Both my kids do not do sport in high/middle schools. But they do color guards, which gives high school PE credit. During fall, color guard team participate in field show competition with school band, no cut there. During winter, they have winter guard completion indoor. They have JV and Varsity teams, so no cut too. They have fun and making friends among different grades. They travel to Southern CA and Dayton Ohio for regional and national competitions. Good Luck.
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thank you so much! i am leaning towards cross country since the next sign ups are for fall… plus tennis rackets are genuinely too heavy for me to actually be able to throw the ball
thank you so much! since cross country is a fall sport, i’ll probably look into that.
ah i wish we did. i’m honestly more surprised we don’t but thanks so much!
this makes me feel a lot better. i typically do enjoy doing active activities but the embarrassment of being completely terrible at them kinda brings down that incentive. i don’t think we have any workshops near us but ill look into it. thank you!
thanks so much! i’m glad to hear your daughter had a community that supported her. the people in this school are nice but i do go to a private school so i don’t know how mean they get when it comes to sports haha
Great! Google “couch to 5k” and you’ll find lots of resources to get started running. You can do it!
thank you so much for sharing this video.
i tried to research for this, and they don’t really offer it in my state … also i go to a private school so i don’t know if that would affect anything. thank you so much for this information though
thank you. it’s nice to hear that people have gone through similar experiences as me. 
thank you so much!!! it’s like you knew everything that i forgot to include in my original post. i’m going to go look for some running shoes and start tomorrow since it’s spring break for me. i’ll email the coach for cross country — thank you so much
you’re right. my anxiety tends to hold me back but that can’t be an excuse for everything. i’m planning on emailing my coach and signing up for cross country this fall.
i’m not necessarily sure if our cross country team is no cut because u do need to be on (junior) varsity, but everyone seems to be telling me that it’s not. thank you so much for educating me about the sport a little more though
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thank you !! i can’t imagine how funny that seemed; i needed this type of comment
When most people think of a “talented athlete” they think of someone who is big and strong, with good hand-eye coordination and explosive power. Ask a cross country coach about talent, and they will talk about work ethic, cardiovascular capacity, responding to training, and durability. At this point, you likely have no idea what your talent level is for running, but I guarantee you can improve from where you are now. And as @politeperson says, most of HS running isn’t about being the star runner, it’s about the experience and friendship.
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Runners are their own opponents, my kids were trying to improve their times, every week the coach would send out a notice congratulating those that PR’d. Sure, medals are nice, but even now, when then run 5k’s, 10k’s, half marathons, they are really only racing against themselves.
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If you are doing it for the PE credit, look into whether managing a team counts. You might enjoy keeping statistic, working with the coaches, organizing the equipment- and there is quite a bit of running around so you’d get some exercise too. For my kids’ PE requirement, they could also do the dance team, cheerleading, or marching band too.
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If it’s PE credit you need, ask your counselor if there’s online PE credit. In Texas high school students can get PE credit from online programs, and the grades don’t count towards their GPA.
You may also look into marching band. In Texas marching band students get both PE and Arts credits to fulfill the graduation requirements.
If it’s EC you’re looking into, and you want something “sports”, would you consider eSports? maybe chess? These are not physically demanding at all.
I was similar to you at your age regarding the anxiety (and physical size). At my small rural school the boys and girls XC teams trained together and I started out way back with the slower boys and girls. I might have finished last in my first meet. By the end of the year I was solidly in the middle of the pack of the boys on the team and often scored points.
Looking back you will regret not trying more than any momentary awkwardness. I’m betting that you’ll surprise yourself along with those around you. Getting hurt in high school XC isn’t common so the worst thing that can happen to you is that you end up in better physical shape than when you started which means no real downside.
I look forward to you finding this thread in the fall and letting us know how you did.
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