Answers

I don't know what I think of the New York Times. They always try to make a huge deal out of little things and pull things out of context. I'm sure college athletics is very demanding but do you really think that most student-athletes are that naive? I feel like the article makes teenagers look stupid and makes coaches look like tricksters. It's typical newspaper stuff - you have to make a big deal to sell papers and I guess no one buys newspapers these days.

i would just try it out for a little while and see how it works. for me i absolutely love volleyball and as much i love it, i want to keep my grades up too. so instead of joining the team, i might just practice my skills whenever i have the time.

To a certain extent, there are a lot of sour grapes here. Yes, there are very few athletic scholarships out there but it's such a great way to save money if you can get one. If you only play sports to get a scholarship, then that's just lame. Real athletes play for the love of the sport and competition and they are happy if they are at a high enough level to get a scholarship. They haven't built their athletic career around the desire to win a scholarship.


So really, if you're asking "are college athletics not worth it?", they probably aren't to someone who looks at it as just a way to win a scholarship.

I think the NYT is a pretty reliable publication and they've done a good job of showing that college athletic scholarships are few and far between and the work needed to keep one is like having a full-time job. Why not spend all that time and money doing well in school and on your tests rather than trying to get into college because you're like the #23 rated squash player and your parents spend hundreds of thousands of dollars flying you around the country? It's kind of pointless to go to a good school if you're not very smart to begin with.

I think college athletics are overrated. Athletes who aren't football or basketball players don't get treated very well and they have to work super hard to raise money for their own sports. You're already spending 4 years in college. Stay fit by playing intermural sports, going to the gym, and living healthily.

I think this article underplays the positives of high-school sports, especially for those who may not be the next Lebron James or Matt Leinhart. Sports instill self-confidence, discipline, and the virtue of teamwork. Not only that, sports is a great way to keep students physically fit. Too many students nowadays come home from school, pop in a microwave pizza, and rot their brains in front of the TV. It's important to get good exercise. Also, like clubs and community service groups, sports are a great way to build social skills. All in all, I think parents and students need to recognize the overall value of sports, aside from that elusive scholarship.

Yikes! Maybe I should spend more time studying and less time training. College is going to be expensive.

I don't understand why all these people think we should stop playing sports. You play sports not just to get into college. It's just like music or theater. Everything you do in life shouldn't be just for the purpose of getting into college. That's like those rich kids whose parents spend thousands of dollars to send them to Mexico to build houses for homeless people. Why not just give that money to the homeless people rather than having a 16-year old with no homebuilding skills make that house?