Nearly all of the travel sports obsessed kids who were “recruited” for college seem to quit?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I notice they all go to schools they could get into without the sport.

Not true where I live. Most seem to target Ivies or NESCAC. Some of them might have been able to get in without the sport, but there are no guarantees with schools at that level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Almost made it through the first page without a TJ reference. Almost. Imagine going to a party with these parents. There’s no subject that can’t be wrestled over to some dull reference to TJ.

My TJ kid is a travel soccer star! DC would not even think of going to the schools that try to recruit him/her through soccer. Yay DC!

The Ivy’s all recruit athletes. You seem dim.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^ No such thing as a sports scholarship at Division 2 and 3 regional public and podunk private colleges. And most of the student-athletes at D1s are on partial scholarships, if anything.

They do get scholarships but disguised as aid (either merit or need based).

I had a DIII coach recruiting me heavily for a sport. I had excellent grades, GPA, and test scores. He brought me and my parents in for a meeting with a financial aid representative to discuss packages that they could award me as merit aid. If I picked that school, the aid would have covered 100% of my tuition, room & board.

I ended up not choosing them but a teammate of mine did. We kept in touch and she said everyone on the team there was on a full ride or mostly full ride through aid. I declined going there because I wasn't 100% sure I wanted to keep playing the sport after HS. The years of practice took a toll on me and playing it felt more like a chore than something I wanted to do. Luckily, I had supportive parents who let me make the choice on my own and didn't push. I know it was hard on them to see me quit after everything they'd poured into helping make me so great at the sport.

I know a lot of student athletes quit after the first year to save face. They'd rather quit than get put on academic probation and benched. Also, at DIII schools, academic > athletics. The professors are much less apt to really work with you regarding missing work and tests. DI players get a lot of leeway in that area. Many leave the DIII school because they were only there to play a sport that's paying their way and they didn't really like the school to begin with, so once they end up riding the bench/not making a starting position, they're left with putting in all the work athletically at a place they didn't really want to be in the first place. I had more than a few teammates who left because of that.

Thank you for sharing your real life experience. This has given me some things to think about as the parent of a HS junior who is gearing up on the college search, and balancing it with his sport.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^^ No such thing as a sports scholarship at Division 2 and 3 regional public and podunk private colleges. And most of the student-athletes at D1s are on partial scholarships, if anything.

They do get scholarships but disguised as aid (either merit or need based).

I had a DIII coach recruiting me heavily for a sport. I had excellent grades, GPA, and test scores. He brought me and my parents in for a meeting with a financial aid representative to discuss packages that they could award me as merit aid. If I picked that school, the aid would have covered 100% of my tuition, room & board.

I ended up not choosing them but a teammate of mine did. We kept in touch and she said everyone on the team there was on a full ride or mostly full ride through aid. I declined going there because I wasn't 100% sure I wanted to keep playing the sport after HS. The years of practice took a toll on me and playing it felt more like a chore than something I wanted to do. Luckily, I had supportive parents who let me make the choice on my own and didn't push. I know it was hard on them to see me quit after everything they'd poured into helping make me so great at the sport.

I know a lot of student athletes quit after the first year to save face. They'd rather quit than get put on academic probation and benched. Also, at DIII schools, academic > athletics. The professors are much less apt to really work with you regarding missing work and tests. DI players get a lot of leeway in that area. Many leave the DIII school because they were only there to play a sport that's paying their way and they didn't really like the school to begin with, so once they end up riding the bench/not making a starting position, they're left with putting in all the work athletically at a place they didn't really want to be in the first place. I had more than a few teammates who left because of that.

Thank you for sharing your real life experience. This has given me some things to think about as the parent of a HS junior who is gearing up on the college search, and balancing it with his sport.

There is no 'one' answer to this question. A D1 or D3 school that is always fielding teams at the top of their conference is going to be very different than schools that are always at the bottom of the conference.

For D3, you can have virtual year round training (offseason it's called strength and conditioning). Or not if the coach/school/players don't take it seriously. You have to look at every program and how it's run. You can't just say D1 or D3 and think you are accurately describing any school. Also, kids 'quitting' the sport might be kids be asked to leave.

Some reasons players might leave the sport:

1. Injury - 20 year olds get a lot more injuries than 17 year olds - some kids never set foot on the field due to injury
2. Academics - Need to maintain GPA or be academically ineligible
3. Balance - D1 and D3 athletes play sports and go to class - and that's about it. They might have 1 night a week to be a "regular" college student - that's not for everyone
4. Recruiting - Coaches are constantly recruiting, both freshman and transfers. You might lose your starting spot or even roster spot for a better player. It's a lot of work and time if you don't get to play.
5. Trouble - Colleges has rules, and teams have rules. Drinking, weed, missing class - all can lead to being asked to leave the team.

I think the least likely reason is a "mission accomplished" approach of "I got into this school on an athletic hook, now I'll drop it." I'm sure it happens, but the one's I listed above are much more likely scenarios.