Sorority rush on varsity athletes

steelepike · #1 05-24-2003, 05:17 PM

Ok i was watching some of the Women's College world series the last few days and it got me thinking and wondering if any of the girls were in sororities. I know for fraternities getting varsity athletes is a plus when we find rushees that are varsity athletes and show the values of a good future member. So the point of this is in Sorority rush do you rush chordinators try and give out bids to girls that are on or will be on varsity teams in college.

Maybe a weird question but you know how it is when you have something you'd like to figure out.

astbunny · #2 05-24-2003, 07:53 PM

Last year I as recruitment director for my sorority and I play Varsity Tennis for a Division 2 school. It's very hard to balance out sorority, class, and a sport but it can be done. We offer bids to girls that play varsity athletics, it also gives a platform for the rest of their teammates. Four out of the seven girls that play tennis are in my sorority and it has always been that way through the years. The tennis team ends up joining the same sorority, as does i've noticed at many schools most of the cheerleaders are in the same sorority.

DolphinChicaDDD · #3 05-25-2003, 12:10 AM

I think it is more than possible to be part of a sorority and an athlete. Personally, I run Cross Country, Indoor Track, and Outdoor Track...so I'm never out of season. I think its all about time budgeting. We also have girls that play softball. Half of the tennis team pledged a sorority in the spring...but it was easier for them, they pledge in their off season!!

I know some of the coaches are against athletes doing both, but I think its because there are some people who couldn't do time management, and they ended up missing practices and stuff.

Its never been a problem for me...my cross country coach never knew I was pledgeing until I went off on a rant one day that I wasn't going to my formal in order to go on a trip with the team, and no one was showing up to practice. I mentioned to a guy on me team that I was in a Greek Goddess Pagent, and he looked at me, and said "But your not in a sorority".

My point is, its possible to do both. I'm sorry this is such a long post, but I'm really committed to showing girls that they can do both. It gets me upset when some girls on campus say "Oh, I would be in a sorority, but I'm an athelete, and I just won't have time".

steelepike · #4 05-25-2003, 06:12 AM

Well thank you both for putting some answers to my questions. Like i said it just popped into my head and i wanted to see what you girls in sororities thought after all i will never be in one. Thanks again

LeslieAGD · #5 05-25-2003, 08:53 AM

I think it's like any other campus committment. If althetes can make time for a GLO and still have time for sports and studies, then more power to them!

GeekyPenguin · #6 05-25-2003, 02:06 PM

I was a varsity athlete and a sorority member at my last school, but it did not work so well for me. My NM semester everything was ducky because practices weren't mandatory for part of the semester, but my first active semester was the in-season semester, and it didn't work for a variety of reasons:

Meets were Saturdays, sometimes Friday nights. I had to go to bed early Fri. night to get up at the buttcrack of dawn on Saturday, and wouldn't get back until Saturday night, which was trad. my boyfriend night. Sundays I would be tired and sleep late, then pretty much roll out of bed, shower, and go to meeting.
I was taking 18 credits, including COBOL and Java.
I had FIVE offices in Gamma Phi, and they weren't all easy (Scholarship, Standards Chair, Ass't Panhell) DO NOT EVER GIVE A NEW INITIATE THAT MANY OFFICES!
I wasn't getting along with some of my teammates, and the fact that I was spending 20 hours a week with them when I could be studying or bonding with my sisters didn't help it.
I had to miss practice the night before a big meet for Pref, which was my choice, but hurt my performance.

I definitely think that it can work, but not at my school, where athletics is so time-consuming (I realize it is everywhere else too) AND the average chapter size hovers around 20. You just have too many responsibilities and begin to lose focus on academics, non-Greek friends, etc. My choice was to leave the team, I know other people have chosen to leave their GLO. I think the ideal situation for this would be a big school like Wisconsin, Nebraska, etc, where once you join your GLO does not have to be such a huge commitment and you do not NEED to hold offices to keep the chapter going.

KappaKittyCat · #7 05-26-2003, 12:45 AM

At my school, we have deferred rush. Music ensembles and varsity athletics are the two biggest/best ways for Greeks to meet freshmen first term, and when Rush rolls around, we find that a good majority of PNMs are in one or both.

I was on the varsity fencing team my first year as an active. I took Rush week off of practices; other than that, it was all about time management. I quit the team due to injuries, not Kappa.

I love having sisters in varsity athletics. My little sis and grandsis are swimmers, as are a bunch of other chapter members, and we have a blast going to home meets and forming a rowdy Kappa cheering section.