Any other candidates having issues securing a gym facility for the CFA?

H

Hawkeye99

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My son's high school is giving some pushback on providing gym space/time to practice for and even administer the CFA.

My son was flat out told no when he asked the athletic office secretary for either practice time or to administer the exam. She was adamant the gym is closed, period. I'm sure she probably has people pestering her for gym time for various teams, so I understand that. He emailed the athletic director with more detailed information about the process and is waiting for a response.

My son hasn't been able to be in contact with his PE teachers/coaches who will administer the exam because their emails are locked up until the week before school starts and more than likely our school start date will be pushed back another week and a half after tonight's school board meeting. I was hoping that his coaches could help secure gym time, but for now we can't get in contact with them. These same coaches are my son's track and football coaches, but all football training/camps have been suspended until Jan 1 here so again, he has no interaction with them until school starts.

Higher contact fall sports are cancelled here, so the gyms and weight rooms are closed to everyone at the school. It is very likely our district will move to 100% remote learning as our neighboring district are already doing so.

I plan on contacting our local rec center to ask about gym time, but they also aren't allowing use of their basketball court facilities and indoor track (there is no outdoor track). I don't know how successful I will be at getting gym time there. As a last resort I plan to try to find a private gym that I could rent out. I'm not sure i can even find one that will have everything we need for proper administration.

Both of these alternatives are less than ideal because we still need a PE teacher or his ALO to administer the exam. We do not have a JROTC program at our high school to help facilitate the importance of this exam to the athletic director. To the best of my knowledge no students from our high school have been appointed to a service academy in the 5 years that we have been living here. I'm not sure how familiar the school is with service academies and the application process.

We could also try to go to another neighboring school or even a neighboring state that has gyms open but the CFA must be administered by a current HS PE teacher or the ALO. I'm not sure if I could convince the coaches or our ALO to travel to a different state. :) I'm assuming other schools nearby have their gyms locked down like ours.

My son is going to reach out to his liaison officer today for guidance and to see if other local candidates are having issues as well.

For now, I wanted to ask if any other candidates for the c/o 2025 are having issues too and what you are doing to convince the high school to let you use their facilities.

Thanks in advance.
 
YMCA?
County rec center?

Local National Guard Armory? They usually have an indoor gym floor space and a route marked for distances. Ask for the Admin NCO, one of the full-time people.

Local Reserve Center, any service?

Local college ROTC unit?

Your son should make notes on what he needs to say in terms of introduction, the favor he wants to ask, the specifics, and make the call himself. Good practice in adult self-advocacy and initiative.
 
I was going to say... there are lots of options as Capt MJ so well put. My local green way has a path for running and pull up bars by the entrance. Local recruiter would be able to provide space also as all of them have pull up bars and know a 1 mile path to use. Definitely the last sentence that Capt MJ stated is key also. I am sure a coach, ALO or anyone else administering an exam would help out with changing locations outside of school, but the burden should be on your DS to arrange it and even go scout out the location. He would be wise to even do a practice test at that location too.
 
Local recruiting office, great idea! All people in uniform know where to go to get their regular workouts and runs in, especially Marines.
 
Thank you for your responses.

We do not have any YMCAs near us. Each suburb/township has their own parks/rec facility and those are locked down from what I know, but we will look into them as mentioned above if our high school does not allow us access.

In the “Instructions to Candidates” booklet page 16/17 specifically says in bold that the test “must be administered by a physical education teacher from the candidate’s high school, the Service Academy’s Liason Officer, or JROTC instructor”.

The booklet gives no other alternatives others than for current service members.

If there is an option to use a local recruiting office, national guard armory or local ROTC detachment that opens up different avenues that we thought were not possible.

My son has been doing and will be doing all the coordination (which is how he got shut down by the athletic secretary today). I was just looking to see if other candidates were having an issue securing their high school gym space as well.
 
If it were me, I would not be stopped by the Athletic Secretary. College Admissions in general and elite schools like the service academies are points of pride for many schools and with that in mind, reaching out to the Director of Guidance or Principal for assistance on this might get through the bureaucratic issue of contacting the coach or PE teacher. I guarantee that between the Director of Guidance, Principal and Superintendent, SOMEONE will know how to contact the proper folks in the near term and will probably be willing to advocate for reaching some work around to help one of their students reach for the stars.
 
