Sports at the Academies

strictlyws

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So, I have been thinking about it lately and I want to play a serious sport at the academy. As of right now, I play lacrosse and I run cross country (Cross Country only to get me in shape for lacrosse). However, lacrosse is probably something I can't get involved in at the Naval Academy being that they are usually in contention for the D1 title. Also, Im really interested in rowing, so If anyone could give me some insight into different sports/ advice for rowing and lacrosse, it would be greatly appreciated!
 
What are your cross country times?

Are you D1 material for lacrosse?

What is a serious sport? Do you mean a D1 sport as opposed to club sports?
 
The varsity athletics at the Army, Navy and Air Force academies are D1, so take a realistic look at yourself and decide if you could play at any other D1 programs. By your junior year in high school you should have a pretty good idea if you measure up. If you decide you really aren't D1 talent the Coast Guard and Merchant Marine academies are D3 as are many ROTC programs, so there are other options for you if playing for your school and serving your country are top priorities for you.

But there are really good club teams in many sports at all the academies, and there are sports that many high schools don't offer where a lot of students are learning in college: sailing, rowing, shooting and the like. But at this point in your career I think considering which D1 sport to participate in seems a bit premature. If USNA is your top choice then your intercollegiate sports options will severely limited because of the level of competition they face. And further, the academy has literally hundreds of all-state awardees, national-level club team participants and thousands more all-around terrific athletes that won't be on varsity teams. Focus on getting into the school and then sort through your options when you get that far.
 
Are you interested in playing or being recruited for a varsity sport?

If it’s just the playing you should know that the USNA has an active and competitive club lax team.

Its my understanding they even compete for a national championship.

while Navy varsity lax is indeed a major sport and certainly nationally ranked quality of program they are not usually a national championship type of finalist. Not yet.


I looked at their recruiting commitment lists for the past few years. Lots of USNA lax commits on those lists . And many are nationally ranked HS players. But most of them are not.



A good quality high school club player with good grades and test scores , that they don’t have to use capital on getting admitted , just might be of some interest to the coaches.
 
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Thank You @everyone for your help. It did give me a bit of reality check lol :p. I am a busybody and I have passion for team environments (I know SA's will keep me busy but I enjoy that team atmosphere) I"m interested in playing a sport (I would prefer D1 or CLUB over intramural) and you guys provided a lot of insight. I do not think I'm D1 material for lax, but I did win an award or two and our season throughout high school has been 7 weeks longs due to Covid. However, I do play for a CLUB summer team which I enjoy. Cross country is just one of the sports to keep me in good shape while also meeting some good people! I am confident that if I continue to put in effort I will have a fair shot at getting into one of the service academies without being recruited. I think rowing or lax would be the only shot at going D1 or club because those sports I'm passionate about. So is there any chance for walk-ons and what should I do with the coaches?
 
Absolutely chances with walk-ons. During plebe summer, you will head to a sporting interest of your choosing during sports period. I don’t know if you are male or female, but I know females that were added to the varsity rowing team without having rowing experience.

A unique thing about a SA is that athletes aren’t contractually obligated to stay on a team. So there will be ones that quit. Including you if you find it not your jam.

You can ALWAYS fill out the Athletic questionnaire on the athletic sports tab on the website. See if you get any interest.

There are SO many sports opportunities at USNA, at the intramural, competitive club, and varsity levels, that there is literally something for everyone.
 

others will correct me if there is a better way to contact the coaches.

I tend to just call but that may not be the best approach.

I’d suggest you go to inside lacrosse. Look at boys HS recruiting then commitments for individual universities.

You will see the recruits or commitments for the past two years or so for Navy lax. Looking at this list or having your coaches look at the list might give you some insight.

Just curious from a lax standpoint—- what state are you from?
 

CC?

I am assuming you are not a big guy and that you are a guy?

If so this might be something to consider if lax does not pan out.

sprint football

At one time called lightweight football. There are weight limits.
 

You can also get the the recruiting questionnaire through the drop down menus in each sport…via Navy Athletics, the sport and then additional tab.
 
Absolutely chances with walk-ons. During plebe summer, you will head to a sporting interest of your choosing during sports period. I don’t know if you are male or female, but I know females that were added to the varsity rowing team without having rowing experience.

A unique thing about a SA is that athletes aren’t contractually obligated to stay on a team. So there will be ones that quit. Including you if you find it not your jam.

You can ALWAYS fill out the Athletic questionnaire on the athletic sports tab on the website. See if you get any interest.

There are SO many sports opportunities at USNA, at the intramural, competitive club, and varsity levels, that there is literally something for everyone.
Thank You so much for your help!
 

