Actually this is an increasing problem in college athletics. Not to brag, because it really is concerning, but I coach my son's 7-8th grade basketball team (he plays on this team even though he is in the 6th grade) and I have already had a couple of college/AAU scouts ask me for details (age, how long he has been playing, ect.) about my son. Luckily I am there to politely tell them we are not interested in those discussions. The whole AAU, club team circuit is really a rat race with a lot of shady characters who troll middle schools and below in an attempt to "get in" early with promising players to steer them to affiliated colleges. The NCAA really needs to step in and do something, the stories below are becoming far too common. http://ouraaustory.blogspot.com/ http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=1751227
The best soccer player in the world, Leo Messi, got recruited by a pro club at age 7 and then went to FC Barcelona at age 13 and in terms of starting young, he is no exception in that world. Matter of fact many of the world's top soccer players were recruited at a young age to play for pro teams. In America we like to pretend that these kids are going to do something other than play pro sports so we bury them in an education bureaucracy of bullshit until they are approaching adulthood and even then we still dick around the issue with this one and done business in college b ball. Truth is some people are cut out to be pro athletes and it is usually apparent at a young age. No reason to waste time on their career earning potential by making them earn a degree they will be able to afford later on.
I hear what you are saying here, but the Messi's and Kobe's of the world are exceedingly rare, even among the elite of the elite. Given the economic hardships faced by a majority of pro athletes once they are done playing, encouraging more education is a very good idea. Not to mention that in pro sports you are always one game or practice play from a career ending or limiting injury. Nothing is guaranteed and there is a small window of time that most have to make the big bucks playing their sport, and that money has to last the rest of their lives. Having a degree and/or well thought out and executed plan b, should be mandatory for these athletes. I have seen too many "can't miss" phenoms flame out for one reason or another and they almost always end up as a cautionary tale for others.
I think you can do both. With a residential academy system like they have in la masia, which supplies FC Barcelona with their talent, you can have a good education and still prepare for a pro career. So many kids with great athletic talent come from dangerous home environments and if these youngsters can be identified and integrated into residential programs at an early age it would reduce their exposure to the dangers of their communities and the associated thinking patterns. Additionally, they would be better protected from crooked agents and other unsavory characters who circle the high schools like vultures looking for their next meal ticket. I don't disagree that education should come first in general but when you see an obvious talent, I feel that the current system is set up to hinder their success for the benefit of the AAU circuit, crooked agents and crooked university programs who are making millions while the kids are not getting fair compensation. With an Academy system you give them the best of the best education from an early age and great training opportunities. Check this out. [youtube]saW3gfWaDBI[/youtube]
Very good post, agree 100%. I would love to see the kind of Barcelona academy here in the states, would help destroy many of the ills of the current system, and meet both goals of identifying talent young and still providing/stressing education. Not sure I could send my 12-13 year old to another country to play and study the way Messi's parents did, but he is a once in a generation talent. As a former D1 scholarship player, I feel strongly that given the amount of $ the schools make off of the athletes they should be paid some amount above and beyond tuition.
