Athletics in College: Worth it or Major Regrets?

<p>I came acrosss this thread in the Parent's Forum, and I'm re-posting the question here so the regulars here can weigh in. - sherpa</p>

<p>Fellow Parents,</p>

<p>I am interested in opinions about whether or not sending a son to college to play football, either as a scholarship athlete or a walk-on, is worth it or a big mistake. I have a hard time believing he can get the job done in the classroom and do all the running, lifting, training, practicing, preparing and traveling that athletes must do. </p>

<p>I am talking about being at a school that takes academics seriously where he would be competing in the classroom with extremely bright and motivated kids.</p>

<p>Hey, let's be honest. I know at some schools the jocks can major in Phy Ed and Family studies and all that and get lots of hand holding and support. What a joke. I am not talking about that kind of place for my wink-wink student athlete. I am talking about a place where you don't do well you are gone plain and simple. </p>

<p>I know it depends on the student. My son is typical. If I didn't wake him up in the morning he would sleep until God knows when. He rarely reads unless I force him. He is bright but isn't exact aware of the world around him. He has a very high aptitude (based on the standardized tests he has taken on reading and such) but is in a public high school and the rest of the students are rubbing off on him in the wrong way. He doesn't spend forever on Facebook but he watches too much MTV and/or TV. </p>

<p>Good grades, unweighted/weighted GPA 3.5/4.0; he ranks 115 out of 600 something in his class. Two sport athlete (football/track) and will go out for soccer next year too. He is bilingual and has decent EC's. </p>

<p>I'd be grateful if other parents could cut through the baloney and give me any straight, honest information they might have. My son 100% for sure will never make money playing sports. He will not make the NFL. So playing sports is just for pride and vanity. His future is his brain. It should be obvious but I think we really do love sports and the chance at playing in college means something to us. </p>

<p>But I don't want to bury him either. Is it doable? Seriously? I know other kids do it but I seriously suspect they are majoring in basket weaving not accounting or engineering. I know there are some super bright people that just never sleep or eat -- my kid eats constantly. I hope my question isn't vague. Basically........is playing sports a nightmare or not so bad........if other parents have any insights having been through it please share. </p>

<p>Thanks in advance.</p>

<p>In DS’s case, I vote “worth it”</p>

<p>My two cents…Everybody is different and unique. As a parent, I understand the concern loud and clear. I think the parents need to sit down and have a heart to heart with their son/daughter on this topic. This is a major reason my wife and I visited the schools with my son…I wanted to see what kind of support (coach/academic tutoring) he would get if he struggled. He will major in Engineering. He has yet to struggle academically or athletically in his life, but it will happen at some point…because that is the way life works. I want to know he has resources available if needed. </p>

<p>Sports today is different when I played college sports. One of the reasons we like his school is because they ARE NOT playing 50-70 baseball games a year like most D1 baseball schools. During a recruiting trip last summer, we had another school/coach mock the fact that my sons’ school plays only about 40 games in a season, and doubleheaders on the weekend only (no games during the week while schools is in session). When in actuality it was a HUGE selling point for us. My son is also doing it because he has a passion for the sport since he was about 4-5 years old. In my book, passion is the right reason. My sons knows his chances of MLB draft are slim. He doesn’t care. He understands he is at college to learn, and play baseball in that order. The worst that could happen is that he continues on for a fantastic education, and has to stop playing D1 college baseball if he struggles academically. It would be heart breaking at first, but he knows why he is at school.</p>

<p>Again, sit down with your student athlete. Have a heart to heart, set expectations and figure it out would be my advice. Everybody is different. Some kids thrive while playing a sport they love, others can be buried by it due to time management, maturity, or other interests.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

<p>I don’t have a collegiate athlete -yet-, but I know that my daughter can not imagine going to college and not doing a sport. The one thing that caught my attention in the original post was this line:</p>

<p>“So playing sports is just for pride and vanity.”</p>

<p>If that is truly all that your son is getting out of sports, than no, he should not play in college. Playing a sport, at any age, has many benefits beyond pride and vanity. Sports develop teamwork and leadership skills. Kids who play sports have higher self esteem, better time management skills and better grades. They learn to set goals, and the discipline to achieve them. They learn how to handle winning, and losing. They are less likely to smoke or do drugs. They take better care of their bodies in general, a huge benefit for girls, who are less likely to have an unplanned pregnancy. And studies have shown that kids who participate in sports experience less depression and are better at handling stress. There are a lot more reasons for a kid to participate in sports than pride and vanity!</p>

<p>This is really a tough situation. I’ll give my D’s. She was recruited for two sports. She asked all the coaches lots of questions. One of them was about study abroad. She was adamant that she be able to to that junior year. All the DI schools said no SA, and even some of the DIII said no.</p>

