Question for parents of athletes (babysitters, boys, daughter, natural)
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The vast majority of my concussions never happened playing sports.
They don't happen all that frequently in stuff like soccer and volleyball and lacrosse.
Concussions happen more frequently in soccer than almost any other sport
What sports tend to have scholarships for females? I have always heard that crew, fencing and squash were considered desirable sports, but what about sports like track or volleyball?
And congratulations to your daughter. Sounds like she's a scholar/athlete. Way to go!
I had a softball scholarship. College softball (at the top levels) is extraordinarily competitive, though. You have to be really, really good to get a scholarship at one of the good softball schools (which are also top academic schools.)
Part of the reason I played softball so seriously growing up was in anticipation for a scholarship to a top school, and I could have made it there if I hadn't stopped playing my last two years of high school. However, that's not why I played when I was really young, and even without thinking about a scholarship I would have played it very seriously still. Softball was my love.
I could go on and on, but it's most simply summed up in one word:
CONCUSSIONS.
Seriously? Nobody should play any sport because of concussions? Do you drive? You could get in an accident. Do you walk in the city? You could get hit by a bus. Do you take the elevator? It could get stuck.
What sports tend to have scholarships for females? I have always heard that crew, fencing and squash were considered desirable sports, but what about sports like track or volleyball?
And congratulations to your daughter. Sounds like she's a scholar/athlete. Way to go!
Lacrosse is a growing sport for female athletes. My son's HS girlfriend is at a D1 school in North Carolina that is starting a new women's lacrosse program. Since there are new programs starting up in lacrosse new scholarship opportunities are being created.
At our school we had girls get scholarships in tennis, golf, softball, soccer and basketball last year. I am sure there are track and volleyball scholarships available.
The vast majority of my concussions never happened playing sports.
They don't happen all that frequently in stuff like soccer and volleyball and lacrosse.
I played my fair share of volleyball and will admit, I never got bopped in the head. But not three weeks ago, a student of mine came to her piano lesson and during the course of the lesson, her dad said that she'd been concussed by taking a soccer ball to the head and would not be playing for at least three weeks.
Concussions or other major injuries in those sports may not be frequent, but sports such as soccer, volleyball and lacrosse don't get a heck of a lot of press time either. The most frequently glorified sports seem to be the most injurious. Gee, I wonder what that says about the state of mind of American sports fanatics.
And it still doesn't change the fact that academic and artistic pursuits carry a MUCH smaller chance of catastrophic injury than sports do.
I played my fair share of volleyball and will admit, I never got bopped in the head. But not three weeks ago, a student of mine came to her piano lesson and during the course of the lesson, her dad said that she'd been concussed by taking a soccer ball to the head and would not be playing for at least three weeks.
Concussions or other major injuries in those sports may not be frequent, but sports such as soccer, volleyball and lacrosse don't get a heck of a lot of press time either. The most frequently glorified sports seem to be the most injurious. Gee, I wonder what that says about the state of mind of American sports fanatics.
And it still doesn't change the fact that academic and artistic pursuits carry a MUCH smaller chance of catastrophic injury than sports do.
This sounds like you think a child shouldn't be allowed to play sports.
Rubbish. Especially if a child loves to play. You take the precautions necessary (helmets, shin guards, whatever) then teach and train them to play smart and condition their bodies so they don't do dumb things and take stupid risks. Or pull a hammie.
It also sounds like you think the piano lesson is more important than playing soccer. Lol, not to the child who loves getting out and playing soccer with her friends and absolutely hates having to sit through a piano lesson. Every child is different. I think it behooves us as parents to appreciate that. Some kids are going to love the physicality of sports. Some are going to love lugging their bass around and playing in a band. Neither is intrinsically better. Except to the snob who thinks his artistic endeavor/sport is superior.
There will also be the child who loves nothing more than school and his studies. He's the one you kick outside to make sure he gets some fresh air and remembers there's a world out there.
Academics. Sports. The Arts. Believe it or not kids are capable of doing all three. They may prefer one but that's where Mom/Dad let them know that the rock gods are few and far between so, yes, you have to learn your multiplication tables and study American Government. (And if you do raise the rock idol you let him support you in your old age because he remembers Mom didn't make him feel bad about all the noise coming from the back room.)
