Super Bowl and College

A lot of times when students are weighing their decisions about what college they would like to attend in the future it can feel as if this single decision will determine your success in life. I don't believe that is true. I think if you make the best decision for yourself, you can trust that, with hard work, you can find success. 

Tonight many of us will watch the Super Bowl. (Or the commercials or the half time show). But as you watch the athletes taking the feel in the Super Bowl you know that this is the peak of their athletic careers and goals. This game is what they have been striving for throughout the year (and arguably for all the years leading up to tonight too.) But for each of the athletes competing this evening, their path to success has been different and unique. They attended a wide range of different colleges and worked hard to achieve success in whatever path that they took to get to tonight. 

So, in your own life, remember, there isn't just 1 college that will determine if you will be successful in college or in life after college. You can make your college experience your own and achieve all of your dreams with hard work and possibly a little luck too.

Sports in College

As our fall sports come to a close, I have been having lots of conversations with students about the role high school sports have played in their lives and what the future will look like.

In high school, participating in sports is very common for students.  Think about it chances are good that you or one of your friends have participated in a sport at Kilbourne.  Perhaps you even know someone who is striving for the 12 Seasons of Greatness award by competing in 3 sports all 4 years of high school.

While this level of athletic participation is common at the high school level, only a small number of students will continue on to compete at the varsity level in college.  Students planning to participate at the varsity level in college, will be looking at NCAA or NAIA colleges.  Athletic scholarships can be offered to students attending NCAA Division I or Division II colleges and NAIA colleges.  NCAA Division III colleges do not offer athletic scholarships for participation.

But that doesn't mean that athletic participation is over if you are not recruited to play a varsity sport in the future!  If sports are a priority in your life, you do not have to give up on the joy of competing and playing.  Most colleges offer a variety of different ways that students can still have sports as a part of their lives in college even if they are not competing at the varsity level. 

Intramurals and Club sports are the two most common ways that most students will continue participating in athletics in college.  Intramurals are a lot like intramural basketball at Kilbourne - they provide a fun, light-hearted, chance to play.  Some schools will have a ton of intramural options such as lots of different sports (even including non-sports such as ultimate frisbee, dodgeball, quidditch, and inner-tube water polo) and other schools may have varying levels of competitiveness in the sports (such as a relaxed, a moderate, and a competitive basketball league).  Club sports are typically in between the competitiveness of intramurals and varsity sports.  Club teams typically have a coach, travel and compete against other teams at surrounding colleges.  There are lots of benefits to continuing your involvement in athletics in college such as allowing you to get exercise, make friends, relax and have fun. 

If being able to continue participating in a sport is important to you in college or if you are interested in exploring new athletic opportunities in college, be sure to include this as one of the factors you are considering when you explore schools.

Plus, if you are not planning to go to college or if you are thinking about life after college, remember, there are still plenty of ways that you can continue to have sports be a part of your life such as adult leagues and community recreation sports or switching from athlete to referee.  

College Athletics

For many Kilbourne students, being a part of a sports team is how you found your fit at WKHS.  And the idea of not having sports be a part of your life in college can be a scary prospect.  There are some students who will want to move on and play at the varsity level in college.  For other students though, the idea of making sports a job (which it definitely is - especially at the Division 1 level) and not just something you do for enjoyment and to be around your friends can be less than appealing.  But that doesn't mean that sports can't still be a vital part of your life in college.  Many colleges have club sports or intramural teams that students can get involved in on campus.  And other communities have adult rec leagues that are thrilled to have college aged students get involved.

But, if you are a student who wants to be a college athlete in the future, I thought this webinar put on by Estrela Consulting earlier this summer was a well done and helpful look at the process of trying to become a college athlete.  So, if you are interested, check out their webinar, "So, you want to be a college athlete."

State Championships

Making it to State Championships is a HUGE accomplishment for any student in any sport.  2 of my current students have done just that this season!

Lily Banner made it to States in Swimming last weekend.  And next weekend, AJ Brockway will compete in States for Bowling.

I am so proud of both of you and all of the hard work and dedication you have put into your sport.  The hours of training and relentless determination you have shown is remarkable.  Congratulations Lily and AJ!

