At a SA does playing a varsity sport make it easier or harder from an academic graduating standpoint?

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Small Team Bacsi

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I saw that one of the regulars who posts here said they quit their SA sports team to concentrate on class work. And that class work was a major reason students often quit SA sports teams.

How much harder does it make it? Can playing on a team ever make it easier? Is quitting to concentrate on class more likely with those not playing a lot?

I thought varsity sports was a very positive experience for our first to attend. But they did ok in the class room so the question never came up..

The second one likely may struggle a bit or even a lot more with classes.

I had no idea where to post this question
 
I wouldn't have graduated without my team. They are still my family, and for all the time spent traveling and playing that took away from course work that could have made keeping grades up easier, having that built in support system is 100% the reason why I didn't leave the Academy when I thought about it seriously twice. It also taught me much more about time management than I would have learned being a slug. Those are skills that have followed through everything I do today.

Additionally, people relieve stress in different ways; there's a lot stress at a SA. Healthy competition that you could actually find a "win" when things weren't always going your way (i.e. plebe year) through sport remains a good stress reliever for me.

Folks definitely leave teams sometimes based on the course load they are taking or shifting priorities away from their sport. For all the cons, there are going to be pros. It's up to the individual to decide what their balance needs to look like, and some teams definitely have better individual cultures than other that foster a healthy sense of belonging and identity for the group. More folks stayed with my team than quit over the four years in my YG. Additionally, some folks who I saw who left a team weren't necessarily leaving because they couldn't manage the workload. They left because they knew they weren't going to get the playing time by the time they were an upperclassman to outweigh the time commitment they were putting in and decided to start transitioning to other interests like 99.9% of all athletes have to do eventually at some point in their life.
 
Prior to working on the USAFA Athletic Department, I had a negative bias towards SA intercollegiate athletes. As a student, my perception was based on what I saw from them (and it was almost never positive because I rarely saw them in the squadron). However, my perception changed when I saw what their daily schedule looked like.

Practice schedules, weight lifting schedules, and travel do equate to a significant amount of time lost. Depending on the sport and the length of the season, a student athlete can miss a considerable amount of in-class instruction due to team travel. Larger teams (mostly revenue sports) can bring instructors/tutors along with them. It was common to be on a football charter flight with guys huddled around an instructor as they were going over college level material. You would see study sessions break out at hotels. The reality is - these student athletes still have to pass the same class as their non-athlete peers. There is no easy button for this level of academic pursuit.

Non-revenue teams, and clubs like Drum and Bugle have similar study sessions on the road.... but no travel instructors. It's nice when you have peer tutors who will help out.

The course load is the same as non-intercollegiate athletes, but the time in the classroom can be significantly less. After school, it is common not go get back to your room until after 7pm. People who are not in season athletes or are not on an IC team do participate in clubs or intramurals but those time commitments are much less. A non-IC may have their afternoon free after 4pm - potentially not everyday but they are in more control of their time.

So, you miss a lot of class for road trips, practice makes you have less free time to study, and you have the same academic expectations.
 
shiner said:
The course load is the same as non-intercollegiate athletes, but the time in the classroom can be significantly less. After school, it is common not go get back to your room until after 7pm. People who are not in season athletes or are not on an IC team do participate in clubs or intramurals but those time commitments are much less. A non-IC may have their afternoon free after 4pm - potentially not everyday but they are in more control of their time.

So, you miss a lot of class for road trips, practice makes you have less free time to study, and you have the same academic expectations.
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I may have not one, but two instructors actually e-mail me firstie year asking if I had dropped their class without speaking to them due to the amount of their class I had missed that semester. Before anyone freaks out, I wasn't missing just for my sport; I was also traveling extensively for my capstone at the time so definitely on the extreme side of not being present, but one of those classes was a heat transfer class. I think I ended up physically in class for 20 of the 40 lectures. Much sadness was had trying to decipher the textbook on my own 😂
 
I would add that the primary purpose of SAs is not to graduate scholars, but combat leaders. You learn much about leadership and “followership” on the friendly field of strife.
 
Casey said:
I may have not one, but two instructors actually e-mail me firstie year asking if I had dropped their class without speaking to them due to the amount of their class I had missed that semester. Before anyone freaks out, I wasn't missing just for my sport; I was also traveling extensively for my capstone at the time so definitely on the extreme side of not being present, but one of those classes was a heat transfer class. I think I ended up physically in class for 20 of the 40 lectures. Much sadness was had trying to decipher the textbook on my own 😂
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I had a similar experience in my civilian college. Two tests and a final. I didn’t go to any classes, and only took one of two exams. At the final, the professor asked who I was and said he had no record of me being in his class. I aced the final and ended up with a decent grade.