<p>In the end she chose a wonderful school and did her chosen sport the first 2 years. It was a time challenging thing, and she also had a part-time job on campus, and is a Type-I diabetic. She did extremely well, and reutrns in 2 weeks from a year abroad.</p>

<p>Last week for the first time she said she doesn’t know if she will do her sport because of all the time it takes up. It will be her last year at school and she wants to do things she hasn’t been able to do. </p>

<p>On the academic side, she is a double major/double minor involving three languages and international business. </p>

<p>I will not tell her how sad I am to think I may already seen her play for the last time. It’s her decision to make, and I know she will think it through carefully.</p>

<p>Big thanks all. Your thoughts are helpful and valued. </p>

<p>Fishymom…good points and very well stated. I have thought of all of the other benefits you mentioned, well not all of them, but my son will work out either way so he will stay healthy but perhaps not as healthy if not working towards playing time. But, here is the thing…one can develop some of those same leadership, time management and teamwork characteristics by being involved in community service and other activities. </p>

<p>There is no for sure “right” answer. There are gray areas and trade offs either way. Just wanted to mention that perhaps sports isn’t the only way to develop those kinds of attributes. </p>

<p>I hope to hear from others. All opinions welcome.</p>

<p>For my DD the answer is a resounding YES - it is worth the time and energy required to play sports in college (DIII). She will be a senior next year and has played 3 sports for 3 years (as she did in HS) - and plans to continue this in her final year. She is also active in her sorority and maintains a good GPA. She sometimes has practice for 2 sports at a time, but manages to coordinate with the coaches for the few weeks of overlap.</p>

<p>She has made many friends in her sports and this is a huge draw to her. She has also had leadership roles in her main sport (swimming). She could graduate early, but wants to drag it out just so she can participate in her main sport the last year.</p>

<p>She would not do it any differently if she had it to do over!</p>

<p>Perhaps another angle would be to consider long range career paths. Does the student/athlete wish to pursue a career in athletics (not as a player but perhaps as a coach of some sort). Many athletes I’m acquainted with become interested in various physical therapies because they themselves have suffered multiple injuries. Temperaments can guide a person’s career choice when they are at that early stage of indecision. Many athletes can’t imagine themselves sitting in a cubicle all day for instance. If your child is anything like mine, there are too many career choices to make right now, and they need to be narrowed down. Perhaps doing something they enjoy to begin with will eventually lead to a career that’s enjoyed as well even if it doesn’t mean participating as a player.</p>

<p>As to whether it’s immediately worth it, I think that depends on how comfortable the student is with the school and coaching staff.</p>

<p>My oldest was offered athletic scholarships at several smaller d-1 schools but turned them down to major in engineering at a large SEC school. My youngest just finished her first year at same school on an athletic scholarship. When she accepted the scholarship, we (her parents) knew she did not love the sport but she wanted to try it for one year. Practice 5-6 hrs/day and study hall another 2 hrs/day took up more time than she wanted. Her sport required her to be at the gym at 5:15am, ready for workouts at 6am, finishing up usualy around 8:30am in time for 9am classes. Then back to her sport for practice from 2:30 to about 5:30pm and mandatory study tables at the athletic center from 7-9pm. Then usually Saturday morning practice for about 3 hrs. Oh and classes were from 9-2. Cal1/Trig, chemistry, biology and the normal freshmen courses. She’s a typical girl, like to go out, sleep late when possible and is in a sorority. She has decided not to continue because she tried it and didn’t love it.
There are several football players at her school majoring in engineering. Most schools take academics very seriously as they have to keep their APR scores up.
My oldest still regrets not having taken the scholarship; my youngest has no regrets.
To me, that’s the question your son has to ask himself.</p>

<p>cpr0605 - thanks for sharing your experiences. A very interesting perspective between your oldest and youngest. Hats off to your daughter for trying to make a run at it. I’m sure that was a difficult decision for her to make as many sacrifices had been made along the way for her to get an SEC athletic scholarship. You must be very proud of her maturity. BTW…that is a brutal schedule she had to endure.</p>

<p>This is one of the great things about this site…we get to walk in someone else’s shoes for a few minutes to see what it is like.</p>

<p>I’m the mom of a DI athlete who just finished her soph year at a highly selective school.</p>

<p>She was one of the kids who couldn’t imagine going to college and not doing her sport. She also wanted to go to the best school she could get in to. That part worked out for her. </p>

