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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]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. [/quote]

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.[/quote]

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. [/quote]

Np here. You are delusional. Are you a coach?[/quote]

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. [/quote]

It's great for the kids who otherwise wouldn't have gone to college. My problem is the kids who were academically strong enoough to go to a much better school but ended up at a ridiculous school. What if a kid  got in to JMU or VT with no hope of being on their sports team but instead went to Chowan College so they could be on that team?[/quote]

I’m the poster you are responding to, and I have met exactly 2 kids of the sort you describe. One has parents who are not American and could care less about prestige. Their daughter turned down a top 10 SLAC that was a plane ride away to play for a top 50 one 2 hours away, though in both cases she was a recruited athlete so maybe that’s not on point. The other kid turned down a top D3 to go to a middling D1 that has sent some kids to the pros.  It kind of made sense given that he’s not a very serious student and thought he’d be bored stiff at the D3 school.

I really think you just can’t generalize. If you live in a neighborhood with a lot of highly educated parents and your kids go to highly academic public or private schools, you will know a lot of kids like the ones I describe who have grown up well aware that athletics are one ticket to top colleges. If you are in a neighborhood where parents are less obsessed about academic and career success, you may know more like the OP describes. But I hope most people would not be so judgmental and hateful about kid athletes no matter where they end up. 
[/quote]

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