Still competitive with boxing even though it’s not a varsity sport?

[Marble Sea]

Would I still have a chance of getting into the Air Force academy if I have 3 years of kickboxing and boxing under my belt? I am only a sophomore with fairly good academics so far, however I know many candidates participate in varsity sports.

 

[USAFA_86]

Go to the DoDMERB forum and read the thread called "Sports, and your academy application." From what I can tell, USAFA does not care what sports you play, they care about the lessons you learned and how sports made you a better person. Also, keep in mind that the Academy is looking for well-rounded candidates. You have to have fantastic grades and test scores, be an active member in your community and school, and be a leader in whatever areas you can.

 

[FlyFalcon]

Oh yes. Many people get in with out sports. The reason sports are so important is because it's one of the easier ways to show leadership and team work. You don't have to participate in a main stream sport to get in. USAFA wants different characters from different walks of life. You can't achieve that as a school by only allowing those who played a sport.

Even sports that are more individual are welcomed. Currently I'm caption of the XC team. Back when I was sophomore I asked if Track and XC would be weaker in my application than if I did basketball. I was told no. What many don't think about is XC and Track are team sports. At each race I'm not looking out just for my self.

Take the race yesterday for example it was a home meet (race) and we were expected to win. Right out the gate we packed it in and moved out in front. All you saw was 7 girls rushing to cover the ground before our opposing team got the opportunity. However we weren't expecting the other team to take the harder route and make the two person route into a very uncomfortable 3 person route. 4 girls quickly over took us. In XC the fastest 5 members of a team are the scorers. Now at this time I was running 4th so I moved to the outside lane to block their number 5 from going through.

We ended up coming second by 4 points and you know what? Even though all of our people medaled ( top 15 I got 7th) we were more upset because we didn't get first as team. We all PR we all got medals, yet we knew never think about "oh man I have to beat everyone" nope it's more of "oh man I got to do better because my team mates need me". Same mentality for track. We come out for each race and cheer our team on because we're a team and each race matters towards the total. I love when I PR in XC, the mile, and 800 but I'm a thousand times more happy when I see we won a meet, or our relay beat another team. It's just how our sports are. I wish luck upon anyone that trys to argue our spots aren't team sports.

 

[UnitedStatesAircraft5]

Also, sports are not an admissions requirement.

 

[justdoit19]

The importance of a varsity sports, beyond the fitness level, is the team aspect. Sacrificing yourself to better the team kind of thing. Team first mentality. Additionally, beyond being a member of a varsity sport, is demonstrating your leadership via team captaincies. Because as a team captain, you have demonstrated your ability to lead others. And the confidence of your peers/coaches to do so.

You will need demonstrated leadership, exceptional (not ‘fairly good’) academics (good grades in the hardest classes available), and be physically fit. No one thing will be enough for an appointment. They look at your ‘whole person’.

You can go to USAFA’s website and view class profiles to see what successful candidates are bringing to the table.

Lastly, don’t give up if this is your dream. You have 1.5 yrs to present your best package! And if you don’t get in on your first try, reapply Many successful candidates are re-applicants. Many come from their prep school. And many choose to proceed though other means, ie AFROTC. Make sure and think about also applying for a solid plan B.

Good Luck!!