^-------- thats funny

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New poster here, Its for sure apples and oranges type of comparison. I do understand both sides however. The soccer parent being proud of their player playing at the college level regardless of if its scholarship or paid tuition. The basketball parent would be just as proud either way as well. The basketball player is more valuable to the school as its a revenue producing sport. Soccer is looked at by the school as more of advanced club or intramural sport. The top basketball players all go to college or a handful straight to yhe pro level. Soccer players many of the best youth players in the sport dont play in college because of no scholarships offered. They are simply priced out of the sport. I think thats one reason many European and South American countries scoff at US soccer. It is looked at as a sport of the well off rather than the sports for all like most of the world.

Kids passions, interest and aptitudes are different. But the ticket for admission to basketball is being no less than 6' tall. So right off the bat before one takes into consideration their skillset they must meet a physical attribute that they have zero control over. You can't coach height. So please just stop with comparing sports to one another. Playing in any sport at a D1 level is not easy. That's it.

I also really don't understand the general basis for hte PP's argument. If a soccer club promotes a players commitment what is that to a AAU basketball player? Why shouldn't the club acknowledge and celebrate their player's accomplishment?

My kid plays soccer, I don't really care what AAU clubs do for their commitments and I wouldn't expect them to care how soccer clubs handle it either. But to say that kids who set out in their chosen sport and train and play for the opportunity to play D1 to have someone try and diminish the accomplishment based on scholarship size is frankly cynical and mean spirited.

But you wouldn't argue that an extremely high percentage of the most talented soccer players are priced out of the sport. As a result the actual best players are not always committing to play for colleges or going pro. Unlike Basketball which is open to anyone with talent not only those who can afford it.

Anonymous wrote:Playing D1 sports is a huge achievement and will pay off in the job market. My husband is a hedge fund manager. Wall Street looks for D1 athletes. It shows they are disciplined, hard workers, and competitive.

I wouldn't brag about being a hedge fund manager right now

Anonymous wrote:New poster here, Its for sure apples and oranges type of comparison. I do understand both sides however. The soccer parent being proud of their player playing at the college level regardless of if its scholarship or paid tuition. The basketball parent would be just as proud either way as well. The basketball player is more valuable to the school as its a revenue producing sport. Soccer is looked at by the school as more of advanced club or intramural sport. The top basketball players all go to college or a handful straight to yhe pro level. Soccer players many of the best youth players in the sport dont play in college because of no scholarships offered. They are simply priced out of the sport. I think thats one reason many European and South American countries scoff at US soccer. It is looked at as a sport of the well off rather than the sports for all like most of the world.

Kids passions, interest and aptitudes are different. But the ticket for admission to basketball is being no less than 6' tall. So right off the bat before one takes into consideration their skillset they must meet a physical attribute that they have zero control over. You can't coach height. So please just stop with comparing sports to one another. Playing in any sport at a D1 level is not easy. That's it.

I also really don't understand the general basis for hte PP's argument. If a soccer club promotes a players commitment what is that to a AAU basketball player? Why shouldn't the club acknowledge and celebrate their player's accomplishment?

My kid plays soccer, I don't really care what AAU clubs do for their commitments and I wouldn't expect them to care how soccer clubs handle it either. But to say that kids who set out in their chosen sport and train and play for the opportunity to play D1 to have someone try and diminish the accomplishment based on scholarship size is frankly cynical and mean spirited.

Playing D1 sports is a huge achievement and will pay off in the job market. My husband is a hedge fund manager. Wall Street looks for D1 athletes. It shows they are disciplined, hard workers, and competitive.

New poster here, Its for sure apples and oranges type of comparison. I do understand both sides however. The soccer parent being proud of their player playing at the college level regardless of if its scholarship or paid tuition. The basketball parent would be just as proud either way as well. The basketball player is more valuable to the school as its a revenue producing sport. Soccer is looked at by the school as more of advanced club or intramural sport. The top basketball players all go to college or a handful straight to yhe pro level. Soccer players many of the best youth players in the sport dont play in college because of no scholarships offered. They are simply priced out of the sport. I think thats one reason many European and South American countries scoff at US soccer. It is looked at as a sport of the well off rather than the sports for all like most of the world.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A commitment without the full scholarship is equivalent to to the debate team or theater group. Still happy for them but not even in the same arena as a basketball scholarship. True or false would Pulisic be given a fully or partial athletic scholarship if he went to VA tech? Yes he would so they are available for the true elite player.

