I am currently a high school junior who is playing varsity sports(swimming) in high school. However, though I did not thought about playing varsity sports in college, I started to get interested in it. I am planning to go to liberal arts college, which are Division III and NESCAC. In order to be eligible to participate in varsity sports in college, am I supposed to be recruited or indicate the interest when I am applying? I can’t express my intention to join varsity sports after the admission decision?
You absolutely do not need to be recruited in order to have a chance to play. Depending on the sport/school there may be enough people being recruited that there are no other spots left on the team, but the term “walk on” applies to what you are trying to do. A walk on is an athlete who was not recruited and thus “walks on” to the team during tryouts.
Now, if you know right now you want to give it a shot, you might as well start reaching out to coaches at the schools you’re interested in. Tell them about your athletic accomplishments and if you’re planning on visiting schools in the spring, you can ask if you can meet with them and see the facilities and such. I’d imagine at a D3 school that they’d be pretty accommodating with that thing (I’m basing this off my experience as a former walk on D1 athlete in a minor sport). If you’re not good enough for them to formally recruit you, they’ll probably tell you. You’ll go through admissions as a normal applicant but then if/when tryouts happen they’ll already know you which can’t hurt.
@iwannabe_Brown So i can still apply for tryouts after the admission to the college without gettig recruited or indicating the interest in the application?
The time/date of tryouts might not be posted anywhere publicly so you’ll have to be vigilant to find out when they are, but as sherpa says, if you’re good enough to contribute to the team the coach won’t care that you didn’t say/do anything prior to getting on campus.
@rickkim98 Since you are a junior do the recruiting questionnaire this summer anyway and see what the coaches say. If they don’t recruit, show up first day of practice and try out. I’m sure the coach will remember you.
^and yes, this too. You literally have nothing to lose by filling out any recruiting paperwork and potentially a lot to gain if you’re underestimating your talent or overestimating the talent of your intended schools.