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Will your high school athlete play in college?
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Will your high school athlete play sports in college? How much college scholarship money is available for college student athletes?
The answers to these questions are complex. They depend on the college, the sport, and the individual.
Many high school students and their parents are spending thousands of hours and thousands of dollars each year, hoping that the efforts will pay off once the student is ready to attend college.
My own family is guilty to an extent. My son Steven, a high school senior, is a sports nut. Throughout his high school years, he played AAA baseball, which is considered “college prep.” For many years, our family has sacrificed our summers and our vacation budgets to encourage him in his sport.
When my son was younger, I couldn’t understand parents who did what we are now doing. I thought that they were crazy.
However, when Steven turned 13, we found that the only way to continue with sports is to get serious about them. The only options, even at age 13, seemed to be the “college prep” teams. These teams involve practice year round, and many weekend tournaments with game times and places unknown until the day before.
We justified all this partly because his coach was a wonderful role model who expected his players to do community service and mission work. Coach Joe DeLisle of the Metro Detroit Stars wanted the players to realize what a privilege it was for them to be able to travel and play sports.
So it was wonderful character building, and we don't regret it.
However, when it came down to college searches, we realized that there are many more academic scholarships than there are athletic scholarships. Steven has found out that his future has more to do with his Math brain and his computer science interest than it does with his ability to steal bases.
Recently, due to his grades, he was offered four-year full tuition academic scholarships at both Saginaw Valley and Oakland University. These are two of Michigan's best kept secrets.
Steven may want to play baseball in college, and we haven’t ruled that out yet.
However, he found out that most freshmen and sophomores have to practice at 6:00 a.m. every day for two years before they get any playing time as upperclassmen. He is the type of kid who loves to play, and does not love to sit on the bench.
He is also very well rounded. He is academic and social in addition to being athletic, and found out that he can’t work a job if he plays a varsity sport.
Last but not least, even though Steven is an all star player at the top level possible, the college baseball coaches have yet to return our correspondence, much less offer him any money.
Yet the admissions officers at Saginaw Valley recently invited all the top scholars to a Scholarship Recognition Day, complete with lunch and star treatment.
So as of now, Steven plans to snatch up one of these wonderful academic opportunities, and play sports for fun.
Mike Kostoff, a long time high school and college coach, has written a book addressing some of these issues. “Win All Four” helps high school athletes and their parents prepare for the reality of their opportunities.
Kostiff stresses that athletes must be balanced, and focus on academics. The purpose of his book is “to give every high school athlete the understanding and a plan to become a college student-athlete.
“My hope is for the athletes to use the information to increase their chances of making their dreams a reality,” he said.
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