Earning a college athletic scholarship is an incredible feat, something that only about 5% of all high school student athletes will achieve. Prior to the new era that we are currently in, student athletes who received an athletic scholarship generally kept their scholarship for the entire 4 years that they competed (assuming they kept up in school and their training), but like many things in college sports lately, this is also changing. As college sports morph into pro sports, Name-Image-Likeness (NIL) is now a thing, and the transfer portal (something only minimally used in the past) has become a wild card for student athletes to use if they (or their coaches) are not pleased with the original scholarship agreement. Long story short: the security student athletes used to enjoy after initially earning a scholarship has been replaced by a “what have you done lately?” mentality from universities, leaving many college student athletes on edge not knowing if their scholarship will be renewed, or if they will be replaced? This new college landscape has included many unforeseen things, including new mental health challenges for student athletes.
You made it! Or have you??
Kids work really hard to earn any kind of an athletic scholarship, ranging from “full-ride,’ to scholarships that just cover books. As you might imagine, most college student athletes breathe a big sigh of relief upon signing for a college, and gaining a sense of security that they now have a college home. The relief these young people experience is largely based on all the time, energy, and money invested years previous designed to attract college coach attention by means of ID camps, online profiles, and countless more ways to be seen. To finally make it is an amazing feeling, and a big reward for the dedication and commitment the young person has made with his or her sport. Sadly, this is all changing before our very eyes.
Today, student athletes can make money from their likeness, as well as transfer schools with basically no penalty. Similarly, colleges are now using these same new rules and philosophies to their advantage, particularly with student athletes who don’t immediately measure up to athletic expectations. I have worked with many college student athletes these last few years who thought their athletic scholarship was secure, only to learn at the end of the season that the coach is going to go in another direction and the student athlete now needs to find a new home. So much for the relief previously experienced from earning the scholarship! In fact, many student athletes experience mental health issues as a result, especially anxiety and depression.
Critics will argue that nothing is guaranteed in life, and that is true. At the same time, it is tough to see a young man or woman work their entire life in their sport, earn an athletic scholarship, and then watch the scholarship be taken away when the college coach goes after the next new, shiny object by means of an incoming freshman and/or transfer. Making things worse, student athletes being released often learn this news unexpectedly, and with a very short time frame for entering the transfer portal and working new deals with schools. So imagine being told a school no longer wants you, with little time to deal with the emotions or jump into the transfer portal, and then experiencing the stress of moving to a new town, college, and team. This is becoming a very normal experience in college sports today, yet something very few people outside of college sports know about.
Final thoughts
The college game is changing very quickly, especially as it relates to the professionalization of college sports. As decisions become more callous and business-like, increasingly more student athletes are left shocked, hurt, sad, and angry, and often they experience new mental health issues as a result. These days, there is no “finish line” where a college student athlete can sit back and enjoy earning a college scholarship, as the very next day everything could look completely different. For sport parents, it is important to learn about these new changes, and help prepare their kids for sudden changes and surprises that could be experienced firsthand in the years ahead.
