Joining New Sports as a Junior

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

Hey guys. Long time browser and first time poster here.

This year I am planning on pursuing cross country for the first time as a junior. I also want to participate in either tennis or track during the winter. I recently found out that I am actually a pretty good runner. Running and playing tennis are both activities that I genuinely enjoy partaking in, but I’m scared that colleges will think that I am playing both sports to improve my college application. I’m not going to lie… part of me wants to play these sports because they’re activities that I can add on the Common App. I actually played varsity lacrosse as a freshman but played on the JV team this year. I am most likely going to be on the JV team again as a junior if I decide to continue with lacrosse. Not necessarily because I’m a bad player but because I’m mediocre in comparison to the other players with years of experience behind them. I don’t want to be on JV as a junior because I would find it humiliating. My times on the track are good enough for varsity and there is no JV tennis team at my school - only a varsity team that is not hard to get on.

Any advice? I am interested in joining these sports mainly to get fit and make more friends, but I also want to know if joining them will hurt my application more than improve it, especially since I’m going into junior year. Thanks.

2

Don’t ever do or not do something for your app. If you genuinely want to play a sport then do it. It doesn’t matter the imprint on your college application as long as you’re happy participating in your sport. I don’t think it will make so much of an impact on your application either way. Make sure you have enough time in your junior year to do homework, study for major tests, and practice/attend meets in your sport(s) and EC’s.

3

I can’t imagine it would hurt your application. Sounds like a good plan assuming you really want to do these sports.

4

Join these activities, as long as you’re not simply trying to add something to your resume. Sports can be extremely rewarding, and provide you with certain life skills.