A commitment without the full scholarship is what 99%+ of college athletes experience if they don't play football/basketball.

No one is saying that a partial soccer scholarship is as financially valuable to the player/family as a full basketball scholarship. But a full soccer scholarship is incredible rare, so each fraction of a scholarship becomes more valuable in the non-basketball/football sports. Are there even 50 kids in the country on a full athletic scholarship for soccer? I'd be surprised. Meanwhile there are 195 kids on full basketball scholarships in the ACC alone.

It's just apples and oranges.

Agree with this, and similar comments from PPs.

I’d also note that you can’t just use the 100% soccer scholarship as a measure of talent in isolation. My kid was in fact offered a 100% scholarship at a couple of schools with non remarkable academic reputations and so-so soccer programs. He instead chose to attend a school that offered very high level academics and soccer for a lesser scholarship—no coach at a top academic school with a good soccer program needs to offer a full-ride to attract players. I also know plenty of kids who were offered significant partial scholarships, but turned them down to attend an Ivy instead. The hard work and talent doesn’t change just because a kid or family values academics or other factors over athletic money.

And lets not forget that a better kid can always come along and take your money. Have a slow start as a freshman and tear your ACL? to bad a highly touted transfer just joined the team.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A commitment without the full scholarship is equivalent to to the debate team or theater group. Still happy for them but not even in the same arena as a basketball scholarship. True or false would Pulisic be given a fully or partial athletic scholarship if he went to VA tech? Yes he would so they are available for the true elite player.

A commitment without the full scholarship is what 99%+ of college athletes experience if they don't play football/basketball.

No one is saying that a partial soccer scholarship is as financially valuable to the player/family as a full basketball scholarship. But a full soccer scholarship is incredible rare, so each fraction of a scholarship becomes more valuable in the non-basketball/football sports. Are there even 50 kids in the country on a full athletic scholarship for soccer? I'd be surprised. Meanwhile there are 195 kids on full basketball scholarships in the ACC alone.

It's just apples and oranges.

Agree with this, and similar comments from PPs.

I’d also note that you can’t just use the 100% soccer scholarship as a measure of talent in isolation. My kid was in fact offered a 100% scholarship at a couple of schools with non remarkable academic reputations and so-so soccer programs. He instead chose to attend a school that offered very high level academics and soccer for a lesser scholarship—no coach at a top academic school with a good soccer program needs to offer a full-ride to attract players. I also know plenty of kids who were offered significant partial scholarships, but turned them down to attend an Ivy instead. The hard work and talent doesn’t change just because a kid or family values academics or other factors over athletic money.

It's clear several of the people posting on this thread have no idea what they're talking about when it comes to the college admission's process. That's particularly true for admissions to more elite schools. Can we reflect back to the Varsity Blues scandal from way back in 2020 when famous, rich people were paying money to have their kids "recruited" so they could gain admission to top schools. Having experienced a kid who was on the double wait list for several, highly competitive schools, I have no doubt that if he was a good enough soccer player to be recruited (D1, D3, whatever) he would have been accepted. The truth is recruitment goes hand in hand with acceptance for many players that would not be competitive enough to get into Georgetown or Harvard without a sport, especially when the margin of difference between top SAT scores or GPAs for non-sports kids is .001%. For schools like Maryland and other competitive D1 programs, being recruited "should" be a big deal, even if there is no money involved. I challenge those who dismiss being recruited by Maryland (even without money) to look at the rosters of other Big Ten programs, especially B10 west. Ohio State doesn't have the same caliber as Maryland and Minnesota doesn't even have a men's program. I suspect the only other B10 soccer programs as strong as MD is Penn State or Rutgers. Give these kids the credit they deserve for working hard and accomplishing something most of their peers will not. Finally, for families that don't have financial means to pay for college, getting on a D1 roster opens the doors to other scholarship money. So don't be dismissive of the pathway presented to kids, even those playing outside the super competitive programs like MD, UVA, Georgetown.

Anonymous wrote:A commitment without the full scholarship is equivalent to to the debate team or theater group. Still happy for them but not even in the same arena as a basketball scholarship. True or false would Pulisic be given a fully or partial athletic scholarship if he went to VA tech? Yes he would so they are available for the true elite player.

A commitment without the full scholarship is what 99%+ of college athletes experience if they don't play football/basketball.

