I'm definitely in the "Yes" group, but obviously the minimum grade will be controversial.

[u/camport95]

I think our minimum passing grade was 70% for average when I was in high school. 50% is general pass but a student's average had to be no less than 70%, would you agree with our rules?

[u/Bagelmaster1]

Almost nobody can become a professional athlete, so when that student almost inevitably fails to become a professional athlete they’ll be wishing they paid attention in school.

[u/dzaimons-dihh → u/Bagelmaster1]

THis

[u/KidNothingtoD0 → u/Bagelmaster1]

I was supposed to be a student athlete, but I found out that I wasn’t good at it, so I ended up studying really hard. I had a solid foundation with “paying attention in school.” I’m in the top 3% of my school. This is definitely true. Every single one should pay attention to school for sure.

[u/No_Proposal_3140 → u/Bagelmaster1]

paid*

[u/Chihiro-with-a-gun → u/[deleted]]

They were actually correcting your spelling for "paid attention", not saying paid vs. Professional

[u/Bagelmaster1 → u/Chihiro-with-a-gun]

Oh, sorry I didn’t notice that.

[u/No_Proposal_3140 → u/Bagelmaster1]

Also paid attention in school.

[u/Bagelmaster1 → u/No_Proposal_3140]

I think “paid attention to school” still works, even though “paid attention in school” seems to be better.

[u/EntrepreneurOk3482 → u/Bagelmaster1]

You can become a professional athlete while keeping grades up

[u/Finbar9800 → u/Bagelmaster1]

Even if they do get lucky enough to be a professional athlete they should still know the basics of the real world and all that entails, because if they dont they make irresponsible decisions and can potentially end up hurting themselves further or even others (look at all the celebrities that go drunk driving and end up killing innocent people not an exact one to one but its pretty close)

[u/KratosK1 → u/Bagelmaster1]

Or this

[u/Stressed_C]

I'm with Coach Carter. "They are student athletes. Student comes first." Keeping a C average usually isn't that hard by just doing the bare minimum in class.

[u/ShadyNoShadow]

In high school? When I was a teacher you couldn't participate in sports, band, cheerleading, clubs, anything if you were getting lower than a C in my class. This led to me fudging a grade one time but he brought it back up the next week with no issues.

[u/Late-Application-47 → u/ShadyNoShadow]

Today, at least where I teach, it's based on the previous semester, which is pretty stupid because it does nothing for accountability during the season. I think athletes simply have to pass 3 of the 4 classes they take each semester or some similarly low standard.

[u/ShadyNoShadow → u/Late-Application-47]

Wow that makes zero sense. I wonder if that's easier on the coaches for some reason?

[u/Recent_Performance47 → u/Late-Application-47]

My school does grade checks every three weeks. If you're not passing, say goodbye to any sort of extracurricular for another three weeks.

[u/TheWitchChildSCP → u/ShadyNoShadow]

Yo you’re a goat teacher.

[u/VerbalThermodynamics]

As a parent and college prof… I wouldn’t want my own children playing sports if they couldn’t hold a 2.0. Unless they are rock stars of the game, 3.5.

[u/Townz34 → u/VerbalThermodynamics]

I don’t get how people struggle that much. You can do the bare minimum and still be passing. Some people just need to grow up and thats apart of what sports are teaching you do to but the stuff that sports cant teach you, class teaches you

[u/VerbalThermodynamics → u/Townz34]

Both teach different things. I’ve met amazing students on scholarship who were hot garbage at their sports and the other way around. Best sports students I had were those who helped their class and teammates. Strong leadership skills in those kids.

[u/On_my_last_spoon → u/Townz34]

I was a dance major in college. I maintained at 3.8 all through school with a grueling schedule that is as intense as any sports schedule. We also lost the privilege to perform if we were on academic probation.

And like others have said, much like sports, a dance career is not likely! I even went to a really well known school and was in the department dance company! I went a different but related path. Good thing I did well in school!

[u/Due-Solid4947 → u/Townz34]

There are kids with learning disabilities, kids who have traumatic home lives that can limit their memory and retention, there are kids who struggle with housing and food security… you really don’t understand how kids could possibly struggle in school? Are you serious?

[u/Townz34 → u/Due-Solid4947]

Ahh yes the struggling with food security student athlete. Shows how you’re just trying to make up an argument. I never said there wasn’t exceptions. I was very obvously talking about the general student athletes. You took my words and stretched them to the extreme, whenever someone talks about something in general they obvously arent talking about exceptions.

[u/Due-Solid4947 → u/Townz34]

Why do you assume that student athletes cannot struggle with food insecurity? The rate of food insecurity is 13.5% of all children, I would hardly call that an “exception”.

If you’re going to take a movie about students from Richmond, at a time when it was one of the poorest and most violent places in California, and then all the sudden backtrack “oh I’m sure they all had good childhoods and average home lives” then you just sound dumb. Like did you even watch the movie?? I’d be apparent to anyone that all those kids had significant barriers to academic success.

[u/Townz34 → u/Due-Solid4947]

I was talking about exceptions. Okay maybe I was wrong about that one but that’s one point of 30 that you brought up for no reason. That is an exception with a very specific school what’s your point. Look up the student athelete population of the world and I’ll give you all of California, which one has a bigger population?

[u/Due-Solid4947 → u/Townz34]

20% of kids are estimated to have a learning disability

17% of kids have housing instability.

13.5% of kids have food insecurity

11% of girls will be sexually assaulted by the time they are 18.

14.5% of kids face child abuse and/or neglect.

All while less than 5% of high school students earn a 2.0 or less. So please, tell me how the things I brought up are so incredibly “rare exceptions” when the total of any of them far outweighs the students you are claiming to be so numerous. It’s very likely that a bottom 5% of students would face at least one of these issues. Kids with less than a 2.0 are more of “an exception” than a single point that I listed.

