Sports at USNA. Tryouts?

I received my appointment a couple weeks back and I'll set to leave late June for I-day.

I was wondering when it comes to sports if there is some sort of process you go through to try-out or show interest in competing or if you must generate that communication through the coaches via email.

Looking at football and/or track

I am wondering the same for Ice Hockey.

We are still waiting to hear USNA's decision on my son for appt, but he was in contact with the rowing coach last summer via email. The coach had him go do some rowing exercises on a special rower at our health club to determine rowing potential, and return his results along with height and weight. I am sure football and track are very different though.

Have you gone to the Navy athletics website and filled out the Student Athlete Questionnaire? Have you been approached by any schools to play these sports at the next level? Going to be brutally honest, if you have not been approached to play college football at any level, its not going to happen at Navy. Not sure on your size, but Navy has a lighweight football team. Take a look at it on the Navy sports website for info and contacting coaches. Ice Hockey is a club level sport and they have multiple teams for different level of players. The A side team (not sure if they still call it this) is the top team. Google the team and there is a link for players who have interest in playing.

During Plebe Summer you sign up for an intramural or a sport. You can sign up for a sport you are interested in and during the summer its not a big deal. The coaches will either hold try outs or give you the truth about chances.

Agree that rowing is different. During Plebe Summer all Plebes actually head up to the boat house and get a Rowing Intro. They actually have plebes tryout the rowing machines. They will approach alot of Mids that are tall and Mids with great row times. In the fall the rowing teams are rather large as alot of Plebes give the sport a shot. It is a unique sport as it has a novice squads for heavyweight and lightweight teams. Overtime some plebes move on to other sports or go to intramurals. No shame in giving it a shot. Sports are tough at the college level and require alot of time and effort.

I know for both track/XC you will have an opportunity to meet with the coaches during plebe summer. They have (or used to have) a track meet during plebe summer so also a chance to be noticed if you do well. Varsity sports can be a BIG time drain, so also good to make sure you don't get overextended with all of the other things expected of you once the academic year starts. I suspect that football has most spots filled by recruited athletes, so the potential for walk-ons is limited.

All mids (not in a varsity sport) are expected to participate in intramural sports and the choices vary based on the season.

Any insight on soccer? (Men's) Are there walk-ons?

NavyHoops said:

Agree that rowing is different. During Plebe Summer all Plebes actually head up to the boat house and get a Rowing Intro. They actually have plebes tryout the rowing machines. They will approach alot of Mids that are tall and Mids with great row times. In the fall the rowing teams are rather large as alot of Plebes give the sport a shot. It is a unique sport as it has a novice squads for heavyweight and lightweight teams. Overtime some plebes move on to other sports or go to intramurals. No shame in giving it a shot. Sports are tough at the college level and require alot of time and effort.

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That's good to know that they can give it a try. My son is very tall (close to 6'4") and muscular, and I think he would be great at rowing, but not sure if he will want to Still has get BFE first though

If he is interested definitely give rowing a shot! They start with a ton of plebes and they slowly lose them. Tough sport physically and mentally. For many it wasn't the physical why they walked away it was the mental. The constant reptitive motion of the sport over and over drove a lot of the guys away. A lot of them said it was boring. Navy does have a long and storied crew history. Many great teams. The guys who do row all four years tend to be very close. Alumni also stay very connected to the program.

He can definitely try out for soccer. It's a different coach since I was there so not sure how he does tryouts. When I was there it was a 1 day tryout for walk ons. I had a recruited player in my squad who didn't even make the team. Men's soccer team has really improved and developed a great program recently. They were hovering around top 25 last year if I remember right. He can fill out the form on the navy sports website and see what the coach says. I always caution everyone... Navy runs a very legit D1 program. The time commitment is no less than it would be at any other D1 school. So walk ons rarely, if ever, make teams. It is a lot of work to put in. For some the idea of being on a team sounds great, but then realize the amount of work to never play or even make a travel squad is just not worth it.

Any insight about sprint football?

ILChicagoSub said:

Any insight about sprint football?

