What is the point of being a college athlete?
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Anonymous
12 |
Anonymous
| I did D1 sports myself and it was a real full time job. I would personally recommend D3 to my own kids if relevant unless they were going to be pros (and this seems unlikely). |
Anonymous
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This is a great question. I was DIII walk-on in two sports. I played in HS and got to campus and knew I had to try out for the teams because I missed the competition, being on a team, and the sports themselves. To echo another poster, I'm in my early 40s and I still miss the feeling of the ball in my glove or blocking a shot in a real game. It can't be beat and I probably will never be able to replicate that feeling for the rest of the my life. (Which is a little depressing now that I think about it).
Anyway, for some kids playing in college is part of the overall experience and reflects their genuine love of their sport. But I played for a crappy division III school; I would imagine division I is different and like the above poster would not necessarily recommend it for my own kids. A friend rowed for a division I school (no scholarship, also a walk-on) and once she made the team and did well was offered some money. She declined it because she felt like once they pay even a small part of your tuition - at least at this school at the time - they act like they own you and it would have further limited her college experience. |
Anonymous
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My SIL functions better the more he has to do. He hates being idle.
His lovely bright mom figured this out in like 2nd grade. She never pushed him, he just had ants in his pants as a younger kid. Sports and part-time jobs got him though. Really bright guy. Studying while some school & testing came easily to him. Anyway played division 1 in college and it worked graduated 4 years 4.Ogpa IVY. |
Anonymous
Something is off with this story as you are only going to be admitted to one school as a recruited athlete. Regardless, it’s really unethical to accept a coach’s offer and quit the sport immediately. Does not say good things about your nephew’s character. |
Anonymous
| My D3 athlete needs to be competitive and lives for that. He loves the whole team experience, friends, etc. He does better in school when he is busy with training and competing. |
Anonymous
Yeah sounds like an unethical loser |
Anonymous
This is how I was. My parents had no qualms about letting me go for it because I had proved that I was motivated academically and was able to handle multiple AP courses at a demanding private HS with a demanding training schedule. I only considered schools that were both a good academic and athletic fit. I ended up at the "least good" of these schools (still a good school people are proud to send their kids) because it was the right fit for me in terms of athletics. No regrets. I wasn't interested in D3 schools because of their smaller size. I wanted the big state university experience with football games etc. Had I wanted to quit/not done well at the D1 school I'm sure I would have stayed and done club, or just tried other activities. |
, he could talk your ear off about every player who has ever played the game down to really obscure lower teams, etc.
Anonymous
| "College athlete" covers a huge variety of experiences, from D1 football players to people like me: I went to a Div III school, was on the JV team for a couple of years, then benchwarmer for one (so I'm in the NCAA athlete database as a official former varsity athlete), then quit. During the season, it was a couple of hours of practice, and an occasional game. It was fun and not a huge commitment. I was never great (in large part because I wasn't that committed), but our school had a strong team, so I was still as good as or better than many other players at schools with weaker teams who were also officially NCAA athletes. (Today, there are about half a million college athletes, and about 15 million undergrads, so about 3 percent of students are athletes.) |
Anonymous
| My DS was a D3 athlete. Excellent grades and SATs and he was accepted to 3 SLACs. For him, the team provided a group of friends and he had another group of friends from his freshman dorm. With D3, you can still study abroad if you want because the commitment level is less than D1. Great experience for him, captain of his team, became an RA and after graduation, he attended medical school. |
Anonymous
It happens more than you think. Once you're on campus, you can quit and nothing the coach or the school can do about it. Young adults can change their minds, right? |
Anonymous
He's at Northeastern. They have a D2 ACHA team that has been going to Nationals pretty regularly the past few years (and likely also this year). The team has some very skilled players, but is not as structured (on the ice) as my son's Tier 1 team was, and does a lot more dump and chase (per the coach's instructions), then he was used to. But he has played hard and has (so far) gotten a jersey and a regular shift for every game (one of 3 freshman to so). I'm certain - based on feedback from his coaches - that he (my son) could have found a D3 program to play at (and might even have had an outside chance at a lower level D1 team) if he gone through juniors. But he decided he wanted to go to college. And his current setup has worked really well for him. One of his teammates from last year is having a similar experience playing ACHA D2 at Wisconsin, and some others at Kentucky (they are not getting as much playing time). About 1/2 of his 18U team from last year is either playing juniors now, or is doing a second year of 18U. The other half is in college, mostly playing ACHA (some D2, and some D3). |
Anonymous
No one is arguing that the coach or school can do anything about it, but no one “changes their mind” without ever practicing and playing for the team at all their freshman year. You are talking about a kid who lied to the coach about his intentions so he could lock in his automatic admission with no intention of playing. Doing so screws over the coach, the team, and the honest, talented kid who ought to have gotten the admissions boost over him. |
Anonymous
Most kids that are on college teams major in either business or basket weaving degree. Very few of them major in some useful degrees like STEM or pre-med. For some, they didn't realize how competitive STEM and/or pre-med is until they get on campus. Therefore, it is normal for some of them to quit because of the college course load. Perfectly normal. |
Anonymous
A SIL is a SISTER in law. Not a boy. Not a HE. |