sports in high school

i recently had an injury and i won’t be able to play varsity tennis and varsity swim this year due to my injury. i plan to continue playing next school year. will this affect what colleges think of me? thank you so much to whoever answers! i high appreciate it!

Don’t worry. When you apply to colleges there will be a place to explain your absence form your sport this year. Relax, heal and cheer on your teams.

oh oh i didn’t know that! thank you!

by the way i am applying to university of california schools? is there a section that you can explain in most colleges you apply for?

Yes, there is an additional comments section on the UC application you can use.

Unless you are a recruited athlete, sports count as an EC – nothing more and nothing less. I would suggest that you find some other activities you find interesting/rewarding to take the place of the sports so you can remain involved in your school/community…

You can put it on but if you only played half a season in your entire HS experience I don’t think it would add to your application.

no I played 3 years of varsity tennis. I had to stop half season this year though because of injury

In that case, yes, you should put it down.

Then you participated during part of all 4 years

OH…that is different. Then I’d just put down that you were on the team for 4 years. Unless you are a recruited athlete it isn’t really important that an injury cut one season short.

I’d put down 4 years of varsity sports. I don’t think whether you played 3 or 4 years of varsity sport that big of a deal to a school in the first place.

Okay I see, I was just wondering because there are some instances that colleges will check if you actually did it and i don’t know if that counts or not?

I’d put 4, since you got partway through the season and had to stop for injury reasons.

No one checks

Even if they check, if you competed in at least one match this year then you participated. No coach or school is going to claim you didn’t, and you don’t need to explain anything. You participated as a member of a Varsity team during all 4 years of high school, period.

My son plays one sport, and had to sit out a season due to injury. He did not play, but went to most practices and played manager while also undergoing physical therapy. He was on the team and committed the time, so it counts. Somewhere in a detailed counselor’s recommendation, or an essay, he will likely mention he was injured and could not play that one season, but again, he was on the roster and was with the team the majority of the time.

If you were injured and never played, never went to practice, and never even went to the games but was merely listed on the roster, then that is a question mark on how to characterize it. I would still maybe say “4 years” and explain it.

I had to stop mid season this year due to injury. Would it be okay if I just put I played 4 years or should I put three? And is there a place on applications for UC’s and etc to explain my absence? Thank you so much whomever responds! I really appreciate the help!

Can you still help out with your teams?

My D had back surgery the summer after junior year and her activities were restricted for a year. But she still wanted to be part of her teams. She was the team manager for water polo and helped the coaches. This actually led to a paying job the past 2 summers when she helped the coach with younger kids.

By swim season, she was able to swim but not dive. So she did the practices and then helped the coaches during the meets.

When my kids were injured at various times they were still considered to be on the team. Geez, seems like most of soccer misses at least part of one season over the course of 4 years.