The Scholar Athlete What role should athletics play in the search? Instead of thinking solely about the impact athletics may have in the admissions process, you should first think about yourself as an athlete. Do you really enjoy the sport? Is it something that you can see being a part of your college experience? Is it important enough to you that you would chose a good coach/team over other aspects of the college (i.e., playing for a great team on a school that you would otherwise dismiss because it was too small or in small town instead of a city)? Is it important enough that you are willing to give up other activities (at some levels of college competition, the time expectations in season are great enough that you might not be able to do much else)? Equally important is assessing your athletic skills honestly. Simply being the best on a team, at Baldwin or the club level, does not mean that you might be appealing to a college coach. You will need to do a little research to see if your talents will make you “recruit material” on the college level and, if so, at which Division.