Sports at the Academies

BaxterMoves

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I have a question regarding how sports actually work. If I am in a current sport but not going to an academy for that sport I have the opportunity to "walk-on" with the team if not directly recruited.
But, my question is if I were to attend a service academy could I try to get onto another sports team even if I've never done it before, such as boxing, How does that process work?
 
I have a question regarding how sports actually work. If I am in a current sport but not going to an academy for that sport I have the opportunity to "walk-on" with the team if not directly recruited.
But, my question is if I were to attend a service academy could I try to get onto another sports team even if I've never done it before, such as boxing, How does that process work?
In general, mids have to do a sport, whether varsity, club or company intramural. During Plebe Summer there are briefings and try-outs.
You can try different things in different years/semesters. Someone could start out as a varsity track recruit, struggle with academics so leave the varsity sport and do a company intramural sport to gain more time and not travel. As academics improved, might go back out the next year and do a club sport, get a little travel in but not at varsity intensity.

If you haven’t yet read every page, drop down and link at USNA.edu, I encourage it. Most answers are there at the primary source.
 
I have a question regarding how sports actually work. If I am in a current sport but not going to an academy for that sport I have the opportunity to "walk-on" with the team if not directly recruited.
But, my question is if I were to attend a service academy could I try to get onto another sports team even if I've never done it before, such as boxing, How does that process work?
The answers are yes and yes.

Certain sports including boxing just about always include team members who are new to the sport. In my day at USNA, a couple of sports, specifically Crew and Squash even overtly said to come to them after you get cut from your preferred sport. As Capt MJ said, you try out and if you're good enough, generally, they will find you a spot. Also, there are a number of folks who switch sports to something that they like better or feel that they are better at. A good friend from a class after mine was heavily recruited as a soccer player and had been named the High School MVP for his state. When he got to USNA, he joined the Intercollegiate Sailing Team instead of Soccer. While he was a pretty good Soccer player, he was a 4 time All-American in his chosen sport and after graduation, made the US Olympic Team.
 
My DD changed sports. She left her USNA NCAA team at the end of her plebe year to pursue an aggressive service selection goal. She ended up playing intramural football to close out her plebe year and might have played at the beginning of her 3C year (she'd send me vids/pics of stuff she thought was funny at her games). The thing is, the team sports stuff seemed to stop during her 3C year. She was still running/lifting, and she had her base PQ tests to take, but the sports-team stuff just stopped. It's not like she was a "bookish loner"; she was involved in a ton of stuff and loving life at USNA, but the sports teams just faded out of the picture.

Question: Are mids required or expected to participate in a team sport after their Plebe year? 3C year? 2Cyear?

Adding this for recruited athletes drawn to this thread title: DD was a recruited NCAA Div1 athlete at USNA and had a strong plebe year with her team. I know that telling her coach she was done was the hardest single thing DD did while she was at the USNA. She still loved her sport and felt guilty about leaving her team. The USNA coaches in her program couldn't have been better when she told them. They explored ways she might stay with the team. When DD's reasoning was made clear, they told her she was a good teammate, said that she would be missed, wished her well, and said if they could ever help her in the future, she only needed to ask. DD walked out of that meeting feeling good about herself, her status at USNA intact, and a lot more time to spend on new opportunities for growth that she'd never conceived of on the day she chose NAVY. I am sure USNA coaches deal with athletes leaving all the time demands on USNA students are significant, but so is the list of opportunities to do cool new stuff.

For HS athletes weighing a "Full-Ride" somewhere vs. an appointment to the USNA, it's worth considering what happens if/when you discover that you need to use those 40++ hours a week spent on practice, travel, workouts, Etc. ....on something else. Of the girls on DDs team in high school, the only not-so-happy stories involve 2 athletes committed to full rides at expensive private schools and found by their sophomore year that they'd lost interest/spark for their sport. The loss of scholarship $$$ was what kept these two on their respective teams; investing time and energy long past the end of interest in their sport. I also remember a young man in his Jr year at Stanford telling me his single best day that year had been the day an MD told him his back required him to leave the Stanford Crew Team. The injury had allowed him to leave the team and keep his scholarship; he could be a normal student, AND he could afford to stay at Stanford. Jumping at the most prestigious Full Ride can have its downside.
 
As long as they fulfill the requirement, that checks the block. There are exemptions, which mids learn about when they get there, for being involved in certain types of non-sport activities. That list can change from year to year.
 
DD participated in a sport at KP until an injury caused her to stop. She kept stats and helped run practices for the rest of the season, after which she dove into another activity. I later thanked him for keeping her involved; it really helped her mental state. "She helped me more than I helped her."
 
Question: Are mids required or expected to participate in a team sport after their Plebe year? 3C year? 2Cyear?
Sports are required all 4 years although there are some activities that will exempt a mid from intramurals. Intramurals though take a LOT less time - I used to do winter intramurals and I think it was 3 afternoons per week for a couple of hours.
 
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