Sports in preparation for USMA

Hello all,
Doing some research for my 6th grader who has already set his sights on West Point. He's a straight A student with multiple honors courses, so academically he's off to a good start. He's a competitive pistol shooter (USPSA), is an NRA ranked skeet shooter and is starting into CAP this summer when he turns 12. He's also got volunteer services lined up with the local animal shelter. One of our big questions is in regards to sports in HS. How critical are organized team sports (football, basketball, etc.) to getting in to the USMA? Are they a must, and is one more preferred than others?

Figured it's not to early to start asking these questions.

Thanks!

Jeez! 6th Grade! Scouting, CAP, JROTC it's all good. Just make sure he strives for leadership roles!

Also, varsity letters and team captaincies when he gets into high school are practically a must. It's not a written rule by any means but I feel like it's a tacit understanding. Check out this class profile to see what I mean: http://www.usma.edu/Class/2014/profile.asp

So, if your local high school doesn't have a pistol/rifle team, make sure he's well-versed enough at another sport to letter in it.

Class of 2021, here he comes!

Check out the profile of recent classes (can be found on the USMA admissions page). Sports are important; the good majority of the incoming class will have at least one varsity letter with another good portion being captains of their varsity teams. I've heard people say before on here that team sports are preferred over individual (better shows your ability to work with others) and contact sports are also big (football, wrestling, etc). IMPO, it probably doesn't really matter so much teh sport that its more important if you kid finds something he's really interested in and has fun with throughout high school. If you're more interested in something, you're more motivated to excel which will help you for college admissions.


edit - and I can see USMA2016 beat me and said what I wanted to say in a succinct manner

Team contact sports at the Varsity level are valued the most.
And being team captain.

get him into lacrosse! it's an awesome sport in and of itself; teamwork, pretty physical, hand-eye coordination, and a good workout too.

Keep in mind, a parent can really only push so far.

All A's now, do not dictate all A's in the future (I am one of those that slipped to A/B). Let him find the sport he likes most and sitck with it.

navy2016 said:

Keep in mind, a parent can really only push so far.

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It's so true.

Personal story: My sister about going to the Naval Academy for a while in high school, so my dad kept pushing her and pushing her that direction. She made her way through the process and eventually got an appointment. However, by the end, going to the academy became more of my dad's dream than her dream. She turned down the appointment and it crushed my dad pretty hard. She's now a sophomore at UCLA and their relationship is still strained.

I'm not saying this will be you, but it's definitely something to look out for. Let him motivate his own dream.

navy2016 said:

Keep in mind, a parent can really only push so far.

All A's now, do not dictate all A's in the future (I am one of those that slipped to A/B). Let him find the sport he likes most and sitck with it.

Click to expand...

USMA2016 said:

It's so true.

Personal story: My sister about going to the Naval Academy for a while in high school, so my dad kept pushing her and pushing her that direction. She made her way through the process and eventually got an appointment. However, by the end, going to the academy became more of my dad's dream than her dream. She turned down the appointment and it crushed my dad pretty hard. She's now a sophomore at UCLA and their relationship is still strained.

I'm not saying this will be you, but it's definitely something to look out for. Let him motivate his own dream.

Click to expand...

Very good advice folks. I absolutely agree. The idea of West Point was entirely his creation. I'm an ex-Army enlisted guy (Huey Crew Chief), and while I sincerely hope he chooses to serve in some capacity, I know something as difficult as WP is something he has to choose to do on his own.

And he has LOTS of time to grow and change, so who knows...but knowledge is power and once you have it it's yours to use. I appreciate the input.

Good for you. If you haven't already, you and your son should check this out:
http://admissions.usma.edu/pros_cadets_middle.html

Your son will be entering 7th grade and this is the time to being to plan his academic curriculum for college. In many schools the courses in middle school dictate the coursework in high school.
In 8th grade, I suggest making a plan for his high school coursework - his classes should include all the core subjects and be of a high level.

If your middle school (or JH) offers Algebra I in 8th grade, get him started in that direction. Ditto for a foreign language.

Team sports are valued. He is not too young (or old) to start playing football. If he plays a season or two in JH and likes it then continuing into high school and making varsity is definitely good. Other good team sports are soccer and lacrosse. West Point has summer camps for kids and maybe one of those would interest him. You can find info about that here:
http://www.goarmysports.com/ViewArt...OEM_ID=11100&DB_LANG=C&IN_SUBSCRIBER_CONTENT=


Starting his preparation now will greatly prepare him for any top college, not just West Point.

seriously, taking a language in middle school and validating it really helps. Also, just a mom had a good idea in that he should try to take algebra 1 during middle school and take geometry his freshman year.

Regarding sports, I play Soccer very competitively, Varsity for 3 years in highschool and year round club soccer since 7th grade, ive been captain for the past couple of years as well. Colleges in general like sustained effort in sports or fields or whatever your doing. ( At least I was told this is the case)

If i were to go back though, I would choose Water Polo, wrestling, and track and field for highschool sports. Mainly because I would be in all around great shape but also because it would be great cross training for MMA in which, alongside soccer, I compete in. ( I do my MMA mainly through combat sambo)

But thats my idea about what I would go back and do.

From what I see, a lot of the kids that go to an academy played lacrosse. So if your interested, that might be good as well.

Being the son of two immigrants, I never got going in traditional "American" Sports.

Please do not take this offensively but I would move shooting to one of your sons "hobbies" or interests and get him more involved in team contact sports.

"Sustained effort". I agree with this. Find a sport that is fun, you are good at and stick with it. Regardless of those who think you need to start in kindergarten - 7th grade is a great time to begin many sports. If you can swing a camp or summer league - even better. Track is a great sport to being in middle school.

About shooting - if he is really talented and has the ability to compete at a high level; he should continue to pursue it. This will be valued at West Point and they have a competitive rifle team.