No need to jump to conclusions. I feel for the kids who work hard, are good players and don’t make the team. Enough things to be stressed out about and struggle with as a teenager. |
Did any non-freshman primetime kids get cut? |
The top athletic WCAC schools are increasingly moving to a “college” model where they now play a decent percent of national games (football plays 60% of schedule national…basketball is like 30% but the DMV has many top 50 national teams, so you don’t have to travel more…etc.). These schools will increasingly rely on more lateral transfers to compete with Mater Dei and other national powerhouses, both for the competitive boost and the significant NIL $$$$s. Mater Dei signed a multi-million $$$ NIL deal (paid to the school) last year and others are looking to adopt the model. I guess the issue is if BOC is really in the same league or not…though if SJC et al bring in lateral transfers, then the displaced kids will be looking for a new home at the BOCs of the world I guess. |
This is not beneficial to the mental and physical health of teens. A shame. |
Do kids going to a WCAC school really need that varsity letter on the college app? |
No...the reality is that if you aren't a recruited athlete, then just playing a sport is a line item on the app, but nobody cares much (and if not recruited, they don't care if you played Varsity of JV or a Club sport...it's an activity). |
This is just blatantly incorrect. Colleges 100% know what it takes to be part of a varsity sport versus attending the inner peace club activity. |
It's not blatantly incorrect...colleges really don't care that much about a sporting activity unless you are a recruited athlete...this isn't the 80s/90s. Colleges care you do something vs. nothing, but they don't really give a shit if you play on the Varsity baseball team...and in fact probably think it's a little better that you are captain of the Club Rugby team. They would certainly prefer you take leadership roles in debate or robotics or something else vs. being an anonymous COG on some varsity athletic team. |
I'm sure you want to believe that, but in personally working with college counselors I know that your belief is incorrect. Colleges are looking for well-rounded students including those with high-commitment extracurricular activities. Varsity sports (for non-recruited athletes) demonstrate that via dedication, leadership and the ability to balance time-consuming schedules with academics. A student who has 2 years of a sport, then a drop off with no other high-commitment extracurricular activity is at a disadvantage. It is unlikely that one of these students who was just dropped is all of a sudden going to pick up robotics or become debate team captain if that was not already something they were involved in. |
| Who says the kid cut from baseball didn't fill that time with something else, like babe ruth baseball, their travel baseball team, a job etc.? |
I'm sure they are but the travel teams don't play against competitive teams in the spring when most boys are playing HS ball. ASBR is a rec league and most kids can't catch a ball. |
How many colleges are going to care about that at all? |
Of course they can, but it doesn’t look like the same level of commitment from a college application perspective. Many of these kids chose BOC pretty sure they’d be able to make a team and knowing it’s not as competitive of an environment as some other schools like SJC. They’ve now been blindsided. |
Our DS was recruited by SJC and the coach made very clear they do not accept local transfers into the program. I’m sure if a kid moved from out of state that would be different. In return for that loyalty they expected a complete year round commitment. Pros and cons to both approaches, I guess. Our son did not enroll but has complete respect for the dedication of their players. |
What colleges are we talking about? Outside of maybe 50 colleges total (top 30 national and top 20 SLACs), colleges really don't care much beyond rigor of schedule, GPA and test scores. For the top colleges, if you are not a recruited athlete, they expect top rigor, top GPA, top scores and that you are doing impressive things other than just playing a varsity sport (because again, you aren't a recruited athlete). Again, you are talking about kids who aren't even a team captain, but just on the team. Colleges are well aware that there are some kids on the baseball team who make Varsity and literally almost never get into a game...they get thrown in as a pinch runner for the Senior Game and that's it. |