NCAA 2015 GOALS Study

Great find!

Good stuff!  How come those D3 kids never call Mom?

A fascinating, and in many ways sad, study.  I'm not sure anyone truly understands what college athletes go through unless they have seen it first hand.  Thanks for posting.  

Great find.  Lots of interesting nuggets.   There was one statement among many that real stood out that I just can't wrap my head around.  I've got to think about this some more as I'm headed out the door.   This definitely was not my son's experience, and from what I know of others it wasn't their experience either.

"Two-thirds of Division I and II student-athletes (half in Division III) said they spend as much or more time on athletics during the off-season as during their competitive season. 75% or more of student athletes in baseball, football and M/W track in Divisions I and II reported spending as much time on their sport in the off-season as they do in-season."

Fenway, those numbers are a little strange.   Maybe it's because there are multiple parts to the "off-season."  Son played for one of those programs that demanded 50 or more hours per week during the season.   And frankly the fall semester, which would technically be "off-season", really wasn't much different.  If the kids interpreted "off-season" to mean the fall, I could understand the numbers.

The second part of the off-season would be the summer.  Here, it just depends on what kids they surveyed.  I can understand kids who play summer ball answering the question this way.  But, considering the relatively small percentage of kids that play summer ball, the numbers don't make a lot of sense to me.   

Agree MTH.  I'm not entirely sure how to interept those numbers unless they define exactly what off-season means.  I looked at the slides and they did further divide the sports up for the off-season question (page 39 of 131). Initially, I thought of "off-season" as the Fall because the students are carrying a minimum academic load of 12 credit hours (per NCAA policy) while practicing with the team.  You bring up a great point that it could be college summer baseball and they could be taking a college class remotely (for example).  Again, what qualifies as off-season is the big question.  I'm still shocked by these offseason numbers.

Additionally, there is a slide (41 of 131) that details how many classes missed per week.   D1 baseball and basketball led all other sports and divisions for the avg time missing class....2.2 classes missed per week.  That is a lot of missed classtime in my book, and I know that could make academic life more difficult for many.  When I was a college athlete (D2 tennis) a hundred years ago, I never missed class (in-season) because I knew I would get behind.  During the off-season there was a lot less "urgency" in attending every class because I knew I could make it up.  I know for a fact that my oldest son (D1) very rarely missed a class in college because there were specific rules and quantifiable targets set up by the conference about missed class time that was enforced.   He was very fortunate in that regard.  But as far as this NCAA study and 2.2 classes missed per week for D1 baseball players that seems like a huge red flag to me.  

Slide 42 of 131 discusses avg days away from campus for competition but doesn't spell out the timeline.  I can only assume this is days away per week.  Again, D1 baseball leads the pack.

At the end of the day, these are all student athletes and this is a self reported study.   Based on this, I think college baseball players are having to compete academically with other athletes not on a level playing field.  College baseball players are missing more class and spending more time away from campus more than their college athletic counterparts.    That is what I'm coming away with here.   JMO.

Interesting read. I think aspring college Players should read it but I don't think it should Keep them from trying.

just be realistic about expectations: Overall the college ball for most is a very time consuming Hobby. if you expect to become a pro or expect that it is a good choice financially you are probably going to be dissapointed. there are scholarships but most only get a partial plus the Sport takes away a lot of time from studying.

if you are 14 year old and you want to use Baseball to become really good at academics or finance your education better think again, save your Money you spend on Baseball and become the best Student you can to Chose the best academic choice.

Parents shouldn't really see Baseball as an Investment in Kids education. sure it can work and if it does it is a nice Bonus but the better choice is probably to save the Money.

if you see the college Baseball career as a Hobby second to academics and realize is consumes a lot of time you are probably not going to be dissapointed.

It would be interesting to see how many classes per week NON athletes missed.  I remember showing up for a final in Geography class and the teacher handed me the final and said "That's what I like to see, people I never knew I had in my class."

Great Find!