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

[Anonymous]

There is another benefit not widely publicized-my DC is an athlete at a D1 school. There are separate job recruiting meetings for athletes - the companies want to meet athletes who do well also academically and are competitive. They are mostly Wall Street and consulting companies. And then within these athlete only job recruitment meetings, there are smaller ones for certain sports.

[Anonymous]

"or unhappiness with the coach."

I think this is the biggest reason sports get dropped in college.

Many travel sports and/or HS coaches become huge parts of kid's lives.

When their college coach can't live up to that ideal, it isn't hard to give up a sliver of a scholarship, the dregs of playing time or team proscribed schedule.

The next biggest reason is that it's fun to be the travel team star and not so much fun to be the first one off the bench.

Few freshmen expect to play a lot, but when new freshmen play more than you are as a (redshirted) sophomore, it can be time to move on.

Lots of academic kids face the same issue. They go from being #1 in a class of 500 to a solid B student at a state flagship.

[Anonymous]

DD is very athletic and as a freshman in HS was on 3 varsity teams. She also happens to be a top academic student. She's played on a club team for one of the sports since 6th grade and we are now reaching the college recruiting stage. She will go to the best academic fit college that accepts her; if she can play her main sport there, great, If she gets some scholarship money, great. Despite her athletic talent, the club sport was never meant to be a ticket to play at any college; it was meant to learn to play her best at a high er level that rec and school teams offered, spend more time playing her favorite sport and finally, to have fun competing at a higher level. 80% of the parents of her club teammates think the same as us.

[Anonymous]

Interesting article in the NYT that seems relevant. The entire Grinnell football team just quit because they couldn’t get the numbers to play safely.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/09/sports/grinnell-football-season-canceled.html?searchResultPosition=1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD is very athletic and as a freshman in HS was on 3 varsity teams. She also happens to be a top academic student. She's played on a club team for one of the sports since 6th grade and we are now reaching the college recruiting stage. She will go to the best academic fit college that accepts her; if she can play her main sport there, great, If she gets some scholarship money, great. Despite her athletic talent, the club sport was never meant to be a ticket to play at any college; it was meant to learn to play her best at a high er level that rec and school teams offered, spend more time playing her favorite sport and finally, to have fun competing at a higher level. 80% of the parents of her club teammates think the same as us.

This parent has a level head on their shoulders. I think college athletics or bust is most prominent in areas like where I grew up: rural South and football was how poor kids were going to get out. And in some sports, like soccer and LAX.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interesting article in the NYT that seems relevant. The entire Grinnell football team just quit because they couldn’t get the numbers to play safely.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/09/sports/grinnell-football-season-canceled.html?searchResultPosition=1

Great article and an impressive bunch of young me.

Isn't part of the problem that at a school as small as Grinnell a proper football team is just too big?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They quit because they're burned out and finally free of their overbearing douchey parents.

Agree. I know one recruited college athlete who dropped his sport for just this reason.

[Anonymous]

Some quit because they’ve never had to sit the bench before. Some also get cut. Just sayin’ ...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who is the “them” you are referring to?

Back in the day I was a recruited swimmer at a Div III SLAC. I quit after sophomore year because my shoulder blew out. 16 years of the sport took its toll.

I have a feeling, though, that the percentage of students who decide not to continue with their sport is roughly the same as the number who quit orchestra, band or theatre.

I just notice most of these supposedly recruited athletes end up at colleges they'd never have any interest in were it not for a spot on some team that plays in front of a dozen fans. It seems so pointless and predictable. Of course your kid is going to be unhappy. Why even allow this? Seems far wiser to your child go where they genuinely want, then play club or intramurals.

Sounds like you run in a different crowd than many of us and are assuming it’s the same everywhere. The vast majority of serious athletes I know are working to get committed to top academic schools. Almost all of the ones who end up at D3 play the full 4 years barring injury. Same for the kids who end up in the Ivy League. Those who play D1 and don’t get much in athletic money do often quit after a year or two so they can focus more on school if playing time is not looking promising. I know a lot of D1 soccer players on athletic scholarships ranging from 50% to 100% averaged over 4 years. Most of them play for 4 years barring injury or unhappiness with the coach. There are also a fair amount of men’s soccer players from our area making a decent living from the sport, and a lot who will make way more than the average 16-22 year old then quit to do something not directly related to playing. They make very good connections during those years for business jobs.

In short; no, I definitely haven’t noticed the phenomenon you mention.

This is my experience too. I have 2 sons that are D1 athletes at highly academic schools. Their friends that played with them that did not play in college knew they wouldn't all along and liked to play sports. But the serious athletes are at Yale, UCLA, Tufts, Washington and Lee, RPI, UPenn, Duke, Bucknell, etc I could go on.

Clearly not everybody gets recruited and many are sidelined by injury.

I don't really understand all the jealousy surrounding athletic kids. I don't see it from their friends but I definitely see it from the parents.

+1

The kids who do this are some of the most self-motivated kids I see in the high schools. I don't have D1 athlete kids, but I definitely see what PP sees, not what OP sees.

[Anonymous]

Back in the day (1990s) I had several classmates who were recruited for sports at the Ivies/Duke, made it to a few practices and then quit.

I always thought there was something off about it. At least play one full season.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who is the “them” you are referring to?

