This NCAA article does a nice job of providing insight on the reality of competing beyond high school athletics. The stats are a little scary but I don’t think they’ve considered the conversations a lot of parents and students have about the passion for playing at the next level. I’ve spent 20 years along high school side-lines and in the bleachers talking with parents, and I can’t tell you how many times I hear – “Johnny just wants to go to college and enjoy school, if he doesn’t get a DI offer”, or “DII or DIII schools don’t offer the same competitive game”…..really when did they ever go see one of those games?. The reality is that there are wonderful opportunities for your student athlete to enjoy a very competitive sports program at DII and DII schools. Student Athletes at these programs also enjoy outstanding opportunities beyond the field/court for leadership programs, travel and networking with other competitive students that will be in leadership positions beyond college.
Here’s a portion of the article, the compete story can be found at this link- NCAA Article
Many boys and girls grow up dreaming of playing sports in college and beyond. But of the nearly 8 million students currently participating in high school athletics in the United States, only 480,000 of them will compete at NCAA schools. And of that group, only a fraction will realize their goal of becoming a professional or Olympic athlete.
For the rest, the experiences of college athletics and the life lessons they learn along the way will help them as they pursue careers in other fields. Education is a vital part of the college athletics experience, and student-athletes graduate at higher rates than their peers in the student body.
These charts show the estimated probability of competing in athletics beyond high school – both in college and professionally: