Not Just A Game: High school athletes shouldn’t feel required to play college sports

I am excited to announce my verbal commitment to further my athletic and academic career…

This is the fifth commitment post I’ve seen this week.

Meanwhile, I still haven’t opened the emails from June 15 — the day college coaches are allowed to contact the 2027 recruiting class — from college coaches hoping to schedule calls and inviting me to attend their soccer camps.

The pressure to play in college isn’t just my own pressure to play up to my standards and to my best ability. It stems from the guilt that my parents spend thousands of dollars for me to attend practices with A-licensed — a professional with an advanced certification — coaches and to send me across the country to showcases designed for college scouts to watch players. All with the reality that I don’t want to play in college. 

But I shouldn’t have to feel guilty for continuing to play the sport I love at the level that I am at. It should be normalized for club sports to be played in preparation for the high-speed high school varsity game. Not only for preparation for the collegiate level.

I’m constantly asked why I put in so much effort for a sport I don’t even want to play past high school. But the same thing should be asked for the next level. Why do athletes put so much effort into a college sport if they don’t want to play professionally? Only 2% of college athletes from all sports move on to the professional level, according to the National Collegiate Athletic Association.  

But neither question is valid — it should be expected to put in effort even if the next level isn’t someone’s end goal.

Still, my name on my club team roster feels as if it’s in a larger print than the others. I’m taking up a spot on a girls academy team that has the resources and experience to help them in the recruiting process that someone else is dying for.

It’s never been a dream of mine to play college soccer. But that shouldn’t mean I need to play down levels to leave room for those who do.

When the team is perfectly set up to help recruitment, this puts more pressure on high school athletes to have to play college sports — but not everyone wants that.

Addy Newman | The Harbinger Online

College sports aren't for everyone. Only 6% of high school athletes play in college out of the over 8 million high school athletes across the country, according to the University of Olivet.

But somehow, every time I tell someone I don’t want to play soccer in college, surprise is clear on their faces. 

There are many benefits to playing college sports: athletic scholarships, life skills such as leadership and time management and continuing to play the sport you grew up loving. 

According to the NCAA, Division I and II schools provide almost $4 billion for athletic scholarships annually to 197,000 student-athletes. Although Division III doesn't offer athletic scholarships, these athletes are typically awarded merit or need-based financial aid.  

However, high-level sports at higher age groups are only focused on the next step: college.

Pre-season camps consist of private meetings held with club coaches to discuss plans for college and strategies to achieve them.

But I spend my meetings with my club coach discussing why I don’t want to play in college, not what I want to do with my future. 

The pressure makes it feel like higher-level teams are reserved only for those wanting to play in college. It should be one’s own choice on what their plans for the future are, without pressure from coaches and teammates voicing what they think I could do, and what they think is best for me. 

It is essential to recognize that not everyone is interested in playing college sports. As much as I enjoy my current level of play, for me, I don’t want to relive four more years of the extensive schedules that take up all of my free time, the unequal playing time, the stress to eat and hydrate properly and the overworking of players both mentally and physically.

All when my sport isn’t something I need to feel fulfilled. There are more opportunities in college than in playing college sports. And when my career path doesn’t have to do with that, I shouldn’t feel expected to play a college sport.  

Even though I love my sport — the friendships, travelling and family atmosphere — it’s not something I want to continue past high school. And I shouldn’t have to explain myself to everyone asking why. 

So instead of repeating my everyday inner monologue of telling myself I don’t have to play in college, I reply with, “I’m not sure yet.”

And although many do choose the route of playing college sports, it isn’t for everyone. There’s too much pressure from my teammates asking me where I’m looking to commit to, the constant nagging of my parents to decide what I want and my coaches telling me what they think is best for me — I should be allowed to make my own decision.

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Author Spotlight

Addy Newman

Addy Newman
Entering her second year on Harbinger staff, Addy Newman is looking forward to stepping into the role of copy editor, section editor, staff writer and designer. When Addy’s done pestering Evelyn about design ideas on InDesign, or bothering Avni about finishing her edits, she can be found waiting in the Swig line for her Texas Tab soda, binging Gossip Girl or spending an hour driving to soccer practice. »

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