I was just verbally offered a walk on spot to my top choice swim team. I’m pretty sure I’ll end up accepting it. However I have some concerns. Am I guaranteed a spot on the team if I call him back and say I’m 100% on board? Can they take this away from me? The coach said something to the affect of “at this time we’d be willing to offer a walk on position, if you were to cut a crazy amount of time, then maybe we’d talk about any scholarships”. Does this mean if I cut time at my big meets in February I might be able to get like $500-$1000, or would I need to drop that time within the next like month? Are there any concerns or things I should know about being a walk on?
(FYI this is specifically pertaining to a DI Mid-Major Swim Team in a non football conference. I don’t know if that is important info but I thought I’d add it)
I don’t think you can count on any money. The money might be promised to someone else right now, so the coach can only give it to you if that student goes elsewhere.
Is a spot on the team guaranteed? Nothing is guaranteed unless you sign a NLI, and even then it is not a guarantee that you will swim x events or travel with the team. It’s still a good thing if you can afford the school without the scholarship money. Congrats.
I know nothing is guaranteed until I sign an NLI, but if I’m a walk on how do I sign a NLI? Don’t you have I receive money to sign the NLI?
My niece is a D1 gymnast and the schools she goes to offered her a walk on spot. I don’t remember her signing anything but I wasn’t around so don’t know for certain. As a walk on, the only money she received from the school were for her academic achievement. She’s in the honors program so nothing is coming from the athletics department. As a walk on I wouldn’t expect to get any money unless you perform at the college level. There’s a good chance all the money for your class is already committed so someone would need to not attend or drop to free up any funds.
If you take the offer, make sure you can afford the school and I wouldn’t plan on any assistance. If you eventually earn some dollars then that would be a nice bonus but go in planning on self funding your four years.
Unless something has changed, walk-ons do not sign NLI. You’re basically a “regular” student to whom the coach is offered a spot on the team. No guarantee of “playing” time or travel is implied (someone has to ride the bench). If you’re interested in knowing how to get money from the coach, ask “What time do I need to swim to earn scholarship money?”.
Division I schools can offer up to 14 full scholarships for swimming. Unlike the revenue sports, they can split the scholarships evenly or unevenly into as many people as the coach wants. So a coach could have an open scholarship and split it 2 or 3 ways, for example.
14 for women; for men it’s 9.9. And that includes divers. But that does not mean that those scholarships are fully funded. So 14 fully funded scholarships shared by 35 people is a lot different that 14 partially funded ones shared by 35.
As a walk-on, you only have the coach’s word. Being on the team does not guarantee you will see competition (true even for recruits with slots). Walk-on status is probably not guaranteed for all four years. It sounds like you should have another conversation with the coach so that s/he can answer your questions.
Slots and scholarships are probably set for the 2019/20 year, so your status is unlikely to change regardless of performance in February. Again, the coach can and should answer this question.
Having walk-on status will likely not give much of a boost to your admissions chances, if that is something you need or are looking for.
You are correct that only athletes receiving money (at a minimum, book money) can sign a NLI. It is a contract so requires consideration on both sides. A walk-on, by definition, does not receive money. I agree that the coach is thinking of scholarship money in future years, not for 2019-20. Maybe, but don’t plan on it.
Gymnastics is a ‘headcount’ sport for women, so it is unlikely she received a small amount or signed an NLI if she was a walk on. It is usually an ‘all or nothing’ thing with headcount sports
OP, you have a walk on offer. Don’t expect any money, you don’t have a guarantee to swim at meets (no one does except the Olympic swimmers), just accept or decline based on whether you want to go to this school, be on this team, with the info you have. When you visited, what did the others say about the organization of the team? Were there three other swimmers for your events? Six? Is the team big? Do they host a lot of home meets or compete against nearby schools? If so, you are more likely to get to be in the meets as the travel costs for the whole team will be lower.
Good luck. Congrats on the offer.
Pick the school first and if the swimming works out, great! Don’t count on being on the team or traveling to away meets.There’s no job at the end of swimming. Well, at least not for 99.9999% of college swimmers.
Would you be happy at this school, if you do not get to swim in every meet? You want to pick the school for academic fit first. Especially, when you do not have a guaranteed spot on the team. What are your other options?
I recommend you talk to the coach more about what it means to be a “walk-on” on this particular team. My child’s teammate was a walk on and he still was given team outfitting and participated in every home meet. He improved freshman year and was given swimming scholarship money for sophmore year.
I agree with @soccermother - it seems to vary greatly by coach