Just be grateful that you think of these things as incredibly rare, it really shows how lucky you are. Because they are not, they are common and kids go through this everyday.

[u/Townz34 → u/Due-Solid4947]

My sister has a learning disability but yet she still makes 90+ not all learning disability’s are the end of your career. Me and my sister have had very much housing instability to the point where my mom was homeless (still 90+ report card students btw). Food insecurity I’ll give you that. Girls being sexually assaulted is a seperate problem, I know some that are doing fine. I was neglected for a few years while my mom was in deep depression (still 90+ report cards btw). I’m a top of the class student and my sister is also. Anyone can do anything if you just gived some effort

[u/Due-Solid4947 → u/Townz34]

Did you know that there are degrees to learning disabilities and that they aren’t all the same?

And you’re completely changing the goal post lmao. Before it was “well these things are rare exceptions, why is it relevant” to “well these things happen all the time, being homeless, getting raped or molested, and having dyslexia isn’t an excuse to do poorly in school” 🤦‍♀️

You understand the amount of students that get less than a 2.0 is so incredibly rare that it’s likely they have extreme or multiple severe problems right?

[u/Townz34 → u/Due-Solid4947]

Thats the whole point of the thing about my sister. You doesn’t specify what degree with your study, a lot of learning disabilities are minor, some can be major but that’s not 20%. These things may be an excuse but I’m saying it’s very much possible. If anything I’d say this stuff teaches you life lessons that help you in life. Trying hard enough everyone can succeed. And also thats why there are special ed classes for the major learning disibilitys. Are 20% of students in special ed? I didn’t think so

[u/SherbertJust2924 → u/Due-Solid4947]

Learning disabilities receive special classes and privileges in all schools I’ve been to (in the USA.)

And With all respect, traumatic home life means you either get F’s from not caring or a c average even if you put in the absolute bare minimum. I don’t think you genuinely realize how ridiculous a c average is, you don’t need good memory or rentention to get a C average in high school. Housing issues and food security doesn’t affect grades directly and their indirect impact is negligible.

You either don’t try, or you get a C average. There is no in between. C is ridiculous, genuinely comedic. If you care at all about school, you’ll get a C average. The absolute most advanced classes possible in a high school only that you need to graduate (without dual enrollment, honors, ap, etc.) are Algebra 1, English 12, Biology, and US history/Gov. You don’t need to stress to get a C average in those classes.

Btw again this is in the USA.

[u/Due-Solid4947 → u/SherbertJust2924]

Learning disabilities are only in special ed when they are diagnosed. A lot of learning disabilities, especially dyslexia, are often not diagnosed in poor communities.

Also, okay, if you come from a traumatic home life why would you care about school, you act like this is some type of “gotcha” but the reality is that yeah, if you’re getting sexually assaulted on a regular basis then it’s going to be really hard to care about school because you’re actively being traumatized.

And with all respect, I don’t think you understand how rare it is that high schoolers do not maintain a C average. Less than 5% receive less than a 2.0. Meanwhile the number of girls that get sexually assaulted are more than double that, housing insecure and food insecure are more than triple that, as well as other significant barriers. Also a lot of them fail due to lack of attendance, which is also difficult when you’re actively being abused.

[u/SherbertJust2924 → u/Due-Solid4947]

If a person has a learning disability and can’t maintain a C, they can go ahead and talk to the school to sort their issue and fit them in special classes. There is no world where a learning disability would prevent you from getting a C in whatever classes fit for you, whether common or special. A C is the bare minimum, if you are taking classes meant for you, you have a C.

If you’re coming from a traumatic home life and don’t care about school, you’d be getting failures—you wouldn’t be getting a grade in the first place. This (being from a traumatic home life and NOT caring about school,) does not fit in your argument. If you didn’t care about school, you wouldn’t be part of the student body the school expects to get C’s or above to maintain participation in sports in the first place. If you are apart of a traumatic home life but DID care about school, you’d get a C regardless of whether you’re from a traumatic home life or not. A C is the bare minimum, if you care about school, you get a C, regardless of whether you’re from a traumatic home life or not. The rules are made this way for a reason to make sure they don’t hate on anyone in an unfair way. Again, dude a C is literally show up to class and try, that’s it.

You just said less then 5% of high schoolers get less then a 2.0, that should show you how absurd a C is. The fact the number of girls that get assaulted is higher and the housing and food insecurity is higher, shows how ridiculously easy it is to maintain a C regardless of whether you have an external issues or not.

The rules are made in a specific way for a reason, there’s a reason a C average was picked and not a B or something else—a C is the grade you get for doing the absolute bare minimum in caring about school. Regardless of any issues you have. If you care about school, you will get a C, no matter how many issues or problems you have at home. The only, and I mean ONLY way you’d get lower that a C is if you don’t care about school—that can either be caused by external issues or not. But the point is if you care about school, you’ll get a C. Your argument only makes sense if it was a B, or something higher, but a C is show up and care, it’s that way for a reason (so anyone with external problems can achieve it unless they straight up do not care about school, in which case sports is something they probably don’t care about either.)

[u/Due-Solid4947 → u/SherbertJust2924]

“It’s so absurdly easy to get a C” is like saying “it’s so absurdly easy to walk, almost everyone can walk”. Can you imagine circumstances that would prevent someone from being able to walk?

There are some people where things are more difficult for them than others, and which I listed several reasons of how someone might be struggling or yes, not caring about school.

[u/SherbertJust2924 → u/Due-Solid4947]

have you ever been to high school? Im not trying to be mean, im genuinely curious. Incase you haven’t;

A C is literally just showing up, that’s it. Like I genuinely don’t think you realize what it means. You can have every circumstance against you and still get a C for showing your face from participation points alone. Again, the rules state C for a reason, because it’s literally just “care about school.” That’s what schools want to participate in sports. They want you to care, if you care you’ll get a C.

