Advantages and Disadvantages of being ICs

melinda, wow such an amazing girl you have there, congrats to her and to you too. thanks for the quick response.

That's so nice of you to say, Never, but I don't think my daughter is exceptional at USAFA. She is part of a group of kids with strong work ethics and high aspirations. She is not "amazing"; she is a cadet at USAFA.

Good luck to you!
 
So if the ICs have an important event or game that conflicts with a special event at USAFA like recognition, do they just simply "skip" it?
 
For D1 competitions, ICs will usually be excused from military duties scheduled during the trip.

I was a NARP on a fairly active club team. Anything that adds significant time to a cadet's schedule is going to make things tougher. ICs get some scheduling preferences for morning classes, but their afternoons are scheduled out. In the end, that makes their schedules very busy. Remember talking to one classmate who commented that if he put the "expected" time into studying outside of class (100min per class, per lesson), he would have had almost no time to sleep at night (his schedule, including sleep, worked out to a 26-27 hour day, IIRC). Obviously, something had to give, so he skimped a little on his study time to make things work. Some cadets can make it work. Others find themselves on academic probation quicker than they expected, and wind up dropping their sport. Time management is important for any cadet, but it is critical for ICs.

Pros and cons:
Pro: competing in your sport. Having another team of people to hang out with and support each other. Some preferential scheduling for classes and military duties. More travel opportunities. (for 4 digs, lunch at ramps tables and upper class teammates)

Cons: VERY busy schedule. You'll have to work harder to keep up with military duties and squadron activities. The ICs that I respected a lot put in extra effort to be present in the squadron's activities and military events. I can vouch that it sucks to have to race back to Mitch's 5-10 minutes before they close, so you can get dinner...but not be able to eat for another hour because you have meetings/squadron functions to go to immediately...then at 8:30-9:00PM, right after finishing dinner, you can go figure out how the squadron activities for the day went by talking to you peers. You might be able to sit down for some homework after that.
 
Like most of the posters have stated being an IC has its advantages. The comaraderie of being on a team and getting off campus as a doolie are just a few. My DD is on the same team as MeindaChing's DD but is now a C3C. Their coach has always opened up his home to the team. If the team wants to meet somewhere off campus they are always welcome. They have also partnered with another IC team so there are more coaches, friends, classmates and potential squadmates to hang out with. On New Years Eve the coach had a dinner at his house so the team had a safe place to congregate. I can't say enough good things about the coaches we have interacted with at AFA.

DD has always wanted to be an IC. I have said this before. If it was not for the coach and his reputation DD may have picked another school.

There are only three IC's in DD squadron and there has not been any problems. In fact their pictures are posted on the squads bulletin board.

And to paraphrase fencersmother - "It might even be difficult for the cadet's parents to accept that their child is no longer participating in a sport that mom has driven him and his sack-dinner to, to the tune of 20,000 miles a year over four or more years." Amen to that. But you forgot to mention coaches fees, training fees, travel costs to competitions, uniforms, gas and in our case tolls to get to practice. One child left at home in the same sport. We are ready for that pay raise when she leaves for college.
 
ICA

I could not agree more, being the parent of an athlete was NOT the easy traveled road, neither emotionally or financially. Now we start a new road but without the toll fees.
Regards
John
 
My DD is always in season. She runs track and cross country. When she can, she does squad duties like sitting CQ. She wants a wing, group or squad leadership position for next year. She strives to excell academically, travel and missing classes are the biggest stresses. She has to turn projects and papers in early is she is out of town when they are due. Her free time for anything else is very limited. She has had no problems with non-IC's and her squad is very supportive of her.
 
If you go to an away game or meet, is there a quick opportunity for a chat and hug or are they in and out without you getting to see them?
 
We live in Ohio. They ran in Louisville in the Fall and got to spend evening before the race with her. Since track meetsare on weekends we have traveled to USAFA for a couple of home meets and she got a pass to spend the weekend with us. Have not gone to any away track meets yet. Mainly all out West and time to spend with her would be limited. Although they got stuck an extra day in Boise for MWC indoor meet.
 
visiting with DS/DD during away games

I'm sure it depends on the sport and the game/event schedule, but yes, we've been able to spend some time visiting with our DS during away events. Our coach actually sends out an email with the list of hotels at which the team will be staying for the season and does not discourage parents from staying at the same hotel. There is, of course, an understanding that time with parents will not interefere with team responsibilities. There is generally at least one night during the stay (which is generally 2 or 3 nights) that the team members are allowed to forego the team dinner and go out to eat with any familiy members that are in town for the event.
 
Just a side note. While there is definitely something to be said about the TZO Gap; you would have never known it last Saturday when the fans stormed out of the stands when Air Force beat #12 nationally ranked New Mexico at Clune Arena. Or ALL the cadets that were on the plane with me this morning coming out here to Las Vegas to see their falcons play in the MWC tournament. So yes, there are a few bad apples that abuse their privilege of being an IC; but most athletes and non-athletes get along pretty well. It's definitely an individual thing.
 
