<p>Is it possible to play sports in college (at a level higher than clubs/intramurals/weekend warrior) if you don't play any sports in high school? I was never athletic growing up, but I'm turning over a new leaf, and I want to be now. </p>
<p>Is it possible to get into the athletic system this late in the game?</p>
<p>depends on couple things:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>caliber of athletics/team at the school. No one walks onto Alabama’s football team without having played extensively in high school. In division 3 or less popular sports you may be able to walk on with no experience. You’d have to ask about a specific school/team to get the most accurate answer.</p></li>
<li><p>gender: due to title IX, you’re more likely to be able to walk onto a team as a woman although you may not actually travel or compete with them if you aren’t good enough. They will want you because you increase the number of female athletes which allows them to increase the number of male athletes.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Generally speaking, it’ll depend on the sport and the level of the school. It’s unlikely you’ll be walking onto a SEC football/B1G basketball team without having ever touched a football or basketball in your life. I know people who have picked up crew and fencing in college, but those are the type of sports you’ll be looking at. You may be more likely to walk on a ‘bigger’ sport if you have some sort of innate talent and are at a D3 school, but even those walk ons tend to be former varsity athletes who didn’t want the commitment of a D1 but still want to play their sport. </p>
<p>The level of club programs at some bigger schools can be the equivalent of some varsity programs at smaller schools–I know club soccer at my university was better than some other D1 programs!</p>
<p>So there’s no such things as a 100% “late bloomer” in sports, then? Damn my shortsightedness in high school.</p>
<p>I do think I have some innate talent. Well, if lower-body strength counts as innate talent. I just need to harness it, which is why I’m in the gym everyday.</p>
<p>Right now, the sports are limited. The only major teams this school has is basketball, volley ball, and baseball. None of which I have interest in. WMU has more sports, though, and I’ll be there junior year.</p>
<p>I’m not sure I fully understand your question. There’s certainly nothing other than intramurals that’s set up for people with little to no experience in a sport to compete (other than novice crew boats). Usually anyone can tryout for anything but unless you’re some hidden talent and instantly shine you’re going to get cut.</p>
<p>What’s wrong with playing intramurals for someone like you? Do you even comprehend the time commitment of a collegiate varsity athlete? I was D1 in a minor sport and my practice schedule (which is probably nothing compared to something like basketball or football) was 2 hour practices 5 days a week (that’s not counting the time I had to spent getting to the gym, getting suited up, then us cleaning up/putting away all our equipment showering/changing and heading home from the gym), 30 minute lifting sessions 2 days a week, and being away almost every weekend during our season for competitions. In contrast, an intramural team might have 1 or 2 1-2 hour games each week.</p>
<p>It’s not like time isn’t an issue for me. I already dedicate 3 hours a day to the gym, and I’m not really social so it’s not like I’d be missing much fun on the weekends. Had I not been such a depressed/lazy waste in high school I probably would’ve gone out for sports, but I didn’t (I did no extraciriculars in HS), but now I DO, and I’m trying to figure out which doors in life I unconsciously closed by being such a waste in high school, and what is left. This is like redemption, to me, and I can dedicate as many hours of time and as much sweat and pain as it takes.</p>
<p>Is it possible to move up from an intramural team if someone is good enough for varsity?</p>
<p>Pilot - have you considered Club Sports? They are a level in between Intramural and Varsity sports, and most colleges have them. Both my kids were varsity stars in HS, and switched sports in college to join club teams. It’s still a lot of practice time, but not nearly the committment varsity sports are! I am sure your college web site is going to list the club sports. Have fun, and work hard, play hard.</p>
<p>Varsity college teams don’t typically draw people from intramurals unless the program has been decimated by sanctions, and even then there are still usually players that want to play for them. Unfortunately, collegiate athletics aren’t something you can just jump into, they require years and years of training and practice. I think you might have to give up this dream unless you’re the next Usain Bolt or Trey Burke, which you most likely aren’t if you haven’t been cultivating that talent throughout the years. You can’t base an entire athletic career on having lower body strength. </p>