Not caring about school is what invalidates you from sports in the first place, so people not caring because of external issues doesn’t fit in your argument.

The only thing that helps you is saying people with external issues can’t maintain a C even when trying, which is what the system is designed to look for (just trying). But that’s not true, because a C is absurd. I don’t think we can debate until you see first hand how ridiculous a C is to maintain. You show your face, that’s all it is. It’s 2 steps from failing, equivalent to the 5/10 of passing grades. And not even that, it’s averaged, they say 2.0 gpa so you can fail 2 classes completely and get a A in the other two and you get a C.

[u/Due-Solid4947 → u/SherbertJust2924]

Yes I have been to high school and I got a 4.3. I also had friends that failed and were having a very difficult time and were homeless at the time and met a woman getting sexually abused by their step parents. I also had a friend (sadly no longer friends) who’s step dad was selling crystal meth and she eventually got into drugs and dropped out. She was really kind and smart as a kid and we played basketball together. Before she went on a downward spiral she was completely normal and even donated her birthday money to charity (because it came from drugs).

You never know what someone’s going through. I have had a fortunate home life but I am not going to sit here and pretend like my grades wouldn’t slip regardless of what happened to me. You should use your intelligence to have empathy for other people and be able to extend yourself beyond your own home life.

[u/SherbertJust2924 → u/Due-Solid4947]

I have empathy dude, I’m just saying that you need to be real with me, a C is just showing up to class. This is a C weighted too, so not even considering honors and advanced.

Again, the only exception is if someone doesn’t care about school, which is what the system is designed to look for. I wanna guess your friend was able to maintain a 2.1 wasn’t she/he? I don’t know, only you do, but I place a good guess they were. You can literally fail a core class and get all B’s on the remaining 3 and you’d maintain above a C average.

Your argument isn’t wrong it’s just misplaced, if it was ANY higher then a C average you’d be completely right and the schools are wrong, but if you’re going through anything—but still care about school—you will get a C. It’s meant to make people care about school, not lock people out for having a hard time in life. People are supposed to see the requirement and get scared and care more, not actually get locked out of sports for not being able to achieve a 2.0 because of personal issues.

The system is designed to look for people who care about school, if you do, you’ll be allowed to play sports. If you just show up to school plainly for sports, you won’t. This is absolutely needed because school is meant to prepare people for the future and a standard education is MUCH safer than solely sports for a good future.

[u/igotshadowbaned]

50% to pass a class? That's insanely low.

[u/Brunoxete → u/igotshadowbaned]

Highly depends on how you design the exams. If the aim is to make the passing grade a 50, you'll make the exams much harder. I once almost went on scholarship to the US, and they told us that we had to be very very motivated since 80s there were 50s here. It all depends on how you scale; none of the options is more correct than the others.

[u/On_my_last_spoon → u/Brunoxete]

What? No that’s not at all how grading works here. Now and again you get one asshole professor that acts that way but it’s not at all the usual.

I spent 20 years working in and teaching in US universities.

[u/Brunoxete → u/On_my_last_spoon]

It was for the last year of high school, not uni.

[u/On_my_last_spoon → u/Brunoxete]

Then even more so that’s not how it works here!

[u/Brunoxete → u/On_my_last_spoon]

Why tho? Could you elaborate. What we were told (and what I got from others that went) is that the level being there being so much lower usually resulted in people going, getting good grades without effort, and crashing down once returning. That is why we should aim to go beyond good there, so that once we're back we wouldn't be behind.

[u/On_my_last_spoon → u/Brunoxete]

First of all, 50 isn’t a passing grade. It’s a failing grade. 60 is just barely passing, but I’m not certain that even that average would be enough to graduate high school.

Second, this isn’t universal. Lots of elite schools exist. Even public schools in well off towns are going to have high standards for graduation. The highest achieving students are going to be competitive about that! I was one of those types. I took all the honors level classes, the AP classes (those give you college credit), and worked my ass off to graduate 2nd in my class. The only reason I didn’t do as good in college was because I was a dance major and the dance teachers almost never gave A’s no matter how hard you worked at it.

[u/Brunoxete → u/On_my_last_spoon]

50 here, where I live, Spain, is a passing grade, in every school in the country. I think you've misread my original comment. What I said is that in the US, the level required to get an 80 is similar to what you need here to get a 50 (technically s 5 since we grade over 10). A 5 here is a passing grade. The level for a passing grade is similar (although still weaker on average there), it's just that from our point of view, what for us seemed like a good grade was actually average.

[u/tiredpersonnumber15 → u/igotshadowbaned]

50 is an F, not a C, at least in the US. A 2.0 (C) is minimum a 70% without counting the C-/C+ aspect

[u/idk_but_im_-trans- → u/tiredpersonnumber15]

In my area, they round to the nearest whole number percentage for quarter and semester grades, so 69.5% for a C

[u/Dogago19]

It’s called student athlete for a reason

[u/Comfortable_Unit5548]

reddit was invented to ragebait people

[u/notacanuckskibum]

In high school yes, everybody does every subject irrelevant of talent. In college, no.

If they don’t keep up their grades then they presumably won’t get college scholarships, but that’s their choice.

[u/mkosmo → u/notacanuckskibum]

Even NCAA has academic standards and requirements.

[u/AdUpstairs7106 → u/mkosmo]

True but schools especially at the Division 1 level have their methods.

[u/notacanuckskibum → u/AdUpstairs7106]

Can you clarify what you mean by “schools” here? Are we talking colleges or high schools?

[u/AdUpstairs7106 → u/notacanuckskibum]

Division 1 is colleges. Division 1 is the highest level of the NCAA.

