And yet you had multiple acceptances as did our son who had zero sports participation. None whatsoever.
And your essay did not stand in the way of acceptances either.
You were attractive to the schools that accepted you for exactly how you uniquely presented yourself. You will never know why you weren’t accepted to the schools that passed; most of the time it’s simply too few seats for too many wonderful applicants.
Don’t overanalyze in hindsight.