<p>Oldest son was recruited for lacrosse. He’s playing D2 NCAA and is now a junior, sticking with it. Mandatory study hall and strong emphasis on grades by the coach has really kept him (and teammates) on track. I honestly don’t think he’d be as good of a student as he is if he did NOT play lacrosse.</p>
<p>All of the girls on my D’s club soccer team (ranked #1 in gotsoccerrankings) made it through the freshman season in D1. A few were starters but most were subs for the juniors and seniors on the team. Everyone plans to return to play in the fall (Stanford, Harvard, Duke, Penn, South Carolina, Miami). These girls just love the game!</p>
<p>Speaking with the women at Williams, where they have had two Olympic qualifiers in swimming in the past 4 years and several other NCAA “A” cuts, you CAN get just as good training and go just about as far as almost any D1 (maybe not a swim factory but certainly at an Ivy sort of level…) but it is will be UP YO YOU --the coach will not expect, let alone force you to the level of commitment that a D1 program coach would, but if you want to train at that level they will do everything within the rules (in NESCAC there are times they can not be physically on the pool deck…but if you are internally motivated you don’t need them to be physically present to complete the sets and they can see/find out enough about how you are doing to create sets) to help you achieve your goals. You can also train as well at the US Swim club around which will give you additional coaching/competition and pool time.
But you need to be the driver of the bus-- not merely a passenger. Also what is your goal in swimming–to be on a national team, to swim your best or to compete strongly? These goals are subtly different. Do you have jr Nat or Sr Nat cuts? if not you may be recruited by a D1 team but may not be in the middle or lower of the depth chart. For some swimmers that is either fine–or a great motivating tool to swim better. If you go to Emery you will be, if the coach is interested in you, it may be fair to surmise, a mainstay of the team – again, some like that position, and some don’t thrive under that spotlight/pressure.<br>
Emery is an excellent school and they have produced fine swimmers. It is a bit like that Dr Seuss book on how far will you go-- it, in the end , is up to you. </p>
<p>You have lots of thinking to do. Best of luck.</p>
<p>Have you looked at Kenyon?</p>
<p>Well? What’s the news this year? My S still competing, has a semester abroad in the Fall, so this winter is unlikely to be his best season. Still loves the chance to shine, belong to a team, and stay in tip-top shape.
It seems most who are going to quit wash out after freshman year…</p>
<p>D is a rising sophomore and S a rising senior at Div 1s. Both still competing with no regrets and both tell me that overall attrition is fairly low.</p>
<p>S is a rising junior Ivy baseball player. Still loves competing and playing as well as studying engineering. I’m not sure how he does it, but he does it. We went to most of their games, and we were rewarded with some unbelievable comebacks. </p>
<p>We saw a little more attitrition this year than the previous years. Some talented freshmen came into what I thought was going to be a re-building year. As it turns out we won a very competitive Ivy conference this past year. The net-net is there were more players that left the program due to injury, playing time or just saw the writing on the wall than previous years. In baseball, playing time is earned…9 positions on the field and 35 roster spots. If you are not producing (or injured) you find yourself trying to climb back uphill to earn that playing time back. Out of 8 players in my son’s class, 6 are still on the team.</p>
<p>Our student is a rising soph.
