<p>Hello! I play lacrosse on a national level (probably my hook in the application) and will be attending boarding school this fall. I have a pretty intense training routine that I need to follow year round. Do you think the school will be accommodating in terms of letting me go to the gym instead of a season of athletics after school during the winter and fall? I wanted to run it by someone before I asked the school. Thank you for your help.</p>
<p>The accommodation u want is common at many schools. Just ask the school.</p>
<p>By all means ask the school. This may also be covered in the school rules. Personally I would think not. They want all their students immersed in some way or another contributing to the school. They are not a lacrosse, hockey, tennis camp or any other sport for that matter. These schools do not admit students solely on a sport or consider a sport a “hook” but it certainly helps. Not to rain on your parade but one of the many reasons for boarding school is to try new things, new sports, new opportunities. Plenty of freshmen one sport athletes who graduate and go on to D1 schools to play a completely different sport. Interested to know what they say.</p>
<p>@taylorcanonbrine It depends on the school. Many schools do make accommodations for students engaged in national level “rated” sports programs. Ask your school’s Athletic Director. Good luck!</p>
<p>My son’s school has been very accommodating with his travel, workout & practice schedule for his team. We asked this at his interviews and the AO’s all said they consider any special case in terms of sports, and activities. The AO’s understand the importance of travel teams & the trend of kids like you and my son who play for such teams. They also made it clear that they would do the same for an aspiring Broadway actor, etc…</p>
<p>Maybe I’ve been out of the loop. @ Bulldogs1 can you kindly clarify, is your son at BS but playing for a travel team outside of school? </p>
<p>I would think the school’s schedule comes first and if the time requested correlates with outside teams or events and travel to and fro does not fringe upon the school’s timetable then they’ll accommodate. I’d be a little taken back by special treatment for a student or anything contrary to ISL, Founder League or any similar league agreements with respect to admissions and or recruitment.</p>
<p>Please rest assure I am not implying your son or taylorcanonbrine was recruited solely for their sport. </p>
<p>Additionally, I think you could probably keep up with your workouts and still be a member of the community. You could play a club sport or on a thirds team to cross-train but still have a casual sport. Or you could do multiple clubs or music for a more flexible schedule. But you can’t miss a lot of school for another sport. I think you really also just need to get into contact with the school because they most likely manage situations like this on a case-by-case basis.</p>
<p>The answer is going to be a very unsatisfying “it depends”.</p>
<p>This was an issue for my younger daughter (7D2), also a nationally ranked athlete. For schools that have a sports requirement, you might be surprised at how many DO enforce their requirement to do a interscholastic team sport (how many and when depended on school)…even for a high level athlete. So if you play lacrosse, consider running XC in the Fall if you need to fulfill a team obligation.</p>
<p>IMO, if you do think that lax is your hook even at the college level, you should probably screen the boarding schools you’re applying to for the ability to either support your on/off season training on campus OR allow the flexibility to train at the level you desire/are accustomed to off campus. Do this before and not in the interview (which might make you come off as “high maintenance”). Also, be sure to reach out to the coaches. If you are as good as you say you are, they should be able to make a difference for you in the application process…not a guarantee, per se…but enough to tip the balance if it’s down to you and another similar candidate who does not play lacrosse.</p>
<p>Be sure to look at the D1 college rosters to see where the kids are coming from. In a quick review, I seem mostly public, parochial, and day schools…only a handful of boarding schools represented.</p>
<p>The cross training and team building aspects of having to play two or three seasons of sports could be really helpful- even if you just ran cross-country casually or played club squash. But look into it- it’s an important question to ask and could help you narrow the list down.</p>
<p>Yes my son attends boarding school & is able to play with his travel team during the Fall & Summer. For the Spring, he plays only for his BS team. He was “recruited” but also scored above the school’s SSAT average, and had completed algebra 1, geo and algebra 2 in Middle School so I would like to think he was also accepted for his academic achievement as well. School comes first always… We are not looking for or expecting him to get a D1 scholarship just happy that he can do what he loves to do. As a BS alumnae I have been amazed at how different things/rules have changed in 20+ years. </p>
<p>And to add, the facility he plays for was shocked we were sending him to BS, they said " a 4.0 is a 4.0 from any school". Worse advice ever in my opinion… We were more interested in BS for the academic reasons and not the athletic ones.</p>
<p>I was surprised that the AO at Exeter said that there are nationally ranked level Exeter tennis players who train and play in Florida. He also mentioned another kid who was going to continue to compete in USSA Alpine ski racing despite the fact that Exeter does not offer Alpine ski racing as a sport. He seemed to indicate that it would require the student’s family to transport the student to and from the races that usually occur on weekends but sometimes occur on Friday. Many day schools in our area allow students to spend a couple of months in FL at a Bollitieri tennis camp but I did not think a BS like Exeter would allow this. These were all enrolled students so maybe if you are accepted the school will try to accommodate your schedule. </p>
<p>I would have a parent contact the Athletic Director. The Athletic Director trumps a coach every time so go straight to the source. Every school is different but if you run into a wall and they say no don’t despair. Sometimes, the first year is for you to get a feel for how things work and for the Athletic Department to get to know you. A “no” one year can easily turn into a yes the following year. Then again- it can remain no for four years (even if you’re incredibly talented). You just never know. Your first commitment is to the school (and their teams) so be prepared to bend if you have to and don’t push back too hard if they make training year round for your specific sport difficult or a lot less than what you’re used to. Take advantage of everything the school offers and don’t be afraid to try new things. Find other sports that will compliment your sport, use the weight room whenever you can, swim (if the school has a pool) and run. My kids don’t walk anywhere- they run before breakfast and everywhere else they have to go. They’re usually running when they call me! </p>
<p>My kids don’t play lacrosse but…</p>
<p>K1 got major push back for wanting to pursue one sport outside BS ( and he still went on to have an amazing experience and will row at college). It was definitely a blow, but he found Water Polo which turned into another passion. K2 had me confirm and “negotiate” terms for pursuing his sport with the AD before we sent in the first check . For K2, it took a lot of bending, organization and willingness on my part to make this a successful three- way (school- club- us) relationship. I made it very clear to the AD (and coaches) that he didn’t want special treatment (nor did we think he was special) and that I’d get their approval for everything he wanted to do (travel outside of school, etc. ) and he’d work out his training schedule with them. It’s a dance and very time consuming so make sure you have a parent completely onboard and they have the time necessary to make the relationship work. For K2 , it has been a lot of work ( on everyone’s part) but it’s worth it. </p>
<p>One more quick thing worth mentioning: Your grades have to be excellent in order for you to make a compelling case to the AD. Academics always come first no matter what. It’s also the biggest reason why an AD wants a student/athlete to do it their way the first year … just to be absolutely certain a new student can handle everything on their plate. Good luck!</p>