College sports/scholarships -with little/no public school experience- how to?

[TheLisa]

I originally posted in the General forum:

 

I was talking to a public-school mom, and the subject of sports came up. My idea is that ds13 might go to high school to play football or whatever, maybe junior and senior year (in Illinois). My friend said no, that to play football in college you need to play in the kiddie leagues, then play ALL 4 YEARS of high school football.... Another mom chimed in and said that you also need all the CONDITIONING that the players do for those 4 years.

 

I guess I have some research to do, but I'll start here by asking for your experiences. Does anyone know a homeschooler who played college football/basketball, or other sports, with little to no high school experience? Or got a scholarship?

 

I don't know if ds really wants to play, but I don't want to close the option for him! He is athletic and does well in the sports he has tried. He hasn't liked anything well enough to stick with, but sometimes it is the coaches and refs who discourage him (like getting blasted for missing a game to go on a Scout camp-out).

 

I'm also worried about him getting hurt by starting too early. So he hasn't even tried football yet.

[Gwen in VA]

Bump!

 

(Interesting question, Lisa!)

[Begonia]

Here's some good info and a good place to start your research:

http://www.hslda.org/docs/news/hslda/200112120.asp

 

Good luck to you and to your young athlete!

[outtamyshell]

I've heard of some athletes who did not have a scholarship right out of high school go to a small college and 'walk on' to the team. Then after freshman year they may be able to earch a scholarship, but at some schools. My brother played at a small college with one personwho had never played football until he came to this country after highschool. This was highly unusual. Obviously the guy had a lot of talent. I do think it takes a lot of experience in competitive sports and the politics around them to be successful in this area.

 

The conditioning all those years is important, but I've seen athletes jump from one sport to another with great success. My cousin grew up in dance, switched to sports in Jr high and ended up with a basketball scholarship. Her sister is headed for a soccer scholarship.

 

I think actively pursuing a sports scholarship would need to be pursued as carefully as pursuing any other career or selective choice college. You might want to talk to high school and college coaches in your area as well as college scouts. There is an entire business there with all kinds of important networks in place. There are going to be hurdles you will be expected to jump through.

[Cedarmom]

Something to keep in mind is that when you play kiddie sports the coaches get to know you. In our area, they usually know the high school coaches. If you don't play sports younger, then when you try out for high school team, no one has seen you and that means you have to be exceptional. If you've been seen playing elsewhere and have a reputation as a good player, they weigh that in to your tryouts. If your new, the only thing to judge you on is the way they see you play that day. Football is easier to get on a team, than say baseball,because there are more spots.

[Laurie in CA]

My husband has experience in football and I asked him about this. He said it would be possible to play in college if your son does play as a junior and senior in high school, if he plays exceptionally, and a if college scout sees him and recruits him. My husband was the starting quarterback as a sophomore (because the senior starter was injured) then broke his leg his junior year of high school and didn't play. As a senior he was the quarterback on a team that was undefeated and were all-conference champions. This was in a small town in South Dakota in 1972. His name was always in the paper which caught the attention of the recruiters. He said only 2 people on that team received college scholarships. Also, not one other person on that team of 60 or so even went on to play football in college. He said there is quite a jump between high school football and college football and then another huge jump between college football and the pros. He does not have junior college experience but when he was in college, with a 4 year, full-ride scholarship, he did not play on the travelling team until his junior and senior year and played on the junior varsity team his first two years. You can "walk on" a college team and prove yourself but my husband's experience is probably pretty typical of how the system works. The NCAA determines the number of scholarships a team gets and not all players on the team are on scholarship and some can be split. His brother started on a half scholarship and received full his last 2 years.

 

I hope this gives you a little insight into the college sports world.

 

Laurie in CA;)

dd(14) TOG and other stuff

[Caroline]

This is completely anecdotal, so take it for what it is worth, just one kid's experience. There is a young man in our neighborhood who was homeschooled from third through eighth grade. During that time, he played basketball in his driveway. He went to public high school. This particular public high school has an excellent basketball team. A few players from this high school have gone on to the NBA. He tried out for and made the freshman team. He went on to be on the varsity basketball team, that, in his senior year, won the state championship. He rode the bench most of the time, but he practiced with these guys. He played in the last five minutes of the state championship game when they were up by 30 points. The rumor was always that he was on the basketball team mostly for his very high GPA. He applied and was accepted at an ACC schoool on academic merits, no mention was made of his basketball skills. That fall, he walked on to the univeristy's basketball team. We are talking ACC basketball here, not too shabby. He never played a minute in a game. He was there to, once again, raise the team's GPA, and to give them an inside track to the basketball players at the state championship, NBA player making high school. He never had a basketball scholarship, although he did have the academic Hope Scholarship that he almost lost due to too much time on the basketball court and not enough time studying electrical engineering. He didn't make the team his sophomore year, and thus ended his basketball bench sitting career.

[Guest collegebound coach]

I have never heard that students had to play a sport at a kiddie league level. Did you know that Michael Jordan did not start playing basketball until he was in high school? If I remember correctly, he went on to play at a division I school and then played in the NBA.

 

Here is a good resource for you...https://web1.ncaa.org/eligibilitycenter/student/index_student.html

 

It is the center that clears athletes to participate at a Division I or II school. If you scroll towards the bottom of the page, there is information regarding homeschool students.