The freshmen class did very well–though they lost one due to injury and academic issues…From what we gather, the injury was a leading issue and then the kids lack of stellar performance - the parents pulled the kid…
K1 is under the impression the kid will return in the fall and start over as a freshman…so that must mean the fall semester was a washout all around…</p>
<p>Upperclassmen lost one due to academic/personal issues.</p>
<p>The team is deep in talent so K1 will go into soph year knowing the competition for time will be tough. Still K1 is looking forward to it. How K1 balances the heavy demands and an engineering major is beyond me…Still loves it all. Really enjoys the team friendships</p>
<p>K1 says that from what team has heard about the incoming class of '16 recruits–they are all really really good…</p>
<p>Time will tell</p>
<p>Year one:</p>
<p>my D is at a D1 (fencing) and needless to say we were very disappointed with her not getting the opportunity to be on the strip that her USFA rankings/point/performance merits—but because of some off strip under handed fencing stuff what was seen as a loss might actually turn into a positive…(redshirting/3.7 gpa and we keep a years eligibility, while still having trained all year…not bad)</p>
<p>the season isn’t over and one fencer who was given preference won’t be returning to the program, because their scholarship was snatched,before spring quarter, before the NCAA finals in that event, now that sucks and it also says the coach hitched his wagon to the wrong horse.</p>
<p>Our kids are both fencers too. Fortunately neither has encountered the level of political BS that schoolhouse’s D has experienced.</p>
<p>S is finishing his senior year. He competed all four years, including being captain this year.</p>
<p>D is finishing her sophomore year and has competed both years and plans on continuing.</p>
<p>Once in college, neither continued competing in USFA events.</p>
<p>D is off to NCAA DIII swimming this week–proud papa! :)</p>
<p>S1 had a great Sophomore football season; started in every game and contributed significantly to his team’s undefated status in the conference/winning the championship. </p>
<p>A few of his upperclassmen teammates and peers have since quit - they either saw the writing on the wall re: potential play time, suffered injury, their classes became too demanding as they progressed in their areas of study/majors, or they encountered time management or personal challenges.</p>
<p>For now, S1 continues to train in the off season with his team. He is looking forward to his Junior year/season, and the potential to travel abroad during spring semester.</p>
<p>pacheight,</p>
<p>As I stated on page 1, I may change my opinion of **your 80% number for tradition D1<a href=“non-Ivy%20or%20non-Patriot”>/b</a>. I’m on board with 80% going from freshmen to junior year, and watching some of my son’s former travel teammates transfer or drop their sport. The more competitive the conference, the higher the number. </p>
<p>In baseball there is a core group of 10 position players and 10 pitchers out of 35 roster spots every year. If you are not in that core group, it becomes exceptionally hard to find the field unless you have unique talents or you can separate yourself somehow. You have to constantly maintain your spot on the team and fend off transfers and incoming freshmen. </p>
<p>funfun/TheGFG,</p>
<p>I agree some D3s can beat some D1 baseball teams as I truly believe any team can beat any other team on a given day. But you guys are discussing exceptions to the rule, why bother? There will be more athletic talent and depth on almost all D1 rosters than D3 rosters, because that is the way it is designed.</p>
<p>skeets13,
I agree with you. If you are not upper middle class it is all about the money. Unfortunetly, many folks don’t realize how competitive it is at the D1 athletic level until they get there, and how important an academic scholarship can be if that opportunity presents itself. Great grades give you options, and I think too often they are overlooked by the general population.</p>
<p>My son just completed his 3rd year swimming at a very-high-academic-intensity school (D3). He loves it and definitely plans to finish out his 4 years. He has noted, though, that of the ~10 guys that started with him, only 4 of them remain on the team. Some left because of academic challenges (which of course is the reason they are there!), some left because of other distractions (e.g., international study programs), some were cut because younger guys were just better or more dedicated, and some just got bored. So there is “decay” in D3… but maybe for different reasons than D1. The women’s team has had even more attrition.</p>
<p>I don’t think he would have made it through 1 year at the only D1 (ivy) program he considered. Would have been too intense.</p>
<p>My daughter is looking forward to attending another D3 school next year. Will be interesting to see if she swims all four years. (I bet that she will.)</p>
<p>My son is still competing, despite spending the Fall semester abroad. He came back weak(nowhere safe to train), trained hard, and made PBs in his events plus finals at the conference meet. So proud of him. He will finish the 4 years despite all the issues.He struggled to balance sport and grades his first semester freshman year, but I think it was good for him and taught him a lot about time management.
However, at his D3 NESCAC only 4 senior men and 7 women for less than 50% retention rate for men and 60% for women. His team had an incident that put them on probation and caused the coach to resign in my son’s freshman year, so the biggest turnover was in the following season.
That’s something to keep in mind as well when making that final decision-maybe your child won’t like the coach or the team or the coach will change.</p>
<p>Hey Etondad, good luck to your D! How exciting!</p>
<p>TY–we are excited for her.</p>
<p>its in a town 80 miles north of Houston (just like Houston but with none of its charm–haha) but its warm (yay!!). When we Skyped her today the thing she was most anticipating was shaving her legs at long last! :D</p>
<p>TY–we are excited for her.</p>
<p>Its in a town 80 miles north of Houston (just like Houston but with none of its charm–haha) but its warm (yay!!). When we Skyped her today the thing she was most anticipating was shaving her legs at long last! :D</p>
<p>etondad,</p>
<p>Congratulations and good luck to your daughter and her team!</p>
<p>DS is a Jr in D3 swimming–he left for Nationals on Sunday as well. Like someone mentioned above they lost quite a few swimmers after freshman year-- both women and men. Reasons ranged from struggling with academics to not wanting to get up every morning at 5:00 am to wanting to be involved in other activities. DS loves it though, and all of his best friends are on swim team as well</p>
<p>WHat events is your D swimming etondad? Good luck to her! I will be watching the live feed video</p>