Hi Lobug, this is a great question and all home schoolers have this problem. Before junior high age, there seems to be a lot of sports activities through Park Districts. My kids were on the soccer teams and baseball teams. You can also find classes through the Park District in dance and gymnastics. Our local university offered a weekly gymnastics class through their PE department, and now they have a badminton club. Then there's always the YMCA. They often have a lot of classes and some competitive sports, like swimming. Even churches offer sports for all ages. My kids were in Upward Basketball at least one year. I usually heard of things through the newspaper or mailed advertisements or my friends.
When your child reaches junior high and high school age, those great activities become very limited. I guess it's because the high schools have so much going on in the sports area, other outlets can't compete. But for sports that are not offered in the high schools, you may find something. In 8th grade Melissa joined a hockey team at an area ice arena. Our high schools don't offer hockey, so this was a thriving network of teams across the Midwest. She loved it. It was a co-ed team with only two girls.Melissa also got into Olympic Weightlifting for awhile. Yes, we homeschoolers do some interesting things! The guy at the fitness center here in town was building an Olympic Weightlifting team, so he started training some kids (all homeschoolers) and got them competing around the state. She loved that too, but had to quit when she decided to go to public school. Oh, and don't forget martial arts. My kids have done Tae Kwon Do and Ikido, and these competitions are open to all ages.
Home school associations in metropolitan areas may have their own sports league. I know Dallas has a home school athletic association.A lot of older homeschoolers in this are are on the swim team that competes in the summer through the Park District or the YMCA. And I think we have an independent girls' softball league around here, but since Missa wasn't interested, I haven't researched it.
Another place to look for sports teams is Christian high schools. If they are not affiliated with the public school sports system, they may let homeschoolers try out and join the teams. A school here in town offers volleyball, basketball, and track.
Depending on your state laws and local cooperation, you might be able to get on a public high school team. For us, a child has to take a minimum of five classes to be eligible to play. If I understand this correctly, it's any five classes. So that could be PE, band, choir, acting, and current events. Of course, that would take up a lot of your child's day, but it's something to look into if you are desperate to get into a sport that is only offered at your high school.
You may also want to check out teams at your high school that are not part of the "system." I guess these would be considered clubs. They would have their own set of rules about who could join. I'm thinking of Lacrosse. Since Lacrosse is not an Illinois High School Association sponsored sport, kids have to pay to participate (no state funding) and fewer regulations.
One of the big reasons Melissa wanted to try public school was for the sports. And she is in them like crazy! She was on the girls' basketball team, and now she's in track. The whole public high school thing is working for her, at least for now.
Meg, on the other hand, is still fully home schooled. She has expressed a desire to be on a sports team, and we've talked about her trying out at the Christian school, but she's not that motivated. She's mostly into dance and acting through our local theater that offers classes and does a yearly musical. Peter was never much into team sports except for baseball and soccer for a few years in elementary school. He does, however, love martial arts and ballroom dance.
So in a nutshell, look here:
- Park Districts
- YMCAs
- Gymnastic Centers
- Dance Centers
- Colleges
- Ice Arenas
- Fitness Centers
- Martial Arts Centers
- Churches
- Christian Schools
- Home School Associations
- Public School sports clubs
What did/do you do for sports activities for your kids? How do you get them involved in team sports when homeschooling. My 3 are really young (youngest not in school yet), and at least 2 of them are very much going to need extracurricular activities!
Thanks!!