ROTC and college sports.

pain995

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Hello all, well it appears my son has made up his mind and will be signing up to be a Marine in the ROTC program. My question is he excels as a high school wrestler and has many offers from University’s to pursue college wrestling. Does anyone know how this will work in the ROTC program? Do they allow recruits to participate in college sports?
 
well I can't speak for every program everywhere but in general they will encourage him to play on a sport if he can do so. My Son is on an Army scholarship at VMI and is a Rugby player, his roomate is on an Army scholarship and on a track scholarship and another friend is on a Marine scholarship and is playing Lacrosse. Another friend of my sons is on an Army ROTC scholarship to a civilian college in New England and is also a varsity wrestler. I am certain that they will encourage him to Wrestle- as long as he can keep his grades up and meet the requirements of the program.
 
It also may depend upon your major and how time consuming that is.

Your best bet is to speak with the recruiter at each of the universities that you are considering and see how well they think a interscholastic sport will fit with ROTC.
 
It also may depend upon your major and how time consuming that is.

Your best bet is to speak with the recruiter at each of the universities that you are considering and see how well they think a interscholastic sport will fit with ROTC.

inthenavy2008 is on the mark. My son was recruited for football by Holy Cross and RPI before applying for his NROTC scholarship. He would not have been able to play ball for Holy Cross because of conflicting naval science labs and football practice schedules. RPI football and the NROTC unit work together to accommodate each other's schedules.
 
My daughter was a recruited soccer player however even though NROTC was willing to work with her the Division 1 coach was NOT willing to work with NROTC and had major issues with not having complete control.
 
inthenavy2008 is on the mark. My son was recruited for football by Holy Cross and RPI before applying for his NROTC scholarship. He would not have been able to play ball for Holy Cross because of conflicting naval science labs and football practice schedules. RPI football and the NROTC unit work together to accommodate each other's schedules.

NHUSNAhopeful: I am so glad I learned something or two in the last year and a half and am able to help others, as others helped us, especially on this forum!
 
Hello all, well it appears my son has made up his mind and will be signing up to be a Marine in the ROTC program. My question is he excels as a high school wrestler and has many offers from University’s to pursue college wrestling. Does anyone know how this will work in the ROTC program? Do they allow recruits to participate in college sports?

Our current experience is in DIII women's hockey. So far, the coaches we have talked to all have been very accommodating, with not a single concern expressed. One coach mentioned that they will have one skater doing ROTC this season.

I also talked to the PMS at the local State U (a DI school without any sports my D plays) for some independent information. His experience is that they had not had a ROTC candidate participate in D1 varsity athletics in many many years. A couple of things at play here. Obviously the time commitment of DI sports is a big factor. The other factor is that the financial incentive is not as great at a DI school when athletic money is in play.

The PMS though did strongly encourage his ROTC students to participate in club athletics and intramurals.

And IIRC, one of the things that goes into the scoring for branching in AROTC is athletic accomplishment. I wouldn't be surprised if the Marines valued that as well.

So, I'd guess my answer is that if your son is looking at DIII schools, it is worth him inquiring of both coaches and the PMS as to how they can work out schedules.

Good luck to your son!
 
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