Varsity Sports, competitive clubs?

Tigerwife92
Fri, 04 Sep 2020 16:52:58 +0000

@goldentrees100 Got it. D20 was a year-round athlete; she realized sophomore year she could compete for colleges based on her times, but they weren’t on her top 3 academic list, or she could go after merit at a school she loved. She discovered college “club” sports and realized there was a way to continue her sport at her top 3 academic choices, if she really wanted to. Taking a heavy AP load junior year plus training gave her insight into what her college life would look like as a varsity athlete. She knew if she wanted to fully focus on her major (Bioengineering), she personally couldn’t handle 6 classes plus labs, 2 a-days, strength training, etc. Since she wasn’t going to continue with recruiting, she really wanted to experience high school senior year. She still competed for the HS team, but dropped club (year-round), which freed up 20-30 hours per week. She had time to participate in the school play, tutor, run for president of her favorite academic club, take the HS captain spot and get to know her HS teammates (usually year-rounds just showed up for meets). She’s never regretted her decision; she coached and taught lessons until covid, so she was still involved in her sport.

Were you offered any merit $ at the schools? Only you can decide if you like the schools and want to compete in college. I’ve seen a lot of kids burn out junior year of HS, so I’ve heard this a lot over the years. D1 full athletic scholarship kids aside (which is very rare in her sport), I would ask the kids I worked with if they would choose the college if it wasn’t for their sport. Again, money changes things for most families.

As far as clubs/organizations go, bigger schools like state flagships have hundreds of organizations/clubs; there is something for everyone. Seriously, D20s school has 500 clubs/organizations. If you can’t find something to do, it’s because you didn’t look. She just signed up for 3 fun, low-key clubs; all were “no-cut.” She wants to get acclimated to college life in the time of covid before she adds a competitive or more time-consuming activity. She did look into one musical theatre group, but it required a 6 day/week commitment. Coming off of years of training, she wanted something with a smaller time commitment. Good luck; let us know what you decide!