<p>Hello,</p>
<p>Throughout my high school career, I have been lacking the physical attributes to play sports (i'm pretty short). However, I have been managing my school's Varsity Basketball team since sophmore year, attending practices and games and managing the time, shot clock, and score book. I was wondering if committing to and managing a sport counts as playing a sport because i did receive varsity letters for every season. </p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Managing a sport does not equal playing it. But that is not what should concern you. Putting on your app that you managed a team is actually MORE impressive in my opinion than playing in one as a regular member. This is a great EC.</p>
<p>^ I second that. Mark it as its own EC. Everyone doesnt play sports and colleges recognize that</p>
<p>Yeah, I didn’t play ANY sports at all in high school and still managed to get into some decent places. </p>
<p>But definitely put that as an EC…sounds impressive :D</p>
<p>I agree with post #2. Managing sports entails a great deal of responsibility, and is an impressive EC.</p>
<p>I definitely agree that managing for a sports team is quite an important EC! It’s obviously a passion of yours but you just can’t pursue it in the conventional sense. The one thing I do disagree with is the notion that managing a sport is the same as playing it. I’m a member of our varsity football team, but during my sophomore year I fractured my a vertebrae on my spine so I was taken out for the remainder of that season. While I was out I effectively was the team manager as I still attended all the practices and games. I was in charge of recording stats, running drills, and I even coached JV for a game, however this does not even nearly match up with actually playing the sport. The hardest part about playing a sport is just how physically demanding it is. For football we have lifting, sprints, and core exercises 3 times a week all year long; an additional 2 hours of practices and 2 hours of scrimmages a week for the months of June and July; 8 hours of practice/film 5 days a week for the month of August; and 3-4 hours of practice 6 days a week once school starts. Football games leave you dead tired, bruised, and sometimes concussed, something just managing a team does not leave you. Doing school work after getting home at 7 from football practice is extremely hard just because of the exhaustion factor. There is no way that managing a sport can even compare to actually being on it.</p>
<p>“I was wondering if committing to and managing a sport counts as playing a sport because i did receive varsity letters for every season.”</p>
<p>As manager, you are a part of the team, but not a player. Managing, to me, shows a great commitment to something you enjoy.</p>
<p>I definitely agree that managing for a sports team is quite an important EC! It’s obviously a passion of yours but you just can’t pursue it in the conventional sense. The one thing I do disagree with is the notion that managing a sport is the same as playing it. I’m a member of our varsity football team, but during my sophomore year I fractured my a vertebrae on my spine so I was taken out for the remainder of that season. While I was out I effectively was the team manager as I still attended all the practices and games. I was in charge of recording stats, running drills, and I even coached JV for a game, however this does not even nearly match up with actually playing the sport. The hardest part about playing a sport is just how physically demanding it is. For football we have lifting, sprints, and core exercises 3 times a week all year long; an additional 2 hours of practices and 2 hours of scrimmages a week for the months of June and July; 8 hours of practice/film 5 days a week for the month of August; and 3-4 hours of practice 6 days a week once school starts. Football games leave you dead tired, bruised, and sometimes concussed, something just managing a team does not leave you. Doing school work after getting home at 7 from football practice is extremely hard just because of the exhaustion factor. There is no way that managing a sport can even compare to actually being on it.</p>
<p>But a manager does his/her work with no glory and very little recognition. It takes a different type of kid to work for other kids.</p>
<p>Well there’s not always glory in sports? But there is always a great team spirit. For football we all die for each other out there on the field, we literally shed blood, sweat, and tears for our fellow players. That is the biggest commitment one can give for a teammate. I am in no way saying a manager is not a great job though, it is an integral part of the team but it is not the same as playing.</p>
<p>I don’t agree with Bobleman. For colleges, extracurriculars are meant to show that you:</p>
<p>a) care about something enough to pursue achievement in it.
b) are interested in positively using your spare time in productive ways, and therefore have commitment + motivation.
c) have the ability to direct, impact, and lead those around you, therefore showing the leadership skills and collaborative abilities that translate over to the classroom in a good student.</p>
<p>If you can convince your colleges that you did that by managing the team, then you’re gold for ECs. It doesn’t really matter what you did as long as you achieved those three objectives in the process, and more importantly, as long as you can demonstrate that to your admissions officers.</p>
<p>Soulstice, I agree with everything you said, however the point I was making was the difference between playing a sport and managing one. The OP’s question was whether the two were the same. It is a great EC but it is in no way a sport.</p>