Felt about what?
I know a kid who got into MIT in 2023 Early Action. Great student, 1580 SATs - not all that different from other MIT applicants…. but he is a linebacker on a state championship football team:).
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I actually wasn’t thinking specifically of sports parents. I am not sure any I know personally, even at a distance, are competitive about admissions.
But I only know so many, of course.
Yep, all Ivy plus schools have some world class athletes.
And many very good athletes dont attend such schools anyway.
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And many non-world class athletes. In fact, the vast majority of Ivy Plus athletes are not world class.
What does that matter?
I was responding to this:
OP, thanks for starting this thread–I have a Sports Son & a Debate Son myself (not twins though), and while mine aren’t seniors yet, I see similar patterns with their interests & development as you describe. I agree with your point that the problem is not with sports themselves, but with how much time commitment the coaches now expect & the extent to which sports squeeze out other opportunities for students to explore interests. At my kids’ school & at the school where I teach, students cannot make school sports teams if they have not also played club sports for years (track is the exception here), requiring a year-round commitment of several evenings a week. Teenagers should have space in their lives to dabble.
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Good point. I’ve also read advice from pediatricians that kids shouldn’t play their sport more than X hours/wk where X is their age. So an 11 year old should not play bball more than 11 hrs/wk.
There are definitely girls on my daughter’s bball team who exceed that. Ugh.
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Well, it looks like you’re right at Ohio State. From the website, cheerleaders receive scholarships:
Scholarships. Each team member receives an athletic scholarship ranging from 15-70% of in state tuition
For admission, there is this statement, although that’s probably technically true for football and basketball players too. I’m guessing that if they get scholarships then there is probably some admissions preference as well. Good for them. They work hard.
Admission- You must be accepted into the main campus of Ohio State
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"That said, there’s nothing like sports for building character, developing interpersonal skills and teaching leadership "
This is EXACTLY the point. Sports are one of 12 or 15 things a kid can do to build character, develop interpersonal skills and develop leadership. You’ve never met an Eagle Scout?
It’s this attitude which I think OP is ruminating on…why is it ONLY sports? I know kids with two left feet whose leadership, character, interpersonal skills and competence puts most adults to shame.
@fifteenfive…not loving your attitude.
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From reading @FifteenFive 's entire post, I don’t think he/she meant “nothing like” literally. I think the intended tone was that sports are great for those things, and they are. But I don’t think the poster intended it to be categorically exclusive. I would say that anybody who believes that sports are the only way to achieve those ends is unreasonable.
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My kids would both tell you that playing in music ensembles does the same. Neither was terrific at sports. But they found their niche.
At our high school, being in the band was really sought after…and being in the symphonic band required passing an audition. It was hard work.
You know, most things that kids do with a strong commitment do these things…
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In Norway, children and teens are actually protected by law from many of the excesses common in American’s youth sports system.
Here is one article of many:
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I’ll just say that my kid’s participation in travel/HS sports led to many doors being opened for them, from admission to a top school, to summer internships offered, to fantastic leadership opportunities in college.
Also, the fact that my kid plays their sport in college will also help with grad school admissions and future job opportunities. Grad schools and employers are well aware of the time commitment playing a sport in college entails, especially if they can make Dean’s list while doing so.
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I like this thread. Obviously sports are good, getting into college is not everything. But at some point many kids may choose to lean into something to help get into a school that they want.
I’ve seen the opposite, where kids go to less elite schools because they live their sport so much they really want to play in college.
But I think the point of this is that there is a lot of pressure on the sporty child, and a more opaque understanding of how colleges value that is good.
I have a college athlete daughter and I have another who loves a sport that doesn’t get her into college (and she was nationally ranked) It’s been great to have the sport that was never confused with college or scholarships, whereas other daughter always had coaches from 5th grade telling her about playing in college.
It’s a lot and it’s misleading. If kids know it probably doesn’t help more than a club that takes a fraction of the time and they still want to play just as much. That’s the best situation IMO.
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Ensemble, band, choirs… and teams. When it all comes together and you look at your cohort and can smile with them that that was a job well done… wow, what a feeling.
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Exactly!
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My S26 has D3 soccer aspirations. Which I think are not a lock for him right now. But what I see missing from this very interesting conversation, with good points on both sides, is the assumption that your relationship with your children will not suffer if you asked them to give up their sport or reduce hours or step down from competitive club teams. I honestly believe my son would never speak to me again, and that’s not an exaggeration. It would be the undoing of our family. I know some of you might be thinking - how could you let your entire family dynamic be held hostage by sport??? But surely I can’t be the only one.
I very much appreciated the link to the club sports issues at Brown. I know a lot of our kids might think of club as a guarantee if they are not recruited. That was a good read and some info I had not been exposed to before.
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Exactly. I meant “nothing like” as in sports are unique. So is theater, music, debate, chess … they are all unique in their own way. No EC is superior to another.
I was simply asking rhetorical questions. I definitely see both sides of it. But I love sports, and I coach. So thinking of sports as a “waste” just strikes me as shortsighted.
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With two working parents, both of whom had responsibilities for aging and ill parents, my kids understood that their hobbies and activities were not the center of the universe. Never speak to you again? I hope you are joking.
Kids have to make all kinds of sacrifices for other family members. I hardly think that cutting back on sports qualifies as child abuse! Since my kids did not have the luxury of full time chauffeur services…and time, money and availability were in short supply at times they made it to adulthood unscathed.bim sure yours would too …
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