Tips for Considering Division III Sports
At some point in their high school careers, many serious student athletes focus on one basic question: should I play in college?
For me, there was only one answer: YES. I loved basketball and I needed any financial help I could get to pay for college. I was incredibly fortunate to earn a full scholarship to a DII program. I was a first generation college student, and that scholarship opened up opportunities I’d never even considered, eventually leading me to a career as a college professor.
But as I noted in a previous blog, athletic scholarships are nearly impossible to come by, making DIII sports -- which don’t offer scholarships -- the most viable pathway to a college athletic career. In a way, this makes the decision of whether or not to play more complicated. If you don’t have to play as a condition of keeping a scholarship, you can really take the time to consider if you should.
The Basics
Playing college sports is a big commitment, so think about the obvious stuff first:
Do you have strong time-management skills? Will you be able to balance the demands of college sports along with your coursework?
You may be counting on an off-campus or work study job -- will you be able to manage that on top of practice, games, and school?
Will you be comfortable missing social activities for games or matches?
Will it be difficult to study abroad or engage in coop while you’re on the team?
But there are some less obvious questions to consider too, and they can be just as important to your college experience:
Do the current players like the coach? If you choose to play a sport in college, your coach will be the primary adult in your life. If you don’t like them, it’s going to be a rough ride. If you have an opportunity to meet the team prior to the start of the season or academic year, pay attention to how the players talk about the coach. Do they respect her? Do they express frustration or anger about her policies or strategies? Players who respect their coaches are more likely to have a positive experience. When players relentlessly make fun of or complain about a coach, it’s a red flag. Be sure to notice.
Do the current players like each other? Again, if you can meet the players ahead of time, pay attention to how they interact with one another. Are they having fun? Do they seem like they respect and support one another? These are the people you will spend most of your time with; make sure you want to. A college team is like a family, and it should feel like one.
How many players on the current team play your position, what years are they, and do they get a lot of playing time? Let’s say you’re a lacrosse goalie and you’ve been talking to a coach who’s really interested in you. If that team had only two losses the season prior behind a freshman goalie who played every minute of every game, it’s likely you won’t be getting time for quite a while. It’s important to ask the coach what he thinks your role will be.
Can you handle being a bench player? If you were a strong high school player, chances are you don’t have a lot of experience sitting on the bench. But neither does anyone else on a college team. Your college teammates will be former high school MVPs and all-conference and all-state players. In other words, everybody’s pretty good, but somebody isn’t playing. It’s hard to sit on the bench. Think about how you might handle it.
The decision to play college sports at any level is a big one, and those are just a handful of things to consider. As questions come up during the decision-making process, ask the coach, the current players, or the athletic director for answers. Don’t leave anything on the table.
At May First, we want your college experience to be challenging, transformative, and fun. Playing a sport can be a meaningful part of that experience. We’d love to help you explore and apply to colleges that are your best fit both on and off the field. Give us a call (617.851.9975) or send an email to info@yourmayfirst.com and let’s chat.
College Athletics: Where do I fit?
Nearly 8 million high school students in the U.S. participate in athletics, and many of them hope to compete at the college level. You may be one of them, putting in the hard work every day to beat your personal record in the mile or nail the upper 90 on a direct kick.
I was one of them too. In truth, I spent way more time perfecting my jump shot than understanding Algebra. And I was lucky to earn an athletic scholarship to a Division II college that offered me opportunities I might otherwise not have had.
But as you might have guessed, I’m not giving A’ja Wilson any competition for MVP of the WNBA. So, what’s the benefit of participating in competitive athletics as high school kids if under 7% of those students will play in college? And even fewer will earn scholarships to do it?
Leadership, commitment, teamwork
These are skills that aren’t easily learned in a classroom. Sports teach us humility, confidence, dedication, and perhaps most important, the ability to fail and recover from those failures. While I may have the occasional nightmare about losing the 1991 Connecticut Girls Basketball State Championship (no, that never goes away), I still sleep pretty well at night and am content to spend my adult life complaining about the Celtics.
Even if you weren’t the best player on your lacrosse team, the skills you learned and practiced as a dedicated member of a team will make you an attractive prospect for college admissions officers -- as much as they are looking at applicants’ GPAs and AP classes, they are looking to find students who will be good roommates, classmates, and members of the college community. They’re looking for good teammates.
College Athletics: Cutthroat Intramurals
One spring, after my basketball season had officially ended, kids in my dorm asked me to join their coed intramural softball team. I thought it would be a low-pressure, fun way to get outside and hang with friends in the off-season.
I was mistaken.
My team captain had us practicing twice a week, where I was directed to devote more time to fielding ground balls and improving my swing. It was...intense. But it was also really fun. I met new friends, kept in shape, and didn’t have to lift weights or wake up for practice at 5:30am.
College intramural or club sports can be a great way to continue playing the sport you love at a competitive level. When thinking about colleges, investigate their club programs. You’re likely to find traditional options like basketball, soccer, and flag football, but you might find other activities to try out like ultimate frisbee or squash.
Being a part of a team doesn’t have to end with high school.
NCAA Athletics
Division I and II athletes likely have a good sense of what they’re getting into when it comes to playing college sports. There will be 6am practices, long bus rides, weight training, film-watching, games, oh right, and classes. In addition to in-season work, these students can expect pre-, post-, and off-season work as well.
In other words, being a Division I or II college athlete is a job, and it’s a difficult one. Students should talk with current and former Division I and II athletes to help ease the transition from high school to college and to prepare themselves for the responsibility that comes with this opportunity.
And don’t get me wrong, Division III athletics can be highly competitive and time consuming as well. The difference is that Division III programs don’t have athletic scholarships to give, though most Division III athletes receive some need- or merit-based aid. And at some colleges, admissions officers will take recruitment status into consideration when evaluating applicants. However, this generally means that student athletes must meet the college’s admissions standards and submit a strong application, so that work still needs to be done.
What Division III athletes must consider seriously is their commitment to the hard work of being on a team in an environment that puts less emphasis on athletics than their Division I and II counterparts.
Whether you’re wrapping up your athletic career or looking for a best-fit school where you can keep playing, let us help you develop an application that makes the most of your high school athletic experiences. Give us a call (617.851.9975) or send an email to info@yourmayfirst.com and let’s chat. We would love to help you find your place.
https://www.ncaa.org/about/resources/research/probability-competing-beyond-high-school
https://www.ncaa.org/student-athletes/play-division-iii-sports