Anonymous
02/15/2023 10:43
Subject: What is the point of being a college athlete?
Anonymous wrote:My SIL functions better the more he has to do. He hates being idle.
His lovely bright mom figured this out in like 2nd grade. She never pushed him, he just had ants in his pants as a younger kid. Sports and part-time jobs got him though. Really bright guy. Studying while some school & testing came easily to him.
Anyway played division 1 in college and it worked graduated 4 years 4.Ogpa IVY.
A SIL is a SISTER in law. Not a boy. Not a HE.
Anonymous
02/15/2023 09:54
Subject: Re:What is the point of being a college athlete?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My nephew is a recruited athlete and he got accepted into a couple of Ivies because of it. One week after arriving on the college campus, he informed the coach that he would quit because he is going into pre med. No scholarship involved so there wasn't much the coach could do.
Something is off with this story as you are only going to be admitted to one school as a recruited athlete. Regardless, it’s really unethical to accept a coach’s offer and quit the sport immediately. Does not say good things about your nephew’s character.
Yeah sounds like an unethical loser
It happens more than you think. Once you're on campus, you can quit and nothing the coach or the school can do about it. Young adults can change their minds, right?
No one is arguing that the coach or school can do anything about it, but no one “changes their mind” without ever practicing and playing for the team at all their freshman year. You are talking about a kid who lied to the coach about his intentions so he could lock in his automatic admission with no intention of playing. Doing so screws over the coach, the team, and the honest, talented kid who ought to have gotten the admissions boost over him.
Most kids that are on college teams major in either business or basket weaving degree. Very few of them major in some useful degrees like STEM or pre-med. For some, they didn't realize how competitive STEM and/or pre-med is until they get on campus. Therefore, it is normal for some of them to quit because of the college course load. Perfectly normal.
Anonymous
02/14/2023 17:36
Subject: Re:What is the point of being a college athlete?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My nephew is a recruited athlete and he got accepted into a couple of Ivies because of it. One week after arriving on the college campus, he informed the coach that he would quit because he is going into pre med. No scholarship involved so there wasn't much the coach could do.
Something is off with this story as you are only going to be admitted to one school as a recruited athlete. Regardless, it’s really unethical to accept a coach’s offer and quit the sport immediately. Does not say good things about your nephew’s character.
Yeah sounds like an unethical loser
It happens more than you think. Once you're on campus, you can quit and nothing the coach or the school can do about it. Young adults can change their minds, right?
No one is arguing that the coach or school can do anything about it, but no one “changes their mind” without ever practicing and playing for the team at all their freshman year. You are talking about a kid who lied to the coach about his intentions so he could lock in his automatic admission with no intention of playing. Doing so screws over the coach, the team, and the honest, talented kid who ought to have gotten the admissions boost over him.
Anonymous
02/14/2023 17:09
Subject: What is the point of being a college athlete?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I know there are a couple obvious, valid answers:
- Love of the sport
- Athletic scholarship
But being a college athlete seems intensely time consuming and disruptive to both studies and social life (I say this not having been a college athlete). Taking money out of the equation and assuming you can enjoy your sport on a more casual basis (rec leagues, etc), what are the advantages of pursuing a sport in college?
Asking in case it's relevant to one of my kids.
At least for my kid, who is playing ACHA (club) hockey, the more casual/less structured environment of rec/IM/beer leagues is just not as much fun. So he makes the time demands of his sport (3.5 hours per night twice a week for practice and lots of weekend time taken up for games (home and away)) work. Socially, it has been great for him to get to know upperclassmen in a way that would have been difficult or impossible without being on team.
Beer league and rec hockey also don't have the skill level of ACHA hockey--which is very high depending on where you are playing and at what level of ACHA. There is a misconception out there that "Club" hockey is for kids who couldn't play D3 or whatever, but that's really not true.
Where is your DS playing?
