Investing in Youth Athletics Can Be Costly

Parents: Are you helping your child reach their dreams or are you gambling with their future?

(photo credit: www.vegas.com)

As a result of my 10+ years of coaching youth basketball, and my time coaching at a nationally recognized college prep school, I became reflective about the sensibility of parents making a heavy investment in youth sports for their child. Recently, I came across this article http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/28/opinion/all-played-out.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=c-column-top-span-region&region=c-column-top-span-region&WT.nav=c-column-top-span-region&_r=0  (thanks to my Dad for passing it along to me) which is written by a doctor who constantly encounters injuries as a result of youth sports. The issue is the response by the parents, worried about their child’s athletic career, in some cases as young as 13 years old. He solidifies his point by showing the amount of money a father invested into his daughter‘s softball career in hopes of getting a scholarship. That amount, if invested wisely, turned out to be about the same as tuition to the school she was hoping to get a scholarship to –before she blew out her knee. Now, there is no scholarship, and money that could have been spent on college instead was wasted on softball travel teams.

This got me thinking about how prevalent this practice actually is. It also brought up another thought, even though the parent is paying, are they really doing so for the benefit of their kids, or for themselves?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not attacking the AAU system or parents who support their kids in sports that the kids truly love. I’m questioning the mindset of parents who see putting money into select and AAU sports as an investment towards getting their child a college scholarship. When one totals the amount it costs in travel, hotels, gear, gas to and from practice, club or select fees etc, that money if invested early on could develop a college fund that could help a student pay for school. Approximately 2% of all high school athletes earn college scholarships. Therefore, an investment towards your child becoming part of that 2% more closely resembles a game of roulette than making a wise investment.

As a first year coach at a college prep school, I got an opportunity to see the program director sell the idea of our prep school to families. Putting it into perspective, he would say that our school “was an investment. $15,000 for one year to get a scholarship saves you money in the long run as he’d be earning at least an $80,000 scholarship.” This made sense to me too, until one painful fact became clear. Just because their child attended our school, it did not mean that they would be earning a scholarship. Therefore, there was at least an equal chance that they’d spend $15,000 and still have to pay for college. Plus, a year was virtually wasted. This is not wise investing, this is gambling.

People wonder why there are such vocal parents hoping for their child to score 30 points per summer league game. I’ve seen parents ridiculing their children or their coach if their child doesn’t play enough, or play well enough. This is because they’re gambling on their kids. This is pressure that no kid needs. They try to please their parents, their coaches, the scouts, but eventually they don’t play the game for themselves anymore. It ceases to become fun.

Parents, it is okay if your child does not turn out to be a division one athlete. It does not make you look like any worse a parent. However, if you gamble with their future by placing possible college funds into sports, then you are failing them. I’ve seen it enough, if your kid is good enough, colleges will find them, club coaches that want to pick up the travel team costs will find them. Those are the kids that will get scholarships for the most part. Funding it yourself is your option, but doing so in hopes your child will get a college scholarship is not only a foolish investment, it’s gambling with your child’s future. Be rational, let your child enjoy his/her youth, don’t put unnecessary pressure on them by gambling with their future.

For more information, follow me on twitter @coachdesautels

New NCAA D1 Eligibility Rules

Did you know that for anyone who wants to be a D1 athlete enrolling after August first of 2016, that you'll have to meet new eligibility requirements? This will impact anyone in the class of 2016 or later. If this is you, it is time to familiarize yourself with the requirements that you will be responsible for meeting.

First of all, after 2016, there will be new terminology regarding eligibility. Those that meet all requirements will still be called full qualifiers. There will also be non-qualifiers. However, those formally known as partial qualifiers will now be called academic redshirts. Players will receive aid to go to school, and can practice during the semester or quarter. They cannot play.

Aside from the terminology, here are the major changes.
The minimum qualifying GPA has been raised to 2.3. So, regardless of how good your SAT or ACT score is, if you don't at least have a 2.3 in your core classes, you won't qualify.
The SAT/ACT sliding scale has changed as well. Make sure to check your CORE GPA and compare it to your test scores through the sliding scale.

Finally, you must have completed 10 core courses before beginning your senior year. This is to keep student-athletes from scrambling to complete most of their cores during their senior year. When this happens, often it occurs dishonestly. This rule is to prevent that. This means you can complete and count no more than 6 core courses in your senior year to still qualify. Also, 7 of those 10 cores must be in English Science or Math. Make sure to pay close attention to the classes you're taking. Once you begin your senior year, those courses get "locked in," which means that you cannot replace the core if you take it during your senior year or during a prep year. Remember that this is to become a full qualifier out of high school.

Academic redshirts have different requirements. To be an academic redshirt, you are not held to the 10 credits before your senior year rule. You also have a different sliding scale. However, you cannot play competitively during your first year or college. You can practice during your first term in school, however, you must meet college eligibility requirements to continue to practice during the second term. Here is a change though: Academic redshirts do not lose a year of eligibility. This was noted in an ESPN article I suggest you all familiarize yourself with http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/eligibility_center/Important_New_Rules/High_School_IE_Standards.pdf.

In both cases, you still are required to complete 16 core courses of at least:
4 years of English
3 years of Math (Alg 1 or higher)
2 years of science (natural or physical)
1 additional year of the 3 above cores
2 years of social studies
4 additional years of the above courses or, foreign language, philosophy or comparative religion.
*Source cited, NCAA.org.

The new sliding scales can be found here:  http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/eligibility_center/Important_New_Rules/High_School_IE_Standards.pdf

If you don't meet the requirements of a full-qualifier or an academic redshirt, then you're a non-qualifier and cannot receive academic aid from a university. You'll most likely need to go to a Juco to qualify.

