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Sounds like my kid! Scuba diver, sailor, black belt, ADHD and Covid was a disaster. Nearly all As now in junior year, but struggles staying engaged and organized, 3.3 UW, 3.6 W. In a particularly talented class of kids, so just in the top half.
These suggestions are helpful. Keep them coming!
Would also love a lead in a PG year…
My S19 is a competitive sailor in college, and also had mediocre HS stats like you describe. There are plenty of schools where he can get in and sail. I would target either small varsity teams or larger club teams. Of course the Ivy League is off the list, so I’m going to speak to just a few schools that aren’t Ivy and are very competitive in sailing.
College of Charleston is a great team but it’s huge and only the highest level kids get meaningful coaching. St Mary’s College of Maryland is a varsity program with very supportive coaches at a small, rural school. As others have mentioned, Eckerd is also a good smaller program with a great head coach. URI is a club program that is larger, with lots of regatta opportunities because they send kids to many different regattas each weekend. ODU and CNU are not as competitive as they used to be. RWU should be on his list.
We looked at college sailing Techscore to see which programs consistently go to Nationals (fleet and team racing). Many colleges have sailing programs but my son was competitive and wanted to be part of the competitive action. There are both varsity and club programs that met this requirement. Then he started reaching out to coaches and visiting schools. It’s not too late for your son to do that. He should focus on visiting teams when they are back in early fall, as they will want him to sail with them in practices. It’s a great way for him to get to know the team and vice versa. Coaches can nudge admissions committees, although of course the rest of his application needs to support an admission.
Sailing is a fantastic way to keep your kid focused in college! Best of luck to your son.
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https://www.collegesailing.org/about/conferences
As a former college sailor, think about what your son really is looking for in a college sailing program. the great thing about Collegiate sailing is you have club teams competing against varsity squads. Take a look at the various conferences and you can see who the members are. While club teams might not be as competitive on a national stage they have some advantages (lighter schedule, optional practices, easier chance to get a spot to compete). Is he looking for something more highly competitive? or just looking for a chance to compete and have some fun?
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