I’m not sure if I’m posting in the right forum, but I couldn’t find one that fit my post so I just took a guess. I have a question. I have decided that if I end up going to a school with D3 athletics, I would like to play tennis on the D3 level. The schools I have applied to with D3 women’s tennis teams are RIT (accepted), RPI (still waiting), University of Scranton (accepted), Tufts (waiting), and Union College (waiting). I’m wondering if there is anything I need to do now in order to play if I decide to enroll in one of these schools. Because I still don’t know where I’ll be going in the fall, do I need to do anything right now or can I worry about it over the Summer or can I just walk on in the Fall? Let me know if anybody knows how this works
@higheredmom is right. With that said, at one of the NESCAC schools we visited, our tour guide played club his freshman year (said he hadn’t wanted to play in college) and made the team his sophomore year. It’s not to say it can’t be done and that if you’re very good, the coach wouldn’t take a look, but the issue is that he/she is not going to want to displace a recruit for you.
Re-post on the athletic board, under Specialty topics under College Admissions.
D3 recruiting is serious and competitive for most sports (my kid is playing D3 soccer). I would imagine that tennis is as competitive as other sports. Check the rosters of the schools you are interested in, and check the individual high school rankings/recognition/awards of the rostered players (many, but not all, D3 schools list detail about this) to see if you match up with current players. If not, then its probably not worth contacting coaches. Tufts, was ranked in the top 25 last year and, as a NESCAC school, is going to be quite competitive in terms of tennis recruiting.
At the same time, many D3 schools offer rec league and other non-competive athletic options so you will probably have the opportunity to keep playing if you choose.
As a parent of two athletes, one of whom spent a lot of time talking to D3 coaches who weren’t actively recruiting him but expressed lots of interest in having him on their teams…definitely contact the coaches by email to see what opportunities there may be. While it’s true that D3 school recruit, many coaches love it when good athletes that they didn’t have to spend a slot on express interest in walking on to their teams. The situation can vary widely from one sport and one team to the next. Shoot the coaches an email with some brief stats and ask them about the possibility of walking on. If any of the schools you’ve applied to have club teams, I’d email those coaches as well. All of this will probably help you in a few months when it comes to decision time.
@classicalmama yeah but see the key word you used is “good”. I’m not good lol. My coach however told me that anybody could play D3 and that it’s not too competitive, so I just didn’t know any better
Your coach told you anyone can play D3 and it’s not too competitive??? Good grief. My DD was heavily recruited for D3, and also was recruited by D2 and D1 programs. She plays a national level club schedule and is a state ranked athlete. Her issue is that she is tremendously undersized for her sport and position, and therefore D3 was a better fit for her than D1.
It’s not your fault you got bad info from your coach–it just baffles me that there are coaches and people out there who think D3 athletics are like HS, where they take whomever happens to wander by.
Some D3 schools and sports are at a high school level, but most are not. It just depends on the school and the sport. It also may influence your playing time. On my daughter’s D2 team, there are a few walk ons and they never play. Never. They just don’t have the skills needed to be on the teambut the coach let’s them stay because she has room on the roster.
Many schools do have club teams or intramural teams for those not at the level of the varsity teams, but some of those club teams are pretty good too.
My son reached out to coaches for another sport at a couple of the schools listed.
It was very competitive to get on their teams, and even if you get on, you have to fight to play.
All said walk ons have a chance.
It’s totally dependent on the school and the team. Division 3 has a wide variety of intensity and skill levels, so you’ll have to check it out on a school by school, sport by sport basis. And some sports like track are usually no-cut so you can be on the team and not detract from the most competitive athletes if you are not all that good. (But you can’t be terrible, and you have to take it seriously. No coach wants anyone on a team that’s just there to hang out.)
Let me know if you need any advice on recruiting. My two older siblings currently play sports in Big 12. I’ve been exposed to the recruiting process my whole life and would be happy to help. I know its a stressful time!