He's at Northeastern. They have a D2 ACHA team that has been going to Nationals pretty regularly the past few years (and likely also this year). The team has some very skilled players, but is not as structured (on the ice) as my son's Tier 1 team was, and does a lot more dump and chase (per the coach's instructions), then he was used to. But he has played hard and has (so far) gotten a jersey and a regular shift for every game (one of 3 freshman to so). I'm certain - based on feedback from his coaches - that he (my son) could have found a D3 program to play at (and might even have had an outside chance at a lower level D1 team) if he gone through juniors. But he decided he wanted to go to college. And his current setup has worked really well for him. One of his teammates from last year is having a similar experience playing ACHA D2 at Wisconsin, and some others at Kentucky (they are not getting as much playing time). About 1/2 of his 18U team from last year is either playing juniors now, or is doing a second year of 18U. The other half is in college, mostly playing ACHA (some D2, and some D3).
Anonymous
02/14/2023 16:39
Subject: Re:What is the point of being a college athlete?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My nephew is a recruited athlete and he got accepted into a couple of Ivies because of it. One week after arriving on the college campus, he informed the coach that he would quit because he is going into pre med. No scholarship involved so there wasn't much the coach could do.
Something is off with this story as you are only going to be admitted to one school as a recruited athlete. Regardless, it’s really unethical to accept a coach’s offer and quit the sport immediately. Does not say good things about your nephew’s character.
Yeah sounds like an unethical loser
It happens more than you think. Once you're on campus, you can quit and nothing the coach or the school can do about it. Young adults can change their minds, right?
Anonymous
02/14/2023 16:26
Subject: What is the point of being a college athlete?
My DS was a D3 athlete. Excellent grades and SATs and he was accepted to 3 SLACs. For him, the team provided a group of friends and he had another group of friends from his freshman dorm. With D3, you can still study abroad if you want because the commitment level is less than D1. Great experience for him, captain of his team, became an RA and after graduation, he attended medical school.
Anonymous
02/14/2023 16:09
Subject: Re:What is the point of being a college athlete?
"College athlete" covers a huge variety of experiences, from D1 football players to people like me: I went to a Div III school, was on the JV team for a couple of years, then benchwarmer for one (so I'm in the NCAA athlete database as a official former varsity athlete), then quit. During the season, it was a couple of hours of practice, and an occasional game. It was fun and not a huge commitment. I was never great (in large part because I wasn't that committed), but our school had a strong team, so I was still as good as or better than many other players at schools with weaker teams who were also officially NCAA athletes. (Today, there are about half a million college athletes, and about 15 million undergrads, so about 3 percent of students are athletes.)
Anonymous
02/14/2023 15:59
Subject: Re:What is the point of being a college athlete?
Anonymous wrote:Love of the sport.
My son is a straight A honor student, perfect test score kid. He is very academic and loves school/learning, etc.
He truly has a passion for the sport. I thought he would have dropped it or the love would be diminished by now (Junior). I really didn't see him playing in college. But, at the end of Sophomore year he was very certain he wanted to try to play the sport in college. He really had a renewed passion and drive. He had many setbacks with injuries, disappointments, late growth, politics (oh the parent politics!!). I even didn't let him play Club Sophomore year, only high school and he practiced on his own and was literally begging to play. Made a high level team over the summer, great feed back from some college coaches. Growth-related injury, out all Fall season. Did PT, doing so much work on his own.
And now he is really much gearing up for recruiting this Spring into next Fall.
We have list of schools where he is focused on those spots. We are realistic, checking team rosters, competition levels, etc. But, he is sticking to the schools with good opportunity in his field of study and that are academically sound. We are in agreement that he won't go to a much lesser school just to play. He can play Club or intramural if that is how it pans out.
He's heard from his uncle and others that played D1 and knows the commitment. He's a kid that very easily seems to be able to handle intense outside time commitments while maintaining studies/grades.
Who knows? The point for us: he truly loves to play. As smart as he is, he could talk your ear off about every player who has ever played the game down to really obscure lower teams, etc.
This is how I was. My parents had no qualms about letting me go for it because I had proved that I was motivated academically and was able to handle multiple AP courses at a demanding private HS with a demanding training schedule. I only considered schools that were both a good academic and athletic fit. I ended up at the "least good" of these schools (still a good school people are proud to send their kids) because it was the right fit for me in terms of athletics. No regrets. I wasn't interested in D3 schools because of their smaller size. I wanted the big state university experience with football games etc. Had I wanted to quit/not done well at the D1 school I'm sure I would have stayed and done club, or just tried other activities.