So yes, there are a few bad apples that abuse their privilege of being an IC; but most athletes and non-athletes get along pretty well. It's definitely an individual thing.
Here you hit the nail on the head. Unfortunately, it only takes a few to perpetuate a stereotype.
 
I could not agree more, being the parent of an athlete was NOT the easy traveled road, neither emotionally or financially. Now we start a new road but without the toll fees.
Regards
John

During their youth, I'm not so sure there is an appreciable difference between how the road was traveled between an IC athlete and captain of a sport. After all, well over 1/2 of the AFA students that are considered a "NARP" were in fact heavily invested into sports. Hence, they too were/are athletes.

As a typical example, my DS was a captain of 2 sports and lettered in another. There were several years were we spent $6K-$8K on hockey. That last game or meet was emotional for many. For IC's, that ride ends 4 short years later. I remember waking up at 4:30 AM, 3 days a week for a clinic to help him learn "muscle memory" for stick handling. He did that 3 years in a row. I'd say many non IC AFA students are pretty incredible athletes.
 
During their youth, I'm not so sure there is an appreciable difference between how the road was traveled between an IC athlete and captain of a sport. After all, well over 1/2 of the AFA students that are considered a "NARP" were in fact heavily invested into sports. Hence, they too were/are athletes.

As a typical example, my DS was a captain of 2 sports and lettered in another. There were several years were we spent $6K-$8K on hockey. That last game or meet was emotional for many. For IC's, that ride ends 4 short years later. I remember waking up at 4:30 AM, 3 days a week for a clinic to help him learn "muscle memory" for stick handling. He did that 3 years in a row. I'd say many non IC AFA students are pretty incredible athletes.

Not sure of the point you are trying to make. John41057 was responding to a post that I made where I responded to a post Fencersmother made. Nobody is saying that a kid that is not an IC is not an athlete. For some IC's they were right in the right place at the right time and in the right recruiting class. There were four other athletes in my DD's recruiting class and two of them are already off the team for one reason or another but are still enrolled. They are still big supporters of the team. We all know that being an athlete is an important part of an applicant's package. Some kids may just get tired of a sport they may have done for 10-15 years and want a break and are not inerested in being an IC. It does not mean they are not incredible athletes.

Here's a quick story. My DS, USMMA class of 2012 had been offered an appointment to the USCGA. He had participated in summer seminar in his junior year and we attended a meeting hosted by admissions. The speaker was talking about gaining admission and a mom asked the speaker about a student that was not an athlete getting an appointent. The answer was that it was harder to gain admission without playing a sport. The mom kept pushing the issue and was talking about her son's amazing test scores, community involvement, etc. The final answer was pretty direct. He said that all the SA's look favorably at students that play a sport as it teaches, teamwork, discipline and sacrifice.

I agree with you that many cadets at the academy are great athletes. They don't have to be an IC to prove it.

Can somebody please tell me what NARP stands for?
 
I agree with you that many cadets at the academy are great athletes. They don't have to be an IC to prove it.


That was my only point. :) The trail (20,000 hours of watching sports, carting players around, the expense, etc) could be equal.
 
NARP= Non-Athletic Regular Person. It is a term used to describe non intercollegiate athlete cadets. It is somewhat tongue-in-cheek though, as most cadets are solid athletes regardless.

I would also agree that athletics can teach invaluable lessons that can be gained only through the experience of having gone through them.
 
have an idea what the TZO gap is but can someone explain it further?

what exactly are the "perks" for an IC aside from competing away and practice with the team, do they get a patch, pin, letter jacket, better food, extra tutoring that identifies them as ICs.
 
DD received a big AF patch that she wears on her dress jacket when the team is travelling. I have also seen seniors being given a framed patch at the end of their career.
 
The patch is the AF letter that goes on their A jacket.

never alone is asking what benefits IC's get over non-IC's.

From what I remember from another post (DS is not an IC), IC's get to sit at Ramps tables at meals. Those are their team tables and the C4C's sit at rest at those tables which makes meal time much more enjoyable. Same food, though perhaps more quantity available but that would be a guess, not a known fact.

I think C4C's who are IC's get out of calling minutes in the morning. They also get out of some squadron training but don't know exactly what. They will be exempt from a SAMI if competition that day.

Travel is a perk, but they also miss classes to travel to events which means making up work or taking tests early, or at the competition proctored by a coach. They'll have access to cell phones more than other C4C's -- teammates will lend or coach will keep theirs and give to them at practice. C4C's don't have access to their cell phones during the week prior to Parent's weekend, and a lot of squads limit usage to only weekends til Prog.

IC's do not participate in intramurals as they are training with their team.

Some competitive clubs get LOS status (limited in season) -- which means they don't do Intramurals either but train with their club during that time. Not sure what clubs that entails though (maybe Rugby, Triathlon, Cycling)
Drum & Bugle might miss Intramurals too so they can practice.
Their class schedules might be worked so they don't have a 7th period class on non-intramural days, but not a guarantee.
 
greentrees, thanks, that was pretty much what i was asking for. lots of good info given by everyone on this thread.

TZO gap? anyone???
 
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