College Athletic Commitments

Over the last week several WKHS seniors have been celebrated for signing their official commitment to participate in college sports next year.  4 of the students who have made that declaration are "my" students and I want to pause for a moment to recognize and honor each of them.

Aubrey Bally has committed to play soccer at Bellarmine University in Lousiville, Kentucky.  

Mikaela Bevelander has committed to play soccer at Tiffin University in Tiffin, Ohio.

Morgan Boone has committed to play lacrosse at Lock Haven University in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania.

Marissa Dolciato has committed to play lacrosse at the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio.

I am so unbelievably proud of these 4 young women and their success not only on the athletic field, but also in the classroom and, most importantly, in how they live their lives.  As athletes, they are fierce competitors who challenge themselves to grow and improve.  As people, they care about others and strive to make others feel heard and welcomed.  Each of these students deserves the recognition and accolades they are receiving.  The accomplishments we are celebrating now as they commit to continuing their athletic competition in college is a reflection not just of 4 seasons of hard work during high school, but of countless practices, games, sweat and tears.  

Aubrey, Mikaela, Morgan and Marissa - I am so proud of you!  I applaud your hard work and your dedication.  I love your never give up spirit and I am grateful that you are role models for the rest of the WKHS students who hope to participate in sports in college.  I cannot wait to see all that you accomplish in college.  Congratulations!

Congratulations & Good Luck

When WKHS students are competing and advancing to the highest levels during tournament is always an exciting time and deserves to be celebrated.

In swimming and diving only the top 24 in each event qualify for the state championships which were held this weekend. Paige Delma, Lily Banner, and Nathan Ambler were among those individuals who qualified for states. Congratulations on making it to States! 

The WKHS girls bowling team has also advanced to District's and will compete on Tuesday.  2 of my students, AJ Brockway and Avery Childress, will be among those competing.  Good luck!

Good Luck

Tomorrow, while everyone is enjoying the start of the long weekend, Owen Cotterman, a current senior, (and one of my students) will be competing in the Golf State Championship!  It takes tremendous dedication, focus and hard work to qualify for states in any sport.  I am proud of Owen for his commitment and I know he will represent Kilbourne well at states.  Please join me in wishing Owen good luck!

I hope you all have a great and safe long weekend!

Congratulations

Congratulations to Musab Erciyas who shared his intention to play football at Capital next year.  Musab had his "signing" ceremony after school today representing an accomplishment that had been years (and multiple sports) in the making. Competing at the college level as a kicker and punter is an exciting opportunity.  Musab was surrounded by family members, coaches, teammates, and friends who attended to show their support and to celebrate this great accomplishment. Congratulations Musab! We are so proud of you!

Sports in College

Competing in sports during high school is such a huge part of many student's lives.  The hours of time that you dedicate to practice, the effort you put forth during games, and the friendships you have made through your involvement all combine together to make this one of the more significant areas of these four years.  It can be hard to imagine life without your sport, but as I discussed on this blog earlier this spring, the statistics are not encouraging - most high school athletes do not continue on to compete in college at the varsity level. But please don't let that news frustrate you because you CAN always find a different level of involvement so that athletics can continue to be a part of your life.  For example, most colleges offer a variety of ways that students can meet their athletic goals such as through club and intramural options.

Club sports are often competitive and frequently include tryouts.  They frequently will compete against other colleges and travel in season.  It is less intense of a time commitment than varsity sports at the college level, but still a rigorous athletic commitment.

Intramural sports are more about having fun.  Depending on the college, there may be different levels of intensity available for you to choose from on intramurals or they may have just one level for the sport. In addition to different levels of competitiveness of the teams, they may have some options that will be guys only, girls only, or mixed participation so you will find a lot of different intramural options.  This provides a great way to meet new people and to even have fun doing sports you have never tried before.  I also love that on many campuses there may be fun and creative intramural opportunities such as intertube water polo, quidditch, and broom-ball.

The biggest reminder that I have for you is that if you can't imagine your life without sports, please remember that there are always ways to find opportunities to meet those needs in your life.  If, for some reason, your college doesn't have the sport you love, maybe you will find a new sport to enjoy.  Or you may start to explore what adult leagues may be available that you could join in the community.  For example, if you are a hockey player, you might not be able to find club or intramural hockey at your campus, but there are adult hockey leagues that you could join.  

