…but we know of several 21’s who are getting Division I offers and a couple of 22 boys, already, being recruited. As a parent, I feel my kiddo is at a disadvantage being at BS this year - not just for sports but also because of their “wonky” academic schedule (eg 2 courses per term, like full year of Spanish 4 and AP Physics in 9 weeks with AP test in May). Kiddo missed the Spring sport season and will miss out on the Fall Sport. We know several kids (soccer, hockey, lax) who are either not returning to BS or who are choosing to attend local private and/or public schools so they can do club, tournaments, prospect camps and showcases. What really seems unfair is that day students and fac-kids get to attend club practices, tournaments and showcases - but the boarders can’t leave campus this fall.
I gave kiddo the choice of dropping out, staying home to do club sports and do online via local school. Without hesitation, kiddo wants to go back to BS.
At our school the day students are not allowed to attend anything outside (tournaments, practices etc).
I understand your frustration. I have an athlete at an Ivy right now, and I’m pretty sure he is going to lose his season even though it will probably occur in some manner elsewhere. He isn’t even being allowed to practice off campus right now, and he was planning on competing at senior nationals against the Olympic level guys for the first time in a few weeks. Since he isn’t allowed to practice at all he is probably going to skip that now too. Even if he went he would have to quarantine for 2 weeks when he returned to campus. We talked about taking a gap year, but it kind of messes up his long term goals so he’s just going to stay put and wait this out. Overall a crummy year for everyone, probably athletes in particular.
My guess is that even though this is making your recruitment season even more stressful, ultimately your kiddos won’t get hurt that badly. Most coaches that recruit from BS are going to be aware of what is happening to your season. And frankly they all love to “bargain shop” and are going to be on the lookout for kids missing their senior season and falling through the cracks, and (in their mind) hopefully falling too far so they can pick them up. If enough of them are bargain shopping, there won’t be many bargains.
I wouldn’t worry too much about the grades either. Most schools where grades matter are very aware that a 3.5 at an acronym school is very different than 3.5 at most public schools. My daughter is ranked 1/350 at her LPS, but I’m worried that a couple of B’s will derail her since she doesn’t have a confirming test score. They may think that your kid’s 3.5 at Andover (or whereever) means he is more academically capable than her 3.9 because they know his competition but don’t know hers.
I’m not trying to diminish your concerns, if you look at my old posts you will see that I am constantly in a state of panic about how something is going to make my kids unfairly look bad. But I’m trying to give you some comfort that it will probably work out fine. The coaches are aware of the situation, and they still want to get the best players they can.
Most wrestlers missed the entire summer season, which for college recruiting is much more important than the actual HS season. I still know several who ended up with D1 offers, a couple of whom frankly in my mind still had something to prove before they would get that good of an offer in a normal year. But it’s not a normal year, so the coaches have to take a few more risks and take kids who are still a bit unproven.
Good luck, it will work out fine.
Has your son already committed though? I think I remember that you have a '21.
The juniors at our school who hope to play in college have all been forced to be virtual this fall. I wonder how it will impact them. Clearly the sport is important but the quality of education is just not there virtually (IMO). It is a hard choice to have to make. I imagine there is a bit of panic going on but I haven’t been able to speak to parents since none of us are allowed on campus and there aren’t any games to congregate at anyway.
I also wonder - and worry about - the fact that not everyone missed a summer season. There were parts of the country going on as if almost nothing was happening while our state was shut down. Many of the athletes we know played all summer.
We know a bunch of '22 kids who just committed mostly off their summer tapes. With the dead period coaches cannot attend anything and apparently spend their time watching a lot of film. And yes, some kids did play all summer, my kid has several friends who went down to Florida, spent some time at IMG camps and then did showcases down there. In the middle of the pandemic and their surge, there were still tournaments most weekends. Go figure. And of course they are playing fall sports, football included.
NY does not allow to do much of anything yet, but DS spent a lot of his spare time working out and training, and NJ, CT and MD allowed some games so he did get to play a bit this summer. Was a bit sad to see though as they got crushed by teams they beat handily in the past because they are in places where they could practice while we could not.
We have friends in NorCal who drive to Utah(!) for tournaments, but that’s the level of craziness (or dedication?) beyond what I would do. But remote learning and working makes it easier to be anywhere. Apparently some people are driving RVs all over doing this stuff. Maybe it is a family adventure?
Can confirm what @417WHB posted above…we were not in the RV caravan…very little time playing and now can’t leave campus at al this Fall.
I think this is where the “bargain shopping” may come into play. I’m guessing that in many sports there are coaches looking at old film trying to figure out who should have been making noise this summer but instead was sidelined by Covid. They still want those kids. The struggle is just finding them. You aren’t the only one seeing this as a problem, the coaches feel the same way.
The challenge is going to be getting your kiddos noticed in that environment. Probably a bit more work will need to be done at the kid/parent level, rather than coaches noticing kids at different events. Send a few more emails, if you have been out of competition a long time maybe some updated training film (in sports where that is useful). Or just random contact to stay top of mind.
The point is that coaches are still looking for your kids. Just because NY (or whoever) shut down for the summer doesn’t mean there are any less talented NY kids than in a normal year. The coaches know this. You just need to get a way to get the coaches to notice your kid in particular.
Good luck.
No dog in this hunt, but I feel for those that do.
California is a wasteland for youth sports right now, and realistically that isn’t going to change until the winter sport season. That is a lot of talent out there that the coaches are going to want, and that is just one state! I gotta believe that the talent will shine through when the kids can finally play again, even if they are rusty. Lots of kids are. Coaches should still be able to spot talent. They will find a way to make it work. There is such an advantage for those coaches that do.
@CateCAParent A coach told me the other day that kids are fleeing CA to play in the neighboring states. He made it sound like there was a mass exodus.
My fear is not this fall, it’s that all these restrictions, especially the BS restrictions, stay in place through the spring. BS are going to be placing a HUGE premium on in person graduation and I don’t see anything changing because of that. If we are really really lucky we may be allowed to play next fall and by then, well, it will be rough for a lot of kids.
I sincerely hope the kids can get their sports, their proms and their graduations.
California is squishing fall sports into abbreviated winter and spring seasons, and league games are actually being scheduled. The CIF (controls all school sports leagues, public and private) must be optimistic. how club sports work with that schedule, I have no idea. If kids want to play club, they probably do have to go elsewhere- until their counties hit the metrics set by the state.
It sucks for multi-sport kids. kiddo plays soccer, baseball and swims, and they are all spring sports this year. So he has to give up two. He isn’t looking to be recruited, so for him it is just disappointment. But for recruitable athletes, ugh! The coaches have their work cut out for them.