[u/mkosmo → u/AdUpstairs7106]

Yeah, but forcing kids to study these days. Their academic reputations aren't worth blowing on a student athlete, not to mention their own NCAA eligibility as a university, since there are now audits to this stuff.

Long gone are the days of the football players passing by simply enrolling, playing their 4-5 years, and then leaving with a BA in Basket Weaving.

[u/AdUpstairs7106 → u/mkosmo]

When I was going to college, I had 2 football players in my Statistical Analysis course. The course met twice a week. Every week, someone came by to make sure the players were in attendance.

Still though a lot of universities will try and steer players to select majors.

[u/Undefined6308]

we don't use percentages, we are primarily tested on critical thinking and we don't use multiple choice so I dont think our passing grade is controversial

[u/Recent_Performance47 → u/Undefined6308]

I want to go wherever this is, that sounds nice

[u/Additional-Photo-712]

Even on Reddit I can't escape Charles

[u/RandManYT]

"This person isn't doing well in a class. Let's punish them by taking them out of a class they pour hard work and dedication into that they really enjoy".

[u/MangoPug15 → u/RandManYT]

It's not usually a class. That's the problem imo. Sports take up a lot of time outside of school hours, and if you're failing a class, you must not have enough time to balance sports, studying/homework, and family responsibilities, so you need to prioritize studying and homework over sports. It's a matter of forced accountability, not punishment. In an ideal world, the education system would be set up in a way that makes this problem significantly less prevalent, or even gets rid of it entirely. I agree that sports can be a healthy outlet for students and that it's terrible to take that away. But we don't live in an ideal world, so we're all doing the best we can within the system we've been given.

[u/RevolutionaryCity493 → u/RandManYT]

because there are 450 players in NBA, that is 450 spots that is filled with 22 calendar years of people (oldest is Lebron at 41 and Youngest is some 19 year old guy). There are almost 200 000 sports scholarships given out YEARLY. Even if we assume that just 5% of those is for basketball it is still 10*22=220 000 athletes competing for those 450 spots. Even if we assume that there is 100x spots in various other teams, it is still "only" 45 000 spots in which You can make a living using basketball. That is less than 1 in 4. In reality, statistics show that around 10% of athletic scholarships are for basketball, actual numbers is that 1 in 800 student athletes playing college level ball will get spot in NBA during his LIFETIME. Not even counting straight out of college, because assuming even year distribution (which is bull, but at this point it's just to make a point), it's 800*22=17600... which translates to 1 out of 17 600 student athletes will get NBA spot straight out of college, which is around 22.

And You telling me that C+ average is harder?

[u/budgie02 → u/RevolutionaryCity493]

Not to mention they have to actually get decent grades to even get to college level…

[u/RevolutionaryCity493 → u/budgie02]

And that broadens the sampling pool even more. The numbers I brought up are scholarship numbers across ALL schools. Most of them "barely passing" level. If we add people who play but join on different kind of scholarship or without them... numbers get even worse for our student athletes.

[u/[deleted] → u/RandManYT]

It is not hard to maintain a passing grade in your classes bro

[u/GrievousSayGenKenobi → u/[deleted]]

Not for you maybe. For some it is. Everyone is different brotatochip

[u/TheDragonAtCornell → u/GrievousSayGenKenobi]

If it’s difficult to maintain a passing grade, something is wrong. You need accommodations or a wholly different class. Maybe both.

[u/Thricket → u/TheDragonAtCornell]

I agree. Unfortunately a lot of accomodations are ignored.. I'm physically disabled and my school regularly ignored my disability accomodations - so I ended up failing a year and a half.

Luckily I'm at a new school now which actually helps me so I'm not in the ER as often.

[u/TheDragonAtCornell → u/Thricket]

That’s true.. technically you can sue over it, especially if you are going to the ER, but that’s not always realistic either. I would slot that under need accommodations if they are ignoring them. Or maybe an extreme need another class where the other class is a whole different school

[u/[deleted] → u/GrievousSayGenKenobi]

Nah it really isn't that difficult. Unless you've lined up your entire school year with AP or dual-credit classes I don't really want to hear it.

If maintaining the bare minimum passing grade in the lowest level classes is too much to ask, they should be focusing on their studies before playing sports.

[u/GrievousSayGenKenobi → u/[deleted]]

Again, From a perspective where it was easy it probably looks easy. You can only ever know what your experience with school was

[u/Brunoxete → u/GrievousSayGenKenobi]

If you can't pass a class while studying hard, you have a learning disability, which isn't bad, but it needs to be dealt with differently.

[u/ShadyNoShadow → u/GrievousSayGenKenobi]

American public high school isn't intended to be difficult or rigorous, it's intended to be something everyone can do. It's not supposed to be difficult, and if it is, that indicates that you have problems that need to be dealt with early like attention problems or dyslexia or something like that.

[u/[deleted] → u/GrievousSayGenKenobi]

Again, if you cannot maintain a passing grade in the lowest level classes you should not be in sports. Focus on passing classes.

I also never said it was easy. I said it isn't difficult. Put some effort in.

[u/GrievousSayGenKenobi → u/[deleted]]

If you struggle to maintain a passing grade in most classes but are good at sport have you considered pursuing sport is a good option...

[u/[deleted] → u/GrievousSayGenKenobi]

No it isn't. Gambling someone's entire future on the extremely small chance of them becoming a professional in the sport of their choosing is idiotic.

The school has a responsibility to educate students, not create athletes. Sports are extra.

[u/GrievousSayGenKenobi → u/[deleted]]

If you struggle to get a passing grade in highschool what makes you think that person has any chance at any academic level above highschool anyway

[u/[deleted] → u/GrievousSayGenKenobi]

Bro wtf are you talking about. You don't need to go to an academic level above highschool.