That leads me to the point that you may be thinking ahead to adjusting to life without sports after college... and so, as I just mentioned you can pursue adult leagues in the community, but if sports are really important to you it is worth considering how you can take those skills and aspects that you love and tie them into your career choices.  For example, if you are a highly competitive person who loves working on a team toward achieving a common goal, then hopefully you will work to find a job that will allow you to work cooperatively towards common goals in a competitive environment.  If you are someone who needs the physical activity to burn off stress or to help you focus, then hopefully you will consider either a job that has physical variety or you will make working out a primary commitment in your daily life.

For now, if you are finding yourself struggling with the idea of your competitive athletic career ending during high school, always feel free to come and talk to me as I know that this is a big adjustment.

College Sports

Are you looking forward to the March Madness tournament?  Today as the teams were announced for who would play in the boys basketball NCAA tournament I couldn't help but think of the fact that there are quite a few colleges in the list of 64 schools which many of us barely recognize.  And yet these are all NCAA Division 1 colleges.  There are so many other Division 1 teams that didn't even make the tournament.  Plus, of course, there are Division 2 and Division 3 colleges plus NAIA colleges too.  

We don't always stop to reflect back on just how impressive and significant it is for student athletes to have the chance to play at the college level.  Take boys basketball since that is what will be getting so much attention this week... According to the NCAA there are 540,769 High School boys basketball players and 1% of these will continue on to play at the Division 1 level.  (3.5% will compete at any NCAA level.)

Obviously, those aren't great odds.  Other sports have better percentages - for example, ice hockey has 4.8% of high school athletes playing at the Division 1 college level, Lacrosse has 3.1%, and Football has 2.9%.

For female student athletes, playing at the Division 1 level is also extremely competitive and ice hockey (8.9%), lacrosse (3.7%) and swimming and water polo are both tied at (3.3%) continuing on to play at the Division 1 level.

Going pro is obviously even more competitive and rare from those athletes who compete at the collegiate level.

Why do I point all of this out?  Because high school sports are a HUGE part of so many students lives (and for good reason).  It is important to be realistic about your future planning.  I am completely fine if you want to set the goal of competing in college sports and even if your goal is to become a professional athlete.  I just ask that you keep in mind that there may be the necessity to have back-up plans.  

If you are focused on playing college sports, it is important to remember that you need to take care of business in the classroom to keep your options open for the future.  Any college that is recruiting you as an athlete, will also want to know what your grades are like and if you will be eligible for admissions and for eligibility.  You can find out details on the NCAA and NAIA websites about what their requirements would be for eligibility.  Here is a link to the Division 1 requirements as one example.

For any of my students thinking about pursuing college sports at the varsity level (no matter what division), please feel free to stop and see me to talk about the requirements and so that I can help support you through the recruitment process.

And, if you're creating a March Madness bracket, good luck, I hope you have fun with it while also remembering that each of the athletes competing are also typical students just a few years older than you.

Olympics

I love the Olympics.  And now, for the first time ever, I can say that I actually KNOW an Olympian!  I am so excited to watch the Olympics this year where I will be cheering not only for the USA, but also for Maggie Barrie, a WKHS alumni.  (Maggie's younger sister, Julie, is currently a student at WKHS.)  Maggie will be competing as a representative of Sierra Leone.  They march in 79th tonight and for those of you who didn't watch it this morning when it was happening live, Maggie does get a shout out when they are marching in even though you don't get to see her.

I love sports so perhaps that is part of why I love the Olympics so much, but to me, it is bigger than just the sporting events.  It is the accomplishment of working for years to simply have the opportunity to represent your country.  It is the uniting together as a country and as a world to celebrate the dedication and drive of never giving up on your dream.  While of course all 11,000 athletes would love to earn a medal, most are focused less on that recognition and more on being a part of an experience that is bigger than them.  The Olympic Creed says, "The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win, but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph, but the struggle.  The essential thing is not to have have conquered, but to have fought well."  What a powerful statement that carries over from the Olympics to life.

