Do most parents push sports as a ‘hook’ for college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course why do you think parents sign their kids up for rowing and fencing

DS’s in fencing at a club does no tournaments. He’s also in swim team. We see no sport talent at DS but we’re glad he’s playing sports and he loves both.

[Anonymous]

OP, parents cannot just turn their kid into a D1 athlete because they want to. The kids needs to have a lot of natural talent and work their ass of, which typically requires internal motivation beyond what the parents want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, parents cannot just turn their kid into a D1 athlete because they want to. The kids needs to have a lot of natural talent and work their ass of, which typically requires internal motivation beyond what the parents want.

This was also my thought. Also, I don't know how any parent who is familiar with teens can think it's possible to "push" many of them in... anything?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will try to give you an answer that accounts for all the nuances...with my kid a recruited baseball player:

1. Any baseball player that has the potential to play for a Power 4 team will play for a Power 4 team. If you have a 4.0 and a 1600, you have options like Stanford, Duke, Vanderbilt, UCB, UCLA, UNC, UVA. Schools that will give you everything you want from an athletic or academic standpoint. It would be odd for say UNC to heavily recruit you athletically, yet for Duke to have no interest at all.

Would you perhaps pick University of Tennessee over Stanford? Maybe...if you are in the top 1% of the top 1% and believe you have a great chance of going high in the MLB draft. However, that group is also getting drafted direct out of HS...so maybe you are in the top 3% - 10% of the top 1%.

2. Once it's clear that a Power 4 school isn't in the cards, you think a little more clear-eyed about college. This is where Ivy schools take on outsized importance. They are still D1, but with the added benefit of having a great name on your resume and ideally a team and alumni network that will help you professionally. As an example...would you really play at Fordham or Farleigh Dickinson (two non-Power 4 D1s that popped into my head) just for a couple of $$$s vs. play at Harvard or Princeton? Probably not...may be different if either of those schools gives you a significant scholarship.

You may think it is silly, but a huge draw for basketball and baseball at an Ivy is you do get to compete for the National Championship and it's an automatic berth. Sure, the likelihood of winning is remote...but UPenn did almost win its Super Regional 2 years ago (they were the undefeated team going into to the championship)...they were one win away from going to Omaha for the College World Series.

Football is very different from the other sports because you will never play for a National Championship at the Ivy schools. It is rare and will become extinct that a Power 4 prospect will ever play for an Ivy in football mainly because of NIL $$$s. Also true in basketball these days...4 of the 5 kids that made last year's All Ivy basketball team transferred to other schools for NIL $$$s.

Outside of the revenue sports, the other draw of the Ivy schools is that their teams often are Nationally ranked. UPenn's soccer team is ranked #12 in the country...Harvard/Yale/Cornell hocket teams are usually ranked...usually multiple Ivy league teams are ranked in the Top 20 for LAX, crew, etc.

This is a really great explanation, especially #2.
I have a swimmer, and will add, the Ivy swim teams are generally strong. Some (many?) kids who are Ivy-level students and really great swimmers, will pick Ivy over Power 4. The whole team won't make NCAAs, but individuals will, and that happens for plenty of P4 teams as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Of course why do you think parents sign their kids up for rowing and fencing

I did crew because I couldn't do anything else (hadn't played sports before high school). Did I know kids who went on to row at top academic schools? Yes. Did my parents have any idea that Ivy recruiting for crew was a thing? No.

I rowed in high school because I enjoyed it. I had no desire to continue in college.

My daughter currently thinks she wants to play in college for a different sport. She has no chance at D1 but maybe D3. It’s still too early to know. We aren’t hoping this is a hook for admission. She’s spent years in this sport and has loved it.

In a couple of years, she might find out that playing recreationally is her only option anyway. That might just be okay with everything else going on in college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, parents cannot just turn their kid into a D1 athlete because they want to. The kids needs to have a lot of natural talent and work their ass of, which typically requires internal motivation beyond what the parents want.

Ivy d1 is not the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, parents cannot just turn their kid into a D1 athlete because they want to. The kids needs to have a lot of natural talent and work their ass of, which typically requires internal motivation beyond what the parents want.

Ivy d1 is not the same.

No, it isn't, but it still requires a ton of work and talent both in terms of athletics and academics. If you think sports are "an easy in" to an Ivy, that is just entirely incorrect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, parents cannot just turn their kid into a D1 athlete because they want to. The kids needs to have a lot of natural talent and work their ass of, which typically requires internal motivation beyond what the parents want.

Ivy d1 is not the same.

Totally depends on sport

[Anonymous]

If the kid is athletic, parents try to expose their kids to as many sports s possible hoping their will find their sport and perhaps excel enough to get some sort of preference but if they don't, you're never going to feel like it was a mistake to support your kid's sports.

But you can't really "push" your kid's sports if the kid doesn't want it. All you can do is provide the opportunity, they have to grab it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, parents cannot just turn their kid into a D1 athlete because they want to. The kids needs to have a lot of natural talent and work their ass of, which typically requires internal motivation beyond what the parents want.

This was also my thought. Also, I don't know how any parent who is familiar with teens can think it's possible to "push" many of them in... anything?

These two posters are spot on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, parents cannot just turn their kid into a D1 athlete because they want to. The kids needs to have a lot of natural talent and work their ass of, which typically requires internal motivation beyond what the parents want.

1000%

You cannot push someone to have the inner drive that it takes to be a D1 athlete. In fact, you can’t even teach it most of the time. Some people are just more disciplined and determined to excel than others. The talent absolutely has to be there. But that is only a starting point. Many, many talented athletes quit during or after high school because they do not have the fire in their belly to put in the literal blood, sweat, and tears for the sport. Let alone give up certain parts of the college experience for it. When you get to college mom and dad aren’t there anymore to hover and push. The people who were doing it because of their parents are completely miserable if they continue in college and either quit or really want to quit. I saw it and it made me sad.

[Anonymous]

I totally agree that you can’t entirely push told dc to play a sport, but yes, you can push them and I think it’s dishonest to say that this doesn’t happen at all. I also think it’s a bit dishonest to think that many parents don’t want to use athletics as an entry point into otherwise ‘reach’ schools. People deny it here, but in other contexts where the question isn’t as pointed, it clearly comes out. That’s fine, every family is entitled to make their own choices, but it is fairly obvious that this happens.

[Anonymous]

^ typo

[Anonymous]

I think the answer is sometimes yes and sometimes no but most likely parents, and kids, figure that if they like playing a sport and are good at it, why not try the recruiting game.

My DD’s friends hadn’t planned to play her sport in college but then, last summer, decided to test the waters and now basically has an offer from a NESCAC school that she wouldn’t have gotten into otherwise.

[Anonymous]

My senior daughter is a very competitive in her sport, and a very good student.

She has received a few D1 offers, not at the top few D1 schools for her sport, but still D1. While we don’t know for sure yet where she will be going to school, she will most likely be attending a very highly academically ranked D3 school where her sport was a hook to get her admitted.

She loves her sport but also knows that it won’t be her career.