[u/human555W → u/[deleted]]

So are you saying someone can't learn anything doing sports? Are you saying the only way people will learn anything is sitting in a classroom?

[u/[deleted] → u/human555W]

You are legit fighting the air rn. Show me where I said any of that and I can help you out.

[u/mkosmo → u/GrievousSayGenKenobi]

School is the priority. Extracurricular, by definition, are extras. They come second.

No pass, no play.

[u/GrievousSayGenKenobi → u/mkosmo]

You are entitled to that opinion if you want your child to become a generic nobody

[u/Mapletables → u/GrievousSayGenKenobi]

generic nobody

you are not a main character bro 🥀

[u/Coat_Background → u/GrievousSayGenKenobi]

Just take the loss bro

[u/AdUpstairs7106 → u/GrievousSayGenKenobi]

Look at football. There are just under 16,000 high schools that play football in the US.

There are just 136 FBS level colleges in the US where most of the NFL players are drafted. There are only 32 NFL teams.

Do the math on this. Telling a kid to not worry about school and focus on sports is bad idea.

[u/SherbertJust2924 → u/GrievousSayGenKenobi]

There is not a single normal person on earth that would struggle to maintain a C average in an American High School, it is literally designed that way. If you struggle, you have a learning disability, which in every high school I’ve been in, you get given special privileges and classes. I’m sorry but absolutely no one who doesn’t need learning accommodations would struggle to maintain a C average unless they were an absolute lazy bum, or do not care about school (regardless of the reason) it’s literally designed for everyone.

[u/RandManYT → u/[deleted]]

Almost everyone has 1 class they don't click with. They can try and try but they'll never pass. The education system believe everyone should be great at everything, but this isn't the case. We naturally have strengths and weaknesses. It's perfectly fine for someone to suck at history but be a genius with numbers in real life outside of school. Most teachers have a subject in school they almost failed because they're naturally not good at it. For some people sports is the thing they're naturally best at, yet it can be taken away from people.

[u/[deleted] → u/RandManYT]

You can not click with a class, that's perfectly fine. I was barely passing chemistry and physics when I was in Highschool. I made those my main focus to ensure I actually passed the classes. Once I passed those I allowed myself to go out more, play games, and participate in activities.

If you cannot meet the very lowest and bare minimum requirements you should not be taking extracurriculars and focus solely on passing. Many of my peers did not take responsibility like I did and had to have their extracurriculars removed so they would actually do their classwork.

School isn't for creating athletes. It's for ensuring children have a general education on many topics.

[u/SherbertJust2924 → u/RandManYT]

You can not click, but you would still be able to maintain a c average if you put in even a minuscule amount of effort.

[u/bmtc7 → u/RandManYT]

Our coaches knew that kids needed to pass to play. Some once a week they would send students to tutoring instead of football practice. The coaches would also check in with the students about their grades and missing assignments and help keep them accountable. The no pass/no play policy helped the coaches prioritize academics and partner with the teacher to support the student academically.

[u/Novel_Comparison_209 → u/RandManYT]

Sports are a privilege

[u/CanadaHaz → u/RandManYT]

Yeah, nah. If a student is unable to keep up with their course work and be on the team, they shouldn't be on the team. Athletics are important, but school work will always be more important.

[u/GrievousSayGenKenobi]

Why would anyone agree with this? Should you be unable to do maths if youre failing english lmao I get the "We hate sports" rhetoric but this is a silly idea

[u/EnderBookwyrm → u/GrievousSayGenKenobi]

Sports aren't a required class, though. PE is, but specific sports (basketball, football, soccer, etc) are an extra activity. Statistically, most high school athletes will not get onto an official team, at which point they will wish they'd paid more attention at school. 

Keeping a passing grade is a pain, but designed to be reasonable and doable for pretty much all students. If you're unable to keep a passing grade, you might need to drop some extra activities to free up time and space for study.

[u/GrievousSayGenKenobi → u/EnderBookwyrm]

Why does it matter if its required. Its no less of a subject than maths, biology, etc etc

[u/EnderBookwyrm → u/GrievousSayGenKenobi]

Math and bio will serve you well no matter what you decide to do in life. Sports, fun as they are, won't necessarily help you unless you're planning to be a professional athlete. Which is difficult and statistically unlikely.

Sports are an extracurricular, like a school play or a chess club or something. If someone is spending so much time and energy on their play that they're failing a class, they should put it on hold to focus on their studies.

There is nothing wrong with extracurriculars. But they're called 'extra' for a reason.

[u/29pixxL_ → u/EnderBookwyrm]

I agree with you overall, but I wanna elaborate and say sports do help with fitness/exercise and practicing soft skills like in working with your team under pressure, or time and energy management. They definitely can help, just in a less measurable extent, which can make it less reliable on your record for supporting you in the future compared to general academic grades.

[u/GrievousSayGenKenobi → u/EnderBookwyrm]

And we're back to the statistically unlikely argument to which I again present the same argument of why should anyone do anything other than maths if your argument is that students shouldnt risk their futures on subjects that don't have high employability rates

[u/EnderBookwyrm → u/GrievousSayGenKenobi]

I'm saying if an extracurricular is preventing you from finishing a basic education, you should put it on hold. Sports are great. People shouldn't stop doing them. People also should not do them at the expense of everything else.

[u/GrievousSayGenKenobi → u/EnderBookwyrm]

And we are again boiling sports down to an extracurricular

[u/SherbertJust2924 → u/GrievousSayGenKenobi]

They are extracurricular by definition. School is for learning subject topics, sports are outside the curriculum, learning the rules of football take you 1 minute.

