What level of Sports required for USAFA qualification?

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USAFADS26

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My son is 13 years and is very much interested in becoming pilot and aiming to get into USAFA. He joined CAP a year ago and is currently Cadet Staff Sergeant.
Academically is very good currently with 4 GPA. He is aiming for Pilot licenses for Flight and Drones once he turns 16. I got an idea about the AP courses after reading the threads.

Apart from this, as I understand he needs to be active in physical sports. He is a beginner to intermediate Tennis player, going for Tennis classes now but never played any tournaments. His high school has Varsity - cross country, track and field, volleyball and basketball. I am ruling out volleyball and basketball as he played only for fun and may not be able to compete. What level of physical sports are required to qualify for USAFA? Also what are the other activities he can do to fit the profile?

Thanks.
 
I am sure others with more experience can offer more advice. Based on what I have read and being a parent of an appointee candidate at USAFA this year..

- display commitment in at least 1 sport over several years and ultimately earning a varsity letter.

- display leadership involvement and impact in that sport(s) or other EC activities.
 
First, it's awesome that he's thinking about this so early. I would advise you to go read the "Sports, and your academy application" post in the DoDMERB forums. Basically, the main fitness indicator for USAFA is the Cadet Fitness Assessment (which he will take as part of his application). Sports show that you are active in your school and have learned teamwork, perseverance, integrity, discipline, respect, responsibility, etc. If your son is playing tennis, he should certainly continue in high school. It is super important to have an outlet for fun activities, especially if you are taking rigorous classes and don't have a lot of free time. I would also recommend running Cross Country. They typically don't cut people and ANYONE can do it. Running is a huge part of a service academy and it builds a great deal of mental toughness. Remind him to keep crushing it in academics and to take leadership opportunities whenever he sees them. Good luck to your DS!
 
Technically there is no sport requirement for USAFA. However, you must know that 83% of the class of 2021 lettered in one or more varsity sports and more than 90% participated in sports. There is no specific level of sport or specific sport your son needs to participate in to earn an appointment. What I recommend though is for him to find a sport that he enjoys (could be a team or individual sport although I recommend a team sport) and start becoming physically fit and active. As he gets older he needs to start taking a leadership role in this sport whether it be becoming the captain of the team, manager, assistant coach, or just helping out.

Now I am going to give you some advice. You can take it or leave it with the knowledge that I am no expert on this topic and only just went through the application process this year. DO NOT stick him in activities just because they fit the profile. All USAFA is looking for is commitment to an activity and some sort of leadership involvement in those activities. Emphasis on the leadership. If your son is not passionate about the activities or does not enjoy them it will show on the application. However, if you want to know what past appointees and cadets have done I will attach a class profile to this post.

It's awesome that your son is thinking about USAFA so early. The earlier the better for service academies. I wish him good luck on his journey. 2021_-_Demographic_Profiles.224160126.jpg
 
USAFADS26 said:
My son is 13 years and is very much interested in becoming pilot and aiming to get into USAFA. He joined CAP a year ago and is currently Cadet Staff Sergeant.
Academically is very good currently with 4 GPA. He is aiming for Pilot licenses for Flight and Drones once he turns 16. I got an idea about the AP courses after reading the threads.

Apart from this, as I understand he needs to be active in physical sports. He is a beginner to intermediate Tennis player, going for Tennis classes now but never played any tournaments. His high school has Varsity - cross country, track and field, volleyball and basketball. I am ruling out volleyball and basketball as he played only for fun and may not be able to compete. What level of physical sports are required to qualify for USAFA? Also what are the other activities he can do to fit the profile?

Thanks.
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There is no simple answer for this. He will need to show that he is in very good physical shape-this takes lots of work. Running is great (CC or Track). The SA's like teams sports because it builds teamwork, leadership, discipline and a strong work ethic. I believe the latest stats for those Appointed to USAFA is that 82% earned a Varsity Letter. It's likely many also were team captains or co-captains. Check the class Profiles and stats for USNA, USMA and USAFA and you can see what the majority of Appointees brought to their SA. There are always exceptions. The SA's do look at the overall candidate...but typically 80-90% of each class was a Varsity Athlete. Perhaps some AFA grads can weight in also.
 
