Athletic students in B.F.A. programs

Is there anyone here who is or has a student who loves both sports and theater? If so, how did the transition to college go, especially if you were in a conservatory type program? Did you find that you were able to be involved in sports (e.g. intramural teams, pick up games, working out with friends) or did you find that it was difficult to find time or peers for these things?

My daughter is an equestrian as well as a theatre major…unfortunately she had to choose between the two because they were both too time consuming. She was very sad to have to leave the equestrian team.

my son has also given up organized sports, but works out 5-6 days a week at the gym

My son is in a BFA acting program at a large school and makes time to get involved in sports with friends. I think now he is on some type of league or intramural basketball team. He also makes sure he runs or works out at the gym several times a week. It is a great way for him to hang out with friends that aren’t in all of his classes. He manages to balance. He is in a show now so his rehearsal schedule will get a little crazy but I am sure he will still manage to run every day. He feels it is really important to be in top physical shape as some roles can be physically demanding. (He was supposed to be my personal trainer over Christmas break but I was a lousy student)

Thanks, you are all very reassuring. We took our first tour this weekend, which happened to be at a conservatory within a unversity, and at one point the tour guide waved in the distance and said “That’s the big gym. I’m supposed to take you there next, but since you’re all conservatory students I know you wouldn’t be interested. Let’s skip it”. I could see my son sort of wilt at that moment, so it’s good to know that there are other kids who have managed to keep up an interest in sports, and to find friends to participate with.

My S struggled to find a running buddy (he’s at CCPA which is very much a conservatory), but he’s got a friend now in the class ahead of him who runs marathons and they’re both doing a half in a couple of weeks. I think he has a couple of people that he lifts with regularly, and he rides his bike from his apartment to school when the weather is nice. We figured out that he probably would have been second man on his school’s XC team right off the bat, but there’s just no way to make that kind of commitment in a conservatory program.