Interesting article that says tuition at IMG is nearly $90,000 : https://www.newyorker.com/culture/c...and-the-sins-of-big-time-high-school-football
High School Football
- Thread starter tulla
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High school football and youth sports is definitely changing. A lot of areas aren't free anymore and parents really have to dish out $ for thier kid to play and get the best training. There are more and more of these traveling all star teams where kids want to go to and excell and get recognized (st Tomas, St John's, mater dei, img, St Joe's prep, ect....) and if youre a major college prospect your better off at these schools. High school football and youth sports isn't what it was 10 years ago and I'm trying to roll with it and except the changes.
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I'm uneasy with lots of the changes at both the college and the high school levels--and clearly they're connected. I just saw that the third or fourth string OSU QB just signed a NIL deal and put out a press statement about why he's so keen on various products. I'd like to see how graduation rates have changed over time and what kinds of degrees those who are getting degrees have. I know there were big problems before, but it's hard to see any major upsides for the fans and--long term--for the great majority of players. Sure most of the players with NIL revenue are getting some money now, but unless they can get NFL contracts for more than a year or two or get the kind of college education that truly prepares them for good careers that NIL money will look pretty insignificant in 5-10 years. As for the transfer portal, I can see how it can help some (like one of the two guys vying to be the QB at OSU) who have good reason to think transferring will make a big difference to their NFL prospects, but for most in the portal it makes them more like itinerant laborers lured by false or dubious promises. I've noticed lots of 23- or 24-year olds going to their third college in the hope this one will give them the exposure they need to get drafted or to get a walk-on opportunity.
As for high school, there are the obvious terrible examples, e.g. Bishop Sycamore. And who thinks going to three different high schools is good (long-term) for just about any kid? There's an incoming freshman QB at SJP, Charlie Foulke, whose Twitter account says he has offers from Maryland, Pitt, and Georgia. That doesn't reflect badly on the kid or SJP or even any of the colleges but on the whole system. I know SJP tells kids like Charlie not to see these offers as anything more than what they are (expressions of some level of interest but not commitments at all), but--as a parent--I can't help thinking getting all these offers at 13 or 14 is not going to help a kid have a fairly normal healthy adolescence. Not impossible, just harder.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bobcoo...ow-deep-do-its-dollars-go-in-communities/amp/. This is the direction youth sports are heading. Parents have to dish out big bucks for thier kids to play. A lot of areas have expensive sports facilities and top notch training that a lot of parents can't afford. We are seeing more and more of these traveling all star teams rather then community sports. This is happening with high school football as well. The schools I mentioned above are the ones kids will get recognized. Why would you play the town next door when you can play in Florida, California, Texas and on national television with other D1 kids.
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Saquon Barkley and Jahan Dotson both played at their local high schools. They’re in the NFL. It is bullcorn that a kid has to transfer to a football factory to be seen.
No one says you have to go to a particular school or kind of school "to be seen." Also, I'm not sure what makes a school a "football factory." IMG, St. Frances in Baltimore, SJP, and IMHOTEP are all very different kinds of school. Are they all "football factories"?
Parents and kids making decisions have different criteria. Some are concerned about academics more than others. Some care more about safety and various risks. There have been lots of cases where a very promising high school player got into a bad crowd. Some parents of kids who have some talent but who are never going to be all-stars think that going to school x is more likely to help the kid achieve his potential and get him more exposure than if he goes to school y. Swift, Runyon, the Trotters, McCord and Harrison obviously would have got a lot of attention from colleges wherever they went to high school, but their parents chose SJP. Why? Not because they got easily sucked in. But the more typical cases are the guys who were not all-state players but who wound up gong to Penn, or Amherst, or Colgate, or Duke, or Rutgers or ...
I don't know if those kids get the exposer or the offers they received had they not gone to prep. A matter of fact I know they wouldn't have. Youre playing along side other D1 kids against other national powers on national tv. Other good players that are looking to get scholarships will attend these schools as well. The coaches are in the stands. That's why these traveling all star teams continue to get stronger. It's the direction high school sports is heading. I don't have a problem with it but I don't think those schools should play in state playoffs. The advantages are to great.
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