For cadets who are NOT recruited athletes, how do they get on/try out for sports teams?

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Jeeplady777

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Hello again. More questions for my DS as he is looking forward to/preparing for USCGA class of ‘28. He is not a recruited athlete but interested in seeing if he’s good enough to compete in track hurdles. I’ve heard there are team get togethers during the Day 1 drop off weekend. Are non recruited athletes able to join these if they’re interested in that sport or do they just wait till the season begins and try out or something? Should they be contacting the coach now if they’ve been given an appointment? Worst case I know he can do intramural sports. Just wasn’t sure how it worked for the rest of the cadets who aren’t recruited. Thanks.
 
Contact the coach. There likely won’t be any published try outs at any point. Then once the year starts any upperclassman in that sport can help figure out how to join/try out, but if it’s a fall sport you will have missed part of it already if you don’t contact the coach now.
 
Yes, I would suggest he reach out to Coach Brown directly. During swab summer, there are a few times the swabs meet with coaches, and he definitely could talk with the track coaches more at that point as well. The track team does not have a lot of hurdlers, so he might have a good shot.
 
T/F/X-C and swimming are a bit different than some other sports when it comes to walking on. Success is determined specifically by time and/or distance. If a walk-on is fast enough, they can make the team. Compare your kids results so far to CG results on their athletic website.
 
My cadet just talked to the coach after he arrived at the Academy (maybe even during swab summer - I believe they get coaches time during the summer). He was not a recruited athlete, but was able to join the Track and Field team as a walk on. Track is a winter/spring sport, so he will have time to meet the coaches and talk to them. Some track and field events definitely don't have a lot of competitors for those events, so more opportunity for the coach to add depth to their roster.
 
VAcadetmom said:
My cadet just talked to the coach after he arrived at the Academy (maybe even during swab summer - I believe they get coaches time during the summer). He was not a recruited athlete, but was able to join the Track and Field team as a walk on. Track is a winter/spring sport, so he will have time to meet the coaches and talk to them. Some track and field events definitely don't have a lot of competitors for those events, so more opportunity for the coach to add depth to their roster.
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They do indoor track and field in the winter, outdoor in the spring. Indoor is by far the bigger season.
 
Hopful_Mil_Kid said:
Really? That's interesting. In Highschool it's the opposite usually (at least where I live.)
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I'm not sure whether the indoor or outdoor team usually has more athletes. It seems about even to me.
The indoor season is a bit longer than the outdoor season, although both seasons seem pretty short. Most teams have 1-2 meets in December, but CGA doesn't have their first meet until January after returning from winter break. (There was one multi-meet in December this year, but I'm not counting that since CGA doesn't usually have more than 1-2 athletes competing in multis).
 
Jeeplady777 said:
Hello again. More questions for my DS as he is looking forward to/preparing for USCGA class of ‘28. He is not a recruited athlete but interested in seeing if he’s good enough to compete in track hurdles. I’ve heard there are team get togethers during the Day 1 drop off weekend. Are non recruited athletes able to join these if they’re interested in that sport or do they just wait till the season begins and try out or something? Should they be contacting the coach now if they’ve been given an appointment? Worst case I know he can do intramural sports. Just wasn’t sure how it worked for the rest of the cadets who aren’t recruited. Thanks.
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I’m a current cadet. Remember, we’re a D3 school. I’ve never heard of any walk-ons getting turned away from a sport. Now, you might not get as much playing time as the recruited athletes initially, but you’ll still be on the team with a chance to prove yourself.

Personally, I swam all through middle and high school, but I wasn’t recruited. When I got to the academy, I decided to try something new and walked onto the crew team. Despite never having seen an oar in my life, the coach put me in a boat that afternoon and we practiced the basics.

Bottom line: you can walk on to any sport you want to try here.
 
Wish my kid had gotten into USCGA...the coach wanted him, but admissions did not.

Should have had him apply to the other academies like his sibling (USNA '19)
 
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