Hi, I know this is really vague sounding, but is it really worth it to play a sport (lacrosse) d2 or d3 in college while taking challenging courses and/or does it look good on a resume?
Absolutely DO NOT do it for a resume. It is a lot of time and work. My daughter thinks it is worth it for the sport, for the scholarship, for the structure it gives to her time in school. There are times when she is exhausted, when she doesn’t want to get up a 5:30 am, when she doesn’t want to run in the rain. Lot of times. She does really like playing, likes her teammates, likes her boyfriend (same sport, so they share a lot of friends).
She’s in engineering, as are about 1/4 of her team. Most of the team is majoring in something ‘hard.’
The benefits? 1. Money. She could not find a job that pays as much as she gets for her scholarship so we consider it her job. She does not work during the school year. 2 Organizational skills. First year she had required study tables and she really learned how to study. The help with courses, not from tutors or coaches but from the other athletes. Her first year she was in a class with a soccer player who missed a lot of lectures on Wednesdays. She’d go over the notes with him and she admits she learned more than he did at those sessions. She’s doing that again this year (junior year) and is using her boyfriend’s notes from the class 2 years ago because his teacher was great and hers is new. 3. Physical fitness. She’s in the best shape of her life. 4. Happiness. She likes it
My son played 4 years of D3 football. It is a lot of work. He did it because he loved playing football and he wanted 4 more years of his sport before he had to stop playing. If you love lacrosse it is worth playing. If you would rather do something else I would advise you to do something else.
Being a lacrosse player is a nice resume item. However, you could do something else and have that other thing be a nice resume item. If you love lacrosse play in college. If you don’t love it find something that you do love and do that.
Agree with the notes above that you do it for the sport and for the camaraderie of being around your temmates. That said, even though it’s not worth doing just for the sake of the resume, in many areas being a college athlete can make a difference. We know a number of kids who are a couple of years into their jobs (after college), and after they were hired on, the recruiters told them that all things being equal, they go for the athletes. They have to have good time management skills, they’re disciplined, and they know the meaning of ‘team’.
Agreeing with above – my D3 soccer player continues to play because it is like breathing for him, he can’t imagine the sport not being part of his life. Summer conditioning, having A LOT less time and flexibility than other students, are all worth it because he loves to play and to be part of a team. I can see how often being an athlete forecloses other activities – many organizations and special events happen in the late afternoon/early evening, when he is at practice or on the road and he just cannot participate. It wouldn’t be worth giving those other opportunities up if he didn’t love what he is doing.
Only play if you love it. It’s a major time commitment over the entire school year, but it is great if you can handle the work.
Completely in agreement with all of the above. Only take on a sport if you love it and only for the sake of playing, not for a resume. My son plays D2 soccer and loves the entire experience, but it is a lot of work! A large portion of the team is engineering or on pre-med tracks and they have a collective high GPA. I will say that employers have been very receptive to the fact that he plays a sport- I think it is because it shows discipline and dedication. The fact that you are asking if it is worth it makes me wonder how much you love the sport. Like Midwestmomofboys’ son, my son lives,eats and breathes soccer- it was never a question of not playing for him.
Thanks all, I do love lacrosse and the experiences, but I always put school first. Is there anywhere I could find what a typical period of time would be like both in the offseason and during the season as a college student athlete?
@jbh2711 , if you’re not going the recruiting route, you can also consider playing at the club or intramural level. At some schools, the level of play is pretty intense, and others, not so much.
In any case, don’t do it because you think that job recruiters will like it. Even at many D2 and D3 schools, there are captain’s practices in the off season, so you’ll play year round.
But you should also know that at college, you may find that you have more time, and the structure of your sport coupled with the camaraderie may be a perfect use for it.
I would estimate my D3 kid spends 25 hours a week in season and it could be more, and his conference only travels about 2-4 hours for away matches so he does not have long trips for away games. Official practice many only be 2 hours on non-game days, but he also has film, lifting, seeing the trainer as needed, etc. on top of actual practice, plus the extra time he spends getting to the gym/field early. Off season, he put a lot of time into summer conditioning, and he will have lifting/conditioning with teammates/friends in the off-season, plus the allowable D3 mini-season and practices in the off-season. It does conflict with a lot of other campus opportunities, since I’ve seen that a lot of organizations schedule meetings in the late afternoon/early evening, that’s when speakers are on campus etc., and he is not able to participate in those. For him, there was never any doubt its what he wanted.
My daughter plays lacrosse at a D2 school. In the fall, her schedule is lifting MWF mornings (6-8), and practice on TRSat for a couple of hours, totaling 9 hours. They have other things too, like captain’s meetings, athletic department meetings to go over eligibility and rules. Her first year she had 8-10 hours of study tables;once you make grades, you don’t have to go anymore, but if you don’t make grades, you continue going and it’s a lot of time. On Saturdays the team often does things basketball, swimming, bowling, water yoga (on surfboards). Fun, but takes time.
During the season, practice increases to 20-30 hours per week with practice (20), games (~4 each), meetings (~1), and travel (no way to estimate). They do not get Spring Break. Because she’s in Florida, they don’t have to travel as much as northern teams because everyone comes to them, which is a huge time saver, so if you pick a northern school, you’d have to add a lot more time for travel into your schedule.
Why don’t you look into it, send in the recruitment questionnaires and look at a few schools in different levels of academics and athletic strength? A lot of the D3 stronger lax schools are in the northeast, many of the D2’s are in NYC area and PA. There are several new D2 teams being added, and new teams are great opportunities. You can ask all your questions when you visit the schools about practice times, restrictions on partying, class loads, etc.
Chatting with my kid, D3 in-season sounds MUCH more than my estimated 25 hours. You’ve got to love it to spend that much time doing something on top of school.
The 20 hour in-season limit is just for practice. It doesn’t include meetings, lifting, travel, meals, games. I’d estimate that in off-season it is about 20 hours total (lifting and conditioning, practice, meetings, scrimmages) and in-season about 30, not including any travel. The 20 hours off-season are not all physical. The 30 hours in-season are mostly physical.