Playing D3 sport or going to a flagship

CMA22
Wed, 30 Mar 2022 14:39:32 +0000

My D22 faced the same choice. She had an offer to play D3 and another opportunity to play on an athletic scholarship at a small public university. But she is also opting for a large state research university.

She is not going to play professionally, so the question became: does her competitive sports career end in high school or, at MOST, in 4 more years?

It was important to us that she not attend a school primarily for her sport. She could have a career-ending injury the first month. She could get cut or be mostly a bench player. The coach could leave and be replaced with someone she can’t stand. She could need to quit to keep up in her classes. Etc.

It was not an easy decision, but ultimately she wanted to go somewhere larger than her high school, which she thought had too few of her people. She wanted the majors, resources, and opportunities of a large university (including the opportunity to maybe learn a new sport). After months of pandemic, during which she lived a quiet life of pretty much just school and, when it was allowed, her sport — she wanted new experiences. And more time to explore new things.

She loves her sport, but it is very time-consuming (especially in these days of year-round play, a trend I don’t like). She is a bit burned out on it and wants to fill her days with less practice and traveling to games and more fill-in-the-blank.

We respect her decision.