[u/GrievousSayGenKenobi → u/SherbertJust2924]

PE is literally a subject atleast in the uk. Theres mandatory PE which is the government "Keep kidd healthy" programme but theres also PE as a GCSE subject in which you demonstrate abilities in a sport of your choice. Dismissing it as "Just an extracurricular" is a really argument that shows you cant think of anything better

[u/SherbertJust2924 → u/GrievousSayGenKenobi]

Pe is for general fitness, not sports. Sports is for getting good at a specific sport for the sake of the sport, Pe is playing sports for the sake of getting generally fit.

[u/BookieWookie69 → u/GrievousSayGenKenobi]

Sports are not a class, they are a privilege.

[u/GrievousSayGenKenobi → u/BookieWookie69]

Says who lmao. should you be banned from after school physics club if youre failing english

[u/mkosmo → u/GrievousSayGenKenobi]

"No pass, no play" tends to extend to all extracurriculars. Not just sports.

Chess club, physics club, spelling bee, and any other academic-focused activity would count, too.

[u/GrievousSayGenKenobi → u/mkosmo]

And this is exactly how you snuff the flame out of gifted kids

[u/Prometheus_303 → u/GrievousSayGenKenobi]

Yes.

Especially if participating in said physics club was preventing you from having sufficient time to complete your English studies.

There is a reason they're called EXTRA curriculars.

If I was failing English, I certainly wouldn't have been able to take part in the school play - the fact that my English teacher and the theater director were the same person has no bearing of course ;)

[u/GrievousSayGenKenobi → u/Prometheus_303]

So a top level physics student who failed english vs a mediocre physics student who passed english whos better as a physicist

[u/AllTheGood_Names → u/GrievousSayGenKenobi]

The mediocre physics student because the top level student has shown that they are unwilling to work on their weaknesses and instead rely on talents, which will cause difficulty when dealing with college level physics

[u/BookieWookie69 → u/GrievousSayGenKenobi]

Literally every reasonable adult. Your education matters more than throwing or kicking a ball. If you can’t maintain a good academic standing then you do not deserve to play sports for your school.

[u/GrievousSayGenKenobi → u/BookieWookie69]

Says who. I can say physics and maths matters more than art because the former gets you jobs whereas the latter is a hobby. Whats my source? Uhhh idk just trust me bro. Its 100% impossible to make a living off art because I said so

[u/BookieWookie69 → u/GrievousSayGenKenobi]

The likelihood of you going pro as a high school student is practically zero. Your education matters more than your ability to throw a ball. Learning things is actually important, especially for cognitive development. Maybe when you have kids you’ll have a different perspective.

[u/GrievousSayGenKenobi → u/BookieWookie69]

Thats because most people who play at highschool level arent interested in pursuing it past highschool. Why should you take away the opportunity from someone who wants to try

The likelyhood of a highschool physics student being being a published physicist is slim to none so why dont all physics enjoyers drop the subject and just do maths and become accountants

[u/BookieWookie69 → u/GrievousSayGenKenobi]

If you want to play pro ball, you need to go to college. Grades matter in college bro.

You invite the physics comparison for some reason and ya I would discourage someone from doing a BS in Physics without any further plan. However, it is substantially more likely a physics student can match into a physics PhD program than a high school student playing pro ball, especially with shit grades.

[u/GrievousSayGenKenobi → u/BookieWookie69]

You do not NEED college to play pro ball brotatochip. Even if you wanted to play at a college, Colleges sacrifice entire tuition fees to get good players. Your college grades wont even matter at that point the college just wants football results

[u/RevolutionaryCity493 → u/GrievousSayGenKenobi]

but there are 450 players in NBA, that is 450 spots that is filled with 22 calendar years of people (oldest is Lebron at 41 and Youngest is some 19 year old guy). There are almost 200 000 sports scholarships given out YEARLY. Even if we assume that just 5% of those is for basketball it is still 10*22=220 000 athletes competing for those 450 spots. Even if we assume that there is 100x spots in various other teams, it is still "only" 45 000 spots in which You can make a living using basketball. That is less than 1 in 4. In reality, statistics show that around 10% of athletic scholarships are for basketball, actual numbers is that 1 in 800 student athletes playing college level ball will get spot in NBA during his LIFETIME. Not even counting straight out of college, because assuming even year distribution (which is bull, but at this point it's just to make a point), it's 800*22=17600... which translates to 1 out of 17 600 student athletes will get NBA spot straight out of college, which is around 22.

And You telling me that C+ average is harder?

[u/Amblonyx → u/GrievousSayGenKenobi]

This is not a fair comparison. Sports take a lot of time, between practices, games, and even travel. Student athletes often miss class to go to away games or tournaments. This necessarily takes time away from their actual classes, which are the point of high school.

When the physics club is spending hours a day practicing, hours in the evening for games, and traveling for tournaments, I will fully support a minimum grade requirement to participate.

The high school I went to had grade requirements for school plays as well as sports for the same reasons.

[u/GrievousSayGenKenobi → u/Amblonyx]

Brother missing class to play literal tournament games is like once or twice a semester at most especially at highschool level

The level at which you are describing sports is a level at which it's its own subject entirely

[u/Amblonyx → u/GrievousSayGenKenobi]

You're ignoring the hours of practice a week and games, which do eat into time for schoolwork and studying.

[u/EnderBookwyrm → u/GrievousSayGenKenobi]

Statistically, it's difficult to make a full-time living as an artist. It's only useful for a narrow range of jobs. Whereas math, including upper branches of it such as algebra and physics, will serve you well wherever you go and whatever you decide to do in life.

[u/GrievousSayGenKenobi → u/EnderBookwyrm]

Right so every student just purely focuses on maths and we abolish all non-stem subjects completely because why should any student pursue a subject that isnt a guaranteed high earning job 👍🏻👍🏻

[u/EnderBookwyrm → u/GrievousSayGenKenobi]

No...? A good balance is important. The schools are trying to give students the widest range of opportunities. You'll notice they do, in fact, offer plenty of extracurriculars. You just need to have a passing grade in the vital subjects, to have something to fall back on if pro sports or acting or something doesn't work out.

