USAFA sports have JV squads?

[usafa2022]

I was looking through some USAFA XC and track results recently and saw some pretty surprising performances from Academy runners, especially at home meets. 2:00 800m's, 2:50 1k's, 4:40 miles...not even close to what you'd usually expect from a Division 1 school! I can remember reading elsewhere on the web that SAs sometimes have formal JV teams that only compete at home or in lower-level competitions. Does USAFA have a JV track team? If so, that would be pretty unusual for a competitive D1 school. What about other sports?

Also, if anyone has any insight into the track and field teams at USAFA, I'd like to have a general feel for what they're like with regards to time commitments, team culture, etc. Maybe if they really do have a JV team I could walk on, even if I graduate HS with mediocre times

 

[Christcorp]

I know football does, but I don't think the other sports do because of their size. Football brings in 50-60 players the freshman year. Unlike a traditional university that scholarships 20'ish and they are guaranteed on the team for 4-5 years, the academy doesn't have scholarships. The academy uses words like recruited athlete or blue chip, but this is only for emotional purposes for the applicant. Of the 50-60 freshman recruited, only about 20 will still be on the team their senior year. Unlike a civilian school, they aren't on scholarship and therefor are still cadets. Even if not on the football team any longer.

Anyway, all freshman football players, with the exception of about a handful, are on the JV team the freshman season. They play JC and D2 schools in football. But I believe only football has a JV team, and that's only because of the size of the incoming class, NCAA rules about how many can be on the team, the purpose of using this JV freshman time to see how good the freshman are, (because the academy has no red shirt year), and because close to half of that 50-60 will be cut from the team after the first season. But I believ football is th only true JV team. I could be wrong.

 

[brovol]

I suspect freshmen, and others who are not on the "travel" squad in football are on the "scout team", as opposed to a "JV" team. A JV team would actually play games against other schools. Not sure that division 1 schools, like the academies, have JV teams in football. I will stand corrected if someone knows for sure.

 

[Christcorp]

Yes, they have a JV team. Just like I said, they play JC and d2 schools. And yes, during the week they work out its the varsity team and train along side of them. But they play games against JC and lower division schools. They are a JV team.

 

[NavyHoops]

They have JV teams. They practice with the varsity and participate like everyone else in scout team, etc. There are NCAA rules governing games played so it's usually a 1 for 1 trade. Usually not an issue with football as they have plenty of folks who don't travel or suit up for games. USNA alsp does this for basketball and I think the other SA do also. Usually it's the few guys who don't travel and some of the subs who don't see much playing time. Traditionally there isn't really a defined team and it can vary how it's handled at each school. It's not really publicized, but it's actually a great deal to get some young talent reps in real games. USNA plays a lot of junior colleges and military prep schools. Also they will play NAPS too each year.