Hi guys. Let me start off saying I do not expect to get a football scholarship and the only way I could possibly see myself playing football in college is as a walk-on at a D3. But, I have heard that a varsity sport is a nice EC to have on a college app, though I wonder if it takes too much of my time and how much they look into the differences between schools. My school is classified as a VHSL 6A School, meaning athletically we are competing with the best teams in the state of Virginia for all sports due to the school population (well over 2000, some schools in the region have 3000+).
Our county has produced top talents in several sports (some NFL, MLS, WNBA, and even a recent Woman’s World Cup champion) so they take the sports thing serious. Most people I see who play a varsity sport dedicate about 4 hours a week. We go about 10-12 hours a week and this goes from January to mid-November every year. It’s really not that different for any other sports either. Basketball, track, tennis, LAX, etc are all extremely time-consuming. I was just wondering how much colleges look into the fine details of things like that when looking into applications?
What are other people’s experiences with varsity sports? Did you guys do about the same or are sports programs in my county consuming more time and effort than other schools? I do have other ECs and while I hope colleges look at the overlaps in scheduling and find that I do my best to dedicate time and effort to all my activities, I also worry they’ll look at it as if I’m spending way too much time on something that won’t really benefit me beyond high school. Even though it’s hard work and time-consuming, I love it. Why quit, you know?
TBH, that’s not that time consuming. Some varsity athletes are spending 20+hours a week year round.
Well, on the common app, you list the hours you devote to it; they’re not going to delve any deeper than that.
Varsity sports is a great EC, but unless you are recruited athlete, it’s no better and no worse than any other EC.
@skieurope Sorry, I miscalculated the hours. It’s more of 10-12 during offseason and 20+ from August to November… I was thinking of my hours for robotics 
. But, thanks for the info! Not really expecting anything more than that. I’m totally fine with them considering the time put into these things.
IF you re going to choose a varsity sport to play in HS don’t make it football. The hours are overwhelmingly greater than any other varsity sports.
Sorry guys…I it’s closer to 20+ hours during the season (2-3 hours M-T, 1-2 hour Saturday, 4+ hours Friday). Around 10-15 during the offseason (2 hours MTW, 3-4 Tu & Thurs starting around Mid-April)
I just graduated high school and played varsity football all 4 years. We practiced at least that much with a short break in the summer. I was in the same situation. I was only good enough for D3 and I had a few schools recruiting me but I knew I was done after high school. I did use football as the framework for one of my application essays and it helped highlight who I am. And before anyone comments it was not a cliched “winning the big game” essay. For me, looking back, it was absolutely worth the hours even with a full AP schedule and the short sleep nights.
I can’t answer your question about how football compares to other ECs but if you’re passionate and dedicated I don’t think it can hurt. When I look at my future school’s Facebook page for incoming students I see a whole lot more kids from other sports and far fewer football players. I’ve been on CC for 10 months and it’s not a common EC here either.
Wow, that’s a lot of words to say do what you love not what you think an adcom will like. They want people not robots.
The only people in the colleges that are aware of just how many hours HS football players put into their sport is college football coaches.
@moscott football’s hours r nothing compared to Wrestling’s hours
@2016senior Not even close. We have many wrestlers on our football team. In fact one of our top football players was state champion this year. He may have done about 1/2 the hours in wrestling that he put in for football.
@moscott really? it depends on commitment, I have a friend (probably getting a full ride for D1) that goes to 3 3 hour practices a weak (off-season) and goes on a 8 hour plus drive twice a month to go to the top offseason tournaments which usually last 2-3 days each. During the season me and my team practice from 3-6 and have tournaments every saturday that we arrive at 6 AM and we don’t get home till around 9 PM. Football has practices from 3-6:30 and a game every Saturday. Offseason is weight room every morning and a one week camp
@2016senior I know! That’s the crazy part about it. To be honest our hours are just about as much as track, volleyball, and soccer (both girls and boys) put in. Kids in wrestling come in like 5:30 AM on school days. You guys are nuts! I’m not here trying to act like “oh my life is so hard” I’m just trying to get a feel for how many hours other people put into their varsity sports and see how colleges view sports. To be honest I’m glad other people have put way more time into their sports and still ended up doing well because I was worried that it would seem like I’m wasting my time to college admissions people.
@moscott what r ur schools football hours like then? and don’t forget the extra hours needed to cut weight? and when u have to cut weight school becomes harder bc it is harder to focus and easier to fall asleep
@moscott Our program has some 3 and 4 stars, but we’re no state champions. We rank top 25 in the state though. Another school in our region is the school that consistently gets top talents. They have something like 5-6 All-Americans in the past couple years. Not incredible, but certainly better than most schools. Those are also just the hours I do. I’m not looking for an athletic scholarship, but the guys who are put in a lot more time and effort into it. Compared to most kids 20+ hours a week is still a lot of time when you have to keep grades up and still participate in ECs. Props to you and your kids for doing so many wrestling hours.
Well as a football coach I can tell you there are “official” and “unofficial” hours for our kids. During the season the kids are expected to be in the weight room at 5:30 am Mon-Sat(school starts 7:10am). School ends 2:20 pm…kids immediately go and change out for practice which starts at 3:00pm. Practice is usually 3-6:30pm. Those who need it are expected to stay and watch film or go back to the weight room usually til 8pm. Game days(Fridays) the games at home will end around 10-11pm…road games end around the same time but bus travel back to the school can be 1-2 hours so they may get back around 12:00am. Sat am back to school for film session and then practice. There really is no off season per say. Weight room, conditioning, 7on7 tourneys, football camps, film sessions, studying playbooks(usually around 150 plays and formations), speed and agility camps etc…Upcoming football camp at Cornell is for 5 days. Weekend tourneys start on Fri and finish on Sun and can travel 3-7 hours depending on location. No doubt wrestlers put in a great amount of hours but much less than football. Just ask Sawyer.
@moscott Thanks for the insight. Our schedule is pretty similar. We do not have any morning sessions, though. And weight room is not open after practice. Apparently schools used to have those hours in our district until parents started complaining. We have a two-month dead period, but we’re expected to come back in shape too. Really glad to get a football coach’s perspective on this, though. Thanks for your time and insight.
@BioTech36 It’s pretty amazing the time and effort a lot of these kids put in. How some of the top students maintain their grades is beyond me and they have my full respect. Others can’t handle the rigorous hours and physical aspect as well as lack of study time and flounder. Unfortunately as I stated earlier, the only people at these colleges who realize just how many hours you and others put in your sport is college coaches. Best of luck.