Sports Prior to I-Day

My DS (current Plebe) skipped his Senior year Track season but that was predicated on three things:
  1. Prior track season was cancelled due to COVID. As a hurdler and jumper he felt he would be starting over from scratch and did not want to risk injury. He was prone to freak accidents.
  2. Track season takes a ton of time the he wanted to devote to other activities
  3. He would workout on his own in prep for USNA---we bought weights, installed pull up bar, etc.
He had no regrets about skipping track other than he was not in as good of shape for PS as he would have been if he had done track. None the less he survived PS and is doing well. Passed all PRT's to date with margin to spare. That is goal. If you are not physically fit for PS or Plebe year you will have to spend precious time in remedial training in order to pass the PRTs and mando PE classes.
 
MIDNDad64 said:
My son accepted a USNA appointment last week. He’s now struggling with a decision of whether or not to play a spring sport (baseball) in his final HS semester due to risk of injury. Has anyone had experience with trying to decide whether or not to play a final semester sport in the final HS semester? The fear is that of getting injured and impacting ability to attend the academy. Running track is a secondary option, with less risk of injury.
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As someone who also plays softball, it really depends on his personal training plan and position. Maybe if he's a pitcher/catcher, he could ask for a runner? Or he could even ask for a DH to hit for him. If he really would like to play, baseball/softball are sports that offer these kinds of substitutions. For me personally, I'm planning to play softball this season. I am talking with my coach about having a runner for me as most injuries occur due to collisions. I also play OF and PO, so there's not as much of injury risk here versus IF! Just some thoughts
 
My son went on a ski trip and did his spring sport (track) after accepting his appointment to the CGA. In fact, he participated in two events at states three and four days prior to his actual reporting day. While track is non-contact, it is not without risk of injury. As others have mentioned, everyone needs to assess their risks/rewards and decide what makes sense for them. For example, my son did pass on attending a big out of state meet with his teammates to mitigate risk of getting COVID since, if he'd contracted the virus, that would have had to have been reported to DoDMERB and there may not have been time for him to have been re-qualified medically in time to report. I know my son for sure wouldn't have wanted to miss being part of the state championship winning 4x800 relay team. That and going to the NXN XC championships in the pre-COVID world were two of his best high school memories.
 
MIDNDad64 said:
My son accepted a USNA appointment last week. He’s now struggling with a decision of whether or not to play a spring sport (baseball) in his final HS semester due to risk of injury. Has anyone had experience with trying to decide whether or not to play a final semester sport in the final HS semester? The fear is that of getting injured and impacting ability to attend the academy. Running track is a secondary option, with less risk of injury.
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My boy is wrestling at state this weekend and will be doing Freestyle and greco as soon as high school season is done. This is their last year of being a kid and enjoying things they have always done. I say let him decide what he wants to do and support it!
 
Sealion II said:
Will he play baseball at USNA? My DD was recruited for her sport and is not cutting back at all. She's full throttle. She intends to be at her peak when/if she reaches Annapolis.
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No….no sports recruitment here. Just wants his last chance to play HS varsity baseball with his friends. 😊
 
ALW72 said:
Congratulations on the appointment! Have you had a chance to enter his information into the appointment list?
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Thank you! Haven’t entered info on the appointment list. Should we? Is there a reason to? Thank you!
 
WAProudMom said:
My DS is being recruited for lacrosse, (attending NAPS next year), he will play this spring - looking for a state title! Good luck to your baseball player.
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I have no idea what happens if someone shows up for Iday at a SA on crutches. And can’t run for months. But at the Prep School it will just be the start of their rehab red shirt year.

You can relax and enjoy the season more so than some.
 
My son is a gymnast. He received an appointment in December. He's competing but none of his high level, "crazy" skills. Of course we know that injuries could happen anywhere - so Plan B, C, & D are in place also!
 
MIDNDad64 said:
Thank you! Haven’t entered info on the appointment list. Should we? Is there a reason to? Thank you!
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It gives the community an oppportunity to celebrate appointment offers in one place, and adds an informal data point for reference in future cycles as to roughly when appointments flowed. Read Post #1 for the minimum data suggested. No district requested.
 
MIDNDad64 said:
My son accepted a USNA appointment last week. He’s now struggling with a decision of whether or not to play a spring sport (baseball) in his final HS semester due to risk of injury. Has anyone had experience with trying to decide whether or not to play a final semester sport in the final HS semester? The fear is that of getting injured and impacting ability to attend the academy. Running track is a secondary option, with less risk of injury.
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My son wasn't about to forego his last lacrosse season. He didn't think it was fair to his team and his coach for him to quit right before the season starts. He's the team captain and they have a new coach (who knows my ds really well and is looking for his leadership support). COVID decimated our numbers (lacrosse isn't too big sport here) and ds quitting would create a big hole. I just told him not to do anything stupid and get injured. If he didn't have such an emotional committment to his team, I don't think he would have played.

He's also Crossfitting and will continue that until the day he leaves. That won't be a problem since he has full control over what he does and no one is running toward him with sticks trying to beat him down.
 
99Gold said:
He didn't think it was fair to his team and his coach for him to quit right before the season starts. He's the team captain and they have a new coach (who knows my ds really well and is looking for his leadership support).
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That’s real servant leadership. That’s being “part of something bigger than myself,” a phrase that so many SA candidates write in their application statements.
 
Risk and Reward and you only know what the right thing is after.

Before hand it’s always easy to talk about future risks and how they are worth it.

If they play and come out ok you will think this playing was the best decision. If they play and blow out a knee or ankle and can’t show up for IDay you will think it was a terrible decision.

This will be an ongoing issue that goes well beyond sports and IDay and into choices for mos or rate as well.
 
99Gold said:
My son wasn't about to forego his last lacrosse season. He didn't think it was fair to his team and his coach for him to quit right before the season starts. He's the team captain and they have a new coach (who knows my ds really well and is looking for his leadership support). COVID decimated our numbers (lacrosse isn't too big sport here) and ds quitting would create a big hole. I just told him not to do anything stupid and get injured. If he didn't have such an emotional committment to his team, I don't think he would have played.

He's also Crossfitting and will continue that until the day he leaves. That won't be a problem since he has full control over what he does and no one is running toward him with sticks trying to beat him down.
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Is your son playing lax at USNA?
 
Personally, I would have my son or daughter stop. My son played high school baseball so I am somewhat familiar with the dangers. Baseball isn't exactly a contact sport but people do get hurt. You can hurt your leg sliding, you can get beaned in the head with a ball (mainly pitchers) you can get hit by the pitcher and so on. Of all the main sports, it would to me be the least dangerous, but why chance it. You are going to lose going to an academy because some sophomore hits a short grounder that takes a weird bounce and you wind up with a concussion.
 
99Gold said:
No. He is not a D1 player. He could have found a home at a D3 team somewhere but I think he's happy leaving his competitive lacrosse days behind.
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There is a thread from several months ago on one of these SA forums that talks about varsity sports and whether they are a good thing or not as far as academics. Some good insight from those that have first hand experience..

At the USNA there is an active and quite good lax club team. They train and travel and play. Even play for the lax club nationals

Might be worth considering for yours——that thread I mentioned above had a lot of comments about how being on a team can help the students during their time on the Yard.

Good Luck.
 
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