<p>I'm a junior at a Div. I-AA school. I played a few varsity sports in high school though after an ACL tear in my junior year, I sort of fell off the radar. I bounced back but, as you can guess, the recovery took a while and I missed my sports seasons for the whole year. </p>
<p>In retrospect, my confidence was injured more severely than anything else. Academically, my grades junior and senior year can be best described as average. I went on to a state school, withdrew part way through my second term, and went to work in a local factory.</p>
<p>A few years passed and I decided to return to school, did exceptionally well at a local CC, and transferred to a four year school. I have a 4.0, a few great ECs that I love, but, I miss being a part of an athletic team.</p>
<p>I was kicker/punter in high school. My portion of Div. I-AA doesn't allow any scholarships and, technically, all of our players are invited walk-ons or walk-ons. So, here's my question:</p>
<p>How tough is it to be a walk-on after years of not playing?</p>
<p>My understanding of Div 1-AA is that it is now called the FCS. Congrats on working your way back to where you want to be, and further developing your education. </p>
<p>I don’t understand your statement :</p>
<p>“My portion of Div. I-AA doesn’t allow any scholarships and, technically, all of our players are invited walk-ons or walk-ons”</p>
<p>This statement makes very little sense to me as I know some of these schools very, very well, and I know they offer scholarships and walk-ons. Being a walk-on in any sport at any school is very difficult. For baseball, I know some schools that take it seriously and others not so much. To answer your question…I think it is going to be very tough to be a walk-on. You have to get the coaches attention and perform.</p>
<p>I think you should schedule an appt with the head coach (after the season), and ask him what are the things you would need to do to be considered for the football team. Tell him you have a real passion for the game, and really want to get back into football. Do the things he tells you to do, and keep following up with him to check your progress. </p>
<p>Also, you’ll need to watch the movie “Rudy” at least 10 times! So far, your story sounds a lot like the movie. ;-)</p>
<p>I’d suggest you email the coach and ask … then you’ll know the real answer. Even if they do allow walk-ons you might not get on the field a lot (unless you were a terrific player before the injury and would have been a DI recruit). Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks for clarifying, I know what you mean now. Yes, no athletic scholarships for Ivy, and Ivy is part of the FCS. Gotcha. Sometimes I’m a little “slow” in the AM.</p>
<p>I would either request a meeting or email the coach as 3togo suggests depending on where you are in the process. If you are fully committed to doing this, I would suggest a face to face meeting for a couple reasons. First, I want him to know who I am and what I want to do. Second, you show him you are invested in this, and he may help you along. If you are gathering information and not 100% sure about doing this, then I would email the coach about walk-ons and specifically about the depth at your intended position.</p>
<p>My freshman son plays baseball at an Ivy. I know that his Ivy has accepted junior transfers and some walkons in the past. Sorry, I know nothing about the football team except they are not very good, and have a new coach. So if it is the same school, there may be some opportunity there! Next time I watch Rudy, I’ll be thinking about you. Please let us know how it turns out. Good luck.</p>
<p>I am most familiar with the situation at Cornell. While it is true that the Ivy League schools do not offer athletic scholarships, they most definately recruit. Sometimes the coach may decide not to actively recruit a given athlete but will invite him or her to “walk-on” if they clear the admissions hurdles. These kids are the ones I would consider to be “invited walk-ons.” A third group of athletes are the true “walk-ons” – neither recruited nor invited (or at least not invited until they demonstrate the skill and persistence to the coach that prompts an invitation to try out for the team).</p>
<p>I saw this article in the paper this AM, and thought of your question. I really like the way Coach Laycock (William & Mary) explains how he uses the walk-on and recruited walk-on in his football program. I would consider bringing this up with a coach to show him that walk-ons and recruited walk-ons can really benefit an Ivy football program.</p>
<p>^ I would not suggest “bringing this up” to the coach … he already knows … and he already has walk-ons. IVY league teams do not have enough “recruits” (went to bat with admissions for these players) to fill a roster so by necessity they have walk-ons. However the vast majority of these recruits will come from two groups … 1) recruited walk-ons … the coach having contact with the player during the recruiting process and ultimately not offering an admission slot but also adding … we’d love to have you tryout if you get in on your own … 2) kids who just show up and tryout but who were excellent HS players (all-state or all-conference types). What are unusual are walk-ons who have not been playing high level football … this is the group the OP appears to be in.</p>
<p>I believe recruited walk-ons are actually quite popular in football. I often cite an areticle I had read several years ago (long before I started reading on CC) and I can’t find it, but it basically stated that because of the popularity of the recruited walk-on, it was making it difficult for less financially-endowed teams to get all of the players they needed. The top schools were scooping all of the players, even the ones who weren’t their “top” choices, but were still very good players. And, of course, everyone is a recruited walk-on at the Ivy level. How old are you? I believe the limit for NCAA play is 25. I would call the coaches and send some tape.</p>