What Are the Chances? Your Child and Sports….

The Dream..

Many parents have dreams of their children making it to the college or pro level in sports, but the reality is that the vast majority of kids will not play beyond high school. A study by the NCAA concluded:
“It comes as a rude surprise to many athletes yearning
for a professional sports career to learn that the odds
against success are astronomically high. Approximately
1 percent of NCAA men’s basketball players and 2
percent of NCAA football players are drafted by NBA or
NFL teams — and just being drafted is no assurance of a
successful professional career. ‘Student-athletes’ whose
sole and now failed objective was to make the pros
suddenly find themselves in a world that demands skills
their universities did not require them to learn.”

The Reality

Many student athletes attend college thinking they will become a professional athlete only to find out that the collegiate level is the end of the road for them. In fact, the statistics demonstrate in every field just how competitive professional athletics really is. The NCAA provides information concerning the likelihood of your child playing in NCAA competitions, as well as the probability of them competing in professional
sports. The following statistics reflect the 2017-18 school year. Out of 551,373 students competing in high school basketball, only 3.4% end up playing NCAA basketball. And only 1.2% of those lucky enough to make it to the NCAA go on to be drafted into the NBA.4 Your child’s odds of making it in football are nearly as bad. Out of 1,036,842 students who competed in high school football, only 2.8% made it into the NCAA. And only 1.6% of NCAA football players were drafted into the NFL.5 As you can see, the overwhelming majority of high school athletes never make it to the NCAA, let alone go on to a professional career. Now, think of all the time and energy you put into sports for your child. Does it make sense? Make sure you don’t have any unrealistic “pie in the sky” hopes for a child without the genetics or natural ability to go all the way. Take a look at the figures again. The NCAA has done us all a favor by putting together these statistical probabilities. (Statistics are available on their website for other sports as
well.)

The Truth

The important thing for us to realize here is that our kids have a super slim chance of ever becoming a professional athlete, but they have a 100% chance of appearing before their Creator when they die. What are you doing to help prepare them for that day? As you think about dumping time and resources into your children make sure you are preparing them for the reality of appearing before Jesus.

Taken from: Train Them Up: A Parent’s Guide to Balancing Sports and Faith

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