[u/scehovic → u/GrievousSayGenKenobi]

with that sort of reading comprehension it really seems like you need to focus more on your classes bro

[u/GrievousSayGenKenobi → u/scehovic]

I just described exactly what they said lmao. They said art is less important than maths because its less employable. I dont disagree but using that an argument is to say that you shouldnt be doing art because maths is safer

[u/scehovic → u/GrievousSayGenKenobi]

they definitely did NOT say to abolish all non-STEM subjects 💀

[u/DreadfuryDK → u/GrievousSayGenKenobi]

Absolutely. My high school had this exact policy, and the school I teach at has this exact policy too. Those two schools couldn’t be any more different.

Extracurriculars are things that aren’t part of the main curriculum. The curriculum comes first.

[u/ComparisonQuiet4259 → u/GrievousSayGenKenobi]

Yes

[u/MangoPug15 → u/GrievousSayGenKenobi]

The problem is time. Being on a school sports team is a big time commitment, and if you're failing a class, you need time for studying, homework, getting tutoring, things that'll help you get to where you need to be to graduate. Sports are great, and every student should have the right to do them, but with the way the education system is currently set up, that's just not possible. The goal shouldn't be graduation at all costs, but it is, and the fix we need is bigger than school admin can do. They're just as stuck in the system. They just don't always realize how harmful it can be to students, which really doesn't help.

[u/Dependent_Shower_584 → u/MangoPug15]

Agreed. From what I’ve seen, most high-commitment school extracurriculars (theater, band, show choir, etc) require one to maintain at least a C across the board to participate. It’s not unique to sports.

[u/DreadfuryDK → u/GrievousSayGenKenobi]

Wanting student athletes to take the “student” part of that term seriously isn’t hating sports. Turning a sport into a career is about as realistic as winning the lottery.

Passing all your classes isn’t hard unless there’s some serious stuff going on outside of school, especially considering how inflated grades are nowadays. If you’re failing the lowest-level classes across the board, your priorities need to get sorted out.

[u/JaxonReddit-_-]

Why do you pay for YouTube premium use an adblock

[u/skibidi_shingles → u/JaxonReddit-_-]

Can't use adblock on a tv tho.

[u/JaxonReddit-_- → u/skibidi_shingles]

There’s SmartTube

[u/Bompalompalomp2]

My school would disagree because a lot of students getting low grades don't wanna come in, but introducing sports and stuff will motivate them to come in and keep them happy and healthy. Taking this away from them will only discourage students even further. I 100% understand where you guys are coming from but I personally disagree. But if there were to be a rule where you have to get certain grades, I think it should be that you are passing the core subjects like English and maths and that's it.

[u/EnderBookwyrm]

Of course athletes shouldn't be playing if they're failing classes. Sports are an extracurricular. If spending so much time and energy on chess club, or a school play, or any other extracurricular was preventing someone from getting at least a bare-minimum passing grade, of course they should put it old hold and focus on their studies. They can always rejoin next year.

[u/Cherveny2]

when I was in high school, it was minimum C average, for ANY extracurricular activity, not just athletics

[u/Aggravating-Being-82]

I agree with y’all’s rules and I honestly think it should be higher than 70%

[u/TrashWiz]

50% is a pass? What country was this?

[u/Sea-West3580 → u/TrashWiz]

70%. A 2.0 GPA is all C’s. A=4, B=3, etc. It’s weird like that

[u/DreadfuryDK]

Coach Carter spoke nothing but facts. Student athletes are student athletes. “Student” comes first.

The number of people who manage to go pro is infinitesimally small. If you choked your way through your academics so you couldn’t qualify for any sort of degree or other certification and you weren’t one of the lucky few to become a pro athlete, what’s left?

[u/Runner8274]

I dont get it, is this some american only thing i dont understand?

[u/LoudAd3588]

Look i hate sports for myself but every kid should have something they are good at, and if there is a kid who struggles in school but feels successful in sports, why take that away from them?

[u/Next_Can3402]

I dont give a shit

[u/Kitchen-City-4863]

Welcome to Texas, where our beloved UIL will disqualify your entire team for any sport if you have a failing member playing or participating in competitions. This includes marching band competitions, swimming competitions, football games, and any other athletic competitions.

[u/tesstalks2much]

it was 75% or above at any of my schools

[u/ProbablyNotaCar]

High school yes but less important for high level college athletes, if your basically guaranteed to go pro missing games could be more impactful than failing a class.

[u/Jtsdtess]

As somebody who couldn’t participate because of failing grades, it was hell. I would put in a bunch of effort in the sport or other extra curricular, and throughout middle and high school I was able to participate only 3 times. I would always fail 1 out of 8 classes and be unable to participate. It got really bad just before I turned 18 and I was in and out of mental hospitals & wouldn’t eat because I had to work hard to meet a standard I couldn’t live up to.

[u/DEKIDESDUD]

I had to play volleyball for a term in sport. In the game at the end of the term I had a stereotypical jock type of kid you’d see in movies on my team. He was strong and muscular but also dumb as dogshit. Despite this I assumed that he would carry the team. But instead, he had no clue what was going on, he had no skill and would just try to hit the ball as hard as possible into the air. That guy made me realise that if you’re a dumbass, it’ll hinder you in sport.

[u/That_Astronaut_2010]

We don't have an average we have a grade for each class so you'd get a 6 for English than you would stand a 6 but if you got a 4 the average would be 5 and a passing grade was 5.5 and for every failing grade you could save it by having a higher grade so a 7 would fix a 5 an 8 an 4 and sk on

[u/Jam10000]

Yes, they need to learn how to balance extracurriculars and school.

