I’m a rising junior who has played high school basketball for two years now- JV as a freshman, and varsity as a sophomore. These two years have completed my PE requirement, and as you can probably infer by the title…this season wasn’t so great. I don’t mix well with most of my teammates, the time commitment is huge and it stresses me out to the extent that at times I dread practices and games. If I quit, I won’t have continuity or a sport on my transcript- and I may miss the sport a bit. If I do quit, though, several opportunities open up for me:
getting a job
pursuing an independent project in the area I’m passionate about
dual enrollment at my local community college
more time for SAT/ACT prep
more time for community service
more time for martial arts (which I’ve had to cut down to once a week because basketball takes up so much time)
What should I do? Is quitting going to put a dent in my college admissions chances?
@sevana2020 Contrary to what is often indicated on this web site, high school athletics is the most common high school extracurricular activity and thus it is not generally considered compelling by colleges. At many schools upwards of 18% of freshmen selected are recruited athletes…colleges are not looking for more athletic prowess on campus. Colleges are looking for students who will bring a richness, a talent, leadership…evidence of impact somewhere. Unless you love playing basketball there is no advantage to your college applications to continue unless you believe you could be recruited. Spend the considerable time you would have spent playing basketball engaging in something of greater value to you and in which you might develop a skill set or perspective that you will eventually be able to share with your college community.
Unless you are a recruited athlete, playing a sport is considered to be a good EC – nothing more and nothing less. If you don’t enjoy basketball then move on to something else.
Its your own journey and your passion for your sport is personal as well as your relationship with your teammates. No one can really measure both but yourself. As a parent I saw my son presently a Junior not even attending tryouts this winter for basketball and instead joined winter track where the game and practice schedule was less time consuming in his particular school. He was delighted with the people on his new team and was generally more happier this winter.
Also had 2 other children who made Varsity as freshman, left there team before graduating found new sports and eventually were admitted to very selective colleges. Both have no regrets leaving the HS team though they trained and played the sport most of there lives. Sometimes its best to know how and when to walk away and in the case of my kids it opened up some nice opportunities for happiness.
Thanks for the advice, but the entire coaching staff is leaving after this year (mostly because the other girls on the team are nightmares). And 2) I would really commit myself to these activities- I’ll write out a concrete plan as soon as I make the final decision.