Just an idea...having (clearly) no knowledge of your particular family dynamic.

Have you considered Martial Arts?

I have it on (relatively) good authority that a couple SAs, at least, consider a Black Belt as a varsity sport letter equivalent.

This achieves several things.

1. Demonstrates commitment to an athletic endeavor. (It takes my students at least 4 straight years of training and testing to be eligible for their first Black Belt test)

2. Offers both individual and team opportunities to grow, develop, improve, and succeed.

3. At the right studio, extraordinary focus is placed on courtesy, integrity, discipline, perseverance, self control, and indomitable spirit.

4. As students progress, and prove themselves willing and capable, they are afforded opportunities to assist in the training and teaching of junior-grade students...which is a great topic of discussion, WRT leadership.

I have been teaching MA for the better part of 30 years...and have seen many students go on to great things, all over the globe. MA was part of their development, at all age ranges.. Might be worth a look.
 
Don't Give Up the Ship said:
There is no simple answer for this. He will need to show that he is in very good physical shape-this takes lots of work. Running is great (CC or Track). The SA's like teams sports because it builds teamwork, leadership, discipline and a strong work ethic. I believe the latest stats for those Appointed to USAFA is that 82% earned a Varsity Letter. It's likely many also were team captains or co-captains. Check the class Profiles and stats for USNA, USMA and USAFA and you can see what the majority of Appointees brought to their SA. There are always exceptions. The SA's do look at the overall candidate...but typically 80-90% of each class was a Varsity Athlete. Perhaps some AFA grads can weight in also.
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Jdjuli said:
Technically there is no sport requirement for USAFA. However, you must know that 83% of the class of 2021 lettered in one or more varsity sports and more than 90% participated in sports. There is no specific level of sport or specific sport your son needs to participate in to earn an appointment. What I recommend though is for him to find a sport that he enjoys (could be a team or individual sport although I recommend a team sport) and start becoming physically fit and active. As he gets older he needs to start taking a leadership role in this sport whether it be becoming the captain of the team, manager, assistant coach, or just helping out.

Now I am going to give you some advice. You can take it or leave it with the knowledge that I am no expert on this topic and only just went through the application process this year. DO NOT stick him in activities just because they fit the profile. All USAFA is looking for is commitment to an activity and some sort of leadership involvement in those activities. Emphasis on the leadership. If your son is not passionate about the activities or does not enjoy them it will show on the application. However, if you want to know what past appointees and cadets have done I will attach a class profile to this post.

It's awesome that your son is thinking about USAFA so early. The earlier the better for service academies. I wish him good luck on his journey. View attachment 8773
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You will find no better reply to your question than this. I will only add to what another poster has alluded to, that the academies weigh heavily the team sports. I'm a 3 sport varsity athlete, to include one "individual" sport, and not once during the countless interviews (academies, MOC, ROTC) I had was I asked about my "individual" sport. Rather, all focused on my team sports.
 
Thank you all for taking time and answering in detail. We got very useful information especially the class profile. This really helps us in planning. Appreciated!
 
Hi! So from what I've seen, USAFA likes to not only see just letters or team captains in sports because it means you're athletic, it's because it shows you have leadership experience within those sports. It shows teamwork and dedication, and that you've grown along with the sport. I'm a special case, since my school doesn't offer any sports (we're a performing arts school), so I've been doing Crossfit for the past 3 years to make up for that. There isn't any "team captains" or "letters", so I've been looking at competitions as well as finding my leadership in other ways. So it's not a specific level of sports, if your son doesn't do any, they base it off the CFA. To add on with @Jdjuli , USAFA want's candidates who are committed and passionate about what they do, and to not join anything solely because they want to get into a SA. Also, make sure he finds time for his academics. Do NOT overload him, only give him what he can handle and what will give him a challenge. You don't want him to burn out halfway through sophomore year and receive poor grades. Sorry if this is a little jumbled, I'm currently applying for c/o 26' so this is what I've been told/working through right now. Kudos to your son for knowing he wants to do this early!
 
