Quitting high school sports to spend time to train for CFA

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jerryseinfeld

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Hey y'all!

Long-time lurker, first-time poster.

DD is a rising senior two-sport varsity athlete. I want to say her sports don't match up well with CFA but that would just be a pathetic excuse. This summer, instead of training for those sports, she is thinking of quitting those sports and seriously spend time to improve her CFA performance. (I doubt she will be recruited for any sports in SAs... perhaps a walk-on for something.) Does not continuing her sports in the senior year look bad on her application?

Thanks in advance, y'all!
 
I would think quitting her sports would not be looked at very favorably.

When you say 'improve,' just how bad is she performing in her CFA? Would quitting her sports really make that much of a difference? By that I mean, does she really need an extra 2 hours a day to get her CFA to a passable level that can't be found somewhere else in a 24 hour day? I'm thinking she can and should find the time to do both. It will certainly make her shine a bit more in her application.
 
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My son got up at 5 am outside of basketball season and did cross fit, and played three sports - cross country, basketball and tennis.

Sports isn’t necessarily about fitness. There are leadership and teammate opportunities that most successful applicants have - not saying you can’t do it without.

But it’s a competition. And sports adds points. Her competition might be picking up extra points that she is throwing away.

What sports is she looking to drop? Can she do cross country?
 
To add to the excellent comments above: Is she a starter or major contributor to her two teams?

I've coached from T-ball to high school football and baseball and to find out one of my starters wouldn't be back reminds me that there may be no I in team, but there is an M and an E.

Welcome aboard by the way, Mr. Seinfeld. I've been a fan for decades.
 
jerryseinfeld said:
Hey y'all!

Long-time lurker, first-time poster.

DD is a rising senior two-sport varsity athlete. I want to say her sports don't match up well with CFA but that would just be a pathetic excuse. This summer, instead of training for those sports, she is thinking of quitting those sports and seriously spend time to improve her CFA performance. (I doubt she will be recruited for any sports in SAs... perhaps a walk-on for something.) Does not continuing her sports in the senior year look bad on her application?

Thanks in advance, y'all!
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The well-rounded candidate can do it all - academics, organized sports, leadership activities, pass medical, pass the CFA.

Recommend against quitting sports teams. Her competition won’t. That aspect of a candidate’s application is valued not just for proven athleticism, but desirable future junior officer traits: ability to work well as a team member and as a peer leader, time management, critical thinking, decision-making in the moment, situational awareness, operating under stress, strategic planning and tactical execution, ability to work through physical exhaustion and many others. It would be very hard to explain at nom interviews and to BGOs, especially an athlete used to practice, quickly learning new skills and self-discipline.

If her sports are finished for this school year, she can roll right into practicing for the CFA RIGHT NOW, with a goal of taking it this summer, maybe July, and getting it done. It will be an immense relief to get it behind her, as she will be very busy with senior year, SA and nom applications, alternate plan college applications, standardized tests, etc.

Things she can do right now:
- Get familiar with every aspect of the individual events and how the test is administered by studying the CFA guidance.
- Identify a venue. Think about who meets the criteria to administer the test. Bribe a sibling to chase after basketballs for basketball throw.
- Research Stew Smith’s website and YouTube channel for practice tips on success techniques for CFA events. Stew is a USNA grad, former SEAL and USNA staff officer, now a fitness professional.
- Research USMA West Point’s excellent videos on event form and the administration of the test. Form is critical.
- Go buy a pull-up bar for a doorway this week. Practice pull-ups, with attention to form, every time she goes by. For women, being able to do a few pull-ups is worth significantly more, points-wee, than a flexed arm hang. Being able to bang out pull-ups is a huge confidence-builder anyway.
- Start practicing the events individually, again with focus on form from the get-go. Assess weak spots.
- Do an inventory CFA, executing the test and timing with an administrator just as an actual test would go. The CFAl is designed to lprigressivelt exhaust muscle groups to test overall stamina, so don’t expect the same times/reps as when practicing individual events. Aim to score abive the average. Periodically conduct practice CFAs to assess improvement.
- Keep a log of practices, stats, performance notes, interim goals.
- Consult school coaches or local gym athletic trainers if progress isn’t being made.
- Git ‘er done early.
 
I'm sure this doesn't apply to Mr. Seinfeld's daughter but I can see someone using this as an excuse for quitting sports their senior year.

"Yo Betty, why aren't you playin' field hockey this year?"

"Oh, didn't you hear? I'll be going to the military academy next year but I have to pass this very difficul fitness test thing they have. It's really hard so I need time to work out and get ready for it."

"Ah, oh."
 
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Doing CFA may help your DD's high school sports. DS had a hard time to make his West Point CFA qualified. He needed to travel out of the state to an army base for CFA training on Saturdays (mornings). His high school swimming competitions were also held on Saturdays. He thought about quitting because he would be able to participate the meets and also he had to spend more time on CFA than swimming practice.

One Saturday the swimming meet was held in the afternoon and he rushed back from CFA training to participate the meet. He thought he would not do well due to the morning CFA training, but he actually got his personal best time. CFA training certainly helped his last high school swimming season, for the 1st time, he made to State Regional Champs (1st place for his relay event) and State Champs (5th place for his relay event).

