Anyone have any expereince with playing ball while attending school on a ROTC scholorship? My kid's marginal DIV 1 material but has great academics and ROTC opens up quite a few Ivy/Patriot/ Div II and III opportunities.
Original Post
Replies sorted oldest to newest
Harv,
My two cents...Why not consider Air Force, Army or Navy too? We looked into this a few years (no stone went unturned in our house!), and determined it was way too much to handle. We talked to some people who had studied engineering under a ROTC scholarship, and we quickly determined that (engineering, ROTC, and baseball) was not an option for us. I appreciate the creativity in considering ROTC but I have to tell you it would be extremely difficult to balance academics, ROTC and Division 1 baseball. You would have to find a unique situation that would allow you (time wise) to do it, and a lot would be dependent on your major. Truthfully, I would think the Service Academies would be the better suited for this situation than any other college. Best of luck.
My two cents...Why not consider Air Force, Army or Navy too? We looked into this a few years (no stone went unturned in our house!), and determined it was way too much to handle. We talked to some people who had studied engineering under a ROTC scholarship, and we quickly determined that (engineering, ROTC, and baseball) was not an option for us. I appreciate the creativity in considering ROTC but I have to tell you it would be extremely difficult to balance academics, ROTC and Division 1 baseball. You would have to find a unique situation that would allow you (time wise) to do it, and a lot would be dependent on your major. Truthfully, I would think the Service Academies would be the better suited for this situation than any other college. Best of luck.
At my son's school a starting OF is ROTC. He has had to miss a game here and there as a result of his ROTC committments, but the team and coaches are obviously fine with it. It is an Ivy.
My son will probably go this route. Division 3 with ROTC.
Why not The Citadel or VMI? He would get the ROTC and they accept it as part of their program plus it opens doors tremendously in the military and afterwards. Those guys are always looking for players who want to play ball and have the military training. If you need contact info or connection with The Citadel, let me know.
I'm trying to remember the time commitment for ROTC. Although I myself was not ROTC, I took several Military Science classes (Introduction to Small Unit Tactics and Military Leadership and Command Management) because I enjoyed the subject matter. They were some of the most enjoyable classes I took in college and I applied many of the lessons from the Military Leadership class later in life.
In any case, as I recall, at least for the Army ROTC, in addition to an extra class there was Friday morning drill and then one weekend a month they'd go out for field training, but maybe that was upperclassmen. I'm not sure what the time commitment was for the Navy and Air Force ROTC cadets.
PitchingFan posted:Why not The Citadel or VMI? He would get the ROTC and they accept it as part of their program plus it opens doors tremendously in the military and afterwards. Those guys are always looking for players who want to play ball and have the military training. If you need contact info or connection with The Citadel, let me know.
He's being recruited by a coach he really likes (and he seems to really like my son) so it's a good match.
As a former ROTC instructor, I can tell you it is a tall order but not one that cannot be done. The problem is finding the coaching staff willing to work with you, as well as an ROTC unit willing to treat you differently than other cadets. My unit had 3 Div 1 athletes, two were track long distance runners and one rowed crew for the women’s team. They were all stellar students and cadets who went on to commission and become Navigators, Weapon System officers (now going to dental school) and a physician.
It can be done, look for programs willing to work with you.
I agree that it is a tall order but could be done IF the baseball coaches and the ROTC cadre officers running the program are amenable. Its been a LONG time since I went through Army ROTC, but as I recall, the first two years had much less time demands then the last two. For that matter, the junior year was the big time commitment, preparing for summer "advanced camp."
It can be done assuming your son can manage his time. You will have to speak with the ROTC PM to ensure they will be willing to bend a little, same for the baseball coach. Generally both have the authority to work an exception to the standard processes. ROTC has a couple of field training events that are more or less must do events because it is the Cadets only opportunities to participate in the type of training being conducted. They typical week, to week training labs are basic military training. Missing a lab once in a while will not impact the Cadet's overall training level. The schools have three years to prepare a Cadet for Summer Camp after their Junior year. Obviously, the baseball coach has to be willing bend on a few practices and maybe a weekend or two in the Spring when specific ROTC training opportunities are scheduled.
I know of several DI athletes who made it work. I think if your son has the talent to do well in ROTC, Academics, and Baseball it can work. If he struggles meeting any of the three work together then he will hit a decision point and be forced to decide which of the two commitments to drop. Academics is not real negotiable.
My daughter was able to juggle several DIII sports but coaches and the ROTC PM were willing to work together. It can create a lot of stress, but that is not a bad training opportunity from a military point of view.
Good luck, hope it all works out.
BaseballFan1965 posted:I think if your son has the talent to do well in ROTC, Academics, and Baseball it can work. If he struggles meeting any of the three work together then he will hit a decision point and be forced to decide which of the two commitments to drop. Academics is not real negotiable.
And if he's contracted, ROTC isn't, either. If he's fortunate, he will be given the option of either paying back the scholarship money or enlisting. For a while during the height of OIF/OEF, it was almost always enlistment in lieu of payments (in the Army at least.)
Coincidentally, I was just offered a position as an APMS at one of my alma maters, but I also umpire that conference and chose not to accept it for that and other reasons.
College Baseball is much more of a commitment now than it was 30 years ago. It is a full time job at the D1 and D2 levels and classwork goes on top of that. I cant possibly imagine trying to add ROTC to the mix unless it is a military school (like VMI or The Citadel) that is designed for that. It seems like it might be remotely possible at a D3 school since there is so much less emphasis on baseball - but I even wonder if that is realistic.