Being a parent of four kids that all play sports has provided me a perspective of kids sports that I find worth sharing with those parents who are on the fence when it comes to allowing their kids to play sports. I understand playing sports is not for everyone, so this may only apply to those parents that have kids that want to play sports and they said no or if they said yes it was reluctantly. I want to start by saying that as far as I'm concerned, no matter how much a child wants to play a sport or how good they maybe at playing a sport, that the first priority has to be their education. There is no debate on this issues for me whatsoever. While this may seem so practical and in some cases obvious, sometimes it is not the practical or what seems obvious that will bring you to the right solution, it will depend on the child and the circumstance involved. However, I think it is important to get this out there right away because this is probably one of the major reasons many parents don't allow their child to play sports. They believe there has to be a trade off that allows the child to put sports first and education somewhere farther down the list.
This message is not really focused on those parents that have played sports in school or college and have personal insight into the things to be considered for their kids to participate in sports. This is more for those parents that don't or may never have participated in sports and may view it as strictly entertainment for the rich and famous. I know that is a very broad statement but I want address the extreme of this situation for those parents who truly struggle with finding the value in their child playing sports, when they consider the time, money and detraction it may caused in them getting a good grades and an education. The question that comes to mind for that parent is "What is the chance of them having a Professional career in sports?"
My response to that question is that is in many cases this would be considered an extreme reference for making a decision on allowing your child to engage in a sports activity. This being said, it is a true concern for many parent especially in those cases where for example the child is a freshman in high school and they want to continue to play basketball, football, soccer or whatever the sport maybe and they are barely maintaining a passing grade in some or all of their classes. When kids are younger other factors usually come into play on parent supporting them in sports, like having the money and time to support and participate at a level most sports demand for a child to play for example recreational soccer, basketball or track and field for that matter.
This is not to mention some of the more demanding sports like gymnastics, swimming and ice skating with regards to the level of commitment required on the part of the parent to support their child. Where am I going with this? As a parent that really didn't have an opportunity during my youth to participate in sports and one that usually only catches the play offs for most sports if that, yet having and supporting four kids that have all participated in one sport or another since they were about five years old. Why you ask? In all honesty there was a time with my oldest that I supported him primarily because I believed he had the drive, coaching and ability to be an Olympic hopeful in the sport of gymnastics.
However, there were a number of circumstances that caused my view to change over time, and my support for him and our other children that followed, was for a whole sets of different reasons that had little to do with them being a career athlete. Consider for a moment the number of kids that achieve this goal versus the number that don't have the true desire, commitment, skills, work ethic or opportunity. So given these and other factors should the parent just say no!
I would suggest looking at it from a different perspective before you answer that question. What is an investment? It usually is a use of your resources and assets to hopefully acquire a positive increase or return on that investment. I suggest those parents that are on the fence look at their child playing a sport as a potential investment in them the same as you would their education. There is no debate of the cost required to support a child's education from the time they start kindergarten until the hopefully graduate from high school. I suggest that to be the minimum investment required to position a child for their future. So what about those parent that believe the minimum is a college degree or certificate of education in a given technical field or occupation.
If you desire your child to attend college then you don't need me to tell you the amount of the investment has in many cases increased two-three fold, given the cost of college and associated expense, and it seems it is only going up. What if your investment in your kid playing a sport was about helping them to get into college and not about launching their professional career in sports? I have added a chart taken from Scholarship Statistics website for 2012 to provide insight to the size of the opportunity for your child to get an education at some of the top ranked college across the country, if they are awarded an athletic scholarship for their sport. There are college bound athletes that have acquired a full ride as they say because they were recruited by a college to play a specific sport. While some of these athletes will go on to play professional sports, that in my mind is up to that son or daughter that is now competing at that level but has a college education regardless if they decide to go or not to go further with their sport ambitions.
So in keeping with the theme of this message if you are on the fence regarding supporting your child in sports I request you consider it from this perspective. The same way you view supporting them in their education as an investment let them know that their participation in a sport will be treated the same. If they are able to do both at a level that assures them a good education determined by things like grade point average, SAT and ACT scores (college entry exams) when those come into play usually by freshman and junior year in high school.
Everyone that gets a high school diploma or college degree is not going to be a doctor, lawyer or engineer the same applies to everyone that plays sports is not going to achieve or necessarily desire a professional career in sports. My approach to supporting a child that wants to play sports is that they must be achieving passing grades if they really want it, it is not one or the other it has to be both. With the next statement being one that clearly said the priority has to be passing grades. Why? Because if they want to play sports in college the same rules apply.
NCAA Raises Minimum GPA for Incoming Student-Athletes
Starting in August 2015, high school student-athletes who hope to play sports in college will be held to a higher academic standard. While freshmen only need a 2.0 GPA to be eligible for competition now, the new rules require student-athletes to have a 2.3 GPA to have immediate access to competition.
But at the same time they are increasing the scholarship funding the athlete can acquire.
The board adopted legislation that will allow schools to give student-athletes up to an extra $2,000 in athletic aid (assuming it doesn't exceed the full cost of attending the school). The board set that $2,000 number in stone for the next three years.
I hope this information helps because this as many other tough decisions parents have to make in providing their kids what they need to be successful, it is not always easy and once the decision is made there is still a high degree of support needed by the parent to see it through.
** By our calculations there were approximately 177,559 College Athletic scholarships available in 2012.
This message is not really focused on those parents that have played sports in school or college and have personal insight into the things to be considered for their kids to participate in sports. This is more for those parents that don't or may never have participated in sports and may view it as strictly entertainment for the rich and famous. I know that is a very broad statement but I want address the extreme of this situation for those parents who truly struggle with finding the value in their child playing sports, when they consider the time, money and detraction it may caused in them getting a good grades and an education. The question that comes to mind for that parent is "What is the chance of them having a Professional career in sports?"