Throughout the Olympics there will be inspiring stories of triumph, heart-breaking stories of defeat, and many incredibly exciting moments to watch.  And as I think about the time, energy, effort, hard work, perseverance, and passion that each athlete must demonstrate to reach this one goal of qualifying for the Olympics. Although most of us will never be an Olympian (and yet Maggie is a reminder that perhaps you will be), you will face moments in your life where you are looking forward to a goal and will have a choice of how to respond.  I hope the Olympians help inspire you to find the strength and courage within yourself to believe in your dreams and to chase them with unwavering focus.

Good Luck at States!

Several of our swimmers have once again qualified for the State Championships!  Congratulations to Nanami Campbell, Evie DeCarlo, and Paige Delma who are "my" students that qualified.  Also joining them was a student not in my alphabet: Lauren Richner.  This group qualified in both the 200 yard Medley Relay AND the 200 yard Free Relay.  Congratulations to all 4 of you and please know we are proud of you!

As if that wasn't enough, Paige Delma also qualified in the 200 IM and Evie DeCarlo qualified in the 100 yd Freestyle!  Such an impressive accomplishment for all of you!

(Just in case anyone is wondering - there is a specific reason that I normally only recognize "my" students on my blog.  That is because I have to work hard to make sure that I do not recognize any students in a public manner like this blog who do not have approval to have their information shared.  I keep close tabs on that for my students, but do not keep track for students outside of my alphabet breakdown.  I decided to mention the off-alpha swimmer because there was just 1 student being excluded from the 2 state qualifying relay teams and that didn't seem fair and her name has been publicized a great deal on social media and the paper as being a part of this state qualifying team so I felt confident that her name was an acceptable one to mention.)

Good Luck!

This year is so strange related to not being able to go and watch my students compete in sports.  I am sure many of you feel the same way as you are missing out on being able to watch and cheer on your friends in their various athletic events.  

One of WKHS's freshmen students, Elizabeth Alderman, has qualified for the State Championships in tennis!  Libby is among the top 16 girls in the state and she will compete starting tomorrow and the championships will end on Saturday down in Cincinnati.  This is a HUGE accomplishment to qualify for states - especially as a freshman.

Good luck to all of the other teams that will be starting or continuing their tournament runs this weekend.  So many of you are getting some well deserved attention and even though you miss the student sections to be cheering you on, please know that many people, myself included, are cheering you on from afar.

Academic Requirements for College Sports

Playing sports in college is a goal for many students.  If you are hoping to be a recruited athlete, it is important to be aware of the restrictions on when athletes can be contacted by coaches as well as when it is acceptable for you to reach out to college coaches.  Additionally, the emphasis on academics is critical and so the NCAA and the NAIA both require student athletes to register to determine their academic/ athletic eligibility.

The website for NCAA Eligibility is: www.eligibilitycenter.org

The website for NAIA Eligibility is: http://www.playnaia.org/

NAIA Requirements:

Must meet 2 out of 3 requirements in addition to graduating from high school

• Minimum GPA of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale
• Minimum test score of 18 composite score on the ACT or 970 on the SAT (excluding writing section) – They do not superscore
• Graduation in the top 50% of your high school class

You must submit test scores directly from the testing agencies.  Their number is 9876.

Students must submit a transcript after graduation.  Only 1 transcript is needed and should be sent after graduation unless you qualify for an “Early Decision.”  To be eligible for an early decision students must have the minimum test scores and have earned at least a 3.0 GPA after junior year or at least a 2.5 GPA after first semester of senior year.  If you will qualify for an early decision, you may send your transcript early and you will receive an eligibility determination before you graduate from high school.

Registration fee: $80

NCAA Requirements:

The NCAA requirements are a bit more complex because there are different requirements depending upon which division a student hopes to play in during college.

Please look carefully at what your requirements will be depending on your anticipated division of play.  (Division 3 does not require eligibility approval for participation.)

ACT scores used to determine eligibility are the sum of the individual scores (English, math, reading and science – not composite) and the SAT is the sum of the critical reading and math sections.  Writing scores are not used.  They do superscore (taking highest scores from each area added together rather than just using the highest from 1 testing date.)

You must submit test scores directly from the testing agencies.  Their number is 9999.

One of the key components to understand with NCAA requirements is that they compute your Core GPA instead of looking at your Kilbourne GPA.  Core GPA is made up of just your core classes – English, Math, Science, Social Studies and Foreign Language classes.  Please double check the list of NCAA approved courses on the NCAA website as not all Kilbourne classes in the core areas are NCAA approved.

