<p>I might suggest club Rugby for your son. Club Rugby seems to be a very excepting bunch of guys all across the country with strong alumni connections and post-college clubs in major cities and regions. Most of the college teams play other colleges so much of the same comraderie and competition and travel that appeals to football players. Rubgy players in general tend to be drinkers with post-game socials, but not all the kids do that at the socials and rugby tends to be inclusive of all “kinds”. There is usually a fall season and a spring season so he could participate right away in the spring season. Most of the gear (compression shorts, shoes, etc. from football will work so the in-cost is low) I think my son’s rugby team starts practicing in just a couple weeks (he’s not at Rutgers.) I just checked the Rutgers website and the first thing they say is that all are invited to participate
“Who can play Rugby?
•Height: Somewhere between 5’2” and 6’10"
•Weight: 130 pounds to 320 plus
•Speed: Very slow to very fast
•Athletic Background: Horseshoes to football"
I was nervous when S1 started playing a couple years ago, but the “mates” really are a good bunch of diverse guys and so many local rugby players come out of the woodwork when S is home so there’s this unversal underground of rugby players I’ve decided. I’m guessing they would open their arms and embrace your son at his school. I noticed the rugby club at rutgers doesn’t practice everday, so this is also not the huge commitment that NCAA sports demands in college. My son’s team does practice everyday, but it’s not mandatory and it’s not time intensive. Generally my son likes the “physical” break and exercise after a day of classes anyway.
Here’s the link to forward to your son:
<a href=“http://rutgersrugby.org/ru/newplayers.aspx[/url]”>http://rutgersrugby.org/ru/newplayers.aspx</a></p>
<p>My 16 year old son loved football but dropped it when he chose golf as a fall sport, and I’m sure he’ll play neither in college - but Ultimate Frisbee is near and dear to his heart. </p>
<p>I think Club Rugby sounds like a lot of fun but if it doesn’t work out, I wanted to put in a plug for Ultimate. As someone else mentioned, kids who are good at football are good at Ultimate. And, same as with Rugby, the kids who play Ultimate are, generally speaking, a diverse and accepting bunch.</p>
<p>That’s a good one too, MidwestMom. I think the takeaway for any kid looking for his “mates” is that the Club Sports, which are somewhere between NCAA and intramurals are great ways for kids to “find friends.” The travel schedule and competition satisfies the kids who played team sports in high school but for whatever reason are not participating in college. My S1 was hesitant his freshman year, but has embraced club sports and it adds a different “bunch” of friends to his circle, he enjoys traveling to the other colleges and enjoys getting some formal exercise. Intramurals are fun, too, so don’t discount those but the level of competition sometimes isn’t “enough” for a post-high school athlete. My son does play one intramural sport that he did in high school, but intramurals are really more about fun and great for the kids.</p>
<p>My nephew plays club rugby at TCNJ and loves it. The commitment is very workable- and he is not the best at organizing his time, and he also likes to go home a lot.</p>
<p>Another suggestion if he winds up staying at Rutgers. When my son made the decision to remain at Penn and not transfer, he knew he had to create a better educational experience for himself- IMMEDIATELY. For soph year he blew off all the requirements and took classes (still in his major and counted) that were more advanced (talked his way into some small seminars, etc) and interesting to him. It sort of jump-started his interest after horrific freshman classes with bad teachers. The negative is that he is stuck with two boring requirements this last semester senior year, but he says it was worth it.</p>
<p>“I encouraged him to take classes not related to business (which is his declared major), thinking maybe he’ll find his passion. We had a long talk about money versus happiness, I think he’s considering coaching football as a career direction, but is afraid he won’t make any money.”</p>
<p>I agree with you that he should take classes that pique his interest even if they’re in fields that he has never tried before.</p>
<p>Freshman and to some extent soph years are the best time to do that. I encouraged my son to do that, and he ended up taking ballroom dancing and theater improv (He was a really shy kid with very little acting experience). To his surprise, he ended up being a fabulous ballroom dancer, making lots of friends, and continuing with swing dance as a hobby. While he was the least experience and worst performer in his theater improv class, he still greatly enjoyed it, made friends, and established such strong ties with the theater department that he eventually became a very happy theater tech major, something that brings together all of his various interests and talents.</p>
<p>Now a junior, his grades are stellar, he has many friends and he’s delighted with his major even though it requires lots of work (eg one course requires an 80-100 page paper this semester; other courses require dozens of hours of lab work). </p>
<p>College is the time to have the guts to try out new things that interest you. That’s the key to happiness, not settling for something dull in the dry hope that it will be financially rewarding.</p>
<p>Could he volunteer to coach football in a neighborhood league, to see how he likes it? Many teachers in k-12 also coach and find it a rewarding combination. You may not get rich but you are improving lives while earning a decent living. </p>
<p>A friend’s S who was all-american water polo player got burned out after a while playing in college but did enjoy coaching it for a neighboring school all through college. I believe he even was paid, but am not positive about that. He loves the sport and was glad to coach the younger kids. He majored in psychology & plans to get a PhD to do research regarding autism–really neat kid.</p>
<p>Some athletes also like kinesiology and hope to become personal trainers. Others like communications & hope to become sports commentators (tho there is huge competition in that field & many are ex-olympians & Heisman winners).</p>