Anonymous
02/14/2023 15:47
Subject: Re:What is the point of being a college athlete?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My nephew is a recruited athlete and he got accepted into a couple of Ivies because of it. One week after arriving on the college campus, he informed the coach that he would quit because he is going into pre med. No scholarship involved so there wasn't much the coach could do.
Something is off with this story as you are only going to be admitted to one school as a recruited athlete. Regardless, it’s really unethical to accept a coach’s offer and quit the sport immediately. Does not say good things about your nephew’s character.
Yeah sounds like an unethical loser
Anonymous
02/14/2023 15:21
Subject: What is the point of being a college athlete?
My D3 athlete needs to be competitive and lives for that. He loves the whole team experience, friends, etc. He does better in school when he is busy with training and competing.
Anonymous
02/14/2023 14:31
Subject: Re:What is the point of being a college athlete?
Anonymous wrote:My nephew is a recruited athlete and he got accepted into a couple of Ivies because of it. One week after arriving on the college campus, he informed the coach that he would quit because he is going into pre med. No scholarship involved so there wasn't much the coach could do.
Something is off with this story as you are only going to be admitted to one school as a recruited athlete. Regardless, it’s really unethical to accept a coach’s offer and quit the sport immediately. Does not say good things about your nephew’s character.
Anonymous
02/14/2023 14:15
Subject: What is the point of being a college athlete?
My SIL functions better the more he has to do. He hates being idle.
His lovely bright mom figured this out in like 2nd grade. She never pushed him, he just had ants in his pants as a younger kid. Sports and part-time jobs got him though. Really bright guy. Studying while some school & testing came easily to him.
Anyway played division 1 in college and it worked graduated 4 years 4.Ogpa IVY.
His lovely bright mom figured this out in like 2nd grade. She never pushed him, he just had ants in his pants as a younger kid. Sports and part-time jobs got him though. Really bright guy. Studying while some school & testing came easily to him.
Anyway played division 1 in college and it worked graduated 4 years 4.Ogpa IVY.
Anonymous
02/14/2023 14:09
Subject: What is the point of being a college athlete?
This is a great question. I was DIII walk-on in two sports. I played in HS and got to campus and knew I had to try out for the teams because I missed the competition, being on a team, and the sports themselves. To echo another poster, I'm in my early 40s and I still miss the feeling of the ball in my glove or blocking a shot in a real game. It can't be beat and I probably will never be able to replicate that feeling for the rest of the my life. (Which is a little depressing now that I think about it).
Anyway, for some kids playing in college is part of the overall experience and reflects their genuine love of their sport. But I played for a crappy division III school; I would imagine division I is different and like the above poster would not necessarily recommend it for my own kids.
A friend rowed for a division I school (no scholarship, also a walk-on) and once she made the team and did well was offered some money. She declined it because she felt like once they pay even a small part of your tuition - at least at this school at the time - they act like they own you and it would have further limited her college experience.
Anyway, for some kids playing in college is part of the overall experience and reflects their genuine love of their sport. But I played for a crappy division III school; I would imagine division I is different and like the above poster would not necessarily recommend it for my own kids.
A friend rowed for a division I school (no scholarship, also a walk-on) and once she made the team and did well was offered some money. She declined it because she felt like once they pay even a small part of your tuition - at least at this school at the time - they act like they own you and it would have further limited her college experience.
Anonymous
02/14/2023 13:43
Subject: Re:What is the point of being a college athlete?
I did D1 sports myself and it was a real full time job. I would personally recommend D3 to my own kids if relevant unless they were going to be pros (and this seems unlikely).
Anonymous
02/14/2023 13:41
Subject: What is the point of being a college athlete?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I know there are a couple obvious, valid answers:
- Love of the sport
- Athletic scholarship
But being a college athlete seems intensely time consuming and disruptive to both studies and social life (I say this not having been a college athlete). Taking money out of the equation and assuming you can enjoy your sport on a more casual basis (rec leagues, etc), what are the advantages of pursuing a sport in college?
Asking in case it's relevant to one of my kids.
You obviously are not an athlete oh gosh
Thus why I asked. Thanks for participating.
Thanks to all for the answers. I don't know if my kids will be good enough, but they have the potential and seem to enjoy their sports.
How old are your kids? Which sport?
12