article The Truth About Sports Scholarships

[loubballfan]

This may only apply to a small subset, but sports can also open doors to elite schools that kids just can't get into on grades alone.

 

I heard of two kids this year, attending what would be considered top high schools in KY, one scoring 35 on ACT and being #1 in class and played on a competitve sports team and the other scored 36 on their ACT and had several impressive extracurriclar activites on resume and neither were admitted to several top 20 schools to which they applied.

 

I had three kids go to top 20 nationally ranked academic schools-because the coach got them in to play sports. No scholarships- but a heck of an educational opportunity!

 

Just giving another perspective on how sports and travel teams can be helpful!

[TAC]

This may only apply to a small subset, but sports can also open doors to elite schools that kids just can't get into on grades alone.

 

I heard of two kids this year, attending what would be considered top high schools in KY, one scoring 35 on ACT and being #1 in class and played on a competitve sports team and the other scored 36 on their ACT and had several impressive extracurriclar activites on resume and neither were admitted to several top 20 schools to which they applied.

 

I had three kids go to top 20 nationally ranked academic schools-because the coach got them in to play sports. No scholarships- but a heck of an educational opportunity!

 

Just giving another perspective on how sports and travel teams can be helpful!

 

Ivy League schools do not offer athletic scholarships, but if you are a stud athlete with good grades, you can get in easier than a non athlete.

[loubballfan]

Ivy League schools do not offer athletic scholarships, but if you are a stud athlete with good grades, you can get in easier than a non athlete.

 

Exactly what I am referring to. Coaches, even in smaller sports, can usually get a few kids through admissions if they want them on team They need to have standardized test scores in top 10% which is still excellent but don't need to be perfect like the regular kids trying to get in.

 

And, by the way, If you get admiitted to most of the Ivy's or Stanford today and your parents make under $100,000 a year- free tuition for any kid. So it basically is like offering a full ride since they do it for non athletes also

[ChiefSmoke]

Take care of academics because that is the first priority. I tell my players all the time.... we play football for Mercer County Senior High SCHOOL. We do not go to school for Mercer County Football.

 

Play sports because they are fun. If a scholarship works out, great.

 

Your best opportunity for college scholarships start with good grades, ACT and showing you are well-rounded.... other activities in addition to being a good student. If you can show evidence of leadership and serving others, even better.

[coldweatherfan]

Went through this with 4 boys. There a handful of elite athletes that will get a full ride. For the vast majority of the rest, it is all about being a total package.

 

I used to lecture my boys and all of their friends about how important grades were. Sometimes I feel like MrsC and I raised 20 or 30 boys and not just our four.

 

When they entered high school I worked hard to convince all of them that from this point forward everything counts. It sucks but your future starts hinging on what you do from this point forward. It follows you around forever, and can either close doors or open them for you.

 

If you want to play college sports, it is much easier to put together a package at a NAIA or D2 school then it is to get something at a D1 school if you take care of your grades. Even non-scholarship schools will find you a lot of extra academic money if you are an athlete. A good athlete with good grades will have a lot of options.

[Tall196056]

The reality is that there are many opportunities for a "full ride" although it will not be all from basketball money, especially at the d 2 or naia level. That is why it is so important that the athletes handle their business in the classroom as well as their act or sat tests. I have been coaching for 34 years. 7 of those years have been with girls soccer. I have had 56 players go to the next level with scholarship money. My daughter played college soccer and received almost 75% of her total expenses paid for between soccer and academics at one of the best naia programs in the country. It just takes hard work from the player and their high school coaches to make sure they make the contacts and visits necessary to help your players get the exposure they need. There is no need to spend hundreds of dollars on a recruiting service. It is always worth the effort to help players go to the next level. It just takes a lot of effort

[TAC]

The reality is that there are many opportunities for a "full ride" although it will not be all from basketball money, especially at the d 2 or naia level. That is why it is so important that the athletes handle their business in the classroom as well as their act or sat tests. I have been coaching for 34 years. 7 of those years have been with girls soccer. I have had 56 players go to the next level with scholarship money. My daughter played college soccer and received almost 75% of her total expenses paid for between soccer and academics at one of the best naia programs in the country. It just takes hard work from the player and their high school coaches to make sure they make the contacts and visits necessary to help your players get the exposure they need. There is no need to spend hundreds of dollars on a recruiting service. It is always worth the effort to help players go to the next level. It just takes a lot of effort

 

Welcome to BGP.

[Dixiefan1]

Not going to argue the facts as presented in the article. But I do agree with what someone said in a previous post about that there is no one playbook to recruiting and everyones path is different. I will also go a step further and say that in the world we live now it (the path) depends on the sport. As an example, my daughter received 11 scholarship offers for basketball, some partials, some full rides. Of the 11 that offered ONLY ONE of the coaches ever saw her play a high school game, and ONE saw her in a high school summer scrimmage..and it was the same coach! The other 10 offers she received came from coaches that saw her playing summer ball. And if I'm lying i'm dying, on three seperate occasions I had college coaches tell me that they could care less about what a player does in high school (stats etc.) because they said that night in and out they might only be playing against 1 or sometimes 2 good players..thats why they valued what they do on the court in AAU ball more than high school ball. Believe me i'm not saying this to put down playing sports for high school teams, and I know that its not the way it works in all sports, it was just an example of the way it is in some.

[Larry Linville]

College coaches say that because it's EASIER for them. If the system changes, and IMVHO it needs to, the poor college coaches will adapt.

[TAC]

College coaches say that because it's EASIER for them. If the system changes, and IMVHO it needs to, the poor college coaches will adapt.

 

Why would the system change? A coach can go to an AAU tournament and see hundreds of quality kids versus going to a High School game and seeing 1-2. Plus the competition is better for the most part.

[Larry Linville]

Why would the system change? A coach can go to an AAU tournament and see hundreds of quality kids versus going to a High School game and seeing 1-2. Plus the competition is better for the most part.

 

Read any article from a sports medicine professional (Dr. James Andrews has done several) on the deleterious effects of specializing in and playing 1 sport year round. AAU and their counterparts in other sports encourage specialization.