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They hold tryouts every year and have waves of cuts before the final roster. For Plebes, they can start working out with them I believe during PS when sports period opens up.

TexasSoccerMom said:

Any insight on soccer? (Men's) Are there walk-ons?

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There are a few walk-ons - about 1/year (per the coach). Some plebes are invited to train during pre-season (Plebe Summer), which is basically a 5-week tryout. But he keeps a slightly smaller roster compared to other D-I programs as he has a very intense, personal way of doing things that requires more together-time than most teams (even for varsity sports). I believe every player travels, even if they aren't on the game-day roster, in order to build the team dynamic.

Lots of good info here -- NavyHoops especially is spot on with her honesty about the difficulty of walking on in "ball sports" in particular. Navy is a Division I program, and the teams are very strong overall. If you are wondering how you stack up (and this works for most colleges/universities where you might want to play a sport), take a look at the roster and/or press guide and focus on the honors and accomplishments typical players have garnered, whether it's all-State, or playing in an Under Armour game, etc. It will give you a sense of your competition. Because Navy isn't hamstrung by scholarship limits, teams like football tend to bring in a lot of recruited plebes so walking on as a "Rudy" like person is, as NavyHoops suggested, virtually impossible. Sprint football is a great option though (although still some very impressive talent there). Rowing, if you've got the right build (tall and skinny for the lights, tall and muscular for the heavies, or tiny and compact for coxing) is probably the best home for true walk-ons, and NavyHoops is right on there too -- close bunch of guys but many start, fewer stick with it.

At non-Service Academy Division I schools, you'll sometimes hear talk about "preferred walk-ons." Essentially, those are athletes who are not on scholarship, but the coaches are aware of them, want them to come out for the team, and there can even be a presumption that they will get a roster spot. If you think you've got the talent and drive to play at Navy, you can try to make yourself the equivalent of a preferred walk-on by getting in touch with the coaches ahead of time. Sending in times/distances, for sports where that's relevant, or maybe a link to your film on YouTube, if it's not. Check out their contact info first, don't be a pest, but maybe you can become somebody who is not just a face in the crowd but will get that second look. With that said, it's a long shot for a lot of sports.

If a coach does not respond to an email is it inappropriate to call their listed office number?

You will probably get an assistant coach if you call. Your decision to call or not. If it's only been a week or two, give them some time. They are busy and could be on the road. Did you fill out the questionnaire? If it's a Varsity sport have your really done research to see if you are competitive to play the sport. You need to be informed before calling.

Not to get hopes too far up, but there have been a few instances of which I am aware that Sprint standouts got some trial time on the varsity squad. BUT - the posts above is correct, most of the squads have been filled with recruits, very few walk-ons - even when I was a midshipman, back in the days of wooden ships and sails (almost).

My DS tried out for Sprint football and was cut in the final round. You should be aware that OML is very important at USNA and athletics is a big time drain. You may be better off not playing a sport and focusing on your school work. DS is in Glee Club and trying out for the bodybuilding group. He was a top high school student and struggles to stay in the middle ranks at USNA. OML determines a lot that you can eventually do.

DS visited this past week and was lucky enough to get to check out the first Spring football practice. He was told that 1/3 of Mids are varsity athletes. I was kind of surprised by that. I thought it would be a lower number. DS's comment was that at the university he is attending now 1/3 of the student body is Greek. Talk about culture shock!

DS was also told that in the second or third week of PS the Plebes will have an opportunity to try out for teams. DS is a little daunted because he is not a recruited athlete, but he loved playing football in high school, so now that he has an appointment, it looks like between now and I Day he will be getting ready to climb another mountain. Go Navy Beat Army!

kayaker, not sure on your DS size, but if he can make the weight requirements for sprint football highly recommend looking at that squad if he really wants to continue playing football. Rugby is another sport at the club level that gets a lot of football players too.

And yes a lot of Athletes at Navy. I think they are at 33. If you add in another 10-15 club sports that number is really high. For only having 4,000 students there are a ton of sports teams, not sure any school outside the other SAs can touch that number for a school so small.They have added some since I have left even. The number of female varsity athletes I believe are even higher.