My son played D3 soccer for 4 years, it was a highlight of his college experience, and he formed close friendships with his team and loved continuing to play and compete. For context – practice was M-F, for 90 minutes in the afternoon, but there was “early practice” where the most dedicated players came out 30 min early so practice was more like 2 hours. It took almost 30 min before and 30 min after practice to change, see trainer for any nagging injuries, get wrapped before practice, then shower, etc. after practice, so figure something close to 3 hours per day, M-F, plus matches. His conference did not have “bad” travel, the furthest was about 3-4 hours, and the furthest away games were weekends, with the closer matches mid-week. All told, we estimated that, in season, he spent 25-30 hours on soccer, including watching film, team meetings, travel etc.
His school did not schedule class after 4pm, so he never had to worry about direct practice/class conflicts. On occasion, there were times when the team would leave for a travel weekend on a Friday and he would have to miss class. Professors were fine with that, as long as he explained it up front and was diligent about making up the missed work.
In season, that was his biggest commitment outside of classes – everything else was secondary. He was involved in various campus leadership roles but they all took a back seat when he was in season. Off season, the time commitment with his team was much less, though there was still weight lifting, speed and agility training, unofficial practices, then official practices – it added up, but he figured it was in the 5-15 hour a week range in the off season. He wouldn’t have traded any of it for the world, but if someone wasn’t really into it, I can imagine it would feel like a burden.