Of course, your DD should consider CFA her highest priority as my DS did.

West Point CFA is a lot harder than that of Naval Academy, for example, male's basketball throw distance 40s would get a pass if other evens are good (so overall counts) but for West Point, it does not matter, there is a minimum on each event.
 
DrMom said:
Please, let's be polite to the OP.
Your daughter should not quit her teams. She should instead strive to earn a varsity letter or two and to be team captain to display leadership.

I hope that helps.
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My apologies. Had trouble sleeping and had a moment of groggy keyboarding. I'll do better.
 
I also suffered from keyboarding challenges, losing another round in my battle with auto-complete. And I should refrain from responding when up in the middle of the night with dogs who are reporting a “critter alert” to me and want to go out and address the matter.

I think the general consensus here is don’t walk away from the team sports. There is a window of time now to get it done, then focus on usual summer prep for school year sports. It would be a heartbreakingly high price to pay if she was unsuccessful in obtaining an appointment, as that journey is complex and filled with obstacles.
 
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Ivy22 said:
I wouldn’t quit the sports just to train for the CFA.

Also, senior year is like the culmination of all those years playing those sports (if she’s not going to play them in college). One last hurrah. Schools have “senior night” for a reason
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I'd hate to miss senior night after years of practice and playing time as OP's kid. Heck...as a parent I have "allergies" every year even when not my kid out there!
 
jerryseinfeld said:
This summer, instead of training for those sports, she is thinking of quitting those sports and seriously spend time to improve her CFA performance. (I doubt she will be recruited for any sports in SAs... perhaps a walk-on for something.) Does not continuing her sports in the senior year look bad on her application?
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Yes, not continuing her sports will look bad. As a senior, she should be seeking leadership roles on her teams. The CFA performance/training is simply something that will require her to add onto her (I imagine) already difficult schedule. The SAs want young women and men who can, in some ways, do it all. Your daughter needs to show that is what she is. If her performance suffers a bit somewhere, don't worry. But, don't use the complexity of the application as an excuse to quit something. The last thing the SAs want is a quitter.
 
People above have good perspectives BUT, if considering not doing sports, you're not super committed to any of them, which is totally fine. Assuming this, I don't see the issue with not doing a sport senior year. I think I'd still do sports, not really for the leadership aspects, but it's good to spend time with other people working hard physically, something that might be lacking if you don't do sports. Additionally, as someone who did three sports senior year, if you want to make time for additional physical activity, you definitely can. But I'd just recommend grinding for the next two months and finishing the CFA during summer. School year gets busy...don't wait for then, do it soon.
 
I didn’t do indoor or outdoor track this year. I was varsity all of high school. Decided not to do them this year because I wanted to prepare for Plebe Summer and my grades were lacking so I needed to focus on them. Do I miss track sometimes? Yeah but I don’t regret my decision, I think I made the right decision given my situation; my grades improved and I have gotten physically stronger which will hopefully serve me well this summer.
 
smokey% said:
I didn’t do indoor or outdoor track this year. I was varsity all of high school. Decided not to do them this year because I wanted to prepare for Plebe Summer and my grades were lacking so I needed to focus on them. Do I miss track sometimes? Yeah but I don’t regret my decision, I think I made the right decision given my situation; my grades improved and I have gotten physically stronger which will hopefully serve me well this summer.
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Fair point...makes a difference if team sport or individual sport. OP didn't say. I think most would hesitate to let down a team sport if they are counting on you (and likely your friends too).
 
Were this one of my DDs, I would recommend staying in the sports for continuity, and utilizing the time management "while you're in there" approach that my active in HS DS took his upperclass years. Meaning, while you're already warmed up, dressed in athletic gear, on a pitch/field/track, then instead of standing around waiting for practice to start for 20-30 minutes as HSers oft do, jog the bleachers, do straights and curves (run the straight part of the track, light-jog or walk the curves until your endurance builds up, etc. Do some pushups/ planks. etc. Detergent will get the sweat and grass stains out for ya.

Also factor in the bubble wrap factor - is this a sport where injury is likely? For example, just watched my niece who is a lacrosse D1 team captain get her clocked cleaned by an enforcer from the opposing team during their playoffs in April. Feet up in the air, passed out before hitting the ground - Concussion, will be OK, but you don't want an injury requiring surgery (ACL et al.), concussion on your record when applying to train to serve. So factor that in too. See related posts of people who have an appointment but now are injured and their future is at-risk to join a commissioning class.

Lastly, keeping in mind how competitive the application process is, then "go for it" is a general recommendation - the young people who thrive at these training programs are "Anyway"ers. Meaning they find a way to get it all done "Anyway", and that's a promising candidate since by observation for both - training to be an officer and being an officer requires that same time management and resolve.

Good luck - people have presented vignettes and an example where quitting or not quitting is recommended. You do you - unless you're an absolute rock star scholar, athlete, leader with epic stats/ impacts, staying the course may present you as the most attractive candidate.
 
No opinion on whether or not the OP's DC should, or should not, drop sports for senior year. But I am curious how the training regimens for the sports would negatively impact training for the CFA. Generally speaking, increasing stamina, core and upper body strength, flexibility, etc., will improve performance in any athletic activity, CFA or otherwise.
 
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