By Melissa McCabe
Staff photographer
Your last (insert sport) banquet has come and gone. You?ve bid a bittersweet farewell to your teammates and coaches and you?re ready to head off to college to continue playing (insert sport).
Except the University of Illinois, your new home for the next four years, is a Division I school, which means that if you weren?t lucky enough to be blessed by the gods of athleticism, or at the very least extraordinary DNA, chances are you won?t be seeing much action on the (insert athletic facility).
However, just because you might not be your high school?s volleyball star or the next big thing in football doesn?t mean you have to hang up your baseball mitt or banish your cleats to the attic just yet. There are plenty of ways for former high school athletes or people who just want to get some exercise to play sports at a D-I school.
There are over 1,000 Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) on campus, and a number of them are dedicated to a wide variety of sports.
In addition to staying in shape, joining a club sport is also a great way to meet people outside of your dorm and classes. Danielle Saubert, senior in ACES and member of the crew, or rowing, team said her teammates are her favorite part of rowing because of their camaraderie and how they have become a family.
Worried about balancing practice, classes and a social life? No problem. Madeline Urban, junior in LAS and member of the water polo team, was juggling 18 credit hours, practice and a few other extracurricular activities one semester. She wasn?t sure she could continue playing, but her team was really understanding about her missing practice so that she could finish her homework.
?They explained that its a club sport and it?s much more relaxed than any varsity sport,? Urban said. ?So I kept playing and just really had to make good use of my time to do homework and go into office hours.?
Saubert, however, says that crew actually helped her in that regard.
?I think that rowing, given that practices are held ? in the morning, has actually improved my time management,? Saubert said, ?It has made getting enough sleep essential and fitness a priority in my daily life.?
Don?t want to commit to that much time? Grab a bunch of friends and form an intramural team. Intramural sports are organized by Campus Recreation. There are 15 different sports offered throughout the year, ranging from basketball to badminton. They generally only require a few hours of your time a week, so it?s easy to fit in with a busy class or work schedule.
Finally, there?s always the good old-fashioned pickup game. Bored on a Saturday afternoon? Knock on your neighbors? doors and see if anyone is up to toss the disk and play some Ultimate. You and your friends spend class periods discussing soccer? Pick a time and invite the rest of the class for a late-night game on the South Quad. Like everything else in college, playing sports and getting exercise is what you make it.
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Source: http://newstudents.dailyillini.com/2012/07/21/campus-sports-offer-non-d-i-opportunities/
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