Homeschooling and Sports by Stacy Baxter

About Me: I played public school volleyball all 4 years, club volleyball for 4 years, and I played Division II volleyball for a short stint at Shepherd University before I was injured and could not play anymore.  I have also coached volleyball in the public school and currently coach for the Bravehearts homeschool team.
 
            About 8 million high schoolers play sports every year.  As homeschoolers, we want our kids to have the opportunity to play sports as well.  I have heard so many homeschool parents say, “I will send my kids to public school for high school so that they can play sports.”  My question is why?  
            Sports are important.  I think no matter what your future plans are, learning to play on a team is an incredibly important life skill.  But are sports more important than a child’s character? Below are some common things I have heard through the years and my response.  

• My child can’t get the same competitive experience in the homeschool setting as they can at the public school.
• I disagree and agree. I disagree because there are many competitive high school homeschool sports. Below is a list of teams in the area. They can be just as competitive as the public school teams.  In fact, my Bravehearts JV Volleyball team beat one of the local public school JV teams at a tournament this past fall.  I agree because it won’t be the same experience and that is a good thing.  Most of the homeschool teams are Christian.  My volleyball team has devotions every practice and we pray together.  As a coach, I can be more involved in a player’s character development than I can at the public school level.  When I coached in the public school, it was way more than I was prepared for.  I had girls with eating disorders, suicidal thoughts, and sexuality questions.  As a coach, I was not allowed to talk with the girls about these issues, I just had to send them to the guidance counselor.  Of course I prayed for these girls but I couldn’t pray with them.  I couldn’t talk to their parents about it.  With the Bravehearts, I have not had any issues like those but I am not naive to think they do not exist.  But I know I can talk with the girls and pray with them.  I can talk to their parents and support them.  As a parent of a high school athlete, I want my child on a team that has a coach with the same morals as me.  A coach I know will pray with my daughter and talk with me.  You won’t get that in a public school and not because the coaches won’t do it, but because they can’t.
• I want my child to play in college and they need to play in public school to be able to do that.
• There was a time where this was true but not anymore.  Most kids that play in public school also play off season in their respective sport on a club/travel team. This is where college recruiting usually happens.  The teams tend to travel to larger tournaments where college recruits will come because they can look at a large number of players at once.  
• A lot of club/travel teams have admin that can help a player develop videos of a player to submit to a college.  The FCA Volleyball club that my daughter plays for holds special meetings for players wanting to play in college.  They bring in college coaches and aid in developing videos.
• Homeschool players play with others from public school and private schools.  
• I played college volleyball and even though I had to stop due to injury, I am not sure I would have played the next year anyway.  College sports are tough.  We would leave at 3, drive 2 hours, play a match, drive 2 hours back.  Getting back sometimes at midnight and having an 8 am class the next day.  Doing this for weeks on end was rough.  Then in the off season, you train.  6 am training sessions before 8 am classes are no fun.  I missed out on so many other things in college because I was either studying, training, practicing, or traveling.  And I sat on the bench a good bit.  The only time I started was a few games when our starting outside hitter was hurt.  My brother played Division III baseball all 4 years and loved it.  So I am not saying you can’t love college sports but he was disciplined and he didn’t want a life outside of baseball.  That was his life. Personally, I wanted a life outside of volleyball.
• According to scholarshipstats.com only about 7% of high school athletes go on to play in college.  That is quite a small number no matter how they were schooled.
• I want my child to be a light to the public school kids that may not know Christ.
• I completely agree that we want our kids to be lights to others but high schoolers are still figuring out who they are. In public schools today, identities are in crisis. Although I was confident in my faith in high school, I was still quickly brought down at times by my non-believing peers. In life when you are surrounded by enough negativity, you will eventually start to have negative thoughts. If you are conscious of it you can spend time in the Word and stay positive. But teenagers who are just starting their walk as young adults, and who also want to fit in with their peers, can be easily overwhelmed by the great task of being a light to others.

 
I know there are some student athletes that get recruited from public school but those numbers are few.  And I know Christians who went through public school and were successful. But when making the decision for our own kids, we have to give them the best platform possible for adulthood. So I am reassuring you that your child CAN get the same experience on a homeschool and/or club team. Public high school is NOT the only good option for high school sports!

Homeschool Sports - Middle and High School Level Sports
 
Football
Central Maryland Christian Crusaders
https://www.christian-crusaders.com/
High School Boys (Ages 15-18)
Middle School Boys (Ages 11-14)
 
Cheerleading
Central Maryland Christian Crusaders
Cheerleading Coach: Sarah Delph
sdelphcmcc@yahoo.com
443-340-7726
 
Volleyball
FCA Bravehearts
braveheartsvb.org
shelly@braveheartsvb.org
Middle School & High School Girls
 
Soccer
CHE Soccer, Deer Park
Cheunitedsoccer@gmail.com
Co-ed for younger grades
Varsity and rec teams for older grades
 
Northern Maryland FCA Women’s Varsity Sports
https://www.nmdfca.org/womens-varsity-teams?fbclid=IwAR0mr12qvJYpDtFJHlvoSJy1jFAMaqAQJ_hEzUpxeTQgo1W9AsudRVHm0yM
 
Northern Maryland FCA Men’s Varsity Sports
https://www.nmdfca.org/mens-varsity-teams?fbclid=IwAR1s0RB2kz2XWhskolqU8rDu6efstjz3DGa43kBJlVWmeDnPJi1mclya0vU
 
Boys Lacrosse
Tim Hines
THINES@FCA.ORG OR 443-324-3914
Parkville, MD
 
FCA Girls Varsity Lacrosse
Joppa, MD
Tim Hines
thines@fca.org OR 443-324-3914

Homeschool Sports for Other Ages
 
Gymnastics
TRIBE Co-op
Friday afternoons
Co-ed, ages 4-9
electivefriday@gmail.com
 
Carroll Gymnastics, Inc.
https://carrollgymnastics.com/
Girls classes and Boys classes
 
Swimming
Basin Swim Academy
https://basinswimacademy.com/programs/homeschool-swim-program/
 
Tennis
York Adams Community Tennis Association (YACTA)
www.yorkadamstennis.org
Boys and Girls, Ages 5-17
Tuesdays 2-3:15pm, $5.00
Denise Dunn, Director of Programs
 
Rugby (Not just for homeschoolers)
Gina Palermo (maraudersevents@outlook.com)
www.westcarrollrugby.com
Middle School and High School
 
Mixed Martial Arts
Shaddock MMA Fitness Academy
Eldersburg, MD 
https://shaddockmma.com/
 
Ice Skating
Reisterstown Sportsplex
https://www.rtownsports.com/learn-to-skate