Scholarships to "Babes"

Scholarships to “Babes”

I keep reading about Colleges, specifically Division I colleges through their coaching staff, “offering” scholarships to children as young as 13 years old, and probably younger.

I have so many problems with this train of thought and action that I decided to write about it.

First. Let me state categorically that NO ONE is qualified to say whether a child, and let’s be clear, these are children we are talking about, is going to be developing now and in the future to be able to play at the D1 level at the age of 12. Puberty changes everything. Only about 10% of all the children who are the “best” at the age of 12 or 13 are still the best at ages 18-20. You May be able to make an educated guess, but that guess has so many peripheral consequences  to the children and families receiving this attention, that it should not be practiced.

Why would anyone want to be that kind of pressure on a child? It should be common sense logic that the more comfortable a child is, the more relaxed they will be, and then, we HOPE, will be able to continue to develop.

I cannot imagine what it would be like to be that child. I have read numerous articles on this topic and am trying to find more. I have been told by two different people that they “know” a child who received this scholarship offer at a very young age and are playing in college right now.

What they don’t say, and I certainly know why, is that out of the 7 MILLION children playing high school sports presently, only 1% will play at the D! Level, and even microscopically fewer will be found at this young  age to be worthy of such attention.

But it seems more and more people want to be attached to this “money and fame wagon” so it is extremely doubtful this ridiculous behavior will desist. Heck, it probably is going to get worse as more and more people fantasize about it.  Younger and younger kids are being drawn into this with their families. But the publicity it generates will not represent what the majority, the vast majority, are incurring while playing youth sports.

 And say what you want about the NCAA, or have heard, they do have rules, and they do enforce them. A child must graduate from their junior year in high school with the appropriate courses taken and passed that leads to a preparedness to attend college. The athlete must get a number from the NCAA Clearing House to be able to accept that scholarship. Actually there are two documents you must sign: the first is your letter of intent, and the second one is the accepting of the financial aid. The college coach and the family agree on the financial part. But as you have seen from watching my videos, that amount and even if the scholarship stays intact, can and do change from year to year. That’s right, every year the coach decides if the grant will be renewed and to what $ amount it will be renewed at.

A lot of fuss over a miniscule amount of children don’t you think? But, the profit, from chasing these kids and their dreams, and the status people believe they get, belies the fact that we are talking about children here and I can’t find one school teacher or Sports Psychologist who thinks this is a good idea for children. (And I believe adults)