With the 2013 college football signing day fresh on our minds and the 2013 NFL draft coming up at the end of April it brings up a couple of interesting questions. One, what chance does a high school athlete have of playing a college sport? Second, what chance does a college athlete have of playing a professional sport?
If you are a high school senior and have aspirations of playing a sport in college the following statistics will be an eye-opener. If football is your game of choice you might be interested to know that of all graduating seniors in the United States approximately 5.8% will go to college and pursue the game of football as a student athlete. If you are being recruited to play college basketball, 2.9% of the young men being recruited and 3.1 % of the women will be student/athletes in this sport. If you are going to play college baseball, about 5.6% of high school seniors will fall into the category.
So, if you are a high school senior, what do these numbers tell you? It pretty much says that in the fifty states that make up the good ole USA, it appears to be tough to make it to college to play sports.
Does this mean you should give up your dream of playing college sports? Absolutely not! But it does tell you that it might be a real good idea to have a backup plan. It means that while you are honing your skills in your respective sport that you need to hit the books and pay close attention in class because whether you make it on the court or on the field, you will still have to compete in the classroom. Be sure to set yourself up for academic success as it will open many doors in life whether in sports or in the job market.
In reference to the second question, what chance does a college athlete have of playing a professional sport, we can look at the same sports that we did for high school seniors.
If you are playing college football and are hoping to make it to the NFL, only 2% of those playing in the United States will play professionally. Only 1.3% of men playing college basketball will make it to the NBA. On the women’s side of this sport, only 1% will play professionally.
Remember the 5.6% of high seniors that would play college baseball? If you play college baseball about 10.5% of the participants in this sport will play Major League Baseball.
As you can see when you get to college, academics should definitely move to the forefront in importance in your college career.
Whether you make it to the professional sports arena or not it is important to remember that the education that you obtain can never be taken away from you; it will be there forever.
If at all possible, pursue your education to its fullest and don't give up on your dreams. Sports are an important part of our life, but whether by injury, Father Time picking our pocket, or our desire to play waning, a career in sports will come to an end. If you play at any level remember to have fun, be safe and show sportsmanship in whatever sport you choose.
