Sports Scholarships: The Truth About Athletic Scholarships
Sports scholarships seem the perfect compensation for hyperactive children. So parents push their little league-rs to play their way to the top, investing heavily in select sports and hours of training. They hope that one day all that bouncing around will finally pay off. But what if it doesn’t?
According to Jennifer Nicholson, mother of two high school athletes, this seems to be the norm. Her oldest son, Troy, recently graduated and received offers to play baseball from a number of schools — Texas Tech, the University of Oklahoma and a number of other local universities wanted this honor-roll all-star on their teams. And why shouldn’t they? He has the grades, the scores and the record. The only thing he doesn’t have is the promise of an athletic scholarship.
While Division 3 schools don’t give athletic scholarships, Tech only offered a conditional scholarship based upon academic performance (which would start Troy’s sophomore year). Jennifer says that while she’s disappointed her son didn’t receive quite the offer they expected, she’s glad their family wasn’t relying on a full ride. But she’s worried about the people that are. “Investing in select teams is great if you do it for the development of your child, but don’t do it just to get a scholarship,” she warns. “It could pay off, but there’s just no guarantee.”
So when it comes to looking for scholarships, Jennifer recommends that you don’t dish out your life savings for cleats and uniforms. Focus your investments on your child’s well being and education. Because her son kept an eye on his academic performance, he’s guaranteed merit scholarships. For those who need serious funding for college, it might be better to stick to scholastics.