usafacellist2026 said:
Hi! So from what I've seen, USAFA likes to not only see just letters or team captains in sports because it means you're athletic, it's because it shows you have leadership experience within those sports. It shows teamwork and dedication, and that you've grown along with the sport. I'm a special case, since my school doesn't offer any sports (we're a performing arts school), so I've been doing Crossfit for the past 3 years to make up for that. There isn't any "team captains" or "letters", so I've been looking at competitions as well as finding my leadership in other ways. So it's not a specific level of sports, if your son doesn't do any, they base it off the CFA. To add on with @Jdjuli , USAFA want's candidates who are committed and passionate about what they do, and to not join anything solely because they want to get into a SA. Also, make sure he finds time for his academics. Do NOT overload him, only give him what he can handle and what will give him a challenge. You don't want him to burn out halfway through sophomore year and receive poor grades. Sorry if this is a little jumbled, I'm currently applying for c/o 26' so this is what I've been told/working through right now. Kudos to your son for knowing he wants to do this early!
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If you have no sports at all be prepared to max everything on the cfa. Without sports the cfa is the only thing USAFA has to base your athletic abilities on, so they will expect you to do very very well. Nothing is ever impossible, but if you have no sports, without a very good cfa you would have a very hard time receiving an appointment.
 
If he likes tennis, stick with tennis! There are lots of ways to compete even if he isn't at a super high level. You should look into USTA junior team tennis. If he does stick with tennis, just be sure to read the "sports and your academy application" sticky mentioned before and that tennis meets what is described there.

I am not incredibly athletic and hate running, but tennis involves so much skill and strategy, that a smart, committed but not super athletic player can really compete as long as they put in the effort. I am also a high school tennis coach and instructor and I have seen it plenty of times. It's the kids that love tennis that get good.
 
Current 2 deg here. I played high school soccer all four years. I only played varsity during senior year and to be completely honest, if I didn’t want to come to the Academy, I wouldn’t have stuck with it my senior year.
 
There's a balance of doing things you like/are good at and making calculated, strategic choices, even better when they are one and the same.
I can't really advise what to do. Good work in researching through the threads and coming up with your own opinions/strategy. HINT: google USAFA Form 147 Candidate Activities Record. Up to you whether you believe the fields/form will be similar to your DS's application year.

Remember overcoming adversity or lack of opportunity, such as not being able to go down to the gym and tryout for a varsity sport, is a chance to SHINE.

For the Sports and CFA, here are two great threads:

Sports, and your academy application

This isn't in response to any particular thread of poster. I'm simply writing it in the hopes that any new people will find it when, or if they do a search on the topic. It seems that in recent years, more and more applicants are asking questions about sports, or rather the lack of sports, in...
www.serviceacademyforums.com

CFA

One if my friends who got in the the USAFA as part of the class of 2019 told me that they kind of ignored the CFA scores last year. His brother was also appointed but apparently got 20 under the average and still got in. I just wanted to clarify that this information is true and was womdering if...
www.serviceacademyforums.com
 
I would highly recommend a team sport of some type. He does not have to be good at it - just on the team. If he letters, great, if not, he still has the sport on his application. The lessons learned in team sports are good ones to learn, particularly for military training. Winning with humility, losing with grace, working toward the team goal instead of individual attention, identify the different team leaders and help you decide what kind of leader you want to be etc. This is the reason they look for sports on the application.
 
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Agree with previous posters - reviewing stats and the reasons behind how USAFA prioritizes levels of participation will help inform your decision. FWIW, our DS was not big into sports, and didn't start a high school sport (individual sport) until sophomore year, although he did end up as captain for the team. In addition, he was a scout (including obtaining the rank of Eagle) which I think helped him demonstrate some of the skills they look for in team sport participation (including some serious hiking and outdoor adventure experiences.) He also did well on his physical requirements. Again, it's about the totality of the application, team sports/leadership are important, but if that doesn't work, look at other ways to demonstrate those same attributes/skills. I will second - they should pursue things they genuinely enjoy. Good luck!
 
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