Did Your Athlete End Up With Plan B?

[Anonymous]

We have the opposite, a kid who is a two-sport varsity HS athlete who has no interest in competing at the next level. The good news, they have other interests that take up non-academic and sports time.

[Anonymous]

Lots of sensible advice here urging caution and a balanced approach to building a college resume. No argument here, but I’ll present a little different view that, in the right circumstances, supports the potential value for sports strictly as a college admissions lever.

My niece is being recruited for a sport and is getting pre-reads right now. She never really thought about it as a way in the door. She played because she liked it (which should always, always be the reason to play). When she realized it could help her college chances she said “okay”. All it has cost her is some emails with coaches, a prospect camp ($45) and some film editing time. Remains to be seen how it will turn out but she’s looking at a few with sub-20% admit rates so any kind of edge counts. She’s a great student so without that it wouldn’t have mattered. For context, she’s a D3 prospect speaking to T40 SLACs. Some she would undoubtedly get into on her non-athletic credentials. Others are unhooked lottery tickets. She did all the reaching out herself. In D3 the coaches, at least in her experience, don’t step to you. You have to come to them. It’s a delicate game of self-advocacy and understanding the nuance of knowing how often and what to write, but based on the interest she cultivated she seems to have navigated it well. I’ll report back with results, which she’s been told she should receive soon.

Several posters have mentioned the injury issue, which happens all the time and is a legitimate concern. My daughter plays lacrosse and every year there are one or two on her teams who blow an ACL. For some it has derailed the recruiting process, but not for all.

[Anonymous]

There should not be any counting on sport for scholarship. None. Too many foreign kids take the space and your kid is freshman. He could suck by his senior year. This scenario happens more often than not.
Also, to other pp, poverty tourism is out except with Christian colleges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have the opposite, a kid who is a two-sport varsity HS athlete who has no interest in competing at the next level. The good news, they have other interests that take up non-academic and sports time.

This is the case for the vast majority of HS athletes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks to all PPs for the helpful input. The goal is not a scholarship but to use athletic recruitment as the hook to get into an elite school.

Sports aren't as much of a hook as they were in the past. Your kid better be way above average and a urm to get noticed by the elite colleges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are way fewer athletic opportunities in college that include scholarships than most people believe.

I know that op isn't looking for scholarships but this post is so true. There are so many sports where there are no scholarships and very few that are full rides.

[Anonymous]

There are many people who are sticking with some level of athletics as a hope of a hook into an elite school, but I'd suggest taking a look at that school's website for a bit more information on the kind of kids that are getting into the school to play sports.

For example, this is Harvard's soccer team roster. You'll see kids who are playing and MVP'ing state championship sides, player of the year on their Development Academy team, even several who have had national team callups.

https://www.gocrimson.com/sports/msoc/2018-19/roster

I don't know that much about your child's athletic prowess, but it is worth checking the school and the team to see if your kid is 'on track' athletically to compete with the kids they currently have. A 'squad player' (i.e. a good player on a strong team but not a breakout star) might not be enough to interest a college coach, even at an elite non-athletic school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS was on this track, but burnt out completely by start of junior year and completely quit his sport. I would never have imagined it, given that he would argue to go back to the gym at 10:00 PM the summer of his freshmen year to get in another hour of practice (after multiple hours of team and individual practice during the day), but it happened. That really impacted college plans and caused some awkward conversations with college coaches who wanted to know why DS wasn't responding to them. It will make college applications interesting because his life was 24/7 this sport until this (his junior) year and then there's not a lot outside of school and volunteer work.

By "burnt out" you mean personal freedom (driving) and parties and hormones (dating/sex) because that's how probably 95% of teen sports obsessions end. My in-laws are 100% convinced their twin daughter are going to be recruited swimmers. They're 12yo. It's just delusional to put all your eggs in the athletic basket.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are way fewer athletic opportunities in college that include scholarships than most people believe.

I know that op isn't looking for scholarships but this post is so true. There are so many sports where there are no scholarships and very few that are full rides.

