Do they get many benefits of being with the team but not recruited? Shoes, money (for weekend meets), clothes, etc. Anything else that is good about it that someone could share..Thanks
Do they get many benefits of being with the team but not recruited? Shoes, money (for weekend meets), clothes, etc. Anything else that is good about it that someone could share..Thanks
I was a walk-on, and can't think of anything else.
wait, what did you get?
free tutoring, but that may be school specific.
If you make the varsity squad - travel, potential conference scorer etc, you should get an equipment allowance, perhaps advanced registration, maybe a book loan deal where you don't have to buy them. It is really specific to the college.
I walked on at CU in the mid 90s and recieved a lot of Nike gear, but this was right after they signed the contract with them. I got it for every season that I was a walk-on. Plus we also got per diem money when we traveled, access to the weight room, and to tutroing help if needed.
thanks
I walked on at UNCC and I got several pairs of free Nike shoes, free track suits, and spikes. Plus I got to register early for classes and professors usually fudged with me a little if my grades were low when I told them I was a student-athlete (I didn't mention that I wasn't on scholarship). The funny thing is, I quit my freshman year at the end of the indoor season but the coach let me walk on again next year and I got free stuff again. I feel bad about it now, but at the time I really thought I was going to contribute to the team at conference. A hamstring injury proved otherwise and I was pretty much useless.
I was a walk-on, but I was probably the fastest walk-on and had it not been for my season ending hamstring injury my senior year of high school I might have been on scholarship at UNCC. The coach knew that I had potential to contribute points at conference and maybe that was why I got free stuff, but I'm pretty sure that all the walkons got free stuff.
I walked on at a small school with an OK program, eventually I got a scholarship and made #2 man on the CC team.
The year I was a walk on I received shoes and traveled to races. I'm sure walking on at CU or similar program is a completly different universe than my situation, but it was certainly a positive for me.
I've looked back a hundred times and wondered if I would have been better to have walked on at a really top notch school, or was it better to actually be a big part of the team at my smaller school. I can see merits to both.
I walked on in the early 90's to a small D-1 school. contributed to the team after my first year (scored at conference, we were never good enough to contend at regions or nationals) and I received all the training gear (shoes, shirts, shorts, socks, gloves, etc.)the full team received after my first semester. I also received equal access to all the benefits any other student athlete received (early registration, access to tutoring, meal money, travel to meets, etc.). I will admit that i did not receive the most coaching attention early on, but I probably did not deserve it too much either. I also earned a scholarship, although small, my final two years. The friends and experiences I had though were great, and I still try to keep intouch with my teammates and fondly recall all my experiences.
Then I graduated and became the GA at a major D1 institution. I received more NIKE gear in one day as a GA than I did as a four year athlete. The benefits were absolutely amazing and the coaching that the athletes received was so much more than I ever received in four years at my undersgrad. The walk-ons there did not receive as much gear as the schoalrship athletes at first, but if they prove themselves worthy of contributing, i.e. scoring at conference then they receive all the gear that every one else does.
Just my experience, if anyone is conseidering walking on to a team, give it a shot. Don't just think about the tangable benefits you would get. As a student athlete, you get alot of untangable benefits. When you have that you were a collegaite athlete on your resume, you automatically get a second look coming out of school. It also gives you something to talk about in an interview!! Think about it.
Former GA, how big was the undergrad school that you attended, you said small but how small? Thanks for the info, it is great to hear.
If you're a basketball player you'd probably get a lot of ass, but as a runner - that's about it.
When I was a walk on I got practice clothes. No shoes, but lots of shirts, shorts and warm up stuff. I also got to use the weight room, use tutors and have access to the academic advisor. When I travelled I got per diem money too. Later I became the manager and I got a LOT more stuff, although I also did a LOT more work.
I tried to walk on to a D1 school and with the scholarship/recruited crew they had, they had no need for walk ons, so the coach plowed a pile of paperwork in front of me to prevent me from joining the team. It was a joke. I transferred to a D2 and ran faster times than half the guys on the D1 team I could have been part of had the coach wanted me.
It's all up to the coach, imho.
walked on at D1 wrote:
and to tutroing help if needed.
All this tutroing seems to have paid off.
I ran at UNH for four years and started as a walk on. I got all the perks the recruited guys got, weight room, laundry for practice clothes, travel money, a set of shorts, shirt, locker. And I was given the same chance as any other incoming freshman, and I ended up running varsity for 4 years. The only thing I didn't get was scholarship, obviously, I was a walk on.
So basically at low to intermediate level program, you should get all the stuff the recruited guys get. Since at that level very few teams are fully funded, many of the runners are walk ons, or guys who were recruited but don't get money. Usually you get a decent team, that you might have a shot at contributing to.
In my personal opinion if the coach isn't willing to try with walk ons then they suck and aren't worth your time anyway.
I walked on at a pretty good team. They nearly won NCAAs a few years ago and are a top 25 team. I got everything thing the scholarship guys got except shoes and some of the nicer clothes, and of course money and all that. I got a locker too and the same amount of respect from the coaches and other athletes that I would have gotten as a scholarship guy. It depends on the coach. Smart coaches accept walk ons b/c you never know when the walk on will end up being an All-American. We had one while I was there. Local boy that was decent in HS but not a state champ (I don't think). He wasn't under 4:20 for the mile but ended up running on the DMR and helped the team get 2nd or 3rd at nationals in the DMR.
bretthauer? Is that you? Colby alum?
our walk ons, at a major D1 school, get all of the benefits of scholarship athletes other than the scholarship money. they get the same gear (free shoes and practice apparel and rain gear and vitamin supplements and all of that) and the same amount of money on trips. the only thing is that we have had to limit our roster numbers, so only the walk-ons that warrant a roster spot get those benefits.
Be wary, some schools don't even offer anything. Athlete needs to pay for clothes, shoes, and spikes. Some don't even offer tutor help.