Speaking Frankly...

At a recent seminar to a decidedly upscale group of parents and student athletes, I noticed a pattern in the questions that were asked. More and more, parents want to know "what is my child going to get from their college experience?" And how can they leverage their time and effort investment in their child's athletic opportunities to gain admittance to the best academic school they can find? Fortunately, by the end of the evening, most parents had a pretty clear roadmap of what to do and when to do it. In today's economic climate, only focusing on the college sports scholarship can actually hurt your chances.

How? If you consider the long term impact of the value of your undergraduate degree, multiplied by the amount of indebtedness when you graduate, and divided by the career opportunities your major provides, athletics should be a small part of the formula. Use it to get your foot in the door...then take advantage of every opportunity to build your collegiate and professional network over your career and on campus. Your varsity athletics career, while important and meaningful, should NOT dominate your thinking. After all, as a competitive athlete, you know that when you graduate, you will be entering the most challenging job market in decades. Get your game face on!