Athletics-Academics

I am going to play football for the prep school then hopefully for the academy. I was wondering if anyone can tell me their experience with managing both academics and athletics while at the Academy?


David

_davidiv said:

I am going to play football for the prep school then hopefully for the academy. I was wondering if anyone can tell me their experience with managing both academics and athletics while at the Academy?

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What you're asking is a very individualized question. I know cadets personally; (We'll stick with just football because that's what you're mostly interested in); who have fallen into all 4 categories.

1. Starter for Air Force all 4 years. Busted his butt in BOTH Football AND Academics. Graduated top-10% of the class and is currently preparing for grad school at AFIT. "Grad School at Wright Patterson AFB Ohio".

2. Starter for Air Force all or most all 4 years. Did average in academics. Graduated with less than 3.0gpa. (FWIW: There are NON-ATHLETE cadets who also graduate with a Sub-3.0 gpa). Individual moved on to their air force career and is doing very well,

3. Played for Air Force. Couldn't handle both football and academics. Some quit football but most were on academic probation which kept them from playing. Some couldn't handle the academics with or without football and were kicked off both; the team and eventually out of the academy.

4. Played for air force for just 1 or 2 years. Some left voluntarily to concentrate on their academics. Some were cut from the team. (They can't keep all players. They'd have more than 200 on the team). Most did very well academically. Some went straight to their air force jobs/training. Some graduated in the top-10% of the academy and continued on to Grad Schools. Some still couldn't handle the academics even after quitting football.

Bottom line is; any answer an "INDIVIDUAL" gives you won't mean much. I know individuals who played football at air force and also had a 4.0gpa. I also know some who were on academic probation. What does that have to do with you? If you played a lot of sports in high school and also had a 4.0gpa, you'll probably do fine. If you had a 3.0gpa in high school, you'll probably have problems. Only you know how hard you need to work.

And remember, the academy doesn't give athletic scholarships. And the word "RECRUITED ATHLETE" does NOT mean the same thing at the academy as it does in a traditional university. It doesn't matter if you come directly into the academy or go through the prep-school first. There will be 50+ football players going into BCT in June. By the end of the first year, about HALF of those will still be on the team. The other half have been cut. Yes, they are still cadets, but they will no longer be football players. In the next 2 years, even more will be cut. That's why it's important that any appointee/cadet that is also going to be an athlete, that the coaches look hard at the individual. Then need to make sure the athlete can also handle the academics and ultimately be a successful air force officer and leader. They know that more than half of those they bring in will not remain on the team. But they want to make sure that they are capable of remaining at the academy and graduating.

So basically, only you know the answer to your question. We've got football players who majored in engineering, chemistry, behavioral science, etc... We've had some of them go and get their master's and PhD. Yet, we have some that graduated just like everyone else. And some that didn't graduate at all. "Just like many others". Good luck.