Another idea is looking up JROTC units in the area and contacting their SASI ( Instructor). Your son can do this by looking up "JROTC units in ( your state)" school with JROTC units are most likely to be open or more understanding of the situation. If you live in IL or Missouri close to St. Louis my school has an open track and I'm sure I can ask my school athletic director for some time indoor. We were allow to have a boot camp as allowed as we wiped down everything we used and keep masked on/ 6 feet apart while outside. If you live in the area I discribed PM and I'll let you know the town and you can go from there.
 
FlyFalcon said:
Another idea is looking up JROTC units in the area and contacting their SASI ( Instructor). Your son can do this by looking up "JROTC units in ( your state)" school with JROTC units are most likely to be open or more understanding of the situation. If you live in IL or Missouri close to St. Louis my school has an open track and I'm sure I can ask my school athletic director for some time indoor. We were allow to have a boot camp as allowed as we wiped down everything we used and keep masked on/ 6 feet apart while outside. If you live in the area I discribed PM and I'll let you know the town and you can go from there.
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Thank you. I will have my son confirm with his liaison officer if the JROTC instructor can be one from another school. I found an AFJROTC detachment about 25 minutes away from us.

If we continue to get shut down from our local high school, that seems like a great option.

We live about 4.5 hours away from STL, so I may take you up on that offer. Hopefully not though. :)

We lived in suburban STL for about a decade after I separated from the AF.
 
Definitely agree with all the above posts.

I don't mean this to be flip, but at l least as far as prep goes, who needs a gym? A pullup bar, a piece of floor, and a place to run outside is all that's required. Although the CFA should always be done as soon as possible, there is plenty of time and it can certainly wait until school is back in session in 2-3 weeks. That may help with some hurdles, but suggestions above would be better.
 
kinnem said:
Definitely agree with all the above posts.

I don't mean this to be flip, but at l least as far as prep goes, who needs a gym? A pullup bar, a piece of floor, and a place to run outside is all that's required. Although the CFA should always be done as soon as possible, there is plenty of time and it can certainly wait until school is back in session in 2-3 weeks. That may help with some hurdles, but suggestions above would be better.
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I agree about the practice for the CFA. We have a chin up bar at home. He lifts and runs regularly to keep healthy for football and track. He can knock out the pull ups, push ups and sit ups rather easily at home. Even the mile run can be done outside on the street or at the middle school track which is unfenced and accessible.

We probably need to practice the shuttle run and the basketball throw a bit. And we definitely need to practice all events in order and with the timed intervals.

Ideally a practice run at the same location as the test is best, so that’s what we are shooting for.
 
One does not need a gym to prepare for the CFA. For the actual test, absolutely. And as @Capt MJ says, a dry and clean gym floor is critical for the shuttle run. But to prepare for the test:

Pullups need a bar, which are easy to find and relatively affordable. Key is progressively greater loads and a variety of exercises, such as negatives, hangs, closed grip, wide grip, etc.

Pushups need a floor. Same principles as for pullups — load and variety. Don’t just pump them out mindlessly.

Situps can use same floor as for pullups. Again, load and variety. It’s mainly about chunking and pacing.

Shuttle and mile — go outside and run different distances and paces. Shuttle is a lot about technique, which you can practice just about anywhere.

Basketball...well, you know what to do.
 
Hawkeye99 said:
My son's high school is giving some pushback on providing gym space/time to practice for and even administer the CFA.

My son was flat out told no when he asked the athletic office secretary for either practice time or to administer the exam. She was adamant the gym is closed, period. I'm sure she probably has people pestering her for gym time for various teams, so I understand that. He emailed the athletic director with more detailed information about the process and is waiting for a response.

My son hasn't been able to be in contact with his PE teachers/coaches who will administer the exam because their emails are locked up until the week before school starts and more than likely our school start date will be pushed back another week and a half after tonight's school board meeting. I was hoping that his coaches could help secure gym time, but for now we can't get in contact with them. These same coaches are my son's track and football coaches, but all football training/camps have been suspended until Jan 1 here so again, he has no interaction with them until school starts.

Higher contact fall sports are cancelled here, so the gyms and weight rooms are closed to everyone at the school. It is very likely our district will move to 100% remote learning as our neighboring district are already doing so.

I plan on contacting our local rec center to ask about gym time, but they also aren't allowing use of their basketball court facilities and indoor track (there is no outdoor track). I don't know how successful I will be at getting gym time there. As a last resort I plan to try to find a private gym that I could rent out. I'm not sure i can even find one that will have everything we need for proper administration.

