rdh1991

My friend told me that Grinnell has a no cut policy regarding varsity sports. Is this true?

So anyone who wants to play a varsity sports can, even if they didn't play in high school? I don't see how that is possible.

M's Mom

Totally true. S is on the water polo team and he had never played the game in his life before signing up with the team at Grinnell. The guys on the team taught him how to play during first semester.

This doesn't mean he gets to play at every inter-collegiate game - only the top players get time in the water - but everyone who shows up at the practices, gets to play when they are doing intermurals. Same goes for the swim meets, which he also did for a semester. Generally, his time wasn't good enough to swim at most of the meets, but once or twice he was the best available person for a particular event, so he swim for Grinnell. He says he came in dead last, but everyone was fine with it because they knew he was pinch-hitting.

rdh1991

Thanks M's Mom. So he was on the varsity team, not the club team?

M's Mom

Right. For water polo, he is on the varsity team-his team competes against other mid-western colleges. Ditto for swim team. For soccer, he's on a club team-he plays only against other Grinnell teams.

M's Mom

After shaking his head over my incredible sports ignorance, H clarified for me that water polo at Grinnell is a club sport, even though they play against other schools-which is why they go by the name Wild Turkeys instead of Pioneers. But swim team is a varsity sport-which is also walk-on, so my general point about the ease of walk-on for varsity sports is still correct.

M's Mom

By now, you're probably tired of clarifications, but I'm still learning. Per S, water polo is a club sport EXCEPT the team went to nationals this year, which means it becomes a varsity sport. He also added that not every sport is 'no cut.' In basketball, the walk-ons are limited to the best players, apparently. On the other hand, track is open to everyone. I guess you'll need to check for each sport you are interested in-but the key point is there's lots of money for student sports, so your team can get funding even if they aren't varsity.