CC?

I am assuming you are not a big guy and that you are a guy?

If so this might be something to consider if lax does not pan out.

sprint football

At one time called lightweight football. There are weight limits.
Dude that seems awesome! I'll check it out!
 

others will correct me if there is a better way to contact the coaches.

I tend to just call but that may not be the best approach.

I’d suggest you go to inside lacrosse. Look at boys HS recruiting then commitments for individual universities.

You will see the recruits or commitments for the past two years or so for Navy lax. Looking at this list or having your coaches look at the list might give you some insight.

Just curious from a lax standpoint—- what state are you from?
I'm not on the east coast which doesn't help a lot. I'm from Washington State!
 
I'm not on the east coast which doesn't help a lot. I'm from Washington State!
Ever heard of West Coast Stars? There are plenty of D1 lax recruits from the west coast, you just have to be willing to travel to play good completion and be seen.
 
Ever heard of West Coast Stars? There are plenty of D1 lax recruits from the west coast, you just have to be willing to travel to play good completion and be seen.
yes I have heard about them _ we played their team and got destroyed. It is a great program for great players!
 
yes I have heard about them _ we played their team and got destroyed. It is a great program for great players!
That’s the level of player who gets recruited to good D1 programs. If you think your skill level matches up, you should try out for that team. If you think your skill level doesn’t match up, then you may want to consider other options.
 
interesting recent lax breakdown of recruits for USNA——from Inside Lax

For 2021

18 recruits—-2 national ranked in top 100—no 5 star recruits but a total of 5 that are 4 star recruits. No idea how the other 13 were graded.

For 2022

12 recruits—-the normal national ranking not done that year—- 6 of the 12 were 4 star players—-3 or 4 were 3 star graded——2 were 1 or 2 star.

The year before in 2020 USNA did have the reported best recruiting class in the country.

It still costs you nothing to at least make the USNA lax coaches aware you are interested. Maybe you get added to a list maybe you don’t.

But you risk nothing by trying. And it may be first step to USNA club Lax.

I will bet that many of those on the USNA club team and some on the varsity did not play for a HS age club team quite like the West Coast Stars A team.
 
I am assuming you are not a big guy and that you are a guy?

If so this might be something to consider if lax does not pan out.

sprint football

At one time called lightweight football. There are weight limits.
LOL!
As a soon to be Midshipman, I remember also thinking that this could be an entree to Football for fellows who were not very big. The reality that I saw was that the non-line positions had plenty of folks who were good and even very good (think all-county/conference) in High School who were just a tad too small for D1 competition or had just fallen below the recruiting level and were also within weightloss range of eligibility. It seemed that the Linemen were often folks who had also played at a high level as a Fullback, Linebacker and the like but were now "size competitive" to be a lineman in a weight limited league. I had a companymate who had been a really good High School Linebacker but not quite good enough for the "Big Blue" USNA team so he went out for Sprint football and did very well for USNA as a Defensive End on the Sprint team. His natural weight was 190 or so and he would cut weight like a wrestler for Sprint weigh-ins.

I would not expect a walk-on who did not have significant High School football experience at a high level of play to have a great chance to get onto the team as there always seems to be a good supply of experienced players.
 
LOL!
As a soon to be Midshipman, I remember also thinking that this could be an entree to Football for fellows who were not very big. The reality that I saw was that the non-line positions had plenty of folks who were good and even very good (think all-county/conference) in High School who were just a tad too small for D1 competition or had just fallen below the recruiting level and were also within weightloss range of eligibility. It seemed that the Linemen were often folks who had also played at a high level as a Fullback, Linebacker and the like but were now "size competitive" to be a lineman in a weight limited league. I had a companymate who had been a really good High School Linebacker but not quite good enough for the "Big Blue" USNA team so he went out for Sprint football and did very well for USNA as a Defensive End on the Sprint team. His natural weight was 190 or so and he would cut weight like a wrestler for Sprint weigh-ins.

I would not expect a walk-on who did not have significant High School football experience at a high level of play to have a great chance to get onto the team as there always seems to be a good supply of experienced players.
LOL - I don't think sprint football is the way either. I am 6 4 200lbs so believe me I have had my fair share of football! Also, rowing seems like a sport that is constantly grabbing my interest - I sometimes row in the summer just not competitively so, if anyone has some insight on mens rowing I would love to hear it!
 
Thanks

i have been interested in the idea of sprint football for decades. Now I know something about it.

sorry if I gave the impression that I thought it was like intramurals :cool:

But I am old school——-ask——they may be foolish enough to let you.
 
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