Both of these alternatives are less than ideal because we still need a PE teacher or his ALO to administer the exam. We do not have a JROTC program at our high school to help facilitate the importance of this exam to the athletic director. To the best of my knowledge no students from our high school have been appointed to a service academy in the 5 years that we have been living here. I'm not sure how familiar the school is with service academies and the application process.

We could also try to go to another neighboring school or even a neighboring state that has gyms open but the CFA must be administered by a current HS PE teacher or the ALO. I'm not sure if I could convince the coaches or our ALO to travel to a different state. :) I'm assuming other schools nearby have their gyms locked down like ours.

My son is going to reach out to his liaison officer today for guidance and to see if other local candidates are having issues as well.

For now, I wanted to ask if any other candidates for the c/o 2025 are having issues too and what you are doing to convince the high school to let you use their facilities.

Thanks in advance.
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we have the same issue - my DD is doing her practice CFA every weekend at a local park that has a track and pull up bar - she has found it very important to do all the things in a row with the timing for practice. it makes a difference for sure! I go with her and do the stop watch and measure the bball throw - she would prefer to do the shuttle run on a gym floor - the grass or a track is not great for that skill but if we continue to get the NO she will do it outside - she is also going to call our church bc they have a gym and an indoor track - its doubtful but we will see....she is shooting for end of august to take official test with her coach which is allowed. her coach came to one of her practice tests to see how it all works - this year is strange and I told her you just have to get creative!!!
 
My son spent the summer prepping and practicing for the CFA at our grade school playground,everyday I might add! We had intially contacted the school and even local churches etc to try to find a place to prep and practice for it. Sadly he was turned down on all of them, due to covid so he started practicing on the playground for it. He recently reached out to his high school principal and explained his concerns about needing to have use of the gym for the test . He is scheduled to take it this Friday ;)
 
I can understand the challenges right now. All gyms are shut down in our state. While not ideal, you could complete the whole CFA outside, if need be.
 
I will be completing my CFA outside. As long as it isn’t windy or bad weather it should be fine to perform outside
 
To OP:
You only need some remnant chalk probably sitting in the dusty toy bins from childhood days, tape measure, broom, and a parent/friend to help!

For practice:
Shuttle - use the chalk and your broom to sweep area clean!
Basketball - put a few markers in chalk and parent/friend stand at other end to catch the ball and mark the throws.

I can't remember testing location rules - but if you can keep it "in home court", literally and figuratively, then that washes out having a gym, flat shuttle surface, etc. with having set up, measured, and practiced the exact testing location in a familiar environment.

Continue trying for CFA administrators. Have your DS contact his SA counselor (the one that works for the SA) and have ready the alternative testers and specifically ask if it's ok - such as local ALO and anyone else that would be reasonable.

Matyas said:
I will be completing my CFA outside. As long as it isn’t windy or bad weather it should be fine to perform outside
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I like this can do attitude!

CFA - everyone's going to have an archilles heel, and non-optimal situations in this cycle. 25% will defeat themselves. 50% will muddle through with a few could've would've should'ves. And 25% will go the extra mile, without drama, without excuse, WITH handicaps, and excel in the face of adversity.
 
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To expand on my train of thought while waiting for more A-Day pictures from DD's flight to add to my flexclip videos........

In these times, you cannot force anyone to meet in person, and that means if they are not comfortable administering the CFA, however noble that reason is, that's the answer. So because of this, I think if you first ask alternate reasonable people if they are willing to administer it, then go and ask USAFA if those specific people are acceptable administrators given your particular parameters. They key is to have specific people when you ask USAFA - don't ask USAFA what to do, only ask if the people you suggest are not acceptable. Show them you have a solution in hand. Applying to multiple SAs? See if one will admin for all (make sure follow USMA for video).
 
Drive around and check out different sites where the CFA could be administered in your area. My son did his 100% outside at his former middle school which had a pull up bar and artificial turf football field and track. His high school gym teacher drove over during the school day and administered it. The day he took the CFA, it was 30 degrees, windy and at 8000 ft, but he got it done. He never asked for permission to be able to practice there and use it as his test site. He practiced there in the late afternoon/early evenings after school let out and on weekends and then did his actual test during the school day while the middle school kids were in class. With the test requirements only having 2 minutes of "rest" between events, it made sense to find a track that had a pull up bar right next to it so his rest periods were spent resting instead of hoofing it from an indoor gym to a track.
 
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