As an incoming plebe, i was wondering how trying out for varsity,club, and intramural sports goes? Do you try out during plebe summer? And if you don't have any experience in certain sports i.e. crew but are interested, how does one try out? Any advice for preparing for soccer or football tryouts would also be appreciated!
Sport Tryouts
- Thread starter chiromed0
- Start date
I don't know about the other sports, especially since I'm an incoming plebe, too, but I do know as a rower that crew is a pretty easy sport to get started in. Every rower is required to have a "novice year," where they spend a whole year (fall and spring season) just being in the "beginner" boat -- different races, different coaches, different boatmates. It's pretty nice, actually. You get a really good grounding in the sport, and it's a designated period of time where you "learn" the all the different parts of rowing. You're still racing other schools, you're just racing their novices/beginners, too.
Some rowers, like me, do this is high school, but a lot don't start until college. There are actually more women rowing at the collegiate level then there are at the high school level.
Also, because men's collegiate crew is under a different set of rules/weird, all freshmen boys, regardless of recruitment and previous experience, have to start out on the "freshman" team. Girls don't, so I'll be going straight to the varsity/experienced team, while most walk-ons/inexperienced recruits will go to the novice team. I'm sure within the boy's freshmen team there are experienced and novice boats, too.
Hope this helps!
Some rowers, like me, do this is high school, but a lot don't start until college. There are actually more women rowing at the collegiate level then there are at the high school level.
Also, because men's collegiate crew is under a different set of rules/weird, all freshmen boys, regardless of recruitment and previous experience, have to start out on the "freshman" team. Girls don't, so I'll be going straight to the varsity/experienced team, while most walk-ons/inexperienced recruits will go to the novice team. I'm sure within the boy's freshmen team there are experienced and novice boats, too.
Hope this helps!
Dolphins2012
10-Year Member
- Joined
- May 2, 2011
- Messages
- 205
Good info, VJB. How do you know all that about college rowing? Just by rowing in high school? Or do you know someone at USNA who rows?
Thanks, Dolphins!
I've rowed the last two years of high school, and high school rowing has the same rule about novices -- everyone, regardless of age, starts out as a novice. And the collegiate rules are the same for all schools. Mens collegiate rowing, heavyweight and lightweight (and women's lightweight, but Navy doesn't have a women's lightweight team), is governed by the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA), while women's is governed by the NCAA. That's why they have the different rules about freshmen boats.
And I just know all of this from being in the rowing community and doing research about schools and college rowing. There are a lot of different rules when it comes to stuff like recruitment, official visits, when you can talk to coaches, etc, that it pays to know your stuff. However, regardless of recruitment and previous experience, rowing is a relatively easy sport to walk onto. I can't think of another sport that lets you walk onto a basically varsity team without any prior experience. Maybe sailing?
I've rowed the last two years of high school, and high school rowing has the same rule about novices -- everyone, regardless of age, starts out as a novice. And the collegiate rules are the same for all schools. Mens collegiate rowing, heavyweight and lightweight (and women's lightweight, but Navy doesn't have a women's lightweight team), is governed by the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA), while women's is governed by the NCAA. That's why they have the different rules about freshmen boats.
And I just know all of this from being in the rowing community and doing research about schools and college rowing. There are a lot of different rules when it comes to stuff like recruitment, official visits, when you can talk to coaches, etc, that it pays to know your stuff. However, regardless of recruitment and previous experience, rowing is a relatively easy sport to walk onto. I can't think of another sport that lets you walk onto a basically varsity team without any prior experience. Maybe sailing?
Dolphins2012
10-Year Member
- Joined
- May 2, 2011
- Messages
- 205
Again, great info, good to know. My DS intends to go out for Men's LW Rowing, but just wasn't sure how it all worked never having rowed before. We hear there is a sports info meeting first week of plebe summer when plebes can meet coaches and get information and sign up, but he's not 100% sure about that. He emailed the rowing coach a few weeks ago, but has not heard back. I did NOT know about the IRA NCAA distinction - thanks!
The women's rowing coach sent an email out to all of the recruits telling us there would be a sports briefing during plebe summer, so that's definitely happening.
As for emailing the coach, I really don't have any advice for that. I emailed a lot of coaches at a lot of schools last year -- during the recruitment period -- and some emailed back promptly, some emailed back weeks later, and some never answered me at all. It just varies. Right now, the coaches are winding down the season and probably more focused on actively recruiting 2017 candidates than 2016 walk-ons. If your son really is interested, though, he should email the coach again (include stuff like weight, height, previous sports/success, and make sure to make it very clear that he is an already admitted 2016 plebe), reminding the coach who he is and that he's looking forward to meeting him at the sports briefing.
