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Post by mervinswerved on Sept 10, 2020 11:31:10 GMT -5
I never really thought it meant anything. It is just a way to make the kid feel better. "I am a PREFFERED walk-on." I could be wrong.... I've always felt it was a carryover from football to delineate between guys who made the team at a walk on tryout vs. guys who were invited to be on the team without trying out. In that sense, I don't think it fits very well with college volleyball.
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Post by dgo on Sept 10, 2020 13:49:56 GMT -5
I always interpreted it to mean a non-scholarship player that was recruited; nothing more, nothing less. Could be a kid with great grades who qualifies for a full academic scholarship; could be a lower income kid who qualifies for full need-based financial aid; could be a kid paying full sticker price. Could be anything. A lot of people get really hung up on that VB scholarship, but there actually can be some advantages if your scholarship isn't tied to athletics.
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Post by stevehorn on Sept 10, 2020 14:04:41 GMT -5
What I am trying to wrap my head around is what if the school wants the SA but SA has exceptional grades so they can give them an academic scholarship? Saving their athletic scholarships so why is this considered "less" than? Or is this a type of preferred walk on? I just see it as put downs on here but not really understanding why? There is some misinformation in this thread, but there have also been some very good responses. Preferred walk-on is term that is mostly used in football. Typically preferred walk-ons in football are SA's that are recruited. A reference to a "walk-on" without the "preferred" typically refers to a SA that made the team through the tryout. Typically, a "preferred walk-on" is a better prospect than a "walk-on". Especially in your top D1 programs, a number of preferred walk-ons will have athletic scholarship offers from lower-level programs, but choose to be a non-scholarship player in a higher ranked program. The school cannot "give" an academic scholarship to a preferred walk-on or any walk-on. They cannot receive any financial aid that is not readily available to any student at the school. Typically an academic scholarship that they may receive is not one given by the school. They can earn academic scholarships from the school, but there are some pretty rigid guidelines that must be followed for it not to count as athletic related financial aid. With that said, almost all walk-ons are very good students so it wouldn't be unusual for them to be receiving an outside academic scholarship. Their academic progress is included in the NCAA academic measurements, so the last thing a coach wants is for a walk-on to be bringing down those measurements. Using the football related definition of preferred walk-on, I suspect most volleyball non-scholarship players would fit that definition.
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Post by stevehorn on Sept 10, 2020 14:29:51 GMT -5
I never really thought it meant anything. It is just a way to make the kid feel better. "I am a PREFFERED walk-on." I could be wrong.... I've always felt it was a carryover from football to delineate between guys who made the team at a walk on tryout vs. guys who were invited to be on the team without trying out. In that sense, I don't think it fits very well with college volleyball. I would agree. In D1 football, there also could be some real differences between a "preferred walk-on" and a "walk-on". In the majority of pre-season practices (those held before school starts), there is a maximum limit on the number of players that can be participating. I think the number is 105, but not sure. Preferred walk-ons are usually guaranteed one of those spots, but not other walk-ons. I'm not sure, but I think that limit also applies to the off-season training. So preferred walk-ons are typically guaranteed to be in the program year round while walk-ons are not.
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Post by newenglander on Sept 10, 2020 20:10:31 GMT -5
Preferred walk on = guaranteed roster spot, no money
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