Registration fee: $90

They will require that you submit your transcript after your junior year and again after you graduate from high school.

Online classes (such as credit recovery) cannot count for core classes.

Attached is the worksheet you can use to calculate your core GPA.  

Division 1:

• 16 core classes
• 4 English
• 3 Math
• 2 Science
• 1 additional credit in either English, Math or Science
• 2 Social Studies
• 4 Additional years of Core Classes (English, Math, Science, Social Studies, or Foreign Language)
• 10 of the 16 core classes must be completed prior to the start of the senior year and 7 of these 10 must be in English, Math and Science.
• The 10 classes completed before the start of senior year are locked in for GPA calculation of core GPA.
• Minimum GPA and minimum test scores based upon sliding scale
• Lowest GPA is 2.3 to fully qualify
• Students with a 2.0 GPA may qualify for an academic redshirt

Division 2:

• 16 core classes
• 3 English
• 2 Math
• 2 Science
• 3 additional credit in either English, Math or Science
• 2 Social Studies
• 4 Additional years of Core Classes (English, Math, Science, Social Studies, or Foreign Language)
• Minimum GPA is 2.0
• Minimum test scores is ACT sum score of 68 or SAT sum score of 820.

If you have questions about college athletic participation, please feel free to see me, your coaches, or Mr. Todd in the athletic office.

Sports in College

Competing in sports during high school is such a huge part of many student's lives.  The hours of time that you dedicate to practice, the effort you put forth during games, and the friendships you have made through your involvement all combine together to make this one of the more significant areas of these four years.  It can be hard to imagine life without your sport, but the statistics are not encouraging - most high school athletes do not continue on to compete in college at the varsity level. But please don't let that news frustrate you because you can always find a different level of involvement so that athletics can continue to be a part of your life.  For example, most colleges offer a variety of ways that students can meet their athletic goals such as through club and intramural options.

Club sports are often competitive and frequently include tryouts.  They frequently will compete against other colleges and travel in season.  It is less intense of a time commitment than varsity sports at the college level, but still a rigorous athletic commitment.

Intramural sports are more about having fun.  Depending on the college, there may be different levels of intensity available for you to choose from on intramurals or they may have just one level for the sport. In addition to different levels of competitiveness of the teams, they may have some options that will be guys only, girls only, or mixed participation so you will find a lot of different intramural options.  This provides a great way to meet new people and to even have fun doing sports you have never tried before.  I also love that on many campuses there may be fun and creative intramural opportunities such as intertube water polo, quidditch, and broom-ball.

The biggest reminder that I have for you is that if you can't imagine your life without sports, please remember that there are always ways to find opportunities to meet those needs in your life.  If, for some reason, your college doesn't have the sport you love, maybe you will find a new sport to enjoy.  Or you may start to explore what adult leagues may be available that you could join in the community.  For example, if you are a hockey player, you might not be able to find club or intramural hockey at your campus, but there are adult hockey leagues that you could join.  

That leads me to the point that you may be thinking ahead to adjusting to life without sports after college... and so, as I just mentioned you can pursue adult leagues in the community, but if sports are really important to you it is worth considering how you can take those skills and aspects that you love and tie them into your career choices.  For example, if you are a highly competitive person who loves working on a team toward achieving a common goal, then hopefully you will work to find a job that will allow you to work cooperatively towards common goals in a competitive environment.  If you are someone who needs the physical activity to burn off stress or to help you focus, then hopefully you will consider either a job that has physical variety or you will make working out a primary commitment in your daily life.

For now, if you are finding yourself struggling with the idea of your competitive athletic career ending during high school, always feel free to come and talk to me as I know that this is a big adjustment.

Good Luck

I am so proud of and excited for our fall athletes who are continuing forward in post-season competition tomorrow. 

As you may have heard, Kilbourne's Girls Cross-Country team qualified for the State Championships for the first time ever!  4 of the girls running are "my" students including: Sasha Bomser, Madeline Allen, Toby Bomser, and Evelyn Ambler. 

The boys Cross-Country team didn't make it as a team, but one of "my" students, John Cuozzo, was a state qualifier and he will also be running tomorrow.

