Will quitting a sport before my senior year affect my chances of getting into a competitive college?

Hello everyone! I am currently a Junior, and I have been involved in field hockey since I was a freshmen. However, I do not have any desire to continue playing during my Senior year.

I have spent a lot of time (every day during the summer and fall for hours) and money on the sport, and I have acquired a lot of service hours being a youth coach. Though I did enjoy coaching, this sport has completely wrecked my self esteem and my mental health. It is an incredibly toxic environment (due to the people and the coach). I have been on Junior Varsity since my Freshmen year. I was a starter all three years, and I was a captain my Sophomore and Junior year. The only reason I would continue playing is to demonstrate commitment on my college application, but I do not know if it is even worth it to waste another year doing something that makes me miserable. Also, I do not plan on playing this sport in college.

I have strong stats going into my Junior year (4.23 W). My GPA should continue to increase throughout my Junior year as I am taking mainly AP/Honors Courses. I took one AP course as a Sophomore, I am currently taking four as a Junior, and I will be taking three or four next year. Also, I take two languages at my high school (Latin and Spanish). Additionally, I have strong extracurricular activities (leadership roles in four different clubs, and state/regional awards in two different clubs). Also, I have two different internships and had a summer job.

I know I will be probably be fine without playing a sport my Senior year, but I do plan on applying to competitive schools (Boston College (my top school at the moment), Northeastern, New York University, Wellesley, etc.). My high school counselor is not helpful at all, so I just wanted to ask others their opinion to make sure it would not be a red flag to admissions officers.

Thank you so much for all your help! I would be so incredibly appreciative if some of you took the time to answer my question!

not at all. they are not recruiting you for a sport. just make sure you fill your time constructively

Do what you like and enjoy. If you don’t like it then move on.

It seems the same question will be bookending my day. The answer is, no. Especially, in your case since none of your top choices are particularly crowded with athletes (though, BC did play an entire season of intercollegiate athletics during the pandemic) and you appear to have been well-prepared for this possibility by having strong ECs as a backup. A Plan B, as it were. Any grand unified effect on your chances would be de minimus.