Would Community Service be one of the things an Extracurricular Recommendation describes? How would you win awards in Community Service? Is this advisable (i.e. would schools be looking for an excellent character vs. excellent swim times)?
That sounds like something that a student who earned an Eagle Scout award or Girl Scout Gold Award might choose.
What if a student volunteered at a food kitchen or hospital and they were overseen by somebody? Could a badge or title given by the place be an award?
As to your original post, if you are asking if you should get a community service rec vs. an athletic rec I would say go with the community service rec (assuming you are a strong athlete) as this would help build a fuller profile for admissions. Presumably there is already plenty of evidence of your athletic success within your application, and hopefully you’ve communicated the same to the coaches. My athlete kid didn’t get athletic recs and didn’t write about being an athlete in the essays; the focus of all of those were on other interests, talents and accomplishments. On revisit days my kid received some very nice personal acknowledgements for areas of interest outside of sports.
As for your follow up question, I would certainly indicate any special acknowledgment you received for your involvement.
Good point! Although I must say I am not much of an athletic person, community service highlights something I haven’t thoroughly detailed in the other parts of the application.