And, as if that wasn't enough, the Kilbourne Boys Soccer team has advanced to the Regional Finals tomorrow meaning that they are among the Elite 8 teams remaining.  They will play at 12:30 tomorrow at Olentangy High School against Olentangy Liberty.  Good luck to the entire team!  (I have a lot of individual athletes on the team, but I forgot to bring the roster home with me tonight and I don't want to leave anyone out by accident from going by memory.)

Also, it is November 1st so I also need to say congratulations to all of my students who hit SUBMIT on their college applications today!  I am excited that you have accomplished that step!

Summer Sports

For some students, the summer months provide well earned down time, but for the majority of our student athletes, summer can be among the busiest months related to athletic competitions.  Instead of competing with your high school teams, you are busy with weight lifting and conditioning - doing everything that you can to improve yourself in the off-season so that you will have a better year once competitions resume.  And, for many sports, the summer is filled with club or travel team sports.  Students and families are attending practices and competing with their out-of-school teams.  Lastly, other students will fill their summer months with athletic camps in the community or, more often, on college campuses.

I love sports.  I love the concept of pushing yourself to achieve at your highest levels, of working hard to improve in small ways that add up to a bigger accomplishment, and of the team bonding and memory sharing which comes as a result of athletics.  But I also know that sports can be a pressure cooker for so many students.  You desire to push yourself physically and emotionally to be "perfect" when perfection isn't possible.  Don't get me wrong, I want you to work hard, but I don't want the extra pressure this can generate.  Sometimes students feel this pressure from parents, grandparents or peers who expect them to be the next great star in college athletics.  Sometimes it is internal pressure that comes from trying to be "the best."  There are so many different reasons that we can take something that started out as FUN and turn it into something that is PRESSURE.  So, try to remind yourself of why you love your sport.  Work hard at practice, conditioning, summer leagues, camps, or whatever you're doing this summer for the LOVE of your sport and the good that it brings to your life.  Try to use the summer months to reconnect with that passion and interest in your sport.

And, for those of you who are looking ahead and thinking about playing sports in college, I wanted to pass along this article about some of the common myths associated with sports in college. 

4 Myths About Athletic Scholarships

Sports in College

Competing in sports during high school is such a huge part of many student's lives.  The hours of time that you dedicate to practice, the effort you put forth during games, and the friendships you have made through your involvement all combine together to make this one of the more significant areas of these four years.  It can be hard to imagine life without your sport, but the statistics are not great - most high school athletes do not continue on to compete in college at the varsity level. But please don't let that news frustrate you because you can always find a different level of involvement so that athletics can continue to be a part of your life.  For example, most colleges offer a variety of ways that students can meet their athletic goals such as through club and intramural options.

Club sports are often competitive and frequently include tryouts.  They frequently will compete against other colleges and travel in season.  It is less intense of a time commitment than varsity sports at the college level, but still a rigorous athletic commitment.

Intramural sports are more about having fun.  Depending on the college, there may be different levels of intensity available for you to choose from on intramurals or they may have just one level for the sport. In addition to different levels of competitiveness of the teams, they may have some options that will be guys only, girls only, or mixed participation so you will find a lot of different intramural options.  This provides a great way to meet new people and to even have fun doing sports you have never tried before (or sports that don't really exist like intertube water polo).

The biggest reminder that I have for you is that if you are sad because your seasons has come to an end and you are trying to imagine your life without sports, please remember that there are always ways to find opportunities to meet those needs in your life.  If, for some reason, your college doesn't have the sport you love, maybe you will find a new sport to enjoy.  Or you may start to explore what adult leagues may be available that you could join in the community.  For example, if you are a hockey player, you might not find hockey at your campus, but there are adult hockey leagues that you could join.  

That leads me to an important point that you may even be wondering how you will adjust to life without sports after college... and so, as I just mentioned you can pursue adult leagues in the community, but if sports are really important to you it is worth considering how you can take those skills and aspects that you love and tie them into your career choices.  For example, if you are a highly competitive person who loves working on a team toward achieving a common goal, then hopefully you will work to find a job that will allow you to work cooperatively towards common goals in a competitive environment.  If you are someone who needs the physical activity to burn off stress or to help you focus, then hopefully you will consider either a job that has physical variety or you will make working out a primary commitment in your daily life.

