pledging as a varsity athlete

[ADqtPiMel]

I was a varsity athlete before I was in a sorority (I only lasted one semester due to a bad shoulder injury, and we has deferred rush). I'm not sure I could have done both. I think it depends on your practice schedule - I was in the pool 6 hours each day and still needed to go to class, do homework and work.

[notmanhattan]

Courtney Kupets is an AOPi at Georgia. She is on the National Championship Gymnastics Team and an Olympic Medalist. If she can handle, I would reckon anyone can.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by notmanhattan

Courtney Kupets is an AOPi at Georgia.

I follow gymnastics and I had no idea! That's pretty cool.

[ZTA zetahunny]

Originally Posted by LOVEinZTA

Our social chair (and we're a pretty darn social chapter) is captain of the cheer squad, 2 of our freshman are cheerleaders and 1 is on pom (yes, they were pledging during football season), and we have girls that are very very active in many of the gazillion dance and performance organizations on campus.

It's very possible, and I agree about the time management thing - you'll learn how important it is after your first week and the girls that are so involved are the ones who really have scheduling down to an art!

The active member who was mostly reponsible for me pledging ZTA was a varsity cheerleader. Smiles and enthusiasm are contageous. Why wouldn't a chapter want outgoing, involved members? You need all types..regular good girls, athletes, funny girls, crazy girls, spacey girls, brainacs and campus leaders. Everyone has their own place. (Maybe the cheerleaders weren't the most active due to their schedules, but they're usually good rushers.

[33girl]

Originally Posted by ZTA zetahunny

Why wouldn't a chapter want outgoing, involved members?

It's not that, it's just that some people cannot handle both and it's not fair for one of the activities (either the sport or the GLO) to suffer. There are schools where if you're in a sport, that's basically ALL you have time for.

If you can fit it all in - great - but I don't believe in having sisters who are never at anything just so you can have a varsity athlete or cheerleader walk around campus wearing your jacket.

[ZTA zetahunny]

You're right. There was some division between the worker bees and the not so involved worker bees.

[REE1993]

I think that the ability to commit yourself is the most important issue here. If you can communicate your ability to commit (time, finances, etc.) and determine a game plan (no pun intended) for potential conflicts (i.e. mandatory sorority function vs. a big game), then there is no reason why you would be automatically excluded from membership.

I think that being of strong mind and body is a desirable trait, and perhaps a welcome addition to any organization. If fact, some GLOs have specific nutrition/fitness programs that assist their members to live healthfully and maintain good health.

Research the sororities at your new school. Find out which orgnizations promote similar ideals, goals and commitments as you do. You may find one (or many) who share your own passions.

Good luck on your journey!

[UWGPhiBalum]

A number of girls in my chapter were in varsity athletics at the D1 level: soccer, dance team, cheerleading, crew and golf. Some of these girls were super active in the house, too. It definitely can be done---it's all about budgeting your time.

[DeltaBetaBaby]

At Illinois, if you were a cheerleader or Illinette (pom squad), the chapters would fall all over you during recruitment. You could miss half the parties and get a bid anyway.

[kchaptergphib]

easy answer: it depends on your travel schedule and your level of involvement in your GLO

I was a rower (D1), so in the fall, and especially in the spring, I had an out-of-state race most weekends. I know for a fact that I could not have been an exec officer if I was gone that often. I just would have missed too much.

There are tons of leadership oppurtunities in any GLO, and I'm sure you could find an office that you could work around your school and cheer schedule. I would just be really REALLY surprised if you could have a high level position in your chapter and perform athletically at the level you would want to. That's just my experience.

[alphagamphi]

WHen I was at college I was (D1) Swimmer and we had o ther athlets in the house as well especially cheerleaders.

[susan314]

We had a member of MSU Motion (dance team) in my chapter, and also a member of the varsity golf team. Both were involved members and able to keep up their commitment to the chapter. They were excused from chapter events which conflicted directly with athletic events (especially since our golfer had an athletic scholarship), but were otherwise expected to comply with the same chapter attendance policies as everyone else.

I had a roommate from another chapter (Kappa Delta) who was also on MSU Motion, but I don't think she was a super involved member. (Not to say that she was a bad member, of course...she just didn't hold offices, etc. But between her dance team obligations and having an excellent GPA as an engineering major, I'm not sure how she could have fit in holding an office in her chapter. I suspect though that her great academic record coupled with the cache of having a dance team member still provided great benefit to her chapter, even without holding an office...plus she was a real sweetheart.)

[Lily1909]

I was a varsity athlete and so were my big and little sisters. I missed some sorority events, but on the whole, there weren't very many conflicts.

Considering that we all had athletic scholarships, the chapter understood that the team had to be a priority.

[adpiucf]

It is possible, but you are going to have a lot of scheduling conflicts and less time for yourself and school.

Sororities are very welcoming of athletes, leaders, etc-- it adds prestige when they can include your accomplishments within the membership. And they'll be understanding your schedule.

But you may feel like you're missing out or not part of the sisterhood as much because you have other priorities that interfere. As long as you go in with that expectation, and make the effort to be friendly and engage other people when you can come to sorority functions (rather than hold a grudge "no one is friendly or seems like they want to know me"), you'll be fine.

I think athletes have a competitive time at recruitment, b/c of that prestige angle. Sororities want to recruit the best of the best that the campus has to offer. Varsity cheerleaders, tennis players, dancers, band members, theatre majors who are performing around campus, pageant title holders, student gov't officers, etc., are highly sought after.

[OleMissGlitter]

At Ole Miss there are plenty of Varsity athletes who in sororities. AOII just graduated a varsity soccer player and they have two girls on the varsity golf team. Ole Miss is a DIV I, SEC school, so as you can gather, they do practice all of the time and travel a lot as well. There are also some soccer players who are in DG, KD, and Theta. There are some softball players and a team manager who are in sororities as well. I would say that as long as you tell the sorority up front, hey I am on the swim team and I won't be at certain things because of practice and competitions, you should be fine. There are also many girls on the Ole Miss danceteam (Rebelettes) and Cheerleaders who are in sororities. So it is totally possible.