Parents who believe their children should get scholarships

I spoke with the football coach of the high school I cover Friday about dealing with parents who believe their children were deserving of college athletic scholarships.

I told him about how some of them believe what I write will help their children get scholarships and I said how ridiculous I thought that was.

I asked how he dealt with parents who believe their children were deserving of college athletic scholarships and he told me that he tells them that "the key to getting a college scholarship, besides having the necessary skills, is observation," that a college coach will determine who is worthy of an athletic scholarship through observing the player, either on tape or in person.

That rung so true with me and it is something I will use if parents bring it the matter of "if you don't write about my child, he or she won't get a scholarship."

He also said the he tells the parents, "I'm not the one giving the college scholarships, the college coaches are the ones who do that," a line I might also use.

I am wondering about how other people here deal with this issue. I recall one posting of someone writing along the lines of this -- "If you child isn't good enough, there's nothing I can do to get him or her a scholarship. If he or she is good enough, there's nothing I can do to keep him or her from getting one."

Another of my beliefs in this matter is that parents should be more "pro-active" in trying to get their children scholarships by sending game tapes to coaches at schools they most want their child to attend, or where they child most wants to attend. I've never told that to a parent, but the next time I get in one of these discussions, I will. It would be most interesting to see what their response will be. Has anyone here done that? If so, what has happened?

 

I don't know if I'd even say that, Mr. X. Not really our place to "counsel" parents on how to get their kids scholarships, and even though that's not the intention, it's how it might come out.

 

Three words.

Not my job.

You're not a broker of volleyball players. You're neither a press agent of high school stars nor the prophet of parents who see Jesus in the swing of their utility infielder. Your glasses are not tinted by school colors or family crests. You exist solely to disseminate information without fear or favor to the whole of your readership.

And besides, as you've already pointed out, the recruiters know who to go after through AAU programs, camps, travel teams and God knows what else. How many athletes went onto a scholarship-offering school's radar because the Hometown Humper did up a 25-inch feature on a lacrosse or tennis star? My guess: a scant few, if any.

But if they don't believe that, then tell them that you're sorry, but your job is to provide information to the masses, not deification to the squeakiest wheel.

 

Shotglass -- How would you deal with a parent asking, "If you don't write about my child, he (she) won't get a scholarship?" or "what can I do to try to increase the chances of my child getting a scholarship?"

 

yeah, that's pretty much what i used to tell the parents. i'd just politely say that no coach has ever made a decision about who to give a scholarship to based on a newspaper article. although dealing with the parents is annoying it's part of the territory of being a preps writer.

 

I'm just trying to come up with something to get the parents off my back. Their lack of understanding of journalism makes this challenging.

 

I lump the scholarship-seeking parents in with the "you never write about the offensive line" parents and the "you only write about us when we lose" parents.

They're all egocentric pricks and prickettes living vicariously through their (often very nice) children.

They don't get it. They never have gotten it, and they never will get it. You are not going to help them get it.

Smile, nod, and then tell them to talk to the coaches. No further explanation necessary. And no further information from you on how they can "achieve their goals".

If you're really itching to explain the system, write a column or talk to your in-house columnist. Or make and distribute copies of Rick Reilly's piece on this topic (I believe it was about lacrosse?).

 

I have long thought about writing a story some summer, talking primarily with college coaches, about the recruiting process -- how coaches identify those they recruit, how they determine who is offered a scholarship, how hard it is to get a scholarship, et cetera -- in part to quiet these parents, but have never gotten around to that. Maybe this summer will be the time.

 

I'm surprised, and thankful, that this question has never come up with any parents I deal with.

 

There always has to be someone to blame. Either the high school coach didn't play him enough or didn't design the offense around him or the local paper didn't write about him enough.
"I tried to tell the college coaches that my son gained 1,000 yards last season, but the Podunk Times said he gained 999."

 

I've heard this crap from parents of soccer, volleyball and tennis players -- never the larger sports. And the top players in those sports are noticed during the club seasons or at major tournaments, not what they do at their high school.

If a kid is good enough to earn a scholarship somewhere, he's probably been written about, in some capacity, during his career. If I never saw anything noteworthy, odds are a recruiter wouldn't either.