As for emailing the coach, I really don't have any advice for that. I emailed a lot of coaches at a lot of schools last year -- during the recruitment period -- and some emailed back promptly, some emailed back weeks later, and some never answered me at all. It just varies. Right now, the coaches are winding down the season and probably more focused on actively recruiting 2017 candidates than 2016 walk-ons. If your son really is interested, though, he should email the coach again (include stuff like weight, height, previous sports/success, and make sure to make it very clear that he is an already admitted 2016 plebe), reminding the coach who he is and that he's looking forward to meeting him at the sports briefing.
Towards the beginning of the summer the plebers will go to a brief wear they will learn about all the sports offered and then go around and meet coaches and maybe some upperclass players. After that they will start having sports period (2 hrs/day in the afternoon i think) 4-5 times a week. for the first 2, theyre allowed to go to different sports to try it out. by the third sports period theyre kinda expected to choose one sport to stick with over the summer. anyone can go to any sport. they dont offer all sports, but they do offer a decent selection of varsity and club sports. if they want, the plebe can just start out as an intramural warrior, but only a few normally do that as the summer sports periods are a great time to try out a sport and get away from detailers. it works differently for every sport, but normally tryouts occur right after the summer ends. theres no commitment to whatever sport you play over the summer on either side. you still have to try out but you can also decide that you dont want to continue the sport. i personally have stayed with the same sport throughout the summer and plebe year, but i know many people who have switched. i think some teams make cuts periodically over the summer but idk how that works because my team didnt.
i have no idea how it works if you are a recruit.
i have no idea how it works if you are a recruit.
So how hard would it be to walk on with a varsity sport at navy? I understand this would vary a great deal from sport to sport, but in general would they allow someone to walk on even if they weren't all-conference or something in high school? Can one practice with a varsity team if there is no club or intramural for that sport?
Navy is Division I in athletics, so the short answer is that it can be very difficult, depending on the sport, to "walk on." For a sport with a small roster, for example, like basketball, it is virtually impossible to walk on. Even in sports with bigger rosters, like lacrosse or football, it is difficult because Navy recruits aggressively. In lacrosse this year, a number of recruited plebes who had been at NAPS, did not make the team (although there was a coaching change/roster reduction).
And no, one cannot practice with a varsity team if you are not a member of that team, even if there is no club/intramural sport.
To get a sense of the qualifications of the athletes (all-Conference, All-State, other honors), you should check out the relevant Navy roster on navysports.com -- if you click on the names of athletes you'll get their bios. I think you'll see that their athletic "credentials" (awards/honors) are pretty uniformly impressive. Not surprising given that only a tiny fraction of high school varsity athletes go on to play at the Division I level.
There are some sports at Navy (e.g. certain club sports) more conducive to walking on, and you can ask around/get a sense of that as you explore the process more to see if those fit your skill set/interests. BUT club sports can be selective, and even varsity sports like men's rowing which traditionally had many "walk-ons" (new rowers), now significantly fill their roster with recruited and experienced high school rowers.
Don't give up, but do be realistic.
Thanks for the info, I'm not getting my hopes up I was just exploring my options.
So I know that all midshipman are required to play a sport, but how often would one have the oppourtinity to work out on an individual basis? Are all USNA's facilities available for use by regular midshipmen (i.e. the weight room, the pool in Lejeune Hall, the field house)?
So I know that all midshipman are required to play a sport, but how often would one have the oppourtinity to work out on an individual basis? Are all USNA's facilities available for use by regular midshipmen (i.e. the weight room, the pool in Lejeune Hall, the field house)?
- Joined
- May 30, 2012
- Messages
- 2
During plebe summer you will rarely find time to work out on your own. Any time in the weight room will be with your sports team.
During the academic year, however, mids have sports period after class. Varsity/ club athletes go to their practices while the rest of the mids either work out on their own or attend their intramural games (which are usually only twice a week). Unless their is a practice parade or another mando event, this time is theirs to work out however they like. the weight rooms will be open, but the pool has limited hours (usually an hour after lunch and a couple hours after dinner).
a lot depends on construction; for example, lejune is being remodeled right now.
During the academic year, however, mids have sports period after class. Varsity/ club athletes go to their practices while the rest of the mids either work out on their own or attend their intramural games (which are usually only twice a week). Unless their is a practice parade or another mando event, this time is theirs to work out however they like. the weight rooms will be open, but the pool has limited hours (usually an hour after lunch and a couple hours after dinner).
a lot depends on construction; for example, lejune is being remodeled right now.