<p>WMU is D1 and has won a number of MAC conference championships…that isn’t conducive to walking on a varsity squad.</p>
<p>You may really want this to happen, but this is what intramurals are made for. Go out and play sports at that level, don’t make a fool of yourself by going to try out for a sport you’ve never even played at a competitive level.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Dennis Rodman couldn’t even make his high school basketball team, he is now in the Basketball Hall of Fame. (He grew 6 inches in college)</p>
<p>Now that most likely won’t happen to you but you can try to join some teams.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>And to think I didn’t even make this decision consciously. </p>
<p>Let that be a lesson to all you kiddies out there still in high school. Your life is based off what you do in those four years. Don’t mess em up.</p>
<p>What about sports like tennis? Diving? Weight lifting? Is there ANYTHING out there on varsity level for someone like me?</p>
<p>If I joined the rugby club, would it better my chances at WMU when I transfer?</p>
<p>I was recruited for my college tennis team despite never playing in HS. I was in a gym class…but this was in the 1970s and my sports career was not distinguished.</p>
<p>My son played on a couple of college sports teams but never played on teams in HS - he attended an arts school that did not participate in any serious leagues.</p>
<p>OP,</p>
<p>I still just don’t get what the big deal is. We’re just talking about sports. Why are you so fixated on being a varsity athlete? Most of us who were didn’t do it to be “varsity athletes” these were sports we picked up when we were young and were huge parts of our lives. Like those cheesy commercials say, the vast, vast majority of college athletes go on to be pros in something other than sports.</p>
<p>In addition to my varsity sport I played intramurals in sports I enjoyed but was not good at and only with my fraternity team because it was more about that than the sports. As someone mentioned there is also the club team option which again will depend on the sport/school as to how competitive it is.</p>
<p>Unless you’re going to be a professional athlete, your sport doesn’t really open or close any doors that any other extracurricular activity like the newspaper or student government or the film club would.</p>
<p>Honestly, it sounds like this isn’t really about playing sports and more about proving that you’re no longer lazy, and even if you did miraculously make the cut, you probably would just move the goal posts to being a starter, or being all conference, or being all american. If you want to play a sport, play a sport, but do it because you like the sport or like being on a team or like being in shape (although it sounds like you dont have any issues with that), not because you need to prove anything.</p>
<p>Lol @soccergurl</p>
<p>Ezekiel Ansah, former BYU DE, was selected 5th overall in today’s NFL draft. He’s been playing football since 2010, couldn’t even put on his pads in the first practice, and only had a scholarship for one of the three years he played for BYU.</p>
<p>If it’s a sport like wrestling or football that heavily weights raw athleticism, I’d say go for it if you’re really committed.</p>
<p>“Usain Bolt or Trey Burke”</p>
<p>lololol</p>
<p>slikk, Ezekial Ansah grew up playing soccer, then tried (and failed) to walk on the BYU basketball team but did successfully walk on to the BYU track team. The OP indicates he has no younger athletic experience outside of now spending time in the gym…Ezekial Ansah isn’t a logical comparison.</p>
<p>It would be extremely difficult to find an athlete who had never touched any aspect of any sport prior to college and then successfully walked onto a varsity squad. Athletic ability in one sport does lend itself to others (hence why you see a lot of crossover basketball, football, and baseball players), but you have to have had that experience</p>
<p>If you’re a freak in the gym, you can be a good football player. It’ll take some time, but it’s feasible.</p>
<p>Sure, being a freak in the gym will get you there physically, but the mental aspect comes from years of experience–knowing what to do when from previous situations–you can’t get that in the gym. Any athlete knows that.</p>
<p>As long as it’s D3 and you have some level of ability, you should at least be able to fill a bench role.</p>