Can One Extracurricular Activity Ban Involvement in Another?

You might want to ask the science project sponsor. I bet it involves committment of time - maybe evenings or weekends that would interfer with games or practice.

This guy seems to be the sponsor/ coordinator.

There will be coaches under him (not yet set up) and I guess the principal is above him, but this is the main guy.

I know basketball practice and game times and they don't conflict with the scheduled times for this (science olympiad). The only real variable is the amount of time required for working on stuff at home, but basketball is not many hours per week and she has basically no homework this year. I thought it might just be about not overburdening the kids, a recommendation, and emailed him to clarify that part, and his response was, and I quote here, "NO winter season school sports and if there are other activities we can't have ours taking a back seat." (Emphasis mine.)

I might take it to the principal and ask him, just looking for some feedback and maybe resources. I can start looking for those (resources) myself. Always prefer to be well-armed before taking it up a notch.

At this point, if sozlet really wants to do it (and right now she does), I'm leaning towards just letting her do basketball as well and if it becomes an issue, dealing with it then.

I would advise you on speaking directly to the principal on this and expressing your views as you have done here.

Indicate that your daughter has interest in both, she will have time for both, that the schedules do not conflict, nor will her participation in both interfere with her studies.

One thing I'd be careful about is just heading forward and placing your daughter in both activities and then facing the possibility of her having to withdraw from one or the other if the higher ups require it. Sure, you might get away with it; but, what happens if she is then forced to make a choice and withdraw from one activity?

Has this been the policy of the school in the past or is it something new?

What happens at the end of the science club season? Is there a science fair? Some of these things go on to district-state-regional-national science fairs whose schedules might not be known yet. Or, if the basketball teams gets into playoffs is there a potential conflict when both events want the kids full attention? It sounds as if it's a policy that's come from a history of running into problems down the road.

What I mean by "deal with it" is take it to the principal and question whether this requirement is acceptable. I think it's likely he'd say "no," and she wouldn't actually have to choose.

My concern about doing it ahead of time is that this guy wouldn't like being contradicted, and it may affect sozlet's experience there. He might be looking for excuses -- "See, told you she couldn't handle both!"

She's much more committed to basketball than this, so worst-case scenario is that she does the science olympiad for a short time instead of not at all. There isn't much of a contest if she has to choose just one.

I don't know if this is a new requirement or not. I'll ask around.

Nope, everything's all scheduled. There are two invitationals and two tournaments, which are all on Saturdays. Games are on Sundays, (no post-season), and basketball practices are on non-Tuesday weekdays. Scheduled science olympiad practices are on Tuesdays.

You might have to explain that while some people only have the potential for one project year, sozlett does not.

On the other hand, that could be seen as favoritism.

Guy sounds a tad obsessed, but he's probably all gung ho about the project.

I once was selected, lucky me, the one from our school to enter a big fat competition for a real and somewhat local city square re-design... while I was working 30 to 40 hrs a week on an actual big project (coordinator), and taking bunches of units in land arch school at night, and doing homework in the middle of the night (also married, cooking, blah blah blah. Chihuahua! No kids though, no way I could have done that w/kids.) I took it on as I love that kind of design puzzle, knocked myself out with a couple of hundred hours fit in somehow, and it turned out the teacher who chose me (blah blah) didn't have the right program criteria. (Long time lesson to check stuff out from the city yourself, on foot, in the right department, and request updates.) It wasn't a waste of time, as I did have fun while sleep deprived, but it made me cranky. But I was well into adulthood.

I think Sozlet will be good in science in the future, if that is her thing, with or without this project and she's a kid and likes basketball. I'll be interested how this all turns out.

I might, were I you, talk with the principal. I think. Would that bounce back against her? I should hope not, for an inquiry. It might be hard not to flash how science can run in the family, but I'd avoid that with Mr. Avid. I think.

Osso, oof, that sounds frustrating! Glad you got something out of it even if you weren't able to advance.

So, does anyone have any thoughts/ resources on the original question? In addition to how it applies to this situation, I'm just curious.