My response to that question is that is in many cases this would be considered an extreme reference for making a decision on allowing your child to engage in a sports activity. This being said, it is a true concern for many parent especially in those cases where for example the child is a freshman in high school and they want to continue to play basketball, football, soccer or whatever the sport maybe and they are barely maintaining a passing grade in some or all of their classes. When kids are younger other factors usually come into play on parent supporting them in sports, like having the money and time to support and participate at a level most sports demand for a child to play for example recreational soccer, basketball or track and field for that matter.
This is not to mention some of the more demanding sports like gymnastics, swimming and ice skating with regards to the level of commitment required on the part of the parent to support their child. Where am I going with this? As a parent that really didn't have an opportunity during my youth to participate in sports and one that usually only catches the play offs for most sports if that, yet having and supporting four kids that have all participated in one sport or another since they were about five years old. Why you ask? In all honesty there was a time with my oldest that I supported him primarily because I believed he had the drive, coaching and ability to be an Olympic hopeful in the sport of gymnastics.
However, there were a number of circumstances that caused my view to change over time, and my support for him and our other children that followed, was for a whole sets of different reasons that had little to do with them being a career athlete. Consider for a moment the number of kids that achieve this goal versus the number that don't have the true desire, commitment, skills, work ethic or opportunity. So given these and other factors should the parent just say no!
I would suggest looking at it from a different perspective before you answer that question. What is an investment? It usually is a use of your resources and assets to hopefully acquire a positive increase or return on that investment. I suggest those parents that are on the fence look at their child playing a sport as a potential investment in them the same as you would their education. There is no debate of the cost required to support a child's education from the time they start kindergarten until the hopefully graduate from high school. I suggest that to be the minimum investment required to position a child for their future. So what about those parent that believe the minimum is a college degree or certificate of education in a given technical field or occupation.
If you desire your child to attend college then you don't need me to tell you the amount of the investment has in many cases increased two-three fold, given the cost of college and associated expense, and it seems it is only going up. What if your investment in your kid playing a sport was about helping them to get into college and not about launching their professional career in sports? I have added a chart taken from Scholarship Statistics website for 2012 to provide insight to the size of the opportunity for your child to get an education at some of the top ranked college across the country, if they are awarded an athletic scholarship for their sport. There are college bound athletes that have acquired a full ride as they say because they were recruited by a college to play a specific sport. While some of these athletes will go on to play professional sports, that in my mind is up to that son or daughter that is now competing at that level but has a college education regardless if they decide to go or not to go further with their sport ambitions.
So in keeping with the theme of this message if you are on the fence regarding supporting your child in sports I request you consider it from this perspective. The same way you view supporting them in their education as an investment let them know that their participation in a sport will be treated the same. If they are able to do both at a level that assures them a good education determined by things like grade point average, SAT and ACT scores (college entry exams) when those come into play usually by freshman and junior year in high school.
Everyone that gets a high school diploma or college degree is not going to be a doctor, lawyer or engineer the same applies to everyone that plays sports is not going to achieve or necessarily desire a professional career in sports. My approach to supporting a child that wants to play sports is that they must be achieving passing grades if they really want it, it is not one or the other it has to be both. With the next statement being one that clearly said the priority has to be passing grades. Why? Because if they want to play sports in college the same rules apply.
NCAA Raises Minimum GPA for Incoming Student-Athletes
Starting in August 2015, high school student-athletes who hope to play sports in college will be held to a higher academic standard. While freshmen only need a 2.0 GPA to be eligible for competition now, the new rules require student-athletes to have a 2.3 GPA to have immediate access to competition.
But at the same time they are increasing the scholarship funding the athlete can acquire.
The board adopted legislation that will allow schools to give student-athletes up to an extra $2,000 in athletic aid (assuming it doesn't exceed the full cost of attending the school). The board set that $2,000 number in stone for the next three years.
I hope this information helps because this as many other tough decisions parents have to make in providing their kids what they need to be successful, it is not always easy and once the decision is made there is still a high degree of support needed by the parent to see it through.
** By our calculations there were approximately 177,559 College Athletic scholarships available in 2012.
Varsity SportTotal
SchoolsTotal
Athletes
Men
WomenArchery 4 512229Badminton 15 128- 128Baseball 1,643 53,24153,241- Basketball 1,973 59,03931,47327,566Beach / Sand Volleyball 17 245- 245Bowling 113 1,6515951,056Cross Country 1,463 35,93617,69118,245Cycling & Mountain Biking 6 17612452Equestrian 65 2,170462,124Fencing 42 1,296622674Field Hockey 260 5,632- 5,632Football 871 87,25687,256- Golf 1,299 18,28212,1476,135Gymnastics 88 1,9073461,561Ice Hockey 150 6,1884,1812,007Lacrosse 451 20,53211,7488,784Rifle 34 426237189Rodeo 74 2,2041,364829Rowing 147 10,1862,9947,192Rugby 11 457310147Sailing 34 1,191547644Skiing 42 1,069560509Snowboarding 2 402119Soccer 1,613 72,23136,74135,490Softball 1,636 29,670- 29,670Sprint Football 8 428428-Squash 32 860463397Swimming & Diving 600 23,38210,30413,078Synchronized Swimming 5 65- 65Tennis 1,176 20,85910,12210,737Track & Field 1,075 90,74745,21845,529Volleyball 1,737 27,1692,00425,165Water Polo 112 3,4391,6101,829Wrestling 322 9,2128,969243Other Sports 12 386205181Total Student Athletes Participating 587,750341,588246,162
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