Academic Athletes & Stress

Academic athletes are coddled and nurtured from their pee wee coaches through college. They are the rainmakers that will bring good fortune to the high school and college fund that makes the word profits spin rapidly out of control. A top athlete today even has a Nationwide web site, Rivals.Com that hunts them down and displays them for all the sports venues to see. They are a product. But, we as parents (in some cases) also view sports as a ticket to a dream.

The ticket can be worth as much as $200,000 for schools like USC, Notre Dame, Michigan, LSU, Oklahoma to name a few if they are given a full ride for four years. Does anyone actually finish in four years? I digressed. Bottom line whether you are a walk on athelete at Alabama or a full ride scholarship athlete at UCLA this is no small investment.

Our children are emersed in the possibility of one day being the next free ride to college. High School coaches tout the academic athletes policy to the parents but the allmighty dollar reins supreme. Even down in the high school level you see it in the Boosters. The Booster Groups are responsible for raising donations that the school cannot achieve through internal budgets in supporting their sports programs.

How Does A Lack Of Sleep Effect Athletes?

Heck, even the band has to go out and beg for money these days. Everything has escalated to the point whereby the academic athletes are tossing the books for more time on the field or gym. You see it in Division One college sports today. God forbid you have to listen to some of the professional athletes during an interview. Of course, I still can't figure out half of what comes out of Lou Holtz when he is ranting about how Notre Dame is still a top ten football school.

Boy did I go sideways! Our children are very aware of the sports pressures and "free ride" to the college of your choice. As parents we have to be very aware and careful not to get caught up in this whole process. If your child is that good he or she will make it.

Today's parent is looking for the quick fix. I have seen families spend thousands of dollars a year on a five year old for a trainer. You see, if the parents did a time value of money chart they would see that the thousands of dollars spent between the ages of 5 and 17 to make it through a traveling sports team vs. that old recrealtion or YMCA league would have paid for College. What a sad irony that is. Weekends lost to loading up the mini van or god for bid the SUV gas gussler and off to the next three day tournament. Add it up folks and you just paid for Johnny's four years and left half your family lost in the wake.

The victim in all of this? Our children are suffering silently from the stress they realize early on that comes with this. They have parents who can't stop talking about their god given talent to their trainer pushing for one more sit up. They want to please us so they just do it. Over time we are creating lost children who don't assimilate into our society when sports end. Sports can end quickly and sadly for many children.

So, next time you are thinking of putting your child in a "Traveling AAU" program, think twice and call the YMCA or local recreational league and enjoy your weekends lost now returned.

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High School Academic Athletes

Hollywood launched the very successful Friday Night Lights. This depicts a small town in Texas that lives and breathes football Fridays. Whole business owners shut down and even post it so on their storefronts. Imagine being the teacher with a football player who could care less about his studies. Are you going to do what is academically the right thing to do? Want to keep your job? This is far too difficult to manage due to the huge demands and the social economics impacting the towns investments. Child athlete? No more. Now it's about D-1 College football in the High School. Get the recruiters and Rivals.Com to my home town so I have the pick of the top programs that will launch my college career. Even if that college career is only 2 years and you option to go professional football. Ahh, the poor D-1 College didn't get their monies worth if you leave early. Hardly, they are raking in the dollars from game wear to ticket sales and booster investments.

Pity the poor High School Academic Athlete who really does care. If he or she is showing too much text book investment it could reduce their athletic capability. Thus a conflict between the athlete and the student.

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