I’ll start with saying that obviously health and safety come first
Freshman and sophomore years, D25 did cross country, tech theater, pole vault (track and field), GSA, and was a teen volunteer at the zoo. She has been having shin problems for a year and only ran in one XC race. She is considering not doing XC in the fall to both let her shins heal some but also to do off season training for pole vault.
Will it “look bad” to drop cross country? She would have pole vault, tech theater, GSA, and zoo volunteer for all 4 years.
Thanks.
Which is why no one will think anything of her dropping a club her senior year. Lots of athletes miss a season for health reasons.
If she is really concerned, she could talk to her coach about staying on the team in some sort of role (managerial?) to be able to honestly list it as a senior year activity.
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What does her doctor say? Has she seen a physical therapist or sports medicine specialist or orthopedist? Have they pinpointed the cause of the pain and offered a recommendation for treatment/healing?
I don’t know anything about track, but I know a little bit about sports injuries. My daughter experienced a severe ankle injury which she didn’t let heal properly (in part because of a coach who didn’t want her taking so much time off so pushed her to return to training too soon) and now her ankle is likely permanently damaged.
Let injuries heal. It is not worth it. Do not push through the pain. That’s how you end up with more serious injuries and, in some cases, permanent damage.
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She has stress injuries to both shins. She’s had 2 MRIs and the second one did show some improvement, although she still has pain when running. Her doctor said she can pole vault this season as long as the pain doesn’t get worse but she can only run when vaulting. She’ll see him again when the season is over. She’s had several long rest periods and probably 6 months of physical therapy.
It sounds like the doctor is telling her not to run in XC races for a while, but she can still vault. So it sounds like she will still be able to participate in her EC (albeit in a limited capacity), while playing it safe with her injury. That seems the wisest course of action. Don’t mess around with injuries - that can have very long term repercussions and it’s just not worth it. Listen to her doctor. If she clears her to run, then you can return to the question and see what she wants to do. But don’t push it.
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So make sure she’s seeing a sports doctor and not just a PCP. Get a external bone stim like Exogen on the shins. Get orthotics that will help with the cause of shin splints /stress fracture. Also PT to build strength
Anyway… Back to your question…
Just do a few activities for 2-4 years that they enjoy. Don’t read too much into this. No school is going to look that closely if they dropped this or that. They are more curious about the GPA, rigor and scores and accomplishments.
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I would discourage running or pole vaulting. She can list the EC and note that an injury stopped her participation. It’s fine. All my kids gave up sports and still did well. Is it possible she might use the time toward something else? Theater, or animals? Sometimes giving up sports ends up as an opportunity! Even some down time can be nice…
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Just wanted to highlight that option, in case it’s attractive to her.
She likely can continue on the team, and remain part of the social circle, without participating in any discipline.
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One daughter also needed to stop running cross country because of shin problems. It did not seem to be a problem at all in terms of university admissions.
Injuries happen in sports.
I would not worry about dropping cross country. I would be concerned about making sure that she has time to heal.
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ECs only become very important at the most selective colleges. Many publics and some privates admit based on gpa and often SAT without considering ECs at all. At most of the remaining colleges participation in ECs (eg. member of this and that) is sufficient to check off the box. This sounds like your daughter. She may want to look at the Common Data Set section C7 to see what box they for ECs check in the non-academic factors of admission.
If she is considering the most selective colleges they look for leadership and accomplishment at a high level. As Stanford says
Students often assume our primary concern is the number of activities in which a student participates. In fact, an exceptional depth of experience in one or two activities may demonstrate your passion more than minimal participation in five or six clubs. In general, we want to understand the impact you have had at your job, in your family, in a club, in your school or in the larger community, and we want to learn of the impact that experience has had on you.
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