The Reality of College Scholarships and Playing at the Collegiate Level
Even though interscholastic athletics may garner an extraordinary amount of attention from spectators at given times, it is important to remember that these programs exist to prepare young men and women for the next level of life, not the next level of sports. If the primary purpose of interscholastic activity was to create future contributors to college or professional sports, then we would be failing miserably, as a negligible number of the 50,000 graduating student-athletes each year move on to a higher athletic level.
Recent trends have seen a significant expansion in non-school sports organizations that tout their ability to offer training and the opportunity to participate in programs that will lead to pathways to play at “the next level”.
The New York Times recently published a series of articles that took a clear look at the reality of how much money is available for athletic scholarships and also, the pros and cons of playing collegiate sports. We recommend it to all parents and students.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/10/sports/10scholarships.html?_r=1&oref=slogin