I am going into my senior year of high school and have played football all three years. However, this year my heart is not in it at all and I have no desire to play. On top of that, this year we have all new coaches (who I am not entirely fond of) and a whole new system to learn, as well as myself taking 7 ap courses this year. The main reason I am still playing is simply to add to my résumé. But I wanted to ask, how would it look for admissions or how would it affect my chances of acceptance (especially for more selective schools) if I were to quit this year and instead focus on school, volunteer work, clubs, and a job?
Do you have a recreational football league in your area? If you leave the school team and play rec socially, it’s still 4 years of football and shows continuity of interest in the sport even if you aren’t playing at the same level. (S was doing travel soccer and dropped to rec because the demands conflicted with his other interests.)
The other option is to switch out of football and into another, less demanding sport - one that you can do more flexibly like track (at our school it’s all comers, but not so everywhere). Then instead of listing the EC as ‘football’ and you’d list it as ‘sports’ - and include ALL the sports you like to do.
Even if those ideas don’t work for you, I’d say focus on school and your other ECs - especially if you can up your game, so to speak, in any one of those areas by making a greater personal commitment. Your academics are the first priority of course, but a selective school isn’t going to admit or not admit because of that 4th year of football.
This is an often asked question here. If you search the site, you’ll see. My advice is to drop it. You have plenty on your plate: AP classes, applying to colleges. Etc. Plus, I assume you’ve already been in summer conditioning and I assume your lack of playing time prospects may be driving this too? Drop it. School and a job are fine things to focus on.
Unless you will be a recruited athlete it will be no different than dropping any other EC you lose interest in. If you get a job or do something else, it is fine. If you want you can see if there are other outlets for football like helping to coach a little league team or something. Otherwise, move on.
Here is the simple answer. Football is a violent sport, and it requires constant concentration and effort. People whose heart is not in it and whose concentration and effort consequently lag, often end up getting hurt. If you don’t want to play, stop.