I’ve devoted this column the last two weeks, as well as last week’s edition of Making The College Choice (Radio One, AM 1000, every Wednesday between 4 and 5 pm) to the process of applying for need-based financial aid. Seeking funding for college based upon family composition, income, assets and expenses is of course one way to pay the freight. It is not, however, the only way. Another is to play sports to pay your way. That’s exactly what the student-athletes playing in Paradise Jam at UVI are doing.
I’m especially familiar with the desire to play college sports because 35 years ago that was my own top criterion of selection. Born in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village but really raised in suburban New Jersey, I wanted to play college football. When I was younger, being a good Catholic boy at the time as well, I wanted to quarterback Notre Dame. By the time I led my own high school team to a humiliating 49-0 loss on homecoming junior year, it was clear I would not be playing on TV in South Bend.
My dream would not die, however, so the following spring my father took me to visit colleges in New England, where I’d come to believe all the best institutions were located. Yale’s legendary Carmen Cozza met with us but talked the whole time about his players in the NFL, Calvin Hill and Dick Jauron, and it was very clear, for good reason, that he had no interest in me. We went on to see Wesleyan, Trinity, Williams and then—above all—Amherst, where I knew I wanted to go even before I got out of the car.
The coach there not only spent a long time with my father and me; he personally took us on a campus tour, which included a stop in the art gallery, where he showed us his favorite paintings and spoke with pride about one of his sons who was, and still is, an accomplished artist; and in the recital hall, where he spoke about all the wonderful concerts he had heard through the years. For me, the idea that a football coach cared about such things, the arts and music, was a revelation. I knew I wanted to play for him.
So, after interviewing with the mountain of a man serving as the dean of admissions, and managing not to drool or wet my pants out of pure fear (seriously, the late, great Ed Wall was about 6 feet 6 inches tall and close to 300 pounds), I applied pre-committed Early Decision (remember that column a few weeks back?) and was accepted. It wasn’t even Christmas of my senior year, and I knew where I was going to college—and I was sure that the football coach was going to be very excited to have me on his team.
Yeah, right.
When I arrived late the following summer to start college and freshmen football, I learned that not only were there four other quarterbacks in my class, but that they had all been invited a week early to try out for the varsity. I was not sent, and thus did not receive, that memo. What apparently had happened is that my high school coach, when asked about my athletic ability, said that he had wanted to time me one day when I’d run a nine-yard bootleg in for a touchdown, but that he couldn’t find his calendar. That’s coach-speak for “This kid may be smart but he is also S….L….O…..W.” Kiss of death.
I tell this story because high school athletes, and especially parents, often have a totally unrealistic sense of what it takes to play college sports, especially at the Division I level, where athletic grants-in-aid can cover virtually all costs of attendance. The first thing it takes is out-of-the-ordinary athletic ability. Then it takes exposure; college coaches only trust their own eyes or the word of a long-time trusted colleague or scout. Finally, it takes iron-willed discipline and commitment to excellence. Many players have talent and can get coaches’ attention; the great ones work harder than everybody else.
Those student-athletes who are interested in playing college sports thus need to start early, get to off-island summer camps where they can develop their skills and be seen by college coaches, and they need—for Division I or II recruiting purposes—to check the NCAA Eligibility Center at www.ncaa.org. There students and parents will find the course work, grade point average, and ACT or SAT scores necessary for student-athletes to be recruited. The standards are crystal clear, set up on an inverse correlation between GPA and ACT/SAT (i.e. the higher a student’s grades, the lower his or her scores can be, and vice versa.) Checking those standards, and meeting them, is a must.
Once you’re on the radar and being recruited, a crucial issue is young people trusting their gut hunches when it comes to the quality of the person they might play for. The reality is that a student-athlete will spend vastly more time with a coach over the course of four years than with any professor. The year-round conditioning programs that even small college Division III coaches now require mean that a student better really like and respect his or her coach; otherwise, it’s going to be four very long years.
Which brings me back to my choice to play for the dearly departed James Ostendarp. “The Darp,” as he was known to all, had returned punts for the New York Giants in the 1950’s, then gone into coaching. He made me feel wanted at Amherst; then made me prove myself. It took me two weeks to win the starting job on the freshmen team; it took me three years to be the starting varsity quarterback. By the time my career was over, they’d given me the biggest pieces of hardware they had, including one cup that reads, “Won by the member of the senior class who has brought the greatest honor in athletics to Amherst College.” Was I the best athlete on the team? No. Was I even the best player at my position when I arrived? Not close. So what worked? I made sure I was in better shape, studied my plays harder, and then got lucky.
It is possible to play sports in college, including—if you’re truly gifted and ferociously dedicated—to pay for your education. Just don’t expect it to be easy.
Chris Teare is College Counselor at Antilles School on St. Thomas. His weekly radio show, "Making the College Choice," airs on AM 1000 on Wednesdays at 4 pm.
