I am curious to know if and how parents dealt with children who are academically very gifted (especially in the areas of science) but are also heavily involved in year-around competitive athletics training. (or something similar). It seems that as kids get older, the two do not mix if you want to pursue both at higher levels. As an example, highly motivated science students, will likely involve themselves in Science clubs during the year (Olympiad, Science Bowls etc), and may spend their free times and summers doing science research projects or attending some competitive science programs at some university. That�s what I hear anyway. But the demands and schedules of athletic training, in our case USA swimming, would likely limit available time to pursue such academic pursuits afterschool and during the summers. Personally, I think the academic pursuits are more important especially if you have the gift for it, since, ultimately that�s what leads to college and career interests, but I do see the benefits of high-level athletic training too.
My DH and I are non-athletic, very academic (and musically inclined). Get the type. My older one is very passionate about science, taking after her dad, (physics, astronomy, biology etc), a walking science encyclopedia and uber-creative (both in art, writing and general creative-problem solving). I do think her �creative mind� and academic orientation is her greatest asset. Yet, she is very dedicated to her swimming, which she trains for 5 days a week/two hours a day, year-around, and competes. She is not the best out there, by any means, but is improving at a rapid pace given her dedication. The swim coaches are great mentors to her and the comraderie gained from her teammates (and her sister, also a swimmer) are all super wonderful, as she has really gained greater self-confidence, self-awareness, better time-management skills and the mental toughness to withstand the rigorous daily training and racing. While I don�t see her as the college athlete yet (and maybe I�m wrong), that�s what she wants to do.
But as a middle-schooler, she is already running into the �conflicts� that I mentioned above..for instances the swim season including championships, all conflict with any summer academic opportunities. (she did CTY summer program in the past, now, it will be hard to get away to do it). Even the science olympiad team try-out this year which was extremely competitive, (and they only took five 6th graders), she was in the final running for one of the team spots given her extensive science �enrichment� experiences, try-out construction demo, eligibility science tests, overall grades and finally teacher recommendations, she was ultimately passed over for someone who was �less busy�. (of course, a twelve-year old did not do herself a favor by meticulously listing out her current schedule, and not envision, perhaps she can cut those other activities out had she been chosen, but that�s a separate issue)
It got me thinking though � if I see her passion and talent in science and academics, should I be gently �leading� her away from the sport that she is committed now, as she enters high school? I hate for her to forego academic opportunities that may otherwise be available to her. Unfortunately, swimming is an endurance and training-intensive year-around sport, couple weeks of getting away during the height of the season, or missing daily training, can completely undo you for the rest of the season. The other slight complication is that her sister, also very academically talented but in a more general way, is also a very talented swimmer ranked nationally (I can envision her swimming at college level and beyond) � so our family activities do center around swimming, though our daily �dinner-table� discussions will often involve lots of science and math (led by my engineering DH).
If anyone can relate to the dilemma as a parent, I would sure appreciate any comment. Ultimately the child will decide, but in my case, the child hates to be a quitter, and will dedicate themselve whole-heartedly to everything that they do until the parent intervenes saying enough is enough. So far, keeping up the grades is no problem, so balance is not the issue, but it�s a matter of long-term prioritization....