<p>The student-athlete piece has also gone much better than I ever would have dreamed. She probably would have a slightly higher GPA if she wasn’t competing. On the plus side, she’s definitely holding her own in class, has the most wonderful group of friends, both team mates and others, and is so very proud to represent her school. This year she went all the way to the national championships with her sport, which was not something I would have ever dreamed of for her. She is well coached and has developed tremendously as an athlete, as a student, and as a person. This was definitely the right choice for her.</p>

<p>As far as missing things like study-abroad programs, the way she’s handled that is to do her travel during the summer. She’s had two internships. The first was paid, and in a city in which she had always wanted to live. This summer she is abroad on her dream internship, fully paid for by her school. I’m going to visit her next month. Yes, everyone is completely happy with the way this has turned out!</p>

<p>OP, I would say it sounds like your son loves his sport and wants to keep playing in college. The right fit will allow him to play, and give him the support he might need: someone to wake him up in the morning, for one! Seriously, if you’re worried about his academic motivation, find a program that keeps close tabs on how athletes are doing in school, and that provides support like tutoring and cooperation from profs on athlete absences and the need for a little flex in deadlines and test dates. At the same time, it sounds like you want a school with an excellent academic reputation, since that’s where his future lies. You can find this. And if your son wants it, he will work with you to find it.</p>

<p>Best wishes!</p>

<p>^^^riverrunner - I love reading how happy your daughter is, and how she is in the perfect place, both for her sport and her academics, as well as for her personality. Plus, she is taking advantage of the opportunities that can be found during her “off season”. How fabulous!!! Your daughter’s situation is the goal of so many - certainly my hope for my daughter :)</p>

<p>My son just finished his soph year playing D1 baseball in a competitive west coast league. He absolutely loves his school, his coaches, his teammates, everything about his situation. We really looked at a lot of schools and did tons of research for years looking toward his decision. We have been lucky as (so far) it has turned out great. His college has excellent academic support for the athletes with small class sizes and great support from the administration.</p>

<p>The student-athlete must be passionate about his sport and his commitment. Baseball has been his life for years and he’s made lots of sacrifices to attain his goals. They must be motivated to achieve long range goals. In his mind he doesn’t think he’s missed out on anything by being so single minded. His team is his “fraternity” and family. He still has time for socializing and has friends in other sports @ his school and friends that are not athletes. He has his 1st girlfriend ever. She’s in the RN program so is just as busy as he is. </p>

<p>For him, and us, it has been one of the happiest experiences of his life. When you’re the parents of a college athlete it’s really fun to travel with the team to games. It’s been great to get to know the other parents and the coaches. We are fortunate to have a tight knit group of parents. Amazingly enough the coaches are all great people, on and off the field. </p>

<p>So at this point, I can say it has been all favorable for him. There may be bumps in the road ahead but that’s life…he’ll deal with what ever comes his way and make the best of it.</p>

Moderators: I realize that bumping old threads is discouraged. Please don’t close this as it might be fun to see perspectives over a long period of time.

I’ll revive this old thread with an update from our family’s point of view. I’ll start with a brief summary but if others elaborate on their experiences I’ll add more too.

Two kids, both recruited athletes, both attended their first choice college, both ended up captaining their college team.

No regrets at all. Both enjoyed the instant group of friends their team provided, and both believe their athletic participation helped in the post college job market.

I agree totally with @sherpa .Literally everything including my son being a captain senior year. My next son just started but for our boys participating in college athletics has been a great experience. Getting interviews for both internships and jobs was definitely improved by having college athlete on his resume. When he relocated for his new job having past teammates in the city was instrumental in reducing the feeling of being alone.

I vote YES! My son’s team gave him an instant “tribe” and helped him transition into college life.

It’s a good thread.
My son felt he missed out from doing other activities, but he gained a lot of healthy habits. He still works out most days, 3 years out, and admits he definitely drank less alcohol and had better study habits than he would have. So he would say it was mixed, pluses and minuses.

Thank you @sherpa for bringing this thread up front again. Great information.

My daughter is happy with her choice to play. She’s a junior, she’s a captain, majoring in civil engineering. She talks about quitting but never will. She likes the structure and conditioning playing a sport provides.

Too soon to know for the long haul, since my kid is a freshman but – the upsides for him are obvious so far. His team is his family, but he also has good friends from classes, dorm etc. Playing a fall sport was a challenge as a freshman, because he had much less time to hang out and just get adjusted, but it forced him to be organized and pay attention to deadlines. Of course, moving onto campus two weeks early, he already felt completely acclimated by the time the rest of the freshman moved on campus, so was a little impatient to just get going already. Playing on a team certainly spared him some of the bad decisions that happen fall of freshman year, since he almost always had practice or a game the next day, though I’m confident there were some bad decisions he learned from as well.