I don't think our school has a "one sport at a time" rule, I think that's just how it usually works out because of the time commitment. For example, even the football team (which is super time-consuming) has a couple of players who are also on the soccer team.

I did a little Googling but it was surprisingly hard to turn anything up. I'll keep looking.

I wonder if the guy is speaking out of experience when it comes to running these sorts of science clubs. Everyone says that their children can handle a few dozen organized extracurricular activities each term and yet when it comes to his science club perhaps its the one that most students tend to throw on the back burner as "oh its only a science club and not actually a class" as they give priorities to the other activities they're involved with.

What happens if the students of the science club join in teams of two to do their club work or a particular project and one of the students is truly devoted to the science club while the other is half-hearted at best because he or she decided to make sports a greater priority? Doesn't seem very fair to the students who are truly into the science club and nothing else.

That may not be the case for Sozlet but you should recognize the motive.


Are you saying that basketball practice is on Mondays, Weds, Thursdays, and Fridays? Sounds like a big commitment to me. That there is absolutely nothing going on for the science club outside of the science practices on Tuesdays? No home projects? Experiments? Etc...?

Sozlet's ability to juggle a few dozen activities shouldn't be the issue. I don't believe going over the teacher's head and to the principle doesn't seem like an honorable and right thing to do.

No, basketball practices are once a week. We don't know which day hers will be yet, but the possibilities are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. (Not Tuesday.)

I already said there is a "home study" component of the science olympiad, in the context of the fact that she has basically no homework this year. She's willing to do that work. There is no homework associated with basketball, and the 7th and 8th graders who are also in the science olympiad undoubtedly have significantly more homework -- I think it's very likely that their homework adds up to more time than basketball would for her.

But more than just the time commitment, she does well with a balance -- some brain stuff, some sports stuff, and not too much of one or the other.

I recognize the motive, I just think it makes more sense for it to be "We take the science olympiad seriously and require a serious commitment and 100% attendance," and not "NO winter sports."

And I'm still curious if, motive aside, that's even kosher for him to say.

What do you mean about going over the teacher's head? The guy I've been talking about isn't a teacher, he's an accountant or something who coordinates this in his spare time. I've already talked to him, he already said NO winter sports.

If it is a non-staff volunteer who runs the program he can probably say whatever he wants in terms of participation and involvement, and make it stick - unless the school can find someone else to run the program.

I'd put money on it.

I used the word teacher lightly because I didn't know exactly what kind of position he had in the school. I guess I could have used coordinator because I missed that he was a volunteer. But is it safe to assume that his plan for the club which includes the "no winter sports" condition has already been acknowledged and given implied if not explicit consent from the school management if not expressly the principle?

Yeah, that may well be the case. Not sure yet, and haven't found anything conclusive yet in research.



Not really. I've been in contact with several other parents who were at the meeting, they're all saying "eh, ignore him." One of them has another kid who participated in this in the past. Another one has a kid who does swimming and asked about it during the meeting (I missed this, just learned via email) and he said about swimming, "if it's just a couple hours a week, that's fine." Basketball is also a couple hours a week! Games are 1 hour, practices about the same. (More for 3 weeks before the season starts, less after.) Plus it's also all nearby while swimming requires a lot more commuting + associated time involved.

I think this guy's disconnect may be that he doesn't realize that 6th-grade basketball (not run by the school) is different from 7th and 8th grade basketball. I may pursue that angle.

Basketball practice ONCE a week.?? My husband coached basketball and practice was every day after school (8th grade)

Anyway --- I believe in in the concept of the Student-Athlete, so make the academics priority. She can always pick up the sports thing later. (My husband, the 36 year basketball coach, is probably spinning in his grave right now but that's the way I feel)

Yeah, I think the time commitment goes up in 7th and 8th grade. But right now it's just the one practice a week + one game a week.

Why even mention her basketball at all? Who is HE to say No sports?? But you can raise this with the principal if you're that concerned about it. Me, I wouldn't say anything to the guy, and if he asked, I'd tell him she had commitments 2 hours a week and it didn't interfere.