I wasn’t in a sport though. It was a social problem I had. ;)
 
Do not underestimate the value of having upperclassmen teammates treat you like a human being and actually call you by your first name. They can be a big source of encouragement and can on occasion provide you with ponies that can help you pass the tough classes. As a team member, you can also leave what can feel like prison your plebe year for team movements which can be a real lifesaver.
 
I found the team to be an amazing help in my academic "challenges" however in the end, I had to make a decision: keep participating and VERY realistically, fail and be disenrolled, or speak with my coach and tell him that I just couldn't continue.

When I had that conversation he looked at me and said: "I wondered when you'd make the call."

Even though I "wasn't on the team" the coaches made me feel as if I was for the rest of my time at USAFA.

Steve
(Track Team, '79-81)
 
kpmom2013 said:
Do not underestimate the value of having upperclassmen teammates treat you like a human being and actually call you by your first name. They can be a big source of encouragement and can on occasion provide you with ponies that can help you pass the tough classes. As a team member, you can also leave what can feel like prison your plebe year for team movements which can be a real lifesaver.
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I did not attend a SA, but I played golf in college and was paired with a plebe from West Point in a tournament. This would have been around 1979 or 1980. I remember he said, thank God for the golf team because I get to leave. Like kpmom2013 said, being part of the team gave him a reprieve from all the demands of being a plebe. I have often wondered whatever happened to that fellow.

Ironically, DS is now a plebe at West Point.
 
Our DS has had two varsity athletes as roomies so far as a youngster. Their schedule is insane. He envies their weight rooms and menu. But he sees the work they put in. And the shortened liberty they have over breaks.

Each brings something to the table. He provides notes and insight from class when they are gone and he gains structure from them and goal setting for his physical aptitude. His crew roomie has been his best source of tutoring for a difficult STEM class. He has friends who are non athletes (can’t remember the acronym for what they call the intramural Mids) and high level varsity athletes, and they don’t quibble about who has it tougher. They just get it done. And help each other.
 
Heatherg21 said:
He has friends who are non athletes (can’t remember the acronym for what they call the intramural Mids) ...
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NARP = Non Athlete Regular Person. My DS (a NARP '25) has had varsity athletes as roomies as well. Schedules are definitely different---some regards "easier" some regards "tougher". NARPs stay just as busy as Varsity athletes with MO's and ECA's.

DS is an ECA that can be just as time intensive as a varsity sport, with just as much time commitment. The SA's are intended to stretch your concept of what you can accomplish given a fixed resource (TIME). DS thinks close to half his Plebe company mates are in a sport. Given the commissioning rates of the SA's I would say the SA's have figured out how to have athletes succeed in classrooms as well as NARP's succeed in the field.
 
Small Team Bacsi said:
I saw that one of the regulars who posts here said they quit their SA sports team to concentrate on class work. And that class work was a major reason students often quit SA sports teams.

How much harder does it make it? Can playing on a team ever make it easier? Is quitting to concentrate on class more likely with those not playing a lot?

I thought varsity sports was a very positive experience for our first to attend. But they did ok in the class room so the question never came up..

The second one likely may struggle a bit or even a lot more with classes.

I had no idea where to post this question
Click to expand...
Honestly? It’s as individualized a decision/choice, as are most things. Not only an academic choice, but other factors as well: some kids are more social and enjoy doing things with their companies (my oldest left his varsity sport in part bc of what he missed out on with his mates, and desired that camaraderie with his company) . Others find that ‘belonging’ with their team. Add on leave, time missed at home (matters to some, not to others…), and challenging majors (another biggie for
my oldest), and there is so much to the decision. Our youngest is completely opposite and different than his sibling.

It’s pretty awesome that they CAN choose to leave. And not loose their scholarship. Not the same at other colleges. Where there isn’t a choice (leave your sport, loose your scholarship).

I think the biggest thing is to support their choice. The intramural and competition sports are also AHHHH-MAZINGGGG….Kinda cool to try something (or things) different, too!!
 
NARP, thank you, that was it. Mine was on the TKD team during Covid, really wanted to compete. Injury precluded a lot. Now? He's on the dodge ball team. Who knew? Cracks me up.
 
