re: At what age can a kid start baseball or football and contribute at the high school level?

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His friends are playing football now and he feels left out. We're neck deep in club soccer though.

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You can start football late and be just fine. One thing is certain, he will not be able to play both high school football and club soccer.

6 months

Depends on the high school and the athletic level of the kid.

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Have to start travel ball at 3.

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You're 3 years and 9 months too late at that point.

Baseball.
Variance based on locality.
In football towns there may not be high school baseball.
Just little, pony, american legion.
A fast pyramid out of the game. Private school is one way to assure access to play, coaching, discipline.
If you played, teach him yourself.
Hitting is learnable to an extent.
80% is genetics.
A lot is want to.
Being in a game doesnt teach much hitting.
Getting used to the speed and the tensions is something you can do in 2nd grade.

Baseball young. Football 6th/7th grade.

Your kid can develop a lot of the baseball skill at a young age just working on it with you. Don't fall for the bull crap that they have to play at a high level at a young age. Even the kids who play a ton of travel ball growing up are tremendously under developed. It amazes me how many freshman I see who have played forever that really have no feel for the game or what they are doing. I coached a kid who was a 1st round draft pick two years ago out of high school and he played boys and girls club until he was in 9th grade.

We do travel soccer now, and correct...it is brutal. My son loves it though. He got to kick the game winning PK late in a game last weekend, and he produced the pass from center mid that cracked the defense in another. He does well with the pressure. Late in both 2-2 games he was smiling and active and willing to be the best kid on the field. Tough too, no one wanted that 90th minute PK but him.

Then he goes hang out with his school friends and they have no idea what kind of strange day he had. 40 parents watching, and screaming for, kids and all of that pressure is on an 11yr old. It's nutty, but hopefully he'll be sinking game winning 40 yarders in 4 years. He's already dreaming about it.

Here he is on the high school field, making up scenarios for the win. Youtube

Cant do high school sports until 7th grade.

Ive seen two kids over my 20 plus years of coaching that were able to contribute at the HS level in the 8th grade. One was a pitcher with a goofy little curveball we would bring in the save innings on the starters. The other was a super gifted athlete who eventually went on to play at Clemson.