No one is saying that a partial soccer scholarship is as financially valuable to the player/family as a full basketball scholarship. But a full soccer scholarship is incredible rare, so each fraction of a scholarship becomes more valuable in the non-basketball/football sports. Are there even 50 kids in the country on a full athletic scholarship for soccer? I'd be surprised. Meanwhile there are 195 kids on full basketball scholarships in the ACC alone.

It's just apples and oranges.

Anonymous wrote:A commitment without the full scholarship is equivalent to to the debate team or theater group. Still happy for them but not even in the same arena as a basketball scholarship. True or false would Pulisic be given a fully or partial athletic scholarship if he went to VA tech? Yes he would so they are available for the true elite player.

No it isn't. Jesus you really are dense.

Yes they would likely give Pulisic a full scholarship but it doesn't mean they want to surround him with talentless hacks either. The reality is the NCAA only allows for 12 scholarships for soccer teams. That's it. Schools mostly spread them out with 2-4 players getting either full or close to full rides. It isn't the fault of the athlete that the NCAA doesn't consider soccer a headcount sport allowing ALL players to be funded. But the demands to make the team are no less than they are if the sport was fully funded.

A commitment without the full scholarship is equivalent to to the debate team or theater group. Still happy for them but not even in the same arena as a basketball scholarship. True or false would Pulisic be given a fully or partial athletic scholarship if he went to VA tech? Yes he would so they are available for the true elite player.

For a person on this thread to make a comment that only 100% athletic scholarships are the goal, well you are mistaken. College coaches prefer students with higher gpa so they can work with admissions on academic scholarships. Such limited athletic scholarships are available for a few and even those will be partial. Only 5.6% of Seniors will play D-1. Congratulations to the scholarship athletes and academic athletes. Signed or unsigned.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand what the PP is saying. Its more of announcement rather than achievement.

How is it not both?

I mean an achievement is being recruited and offered a scholarship. Some of the European kids are recruited over here and actually get the fully athletic scholarship. That is a big deal because of the fact soccer doesn't make any money for the school. So it can be done. Im sure if Christian Pulisic would have been awarded a fully athletic scholarship had he chose that route. I mean soccer players announcing where they will be paying tuition to play college soccer is a far less achievement than an AAU basketball player being awarded a fully athletic scholarship. I love soccer but I dont love how the game is structured in the US.

You do not understand the difference in scholarships between the various sports.

Any player in any sport who is able to play at a D1 level has accomplished something. It is not the student athletes fault that the NCAA limits scholarships for various sports.

There are very few full rides in soccer period but the expectations and demands of the player to even be recruited is no less significant than it is for other sports that are ABLE per NCAA rules to offer ALL players full scholarships.

Full ride, partial or no scholarship, the player still had to be talented enough to make the team at a D1 level and that is an achievement.

This is right. Football and basketball scholarships are fully funded at the top D1 schools. Meaning only a handful of walk-ons at the end of the bench are not receiving a full scholarship. This is because these sports drive revenue, of course, so it makes financial sense for them to attract the best players.

Generally speaking, sports that are not football and basketball do not drive revenue for the schools, so a cap is placed on how many scholarships they can hand out.

Being the number tenth best player on the men's soccer roster at VA Tech, and getting a partial scholarship, is no less an athletic achievement than being the fiftieth best player on the football roster, who receives a full scholarship, simply because one sport generates a ton of money and the other does not.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I understand what the PP is saying. Its more of announcement rather than achievement.

How is it not both?

I mean an achievement is being recruited and offered a scholarship. Some of the European kids are recruited over here and actually get the fully athletic scholarship. That is a big deal because of the fact soccer doesn't make any money for the school. So it can be done. Im sure if Christian Pulisic would have been awarded a fully athletic scholarship had he chose that route. I mean soccer players announcing where they will be paying tuition to play college soccer is a far less achievement than an AAU basketball player being awarded a fully athletic scholarship. I love soccer but I dont love how the game is structured in the US.

You do not understand the difference in scholarships between the various sports.

Any player in any sport who is able to play at a D1 level has accomplished something. It is not the student athletes fault that the NCAA limits scholarships for various sports.

There are very few full rides in soccer period but the expectations and demands of the player to even be recruited is no less significant than it is for other sports that are ABLE per NCAA rules to offer ALL players full scholarships.

Full ride, partial or no scholarship, the player still had to be talented enough to make the team at a D1 level and that is an achievement.