As the ESPN article points out, nearly 40% of those that qualified to play division 1 sports this year would not be full qualifiers under the new rules. These would be academic redshirts. Also, this is a major hit to prep schools and those trying to reclassify. You've got to have those 10 core credits by the end of your junior year, or you're out of luck.
 If you don't want to be a part of the 40% that can't play their freshman year, I'd make sure to check my transcript closely, and make sure I'm on track to qualify.

For more information, follow me on twitter @coachdesautels

Sources
http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/eligibility_center/Eligibility_Rules/High_School_IE_Standards.pdf
http://espn.go.com/college-sports/recruiting/football/story/_/id/7885522/new-incoming-eligibility-standards-create-term

The July Live Period

As we make our way into the heart of July, I'm often reminded of my time as a Prep school coach at the AAU tournaments. For two summers, we brought a club team made up of mostly players from our incoming prep school class, and for three summers, we followed incoming or prospective student-athletes that played for other club teams. Two summers in a row, we had Westwind players 'blow up', as word about them spread, more and more coaches came to check them out. One of those players is now in the NBA, the other plays at a prominent High Major School. At the same time, we had others who had the potential to 'blow up', end up fizzling out, and we watched as their recruitment struggled to take off throughout the school year as well. Some of those players are now at lower levels than they anticipated, are playing at junior colleges, or are out of basketball entirely. Thus proving, that the summer before your senior year is an important one if you choose for it to be. However, it may take swallowing your ego to ultimately get you the results you want. Based on my experience, I'm going to now contrast traits from the two who 'blew up' against the ones that didn't. I found that our players that did well did so because of a combination of their physical gifts and the way they carried themselves. The ones that didn't get the recruitment they wanted got their results because of a combination of a lack of physical gifts and the poor way they carried themselves.

The guys who saw their level of interest from schools rise during July:
1. Had standout physical appearances and above level individual skills for their sizes. One was a 6'8 g whose club team had him handling the ball at the point guard position. He could handle the ball extremely well for his size and had leadership and an ability to see the floor that was unmatched by others of his height. He was an available player that nobody else had. The other player was 6'11 and about 260lbs. A large human, yet was in very good shape. Compared to other players on the court, he clearly stood out. Again, he was somebody that nobody else had. However, I've seen players like them before and since, without the other pieces they brought to the court, they wouldn't have received the attention they did.
2. Played to win - They didn't see their role as only being a scorer, or weren't focused on how many points they got. Instead, they did everything necessary to win games. They ran their offenses, they rebounded, defended, and played the role they were asked to extremely well. It wasn't about the points, it was about winning games.
3. Were visibly coachable - These guys would listen intently whenever a coach spoke to them. They would execute what they were asked to, and they never complained. They bought in to the team they were playing for, and it showed on the court.
4. Did not show negative emotion on the court - They were steady. Regardless of whether all was going well or not, they continued to play their game and their role. They didn't get better when their team was on a run and worse when the other one was. They played hard every possession and tried to win that possession.
5. Had the ability to make the right play when the game was on the line - One player would do what he was asked and take the winning shot out of the set that was drawn up for him. The other had to defend and secure the winning rebound. Regardless, the big moment didn't faze them, they didn't get "hero syndrome". They did what they were asked to do and helped their team win (see #2).

The guys who didn't see their level of interest from school rise during July:
1. Did not have standout physical traits for the position they play: Maybe one was 6'9 and could jump out of the gym. However, if he's too skinny and is going to be pushed around, that's a red flag for a lot of schools. Couple that with the inability to play any position outside of power forward and you have a player that is unable to help a college team win games. Players blow up in July for a reason, and that's often because of the work that was put in prior to the July AAU period.
2. Cared about stats more than wins - One former college coach said it best when he said he would't recruit anyone that scored 30 points per game for a 10-10 team. The points you score don't matter if you're unwilling to do the little things that help teams win. Good coaches and recruiters notice these things, and they trust their eyes. If you're scoring 30, but you can't guard, then you're not getting an offer.
3. Argued with their coaches - I'm talking about the guys that whine when they're pulled out of a game and instead of staying invested on the bench, slouch in their chair until their coach puts them back in. College coaches want guys that want to win as bad as they do. If your stats are your #1 priority, you won't be their #1 priority.
4. Pouted visibly - This is the player who yells at their teammate when they don't get the ball. This is the player that whines at the refs after they don't get a foul call. This is the player that jogs back on defense because they miss a shot. This is a player that won't get recruited at the level they want.
5. Made sure they had the ball in their hands at the end of the game, regardless of whether or not it was what the coach wanted - We once had a right handed player shoot the ball left handed instead of pass it off at the end of a summer league game because he was so focused on being the hero. You don't have to take the final shot to make a winning play, sometimes its a screen, a rebound, a smart pass, the right movement. Coaches will notice, because if they're at your game to see you, they're watching YOU in that situation.

Overall, it shouldn't be a shock as to which players get noticed on the July club scene and which don't. If one is realistic about what they're looking at, the distinction is clear. Remember, college coaches don't want to get fired, so they recruit players that can be the difference between winning and losing. They're not going to spend time dealing with a 12th man who is pouting. If you want to increase your chances to be successful this July, you'll demonstrate some of the positive, winning attributes mentioned above. Obviously, it's too late to do much about your size and skill before the live period, but that doesn't change how you can play the role asked of you. Play to win, and you will increase your chances. It not a solution that covers all issues, but playing to win never hurts you.

Good luck this month.

For more information, follow me on twitter @coachdesautels