Badminton academy wants our 11 year old in the 6 am batch, five days a week

rose_window_970227 Jul 2026

She has done evening badminton twice a week for two years and loves it. The coach now wants her in the morning group, which trains every weekday at 6. It's a real step up and she is thrilled. The mornings already belong to my partner, who handles our 2 year old and the school run, and I leave for the office by 7.30. A 5.30 drive to the academy and back lands right in the middle of that, and she'd be at school by 7.40 straight after training. I don't want to say no to something she has earned, and I can't see how the week works if we say yes.

2 comments

indigo_kite_271728 Jul 2026
Ask the coach whether three mornings keeps her in the group. My daughter did a 6 am athletics batch in class 7. It was fine until exams, then sleep was the first thing to go.
- mango_window_830928 Jul 2026
  also worth asking again in december, not july. 5.30 in the winter dark is a different conversation
linen_bottle_769130 Jul 2026
I teach primary, and the early-training kids are easy to spot by Thursday, heads on desks after lunch. Doesn't mean don't do it. Means she has to be asleep by 9 and someone has to enforce it 🤷
- rose_window_970230 Jul 2026
  The coach says three days won't keep her place, which is the whole difficulty. Bedtime by 9 would be its own fight in our house. Still haven't decided.