If you're a reasonably strong athlete, what's the easiest recruited sport to play in college?

[Anonymous]

The point is nobody fences

That's also wrong. This area is home to some of the top fencers in the world, including two Olympians. You have no idea what you are talking about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:if you are looking for a sport in HS you probably will not be recruited.

this is a dumb discussion

Not true for rowing. Very few people have experience before high school.

You do not even have to be tall for crew. That is a myth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you say that you are recruited to play in college, do you mean scholarships? or just play on the team?

Rowing: No mens scholarships....it isn't a NCAA sport. Womens rowing is easier than most other sports, but there are fewer total teams. Unlike most other sports, there are very few D2 teams. And the best D3 teams are much better than the weakest D1 teams. The strong D1 teams pretty much require rowers to be over 5'8 or 5'9 with 7:45 or better 2K times...even then the majority will not get even partial scholarships. Someone mentioned coxswains for shorter kids, but very few if any coxswains get scholarships. And it doesn't really help to be athletic....it's a leadership, strategy and steering position.

This can't be true any longer - that was the case 30 years ago and things have become more competitive since then

Yeah, my 2k time was better than that in 1995 and I rowed for a good D3. I’m a tall woman - 5’10” - but was never the tallest or strongest or best erg time on my team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Golf

My son is going to play D3 baseball (already committed) but he is injured at the moment. He picked up golf this summer while he heals and loves it and practices obsessively, since he can’t practice baseball. I asked him if his injury doesn’t heal fully would he consider switching to golf in college? He laughed at me and explained the math of how few male golfers can make collegiate teams.

I had no idea!

+1

My DS is a freshman on the golf team at an Ivy, and there are eight members on the golf team. Golf is probably one of the hardest sports to make the team due to roster size. DS also told me that only he and another member of the team are from a middle-class family, the other six members are from very wealthy families. Those wealthy teammates are nice to DS, but they hang out among themselves after golf, and that DS is not part of their cliques.

OTOH,

I knew two women on the golf team at a PAC-10 university; they both had a full ride.

They joked they were not even very good at golf, but because of Title IX, the university was desperate to recruit them.

Not that many girls play golf.

Some female golf scholarships go unused every year. It’s not an exciting sport.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Easiest: fencing. Not a lot of competition.

This is absolutely untrue. For the parents pushing their kids into fencing in hopes they will be recruited to Princeton, you have to be one of the top fencers in the country (if not the world). Programs like Princeton, Columbia, and Notre Dame are highly selective, routinely attract the top national and international fencers, and have produced a number of Olympians.

That said, there are D1 and D3 programs, usually at less selective schools, that will recruit lower-rated/ranked fencers.

The point is nobody fences

In phys ed when I was in school we learned every sport there was. I actually like fencing a lot. I wouldn’t have had the patience to train in it but I can see the appeal. There are fencing studios in our area so somebody is fencing.

[Anonymous]

NCSA for recruiting is not great but they do have good stats on percent of high school kids playing varsity sports that get recruited. Girls ice hockey super high but not boys. Looking at that will give you a sense… some sports are much harder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The point is nobody fences

That's also wrong. This area is home to some of the top fencers in the world, including two Olympians. You have no idea what you are talking about.

Olympian’s in fencing? Don’t make me laugh

[Anonymous]

Olympian’s in fencing? Don’t make me laugh

Our women's foil team won gold, as did one of our women's foil fencers in the individual event. Two fencers from our area represented the US in women's epee. Genuinely, do you not know that fencing was one of the original Olympic sports?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NCSA for recruiting is not great but they do have good stats on percent of high school kids playing varsity sports that get recruited. Girls ice hockey super high but not boys. Looking at that will give you a sense… some sports are much harder.

A lot of top hockey players (both make and female) that play for DI US teams are Canadian (and some are European) so the stats are not as helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Easiest: fencing. Not a lot of competition.

+1

[Anonymous]

"You won't see any Ivy players drafted to the NFL anymore."
Do some research. Yale had two just this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For girls or boys, discuss.

And on the other side, what do you consider the hardest sport to get recruited for if you do not have elite talent?

To add on to the football discussion, if you're a reasonably strong football player on a good high school football team, then, based on my anecdotal observations, it does seem easier to be recruited.

I'm not talking about being recruited to play at D1 football powerhouses like Michigan / Notre Dame / Penn State / Stanford, but being recruited to Ivies and places like Wash U, Bucknell, Washington & Lee, etc. I have seen decent (but not amazing) HS football players receive offers from multiple Ivies. IME, you don't have to be at the absolute top in terms of football or academic prowess to play football at many highly ranked schools.

If you think about it, football teams are large and include many different body types and skills for the various positions.

Hardest sport to be recruited for boys -- maybe basketball. Teams are smaller, height is very important, competition is tough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For girls or boys, discuss.

And on the other side, what do you consider the hardest sport to get recruited for if you do not have elite talent?

To add on to the football discussion, if you're a reasonably strong football player on a good high school football team, then, based on my anecdotal observations, it does seem easier to be recruited.

I'm not talking about being recruited to play at D1 football powerhouses like Michigan / Notre Dame / Penn State / Stanford, but being recruited to Ivies and places like Wash U, Bucknell, Washington & Lee, etc. I have seen decent (but not amazing) HS football players receive offers from multiple Ivies. IME, you don't have to be at the absolute top in terms of football or academic prowess to play football at many highly ranked schools.

If you think about it, football teams are large and include many different body types and skills for the various positions.

Hardest sport to be recruited for boys -- maybe basketball. Teams are smaller, height is very important, competition is tough.

For people rightfully concerned about the dangers of football -- top kickers / punters always seem to be recruited, too, and they're not out there getting banged up like everyone else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"You won't see any Ivy players drafted to the NFL anymore."
Do some research. Yale had two just this year.

However, going forward starting next year when football players will be paid directly by the Power 4 colleges plus NIL money, you won’t see any players going Ivy that have NFL potential.

Same reason no Ivy basketball players will get drafted anymore.

If you look at the all-IVY basketball all starts, I believe nearly all transferred to other schools including a local Harvard kid that transferred to Georgetown because the NiL $$$s are too much to pass up.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"You won't see any Ivy players drafted to the NFL anymore."
Do some research. Yale had two just this year.

However, going forward starting next year when football players will be paid directly by the Power 4 colleges plus NIL money, you won’t see any players going Ivy that have NFL potential.

Same reason no Ivy basketball players will get drafted anymore.

If you look at the all-IVY basketball all starts, I believe nearly all transferred to other schools including a local Harvard kid that transferred to Georgetown because the NiL $$$s are too much to pass up.
I don't know about "you won't see any..." There will be a few who don't need the money "right now" and want the Ivy degree more. Competition may be greater at the handful of elite schools that also have really competitive D1 football programs, though.