Letter of
Intent:
On national
signing day, hundreds of children sign 2 letters to commit to a D1, II, or III
college to continue to play the sport they love. I am very pleased that so many
young athletes are getting a chance to play their sport at the Division 1 level.
It is a great opportunity that only about 2% of all the kids who attend a 4
year college get to experience. Even fewer of those children get to go to their
chosen college at the Division I level, about 1% and even fewer, 1/2 of 1% get
to play for free.
But the
sobering fact is that this pursuit has gotten way out of hand. Let’s look at
some facts as it relates to this race for athletic scholarships.
Basketball
(13) and football (85) for boys, and gymnastics (12), volleyball (12), tennis
(8), and basketball (15) for girls are referred to as “head count” sports and
those children receive a full scholarship or nothing at all. Colleges do not
have to fully fund their total allotment of athletic scholarships each year.
For the most part, each year, each coach decides whether to renew the athlete’s
scholarship for the next year. The average grant, even including the head count
sports for ALL DI athletic scholarships is about $10,780a year.
However, most athletic scholarships to the
Division 1 level are partial scholarships going to athletes who participate in
what is categorized as equivalency sports. What is not commonly known is that
most of the other sports give out partial athletic scholarships. Let’s take a
look at lacrosse. Men’s Lax has 12.6 athletic scholarships per team and 57
colleges play at the D1 level, with about 35 guys on the roster. Women’s lax
has a total 83 colleges playing at the D1 level, and a total of 12 athletic
scholarships for each team and about 30 on each roster. The average for these
sports is anywhere from $2,000 to $8,000 a year. This grant, for most athletes,
is renewed every July. That is right; there are very few multiyear athletic
scholarships.
It has been
brought to my attention that I am trying to “upset the apple cart” and taking
away from these kids accomplishment. Simply not true. What we do at Frozen
Shorts, is present the facts. We are huge believers in choice. We say play for
fun, and if something happens, great. But do not count on it. Enjoy the
journey. You will play better this way, and we can prove it. But if you are
going to make an educated choice, you should “have all the facts” as my late
great father used to say.
Many
families believe that the elusive D1 athletic scholarship is well within their
reach. They spend freely for their child’s athletic journey. These parents get quite upset when it is mentioned that
most of the kids don’t get a full ride and the parents have paid way more $ during
the journey, about 99% of them, than they will ever receive from colleges for
their child’s athletic play. Interestingly, as I ask more and more parents what
their total athletic scholarship dollar amount is for their child, they refuse
to answer. The myth is perpetuated. I wonder why they refuse to answer.
Why is this a problem? Children are being pushed by parents, coaches, and organizations to
compete and train for longer hours than they should. The children themselves
buy into the program and put more pressure on themselves to excel. The ensuing
negative stress that builds up in their bodies and minds is not healthy for
them, now and in their long term future.
Families see
a child signing a letter of intent and feel that with the extra amount of
training and elite team participation they can achieve the D1 scholarship and
the ensuing status and ego boost and encompassed with that process.
But along
the way, kids are getting hurt in record numbers. 3,000 kids a day to go to
hospitals with youth and high school sports injuries every day. Last year alone, $1.25 BILLION was spent on
overuse injuries for children, with 40% of these injuries occurring to children
under the age of 15.The mental and physical stress on these children has long
lasting consequences. The stress, angst, and tiredness during this journey has many
children quitting before they even reach the age of 13.
Lots of kids
just want to play with their friends and have fun. Many of these children now
see youth sports as a stress filled environment without the essential
ingredients of childhood such as creativity, fun, positive life lessons, and
safe and fair completion.
For most
kids and families it is simply a race that does not exist.
