pledging as a varsity athlete

[vis_katie]

Hello all,

I want to rush and hopefully pledge a chapter at the school I am transferring to. I am also going to be in the cheerleading squad and I was wondering if juggling between these two time consuming activities might be too hard to handle.

Any varsity athelets who pledged a sorority here?

[alum]

All the members of my daughter's intercollegiate team are GLO members. I would say that is the case with nearly all the athletes at her school. Of course it is Division 3...

[Sister Havana]

A lot of cheerleaders at IU are in sororities.

[ISUKappa]

When I was an active, we had over half the women's tennis team, a soccer player, a cheerleader, a pom and a swimmer in my chapter (DI school). Three members of the tennis team also held a position on chapter council (one was President!). They were expected to put forth the same effort as all other members, but were obviously excused when athletics coincided with mandatory events.

[speedsters]

at my D3 school a large percent of girls in sororities are athletes and on our crew team of 35 women there are about 15 girls in 3 sororities. so it depends on your school and how you manage your time. i am captain this year as well on the exec board of my sorority, and my co-captain is the president of her sorority, so its do able

[KSUViolet06]

We've had althletes in our chapter. They were expected to attend events just like everyone else but were excused if they had a mandatory althetic event.

[AngelPhiSig]

I always looked at women who were involved in other activites as a great addition to the chapter! A great resource for recruiting as well!!

I was on the dance team my first two semesters as a collegian and I had a hard time juggling my schedule during my pledge period. I joined in the Spring, so we were in the middle of basketball season -- which meant games on weeknights and on weekends.

I really wanted to be a part of that chapter and for a while I felt like I was missing out on a lot because of practice and games, but my sister-mom and Frat Ed Advisor reassured me I was still part of the chapter. Even though I couldn't attend all the pledge events, I could still try to enjoy my time 200% more at the ones I could go to. We've had cheerleaders and x-c members in my chapter before and it's never been a problem.

[carnation]

My daughter cheered varsity at her university while Greek and if anything, it taught her time management. Her grades were great but her squad only went out of town 3 times. I cheered university before I was Greek...it almost ruined my grades because we would frequently have to leave for out-of-state football games on Thursday morning.

At many schools, cheerleading can get really social with alums inviting you to parties, the school wanting you to do extra pep rallies aorund the state, high schools wanting you to judge their competition, etc. If you want to be Greek and a cheerleader, be strong! Remember you're at school for the education and not the parties!

[AlphaFrog]

Originally Posted by carnation

before I was Greek...

I thought you were BORN Greek.

[carnation]

yes, I believe that's the rumor but due to recruitment being only for sophomores at Arkansas and then cheering, I didn't pledge until I was a junior...

[FSUZeta]

we had some cheerleaders, dancers and majorettes in my chapter, but they participated in those activities after their freshman year.

at my daughters college, they have had cheerleaders and dancers who theypledged that were involved in those activities while they were rushing. i guess they managed to make the recruitment parties, and as far as i know they had no problems with chapter and new member meetings. i do know that the fall sport(soccer, cross country) coaches at her school decided that their athletes could not rush-my daughter knew several girls who were disappointed but complied with their coach's wishes. its a shame, because they would have made great members.

your best bet would be to contact the greek life office at your future school and see if any concessions are made for the cheerleaders during recruitment. i know of several schools where they try to work with fall athletes and band members.

[EGAOPi]

I'm not a varsity athlete myself, but I think it's definitely possible to handle the two. Just try to keep the rest of your activities to a minimum because a varsity sport, a sorority and school can be a lot to juggle.

Though I don't play sports, I can still hopefully give you an example--I have a vice president position in my sorority, I'm a delegate for Junior Panhellenic, I'm on Panhellenic Cabinet (in case you're not familiar with it, Panhellenic is the governing body of all the sororities), I'm in 2 outside organizations, I'm taking 18 credit hours, and I go to every single sorority event and meeting we have, plus I still find a lot of time to go out and have fun. My grades are very good, as well. I'm exhausted a lot of the time, but it can be managed and you can have fun with it.

Just be aware that your first semester will probably be pretty tough and busy since you'll be a new member and that usually involves a lot of activities, plus getting used to your team...but I think if you work hard and stick it out, you should be fine!

Also, I know of at least a handful of sorority girls that are either cheerleaders or on the dance team that performs at the football/basketball games.

Good luck!

[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!

[LOVEinZTA]

Originally Posted by EGAOPi

I have a vice president position in my sorority, I'm a delegate for Junior Panhellenic, I'm on Panhellenic Cabinet (in case you're not familiar with it, Panhellenic is the governing body of all the sororities), I'm in 2 outside organizations, I'm taking 18 credit hours, and I go to every single sorority event and meeting we have, plus I still find a lot of time to go out and have fun. My grades are very good, as well. I'm exhausted a lot of the time, but it can be managed and you can have fun with it.

And personally, I think that's the epitome of what a sorority member SHOULD be!