For now, if you are finding yourself struggling with the idea of being done with your competitive athletic career, always feel free to come and talk to me as I know that this is a big adjustment.

College Recruited Athletics

Yesterday, we celebrated as Amber signed her letter of intent to participate in college athletics.  For those of you who might be planning or hoping to follow that same path to be recruited as varsity athletes in college, there are things you need to know about how your academics will influence your college options.

If you are hoping to be a recruited athlete, it is important to be aware of the restrictions on when athletes can be contacted by coaches as well as when it is acceptable for you to reach out to college coaches.  Additionally, the emphasis on academics is critical and so the NCAA and the NAIA both require student athletes to register to determine their academic/ athletic eligibility.

The website for NCAA Eligibility is: www.eligibilitycenter.org

The website for NAIA Eligibility is: http://www.playnaia.org/

NAIA Requirements:

Must meet 2 out of 3 requirements in addition to graduating from high school

• Minimum GPA of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale
• Minimum test score of 18 composite score on the ACT or 860 on the SAT (excluding writing section) – They do not superscore
• Graduation in the top 50% of your high school class

You must submit test scores directly from the testing agencies.  Their number is 9876.

Students must submit a transcript after graduation.  Only 1 transcript is needed and should be sent after graduation unless you qualify for an “Early Decision.”  To be eligible for an early decision students must have the minimum test scores and have earned at least a 3.0 GPA after junior year or at least a 2.5 GPA after first semester of senior year.  If you will qualify for an early decision, you may send your transcript early and you will receive an eligibility determination before you graduate from high school.

Registration fee: $80

NCAA Requirements:

The NCAA requirements are a bit more complex because there are different requirements depending upon which division a student hopes to play in during college.

Please look carefully at what your requirements will be depending on your anticipated division of play.  (Division 3 does not require eligibility approval for participation.)

ACT scores used to determine eligibility are the sum of the individual scores (English, math, reading and science – not composite) and the SAT is the sum of the critical reading and math sections.  Writing scores are not used.  They do superscore (taking highest scores from each area added together rather than just using the highest from 1 testing date.)

You must submit test scores directly from the testing agencies.  Their number is 9999.

One of the key components to understand with NCAA requirements is that they compute your Core GPA instead of looking at your Kilbourne GPA.  Core GPA is made up of just your core classes – English, Math, Science, Social Studies and Foreign Language classes.  Please double check the list of NCAA approved courses on the NCAA website as not all Kilbourne classes in the core areas are NCAA approved.

Registration fee: $80

They will require that you submit your transcript after your junior year and again after you graduate from high school.

Online classes (such as credit recovery) cannot count for core classes.

Attached is the worksheet you can use to calculate your core GPA.  

Division 1:

• 16 core classes
• 4 English
• 3 Math
• 2 Science
• 1 additional credit in either English, Math or Science
• 2 Social Studies
• 4 Additional years of Core Classes (English, Math, Science, Social Studies, or Foreign Language)
• 10 of the 16 core classes must be completed prior to the start of the senior year and 7 of these 10 must be in English, Math and Science.
• The 10 classes completed before the start of senior year are locked in for GPA calculation of core GPA.
• Minimum GPA and minimum test scores based upon sliding scale
• Lowest GPA is 2.3 to fully qualify
• Students with a 2.0 GPA may qualify for an academic redshirt

Division 2:

• 16 core classes
• 3 English
• 2 Math
• 2 Science
• 3 additional credit in either English, Math or Science
• 2 Social Studies
• 4 Additional years of Core Classes (English, Math, Science, Social Studies, or Foreign Language)
• Minimum GPA is 2.0
• Minimum test scores is ACT sum score of 68 or SAT sum score of 820.

If you have questions about college athletic participation, please feel free to see me, your coaches, or Mr. Todd in the athletic office.

Letter of Intent

This afternoon Amber Beals signed her national letter of intent to play volleyball at the University of Michigan. Family members, friends, teammates, and coaches attended the signing ceremony to show their support of Amber and to celebrate this great accomplishment with her. Amber shared some heartfelt remarks and signed the form representing her commitment to play volleyball for Michigan, but this day was more of a celebration of all the years of hard work and dedication that she has invested in volleyball to maximize her abilities. Congratulations Amber! I am so proud of you and wish you nothing but the best at Michigan!