On that note, this process can take quite a bit of time. This is not something OP will want to do after arriving. Everything, including all the medical clearance should be done well in advance.
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As post 2 pointed out, itâs not just the skill of the rower (or whatever sport), itâs the potential effect on team chemistry and morale of booting someone off the team for a temporary student. I expect that will differ very much on a team by team basis.
Apologies for mixing metaphors. Mylti-sport tall kids have questions. And rowing I think has different governance than basketball? Would love both answers, tbh. Thanks.
It seems quite difficult also bc of stricter federal immigration, and court cases on whether or not NCAA athletes are considered to be employees of a college
Here is an article from immigration law point of view from one year ago
ââŠVisa restrictions generally have not prevented international students from participating in NCAA sports, since playing college sports has not been viewed as employment, but rather voluntary participation in an extracurricular activity. Moreover, NCAA rules traditionally prohibited paying compensation to athletes for playing college sports (i.e., âpay for playâ) and restricted the benefits that college athletes may receive to scholarships and related costs of college attendance.
However, if college athletes are considered employees, schools might have to take steps to ensure continued compliance with immigration laws and rules, including the twenty-hour-per-week work restriction for those on F-1 visas. That might require schools to monitor and ensure that international athletes spend no more than twenty total hours per week on participation in team activities.
Yet college athletes have argued that their participation on college sports teams typically exceeds twenty hours per week, particularly during the season, meaning international students might be at a disadvantage or could potentially be unable to participate. Further, assuming that it is possible to meet the twenty-hour threshold, it is unclear whether sports participation, which typically requires travel around the United States (and sometimes internationally) for competitions, would classify as allowed on-campus employment.
International athletes may need to obtain additional authorization from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), such as an Employment Authorization Document (EAD), and in situations where a union represents athletes on a college team, the union may need to be involved in the labor certification process.â
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Ah, ok. IMO, basketball would be nearly impossible due to smaller rosters and the season spanning two semesters. The college basketball landscape is extremely competitive for rosters spots and I donât see a coach using a spot for a kid that wouldnât be available the whole season. Rowing might work. Reach out to the coaches to see if thereâs any interest.
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Menâs rowing is not an NCAA sport and is governed by its own body. Scholarships are also not part of the athletic departmentâs budget. Womenâs rowing is an NCAA sport and part of the schoolâs Title IX numbers and scholarships.
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I think it depends on the school and I would think this is more restrictive at a D1 school. However, there are probably many chill D3 schools who would be thrilled if your student is enrolled there to have them compete for a season. I cannot see why not because they often welcome walk-ons that they might be able to develop. I want to qualify this by saying I do not know the NCAA rules on it. It would be good to call the school and email the coach. Coaches tend to be very responsive, in our experience, to emails.
In America, club sports teams are extremely competitive. If you werenât competing for state titles in high school, you will not make it onto most club teams at large well-known universities.
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Some are, some arenât. My daughter played club hockey on the womenâs team for 4 years of undergrad and 2.5 for grad. Her PeeWee team was more competitive! Anyone who wanted to play could, and they didnât even have to be a student (often used whatever goalie they could find, and they had games against womenâs teams that I referred to as âBar leagueâ. For her grad school years, they became a D1 club team and then only skated against other D1 teams (or maybe some D2 schools). Both were school âsponsoredâ (with money provided). When they switched to D1 being a student may have been required, but NCAA eligibility rules didnât apply as my daughter would have âtimed outâ as sheâd started school in 2014 and this was 2021? 2022?
The menâs club team was very very different, with try-outs and cuts and much more travel to other D1 schools.
Basketball? I think that would be hard to walk on for one semester, but contact any school you are interested in (they may have a club sports webpage) and ask. If not club, there will be intramurals.
Yeah, I went to UCLA, and the club sports teams were more intense than the typical high school varsity team.
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Really? I strongly disagree. Unless it is at a REALLY weak d3 program. And elite d3s usually are also athletically elite.
Also, an international walk on by definition is not someone a coach thinks they can develop. The athlete is only going to be there for one season.
Itâs also unlikely â not impossible, but unlikely â that an international student will be at the level of a US college team. Thatâs because international schools do not care about athletics and so their teams arenât great. Internationals that are at a really high level often forego colllege to turn pro.
So â it is possible to thread that needle, but it is extremely unlikely. Especially if the exchange student wants to attend a âtopâ US school.
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Iâd encourage OP to contact the specific school because I think they were just throwing Cornell out as an example. I know that this can happen in swimming for sure, actually going both directions and that is our experience. Maybe itâs a more âportableâ sport. Even a high level D3 has lesser swimmers at the bottom of the roster and I think itâs very conceivable they would at least let someone practice with the team while theyâre there, especially at a small-mid D3. But weâre all guessing here and the thing would be to contact the school, and coach once itâs in the works to got there.
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