<p>I was wondering about the logistics of D1 sports, football in particular.
Do the athletes get to go home for vacations like Christmas and spring break? Do they stay on campus in the summer to work out? Can they have a real social life?</p>
<p>^^ can’t tell you about football, but I can tell you about women’s D1 basketball, played by a family member. She had 5 days off at Christmas, a couple times had a few days during spring break. She did not stay on campus over the summer, but did participate in an out-of-state camp for a couple of weeks after her freshman and sophomore year. Real social life? As much as you can have going to school full time and devoting 2-3 hours per day to your sport and traveling to games on weekends.</p>
<p>S’s old h.s. football teammate walked on at their D1 state u. He only lasted one season. Told S you had to love football more than anything because you had to give up a lot of things at college for football.
A friend’s S walked on at an SEC school. He also only did it one year. Being on the team for one year caused him graduate a semester late due to having to take a lighter course load.</p>
<p>NCAA D1 football regular season is over before winter break, but teams that go to the post-season (bowls in the FBS and playoff in the FCS) obviously have to continue practice until their game(s) are over.</p>
<p>For a football player who is serious about school, going to a quarter system college may be preferable, since football season will typically overlap with only a third of the school year instead of half of the school year at a semester system college.</p>
<p>One coach I know says to prospective athletes: there are three parts to your college experience. Academics, athletics, and social life. You can do two of the three well. You choose.</p>
<p>The social live of a D1 athlete is likely to revolve around the team. That’s why it’s important that there be good chemistry between the teammates as well as with the coach.</p>
<p>many football players at my FCS school stay on campus over the summer. They take classes and workout.</p>
<p>Amount of practice per week is capped by the NCAA, but I think it’s pretty high, like 30 hours? (please note: that could be wrong, it might be like 20). I know my school did not max out the hours allotted for practice, but obviously it is hard to balance D1 athletics and academics (assuming the kid is actually doing the work… if you go to one of the schools where other people do the students’ work, then it is easier).</p>
<p>What about division 3 football at Frostburg State in Maryland </p>
<p>Sent from my VM670 using CC App</p>
<p>Try posting your question here [Athletic</a> Recruits - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/athletic-recruits/]Athletic”>Athletic Recruits - College Confidential Forums)
You’ll get lot of helpful feedback.</p>
<p>As someone else said, Winter Break is impacted by bowl games. Unless they are playing at or near Christmas, most coaches seem to let the players have a few days off. In our experience, the team pays for transportation home and then generally from home to the bowl location. Most teams arrive about a week before a bowl game, at least the big ones.</p>
<p>Most D1 teams play Thanksgiving day-weekend, so coming home for that holiday is out.</p>
<p>Don’t forget, though, there are smaller DI programs, that probably operate very differently than a big DI school. Football is also at many D2 and D3 schools as well, though the scholarships either not available or less plentiful.</p>
<p>As someone else said, you really have to love football and like the other players. It is a different way to go to school, but not necessarily a bad way. I know one young man who played the first two years for a SEC team, but not a good one, and quit because he wasn’t playing much/at all and he wanted a more traditional experience.</p>
<p>I know many DI football players who are doing well in school, many in difficult majors. However, for a weaker student who plays football, the big DI schools very well may be pushing them through meaningless classes and they are getting very little real education.</p>
<p>At my D’s school, which is D3, and is not known at all for ther football program- the football players arrived 3 weeks prior to any other althetes. They practiced 4 hours in the morning, and 4 hours in the afternoon. They had to stay for Thanksgiving and Fall break. They did not have to worry about playoffs.</p>
<p>She goes to an engineering school, and the classes are pretty tough. She played another sport, and she said that she had no idea how the football players were able to do any school work.</p>
<p>Friends had Division 1 athletes who were scholarhip recipients. The parents told ME it was like a FULL TIME JOB…During the season there was a LOT of time commitment . BUT even in the “off season” the athletes were expected to do some sports related things.Also, the kids we know didn’t get any choice about their housing. They lived with the TEAM.</p>
<p>My freshman daughter is a D1 athlete and the time commitment is huge, equivalent to a full time job, along with full time school. Add to the equation physical exhaustion from heavy training and mental exhaustion from team and school related stress and you have a pretty good snapshot. My daughter had her Christmas break off, but with a training plan to follow. Her sport is in season in the spring, so she will not be home for spring break, but on a training trip. As far as housing, she was placed with another athlete this year, but is free to choose next year. But the reality is, with very early morning practice, she will probably continue to room with teammates/athletes. </p>
<p>“One coach I know says to prospective athletes: there are three parts to your college experience. Academics, athletics, and social life. You can do two of the three well. You choose.”</p>
<p>This quote is right on the money! If you are focused on your sport and your academics, your social life will suffer. This is really hard for some people, not too big a deal for others. The life of a D1 athlete is definitely not for everyone, but for those with the dedication and desire, it can be a very rewarding experience.</p>
<p>With D1 sports, it is also necessary to keep in mind that the student will likely have morning/afternoon practices during the season and conditioning sessions/captains’ practices in the off season, but is not guaranteed playing time. I knew many athletes who walked away after one year of their sport because they were putting in a lot of effort, sacrificing school/social lives, but were getting little to no playing time as underclassmen. Often students who weren’t reliant on sports scholarships decided that there were other opportunities at school that were more appealing – research, internships, clubs/frats etc. The ones who stuck with it were typically the ones who absolutely loved their sport and could not see doing anything else; these were the people who enjoyed practices, being part of a team, having a built in group of friends going through a shared experience etc. regardless of playing time. The ones who played all 4 years often were also the ones who started their sport at age 4-5 and realized they would not go pro/have opportunities to play as an adult, so they wanted to take advantage of their limited time with the sport, even if that meant mostly practices, scrimmages etc.</p>
<p>D1 sports is a meatgrinder in terms of its demands, but there is some variation within the group.</p>
<p>In the Patriot and Ivy leagues, its demands are quite high, but usually the coaches are not actually attempting to win national championships as a program. Exceptions to this might be hockey, lacrosse, and a few other sports where there is not true national participation. If you go to a place like LSU or USC or Notre Dame, they are attempting to win a national championship every year…above all else. That goal will permeate your life in a literal sense. The same holds true for Duke in basketball, Stanford in football, and other outliers. The Duke and Stanford experiences are mitigated a bit because of entry standards and the fact that your teammates are typically from the same academic strata. This is not so true at the larger state universities. Smaller D1 schools in non-premier conferences are also very tough, and you are often mixed in with kids whose academic ambition is modest. </p>
<p>The biggest difference from high school is, of course, that all of the athletes are recruited. That means that you are up against people who are as good as you are…and often better. The other giant difference is that, as a freshman, you have just left a competitive arena where you were playing against a pool of opponents who were your same age or 1-3 years younger. Now you are in a pool where opponents are your same age or 1-4 years older. The impact of this initial difference cannot be overstated. </p>
<p>For those few talented players who are really elite (and by that I meant that they are separated from the other all-state honorees and clearly identifiable as the very best) the demands will not necessarily be overwhelming from an athletic point of view. If you are someone who has had to work really hard to do well, then its an open question as to whether you can handle the demands. Some do and some don’t.</p>
<p>Also keep in mind that during the playing season, whole days of classes are missed when traveling to other schools. My niece played D1 volleyball in a large spread out conference.
She missed many days of class for travel time.</p>