Back in the day I was a recruited swimmer at a Div III SLAC. I quit after sophomore year because my shoulder blew out. 16 years of the sport took its toll.

I have a feeling, though, that the percentage of students who decide not to continue with their sport is roughly the same as the number who quit orchestra, band or theatre.

I just notice most of these supposedly recruited athletes end up at colleges they'd never have any interest in were it not for a spot on some team that plays in front of a dozen fans. It seems so pointless and predictable. Of course your kid is going to be unhappy. Why even allow this? Seems far wiser to your child go where they genuinely want, then play club or intramurals.

Sounds like you run in a different crowd than many of us and are assuming it’s the same everywhere. The vast majority of serious athletes I know are working to get committed to top academic schools. Almost all of the ones who end up at D3 play the full 4 years barring injury. Same for the kids who end up in the Ivy League. Those who play D1 and don’t get much in athletic money do often quit after a year or two so they can focus more on school if playing time is not looking promising. I know a lot of D1 soccer players on athletic scholarships ranging from 50% to 100% averaged over 4 years. Most of them play for 4 years barring injury or unhappiness with the coach. There are also a fair amount of men’s soccer players from our area making a decent living from the sport, and a lot who will make way more than the average 16-22 year old then quit to do something not directly related to playing. They make very good connections during those years for business jobs.

In short; no, I definitely haven’t noticed the phenomenon you mention.

Np here. You are delusional. Are you a coach?

Nope. Just a parent who knows a lot of academically focused kids who play DA and ECNL soccer (including a few who ultimately went pro) and high level baseball. While I’m sure outcomes can differ by sport, it’s also the case that kids who care about academics are always going to have a different college career than those who don’t. And I’m not judging anyone. I know a few boys who never would have gone to college at all except for soccer, and it’s worked out very well for them to get a degree from the no name schools many of you look down on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some quit because they’ve never had to sit the bench before. Some also get cut. Just sayin’ ...

Bench yes, but get cut? I’ve never seen nor ever heard of any recruit getting cut. Not denying it happens but it has to be extremely rare. Disappointing and benched, sure, all the time. (Especially in the ridiculous old days of freshman commits.) But generally those kids just ride the bench and either learn to deal with it or quit.

Coaches leaving is another problem for recruits, either in the middle of the process or once they are already in college. Sometimes the new coach isn’t a good fit for the kid or doesn’t believe in the kid. And coaches move around quite a bit so it’s not an isolated problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who is the “them” you are referring to?

Back in the day I was a recruited swimmer at a Div III SLAC. I quit after sophomore year because my shoulder blew out. 16 years of the sport took its toll.

I have a feeling, though, that the percentage of students who decide not to continue with their sport is roughly the same as the number who quit orchestra, band or theatre.

I just notice most of these supposedly recruited athletes end up at colleges they'd never have any interest in were it not for a spot on some team that plays in front of a dozen fans. It seems so pointless and predictable. Of course your kid is going to be unhappy. Why even allow this? Seems far wiser to your child go where they genuinely want, then play club or intramurals.

Sounds like you run in a different crowd than many of us and are assuming it’s the same everywhere. The vast majority of serious athletes I know are working to get committed to top academic schools. Almost all of the ones who end up at D3 play the full 4 years barring injury. Same for the kids who end up in the Ivy League. Those who play D1 and don’t get much in athletic money do often quit after a year or two so they can focus more on school if playing time is not looking promising. I know a lot of D1 soccer players on athletic scholarships ranging from 50% to 100% averaged over 4 years. Most of them play for 4 years barring injury or unhappiness with the coach. There are also a fair amount of men’s soccer players from our area making a decent living from the sport, and a lot who will make way more than the average 16-22 year old then quit to do something not directly related to playing. They make very good connections during those years for business jobs.

In short; no, I definitely haven’t noticed the phenomenon you mention.

Np here. You are delusional. Are you a coach?

Nope. Just a parent who knows a lot of academically focused kids who play DA and ECNL soccer (including a few who ultimately went pro) and high level baseball. While I’m sure outcomes can differ by sport, it’s also the case that kids who care about academics are always going to have a different college career than those who don’t. And I’m not judging anyone. I know a few boys who never would have gone to college at all except for soccer, and it’s worked out very well for them to get a degree from the no name schools many of you look down on.

+1. In our high school over the past eight years of time my kids were there I only know of one who quit their sport in college. Many more who were injured but they are still part of the team.

I do agree that there are some kids who get the cart in front of the horse and end up in places they wouldn’t otherwise have chosen. My daughter recently visited a friend who is in exactly that position who told my daughter “yeah, I wouldn’t have come here if not for lacrosse”. Seems crazy to me but it does happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know several who got into top schools and quit, yes. But they stayed at the school, lived as a normal college student at a top school (which don’t give athletic money anyhow).

Same. D1 athletics require a lot of time practicing and traveling and then, yes, many athletes get injured. So, what's your problem OP? That's just the way it goes.

[Anonymous]

33% of D1 athletes quit their sport, 50% of those are due to injury.

It very hard to make it through all 4 years ... injury, time commitment, playing time, etc.

That is why athletes are highly recruited to jobs ... it's hard and they are in a very small percentage of the population who can actually do it.

I do find it odd, though. When the chance of being an athlete is so low, and then the chance of making it 4 years is only 66%.. that I know a ton of athletes that did it and did it at highly academic schools.