Thank you all for your comments (and those to come)

Id have never asked the question if I had not seen one of the regulars post about their experience. Their comment did make me think about time management ,SA sports teams and travel, and those not academically gifted.

Our first time thru this as a parent the team was maybe the biggest thing that kept them there to graduate. Not the bonds with the Brigade or the missed future opportunities but the walking out on your team mates.
 
I could write a dissertation on this topic. These are only my opinions as a 4-year basketball player at Navy.

I think there are tons of factors that play into this for a SA athlete. D1 sports are no joke in terms of time and intensity. Two items that reign supreme at a SA. You have to really love your sport. The perks are great, team tables, time away from campus, treated like a human for a bit, see the country, miss drill, etc. I think the Brigade is slightly different now in terms of mandatory meals and things, so it might not be as big a difference. All, but one of my room mates was a NARP at USNA. Even to this day they comment how much time my sport took. And one of my room mates was a VGEPer and the other was Brigade Honor Board... in terms of time, wasn't even close.

What many don’t see are the hours and hours spent rehabbing, conditioning, lifting, practice, film, extra practice, road trips, the aching and tired body. During a regular week day of practice in season, basketball was easily 3-6 hours of my day depending on film, training room time, etc. The missed leave. I get that regular Mids are tired too, have a lot going on and tough schedules. It’s not that one is better than the other, it’s we all made our choices and should do what is best for us. It also can vary drastically from sport to sport. Basketball is a very long season (now a distance runner usually runs 3 seasons a year), we play 30+ games a year and it covers all the leave periods except the summer. I missed every Thanksgiving and Christmas Leave period (except 3-4 days) and Spring Break. Summer I usually gave up at least 1 week of leave to work basketball camp. It was my choice to play the sport I did. It is hard to watch everyone leave the yard excited to go home and you are headed to practice. Or walk around the yard on Dec 28th and its cold and dark to your second practice of the day. The other part many don't see are the volunteer activities teams do around Annapolis. Yes, most Mids volunteer and do an amazing job. We spend time with local youth leagues on Saturday afternoons and other things. So many don't realize we do alot of things off the court as we do on the court.

My Plebe Year, our team missed 25 more days of class than any other team on the yard. That wasn't total days missed, that was more. We missed over 50. As someone who struggled academically Plebe year this a tough balance. The football team plays something like 12 games a year. If half are on the road that means 6 road trips with private planes. So they miss 6 Fridays, maybe if they play Thursday they miss a few extra days. I could miss 6 days of class in 2 weeks.

Also, its going from big fish, small pond to small fish, big pond at the D1 level. Everyone is good. For many, putting all that time and effort in to realize you just aren't good enough to crack the travel squad or getting playing time gets old. It becomes a balance of love of the sport, what you get out of the sport compared to what you put into the sport, how impacts you overall daily life at USNA. This is one of the reasons I always say I don't care why someone came to USNA, but why they stayed. Very few quit their sport and leave USNA. They become NARPs or join a club team and channel their efforts elsewhere. There are tons and tons of former athletes in the Brigade.

In the end it comes down to a very personal decision. For me, the structure and outlet it provided were very positive for me. The time management it taught me has served me well in life. Would I have been a better student if I did not play, pretty sure I would have. But, the leadership lessons and memories, I wouldn't trade those for anything. In the end I think it made me a better Mid and officer. Everyone has to do what is best for them.
 
Adding to @NavyHoops’s great post: As a college teacher (flagship state university), I usually have at least one varsity athlete per section (it’s a D1 school). They miss quite a few classes as well as team project meetings. To get a decent grade, they need to very proactively manage the workload, assignments, exams and teamwork. Most do a good job of it. In the past year, I had just one varsity athlete who earned a grade below C. So yes, time management is everything, and a great way to learn time management is to be a collegiate varsity athlete.

(Aside: DD is a USNA club-level athlete. This year as team captain, there have been times that she’s dedicated 20+ hours a week to it. And that was without any games and/or road trips. She admits that academics took a back seat during those periods. Now multiply that time commitment for varsity athletes. Wow!)
 
I will add as another thought that a lot of the same time management and independent study skills with all the time out of class in college have translated well to my being able to successfully work on my masters concurrent to full time, busy optempo job in the present. Everyone is going to have different balls to juggle, and sometimes they are by choice which ones you choose to juggle, but the goal is always to do it without having to drop any. And if you do have to drop something, knowing which ones are okay to drop.
 
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