I ran varsity XC in high school but this year I figured I would want to see how I manage my time and adjust to college before I join a sport. I’m going to be transferring next year and if I end up at a DII school I’m considering joining the XC team.
I’ll admit one of my main reasons for wanting to join is its an easy way to make friends. After struggling with finding a friend group at my current university I’m really looking for a team I can join that I can make some really close friends in.
The drawback of course is the time commitment. I love running but I don’t know if I love it enough to practice everyday at the expense of other clubs and my academics.
My school has a running club so I’m thinking that might be a decent balance? But I would also really love to be apart of a varsity team again, I really missed it this year.
If anyone has experience in either DII or club sports I’d really appreciate any insight I’m having a lot of trouble with this decision.
D2 is a time commitment. The NCAA allows 20 hours of practice per week and most coaches will use every second of that, plus more time for conditioning and film (don’t know much about how track or XC train - are their films?) and meetings. My daughter got on a bus at 6:30 this morning to travel 2 states away, will play tomorrow and Sunday, and take the bus back. None of this counts as part of the 20 hours.
The only times she’s complained about practice taking too much time is if she wanted to go to a concert or event. She does do a lot of homework when she travels, on Saturday nights, early Sunday mornings. She’s pretty committed to studying whenever a spare hour is available. She does belong to a sorority, but most of her friends are her teammates, her boyfriend and his friends (who are on the boys team of their shared sport) and some athletes from other sports who she was roommates with sophomore year. She knows a few people from her courses from group projects and studying.
I have another daughter who is not an athlete. Her friends are her former dorm mates, her sorority sisters, a few classmates. Your group of friends is going to focus around some interest or situation, and it’s usually a sport or a major or a living situation.
Thank you so much! It sounds like both your daughters are doing very well! I’m going to try to talk to the coach but I think the running club might be a bit more my speed. Thank you again!