Yes, my daughter struggled mightily as a freshman on a varsity team several years ago. It was a lesson in humility and the need for extreme grit. I feel like that would make a great essay and have been leery of suggesting it because it’s “about sports.”
It seriously annoys me that sports are somehow seen as a “lesser” activity when in fact they often take up far more time (pretty sure you don’t have to shower after MUN) and are incredibly intense both physically and emotionally.