Last edited by DewDropInn; 12-01-2012 at 08:20 AM..
What sports tend to have scholarships for females? I have always heard that crew, fencing and squash were considered desirable sports, but what about sports like track or volleyball?
And congratulations to your daughter. Sounds like she's a scholar/athlete. Way to go!
Pretty much every NCAA recognized sport has scholarships for both men and women. I don't know where the other poster got the idea that you can only get them in football, hockey and basketball.
Since there are so many scholarships given out for football, many of the women's sports have "extra" ones to give. Look for sports where the number of scholarships are at or above the size of the varsity roster. Softball, for example, you field 12 players as starters so there is a good chance of getting a large scholarship for that sport, rowing is another good one for women, but it isn't recognized as a men's sport so none for men. Golf fields 5 on the varsity team yet D1 teams have 6 scholarships to give. Track and swimming generally have large rosters to fill out events but only a few scholarships in comparison. For those sports, generally what happens is they split the scholarships between 4 or more athletes so they each get 1/4th of a scholarship, assuming their budget is such that they can fully fund all scholarships, which unless the school has a powerhouse football team with lucrative TV contracts, they don't fully fund the scholarships.
Our DD got a variety of awards ranging from $500-10,000 based on the budget the coach has to work with, but based on the cost of the schools, the $500 award was about the same as the $10,000 award when all was said and done. She was the top recruit at every school she considered so that is the most anyone would have gotten at those schools as a freshman. The school she is attending offered $4000 in athletic aid but $18,000 in merit aid based on GPA and ACT scores alone. She also got another $7000 or so in other merit aid awards for various things leaving her with a net cost under $9000, but with the potential of more to come. The school that offered the $10,000 gave her $12,000 in merit aid but still left a net cost of about $16,000.
This sounds like you think a child shouldn't be allowed to play sports.
Rubbish. Especially if a child loves to play. You take the precautions necessary (helmets, shin guards, whatever) then teach and train them to play smart and condition their bodies so they don't do dumb things and take stupid risks. Or pull a hammie.
It also sounds like you think the piano lesson is more important than playing soccer. Lol, not to the child who loves getting out and playing soccer with her friends and absolutely hates having to sit through a piano lesson. Every child is different. I think it behooves us as parents to appreciate that. Some kids are going to love the physicality of sports. Some are going to love lugging their bass around and playing in a band. Neither is intrinsically better. Except to the snob who thinks his artistic endeavor/sport is superior.
There will also be the child who loves nothing more than school and his studies. He's the one you kick outside to make sure he gets some fresh air and remembers there's a world out there.
Academics. Sports. The Arts. Believe it or not kids are capable of doing all three. They may prefer one but that's where Mom/Dad let them know that the rock gods are few and far between so, yes, you have to learn your multiplication tables and study American Government. (And if you do raise the rock idol you let him support you in your old age because he remembers Mom didn't make him feel bad about all the noise coming from the back room.)
Dew pretty much covered what I was thinking (and much more eloquently than I would have). But I also want to add that part of what makes life interesting is the fact that there ARE many options for all kinds of talents and interests. What a boring life it would be if the only things that were allowed to be encouraged or pursued were things that were deemed "appropriate" or "worthwhile" by a single measure (and who's measure should that be?). Academics/the arts/sports are all valid pursuits. And if a person can get help for college via any one of these then more power to them.
Our DD was/is very active in the music programs at our school as well as her sport and academics as are most kids in our high school. We have about 80% of the students that are involved in sports and fine arts. That is pretty typical of schools in our area. A couple of years ago one of our football players was named to a top recruit list nationally, but he was also best at site for several state music competitions, was heavily recruited by,and accepted at several Ivy and similar schools. Is not attending one of those schools and is VERY active in the performing arts programs in that area. The "dumb jock" is more of a movie creation than reality. Yes, you will always hear about those couple on each football team that can't find their own way out of bed each morning but you rarely hear about the 4.0 student that is an engineering major on the team.
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). But I also want to add that part of what makes life interesting is the fact that there ARE many options for all kinds of talents and interests. What a boring life it would be if the only things that were allowed to be encouraged or pursued were things that were deemed "appropriate" or "worthwhile" by a single measure (and who's measure should that be?). Academics/the arts/sports are all valid pursuits. And if a person can get help for college via any one of these then more power to them.
