I work in the collegiate sports field. Most of my clients are division II and III schools, where there either is limited scholarship money, or no scholarships.
I see tons of high school parents who spend ungodly sums of money on private coaching, travel teams, and the best summer camps. Yes, most of the parents have a good sense of where their child sits in the scheme of things. However, there are many other parents who have delusions of grandeur—and visions of full rides dancing in their heads.
I tell them if their kid hasn’t been approached by an elite team or gotten a letter from a D1 school by their junior year, save their money and spend more time studying. There are limited spaces available.
In all of the years covering high school sports in a pretty good division, there are a handful of kids getting full boat scholarships. Like one a year. And this is out of thousands of athletes.
The college coaches and scouts just shake their heads.
And if you want to hear horror stories, talk to a High School Athletic Director. There are nightmare parents everywhere.
They should get a grip and losen up. Sports are great fun, if you let them be fun.
I see tons of 9th grade students who think they are going to be professional athletes. I tell them that if they don't have the grades to play, the scouts will never see them. ;-)
Hey Vermont, very well put! My son is a Freshman at a 4A school and just made the Varsity baseball team as a pitcher. He has worked very hard at his game and it has taught him great lessons about hard work and its rewards. Hopefully those will be lessons that will go with him throughout all phases of his life ahead. He loves playing the sport and the camaraderie it provides. Most (not all) parents I talk to will go to the ends of the earth sports-wise with their kids because it is a positive way to teach many life lessons and keep them off the streets.
That being said, we have ALWAYS stressed academics with both our sons and fortunately they are also extremely good students.
Their is a kid on my sons High School team that has a full ride (whatever that is these days) to a D1 school and apparently is a way below average student to the point of taking some special ed classes or tutoring. I just shake my head and wonder how in the world this kid is going to make it at a D1 school with substandard H.S. grades....Oh well!!!
As someone who does not follow team sports this is how I see it:
The free market in sports is completely corrupted! I don't see how this can benefit either the athlete, the high school, or the university.
Perhaps the best solution for ALL involved would be a completely free market on sports.
School and private teams should be able to pay their athletes, and recruit from anywhere in the country. This is true for middle school on up!
Academics should be complete separated from team sports. If a university or private club is running a college age team, then pay the athletes! Or, the athletes could pay the team to participate. Yes, the university could still have the mascot and name but it would be running a business and that business would be a farm team with its name. Dump the scholarships! Pay these kids money!
Government high schools for the most part are the taxpayer supported institution that supports the teams that athletes need to progress. In my county there are NO private schools. If a talented youth wishes to develop his talent there is only one option: the government school. The rules around team sports ( from middle school through university) makes it almost impossible for the development of private teams!
The government is in essence running government farm teams that funnel talent up to the universities and into the major leagues.
I can see how the teachers unions love this because it guarantees lots of “rah” “rah” for the government school by the community. This is **especially** true for communities like mine without any private schools.
The major leagues must love this government supported system as well since they do not need the extra management hassle or expense of running farm teams.
The loser is the athlete. Instead of getting professional level coaching, too often he gets a part-time coach who has other teaching responsibilities. Also, there is no way to pay this young athlete a direct and open **money**. If he wishes to develop his talent, he must give his time and energy to the government for free. The government school, the major leagues, and sports organizations, and universities have all colluded to deny very talented athletes ( that bring thousands upon thousands into their sports arena) any form of direct payment in the form of pure **money**.
It appears to me that the very talented young athlete loses on the university level as well. He must waste time in classes in which he not interested. He receives scholarships when he might really prefer straight and unencumbered cash. In a free market the cash received might be several times the worth of a puny scholarship. It is money that could easily pay for an education once his sporting career were over.
Those students in the university who are there for academic reasons lose as well because the integrity of their diploma is diluted by athletes who have earned theirs though a system of wink-wink, nod-nod!
By the way, one of the reasons my county has NO private schools is that the government is running a price-fixed, monopoly that is giving its product (education) away for free! If a group of CEOs were to collude to do something similar in the private sector they would soon be in prison for a very long time!
The entire system is NUTZ! It is a free market abomination!
Am I missing something here?
By the way, my son is a highly ranked athlete in non-team sport. I fully support athletics. Also, I understand why young athletes may not be interested in academics in their teen and young adult years.
Athletic ability is very fleeting and must be developed and utilized during these young years. Honestly, with a life expectancy, now in the 80s, I don't see any reason why academics need to be forced on these youth, when they could easily pursue and education in their late twenties or early thirties.
By the way, my son is gifted academically. As a homeschooler he entered college at the age of 13, and finished all general college requirements ( and Calculus III) by the age of 15. At this point he enrolled in night college and studied accounting on a part-time basis. He left his sport to work for our church in Europe for a few years and returned home fluent in Russian. He resumed his training and part-time college studies. He will finish his MBA in about a year, and will take the Certified Public Accountants exam. He will graduate at the same age as his contemporaries.