He should strive for AP classes versus honors as he enters high school. NROTC favors AP and a little lower GPA versus a 4.0 GPA and only honors classes. Call a few units like I did when my son was where your son is. They told me leadership, volunteering, club participation, varsity lettering, AP classes and high ACT scores were prime-he needs to be well rounded. Also they said the interview will be a heavy factor in their decisions so have him practice and research questions and seek out mentors to practice and drill him. Getting involved in sports is a great decision and shows he can manage his time well especially with AP classes and other involvement. In the summers my son worked at the local airport and was a STEM camp counselor, life guard, on a sailing team, volunteered at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh air show and also flies kids for Young Eagles as he achieved his pilot lic. He is also in Civil Air Patrol and has ranked high in there as well. Start helping you son by getting more educated from many sources so you can help him map out his high school classes, involvement etc towards his goals. Track all volunteering hours and leadership etc and save them, you will need these later to put on his applications. It's not too early to call NROTC colleges and learning from them as well. It helped my son and me to help him. When he gets ready to apply just know mom/dad needs to stay out of the picture and let him do all the work calls and contacts when he applies. It is frowned upon for parents to do any of it and they are right. You can help fill out the application, answer questions and offer guidance as needed but the rest he should take the initiatives to do.
My son took a joy ride in a plane when he was 2 yrs old, changed him forever and wanted to fly for commercial until he tool a ride with the Aeroshell aerobatic team in AT6's and they twirled him all over the place at the age of 9 and came out of the cock pit looked at me and said I want to fly and design jets for the military. They took him up again 2 years ago and the same. That was it and has been it since, has never wavered. So I started like you asking questions, researching and finding a way to get educated and help him. I am a single parent and his dad is not involved so yes I wanted him to succeed in becoming an officer and a pilot those were his goals which I had no clue how to do. I surrounded myself and my son with good mentors. He joined CAP at the age of 12 and I started to talk to NROTC back then. Mapped out his plan with him, we made 6 month and yearly goals along with long term to meet his goal of becoming an officer. Fast forward today, he recently secured a NROTC 4yr scholarship to Purdue in Aeronautics and Astronautics Engineering as plan B, his dream college and wants to be on their flight team. He is waiting to hear from the USNA and USAFA for their decisions as plan A, he is qualified and he has 3 nominations secured. He also secured a $7500 flight training scholarship from EAA in Oshkosh last year and completed his private pilots license and mentors and flies other kids like when he took his first young eagle ride and we fly for pilot n paws with moving animals red lined in kill shelters to rescues. It's fun to be a team and do this together over the years. Its nice to see him excel and follow the advice of mentors and others. His victories are mine and his short comings as well. I am so proud of him and it has been an honor to raise a future officer! Good luck and good job mom in helping him! It's the best gift you can give him.