Tim Knutson

How many of you competed in high school sports and have thought about giving it a shot here at SDSU? Well if that is the case, here are a few sports and how to go about it.

Two types of programs are involved in the athletic department at SDSU: full-scholarship and non-full scholarship. Full-scholarship teams are made up entirely of scholarship athletes and non-full scholarship teams have athletes without scholarships.

If you are talented at a certain sport, give it a shot, but you are more likely to get on a team if it is a non-full scholarship because less of the team is made of students who are getting money.

Two different types of non-scholarship athletes participate in sports here on campus. The first, and most common, are referred to as non-scholarship athletes, which means the athletes were recruited by the program before attending SDSU, but not offered scholarships. These athletes have been in contact with the program they are interested in participating in before they even show up to show what they can do.

The other and less common, are referred to as actual walk-ons, which means that they were not recruited before coming in contact with the particular sport they plan on competing in. In the case of a walk-on, the coaching staff does not have any prior knowledge of the athlete before trying out for the program.

Each program handles these athletes differently. Two extremely different ways of acquiring walk-on athletes exist. The first way is an individual tryout. Some steps need to be taken before this is an option for a hopeful athlete. An athlete first needs to contact one of the coaches involved in that program. After contacting a coach, the individual tryout will take place.

The second way is an open tryout. During an open tryout, anybody can try out without contacting a coach. In sports like baseball and softball, before the sport starts, a three-day tryout will take place for those athletes who think they have what it takes to make the team.

A few teams out there are looking to fill some roster spots. These teams will usually use tools on campus to let students know if a player is needed. Currently, the track team needs female runners, and especially throwers. A few other programs are still lookingfor athletes as well.

Almost every program has non-scholarship athletes and walk-ons. Coaches in every programs said that depending on talent, a possibility exists that athletes could work their way into scholarship positions.

With a little bit of talent and hard work, anyone on this campus can become part of the SDSU athletic family. After talking with a number of coaches in the athletic department, a few things are clear: an athlete is an athlete no matter how they got into the program; talent and hard work are the keys it takes to play at State; and finally, if an athlete feels they have the skills needed, they need to talk to someone in the program.

So, if you think you have what it takes, remember, most programs will be happy to give you a shot, just don’t be too shy. Good luck.