Dd's school refusing time off

[Susiesue61]

I may be being precious here but would welcome some advice!
Dd is 14 and plays her sport at county U15 level. She has really impressed over winter training and made her full women's county debut this month 😀
We have always asked school to authorise he days off to play, and in the past 2 years it hasn't been a problem. This year, her head of year emailed to say they would only authorise the days if she made more effort in lessons, and I have been into school and we have improved things greatly. I also had an email from the attendance officer saying the head had approved the dates subject to how many.

The week after half term is school exam week, and the way it falls, there are 3 games. I asked school to allow her to play some if not all, but they have refused point blank to let her play any. At the moment, she wants to make this sport her career, in some way, and school is just an inconvenience! I do make sure that she does all her homework and revises for exams.
If I let her play and she has it as an unauthorised absence, what are the consequences for that? I don't want to ruin our relationship with school - Dd has never been on the head's radar, and I don't want her to be marked out as a nuisance.

She plays for lots of the school's teams, often when she doesn't really want to, and I feel there should be a bit of give and take.

both ds play/have played at county level in their respective sports, ds1 was a very skilled swimmer, destined for great things, but quit at 17!

the schools were always very accommodating of fixtures during school time. these usually were travelling to an event/tournament that meant leaving school a bit early or having a Friday/Monday off for travelling to a weekend fixture. In 4 county level sports I can't think of any conducted during school time.

I do think the issue here though is that dd isn't committed to school. If her school work was of the level expected and she behaved well and took it s seriously as her sport then I don't think it would be the problem that it is. I have always made it clear that if school standards slipped that there would be no sport, whether that be county/team/school.

Are you really backing up the school with dd, with regards to her behaviour, attendance and effort?

Yes we back up school! She is one of 3 and I am one of the strictest parents around!
School only commented on her behaviour when we asked for her days off. I went in, met the head of year, and supported them putting her on report. I did suggest that if they were really concerned, they should put her in detention on a lunchtime so that she missed football practice!!
I can't however turn her into her older brother, who is academic and bright. She is happy out on a field, playing sport and interacting with others. That's what she is good at and, while she may not make it as a professional, she is learning other skills that will take her far. She is confident and happy, and tough.

She played the match by the way, and they got battered!