Numbers don’t add up for scholarship-hunting parents

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By Eric Page | Thursday, July 3, 2008 6:38 PM CDT | () comments

Parents are investing thousands in the athletic careers of their children, some with the idea that it’s an investment that will pay off when their child receives an athletic scholarship.

The numbers simply don’t add up.

Only about one percent of high school athletes receive athletic scholarships, and very few of those get the full ride that goes to football and men’s and women’s basketball players. In fact, the average scholarship package excluding the major spectator sports is only $8,707 a year. In sports such as baseball and track and field, scholarships routinely are as low as $2,000.

The reality of the pursuit of scholarships is a stark contrast to the fantasy held by so many parents, a topic addressed in a New York Times article in March.

Parents, according to the article, don’t understand that “scholarship” doesn’t mean full ride and often are shocked when they end up footing most of the bill for educations ranging from $20,000 to $50,000 annually. They expect a return on their investment, a return most never see.

NCAA president Myles Brand was interviewed for the article.

“The youth sports culture is overly aggressive,” Brand said. “While the opportunity for an athletic scholarship is not trivial, it’s easy for the opportunity to be over-exaggerated by parents and advisers. That can skew behavior and, based on the numbers, lead to unrealistic expectations.”

Chasing scholarships is big business. There is an entire industry out there full of supposed experts willing to market your son or daughter to college coaches — for a fee, of course.

Profile videos, personal Web sites, private coaches and trainers — it’s all part of a game that a decade ago was as involved as filling out a questionnaire and sending out film.

It’s all great in theory, of course, but the problem, says Larry Lauer of the Institute for the Study of Youth Sports, is that, rather than the college coaches, it’s the parents and athletes who are being sold.

“There are a lot of people out there making money off the dreams of young athletes and their parents,” Lauer said. “So, sometimes parents get conflicting information, and they’re not quite sure on what the reality is with college sports and college scholarships.”

The reality is that your son or daughter probably isn’t going to receive an athletic scholarship. And if they do, chances are it won’t cover more than half his or her education.

That’s not to say they shouldn’t participate in athletics, but there are surer ways to secure a return on a financial investment.

“I hear a lot of people who say, ‘Oh, my kid will get a scholarship,’ ” said Rob Roman, a financial advisor at Financial Counsel Inc. in Davenport. “I always tell people it’s a good idea to have something there for the kids when they do go to college. There are other avenues, but it’s a good idea to start early with a monthly disciplined savings.”

Coaches see it, too, from eager parents and athletes who say the scholarship is the end goal.

That’s just missing the point of interscholastic athletics, says former Muscatine swimming coach Erik Olsen.

“If parents want to spend a lot of money and give a lot of encouragement, they really should be encouraging their children to be great academics,” Olsen said. “Students are going to have a better opportunity in life and probably a better opportunity at college if they focus on academics. Athletics should be something that is fun and enriching to that liberal arts academic experience. It shouldn’t be the central goal for someone to think, ‘Gee, I’m going to get that baseball scholarship.’ ”

Because, chances are, they won’t.

Eric Page can be contacted at (563) 383-2277 or epage@qctimes.com.