Savvy rich families don't seem to waste their time with sports all the masses play. Field hockey, girls ice hockey, girls lacrosse, crew, water polo seem to have much more favorable odds, is that fair to say?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DS was on this track, but burnt out completely by start of junior year and completely quit his sport. I would never have imagined it, given that he would argue to go back to the gym at 10:00 PM the summer of his freshmen year to get in another hour of practice (after multiple hours of team and individual practice during the day), but it happened. That really impacted college plans and caused some awkward conversations with college coaches who wanted to know why DS wasn't responding to them. It will make college applications interesting because his life was 24/7 this sport until this (his junior) year and then there's not a lot outside of school and volunteer work.

By "burnt out" you mean personal freedom (driving) and parties and hormones (dating/sex) because that's how probably 95% of teen sports obsessions end. My in-laws are 100% convinced their twin daughter are going to be recruited swimmers. They're 12yo. It's just delusional to put all your eggs in the athletic basket.

Um... thanks for telling me what I mean but no, none of this. DS doesn’t drive and had uber when he played his sport. What I actually mean is that he loves his sport but got sick of every weekend in a Marriott courtyard and a convention center. He got sick of 11 month a year practices and competition, with August being the month to « get in the gym» and learn some new skills for fall ball at the start of September. He got sick of coaches saying he needed to be practicing 2.5 hours on his own every day there wasn’t team practice. He got sick of remembering to dress based on which sponsor is paying for this team (Nike for school, Adidas for club, and the « low pressure » club he tried to switch to has a list of demands from New Balance of all people). That’s what I mean.

[Anonymous]

My 16 year old was a nationally ranked gymnast with 32 hours of practice a week and great college prospects. An annoying ankle soreness revealed a dramatic bone injury that required surgery and 6 months of rehab, during which the PT discovered a career ending hip cartilage injury we didn’t even know about.

Definitely don’t let your kid put all of their eggs in one basket. Life can change on a whim, and that is especially true for athletes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 16 year old was a nationally ranked gymnast with 32 hours of practice a week and great college prospects. An annoying ankle soreness revealed a dramatic bone injury that required surgery and 6 months of rehab, during which the PT discovered a career ending hip cartilage injury we didn’t even know about.

Definitely don’t let your kid put all of their eggs in one basket. Life can change on a whim, and that is especially true for athletes.

That sucks, sorry. Does she miss her sport or is she happy to be away from those extreme demands?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are way fewer athletic opportunities in college that include scholarships than most people believe.

I know that op isn't looking for scholarships but this post is so true. There are so many sports where there are no scholarships and very few that are full rides.

Savvy rich families don't seem to waste their time with sports all the masses play. Field hockey, girls ice hockey, girls lacrosse, crew, water polo seem to have much more favorable odds, is that fair to say?

I think Freakonomics calculated that the only sport with decent odds is fencing.

[Anonymous]

I can only say that my son focused on school work, took a rigorous course load with the dream of working in federal law enforcement - in an area that requires physical fitness as well as scientific expertise. He wound up injuring himself. Nothing too horrible or limiting but significant enough to potentially disqualify him from the type of work that he wanted to do.

Thankfully, he was able to change course and has tons of options because he does have such a solid academic background. Pursue your dreams, but always prepare for plan B.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 16 year old was a nationally ranked gymnast with 32 hours of practice a week and great college prospects. An annoying ankle soreness revealed a dramatic bone injury that required surgery and 6 months of rehab, during which the PT discovered a career ending hip cartilage injury we didn’t even know about.

Definitely don’t let your kid put all of their eggs in one basket. Life can change on a whim, and that is especially true for athletes.

I’m sorry about your child’s injury, but the lessons she learned about determination and persistence through adversity, discipline, and hard work will remain with her and enhance her life in the future. She will always have what she learned from gymnastics and she will be a better person for it.

Colleges will see the kind of commitment she had to her sport and that will give her a big plus as a person with the characteristics they want to see in their students.