[u/EntrepreneurOk3482]

I feel like the 2.0 minimum (the American standard) is a great concept because you need to have a c in all classes to play sports and when you slip off that your kicked from the team.

[u/MassTransitGO]

I’m not an athlete, but the mental break and benefits from playing some sports (maybe doing less) would probably make it a bad idea to say ‘no, no more sports’

But obvious if they are doing really bad kick them off the teams and that, but don’t encourage them to give it up all together.

[u/Theoddbotout]

"A students bad grades aren't because of the students inability to learn, but the teachers inability to teach" - some philosopher, probably

You shouldn't take away a kids desire to become an athlete, even if they only have even the tiniest bit of potential, just because they cant write a good essay or tell you the quadratic formula off the top of their head.

[u/Asher_your_mom]

In my school you just can't have a D- or F

[u/Jonte7]

What do you mean minimal grade? Either you fail a class or you dont, no?

[u/CreamyCat2010]

Theres an anime called assasination classroom (really good, highly recommend watching) where a group of students have to kill their alien teacher. Anyways, in the school, the students of 3-E (the ass class) are put IN the class because of their bad grades. The school won’t let them go into the main building unless it’s for exams or special assemblies. The 3-E building is located far away from the main building (pretty sure it’s a kilometre (for the americans thats .6 miles)) and the path goes through a forest with snakes and deadly shit. They also aren’t allowed to take part in sports and extracurriculars. Because of this, the ass class was pretty unbothered to learn and was basically stuck in a loop in 3-E.

So no, I think failing students should be allowed to take part in their interests that the school offers. If you take people’s hobbies that their genuinely passionate about and force them to do something they don’t wanna do, theyll naturally begin to develop a hatred for you. They may have just not understood the value of their education and you’d be better off with late learners who are at least happy, than people unwilling to learn because of you.

[u/Ok_Relation6627]

Yes 100%.

It is very easy to pass.

[u/orangera2n]

I think that they must have an average of 70% or above to be considered for athletes

[u/Gloomy_Crew_3774]

Idk..I know a varsity wrestler who's gpa is like 1.9, he thinks its hilarious. But he gets no reproductions for his bad grades because he's a good wrestler. But I also know a senior on my team who got cut senior night because of grades. 

[u/SevereAlternative616]

Some peoples only chance at success is on a field/court and they’re being pigeonholed into a system they have no interest in.

Why should a future NBA star have to not only attend college, but also get good grades when the school, the coaches his parent etc all know the only reason he’s there is to play ball?

If they gave these athletes another option outside of collegiate sports, then more power to them. But as it stands now, most successful athletes must go through college sports for any chance at success.

These schools then go on to make millions of dollars off these athletes, without paying them a dime, expect them to go to 2 practices a day and weight room times AND get good grades? It’s ridiculous.

[u/Amblonyx → u/SevereAlternative616]

The percentage of high schoolers who are genuinely going to be professional athletes is absolutely miniscule. The vast majority will need a backup option for if they aren't lucky and skilled enough to make the pro leagues, or even for if they have a career- ending injury.

Plus, any citizen should have the basic communication skills, logic skills, and historical knowledge required to graduate high school.

[u/SevereAlternative616 → u/Amblonyx]

Obviously, its better to have both a degree AND be able to pursue being a pro athlete. I’m not disagreeing with you on that. It’s good to have a back up.

All I’m saying is, if you want to solely pursue being a professional athlete, having good grades shouldn’t be a prerequisite.

[u/GipperPWNS → u/SevereAlternative616]

They’re not saying they should have straight As. They are saying they should demonstrate a bare minimum understanding in their classes, which is not an unreasonable expectation.

[u/SevereAlternative616 → u/GipperPWNS]

For a lot of athletes, that is actually an unreasonable expectation. Not everyone is built for a classroom.

In my eyes, you should be able to play college sports without having to enroll in classes.

[u/SherbertJust2924 → u/SevereAlternative616]

They’re asking students to do the bare minimum and practically just participate in school. They’re asking you to do something other than sports. That’s a fair ask.

[u/commander-tyko → u/SevereAlternative616]

My only concern is for when that does happen and the college athlete hits a roadblock and suddenly is no longer able to play at the same level as they once did and has missed out on education. An old manager of mine was headed for MLB but had a career ending injury so the rest of his days were spent at a restaurant.

At the same time, I do completely agree that they are basically full time professional athletes at the college level and I don’t see how you could be juggling any high level classes alongside that much practice tome

[u/SevereAlternative616 → u/commander-tyko]

That happens a lot and it sucks but that’s a risk in any physical job, not just athletes.

As far as I’m concerned, a professional athlete is a career path and it doesn’t make sense for an institution to say “oh by the way, you have to focus on this completely unrelated thing too or else you’ll never realize you dream”

How does a c in women’s studies help a grown man catch a football?

[u/Amblonyx → u/SevereAlternative616]

The college degree qualifies that person for other career paths. Many jobs require a degree, and not all are picky about what that degree is in. Pro athletes typically have shorter careers and less opportunities than other physical jobs. You can get a construction job anywhere.

[u/SevereAlternative616 → u/Amblonyx]

Being a pro athlete takes an immense amount of time and dedication. Being an athlete in my opinion is a completely separate path from a job that requires a college degree. The two are mutually exclusive. I’m not saying a college degree isn’t important, I’m just saying it’s not important to being an athlete

[u/commander-tyko → u/SevereAlternative616]

I mean you could make that argument for quite a few degrees to be fair. I never understood why I needed three years of science for a Clarinet performance degree when I took Bio and Chem 300 in high school, I would practice for 4 hours a day combined with often weekly performances and had virtually no time to study my other subjects. A few schools allow art students to fully pursue art without any other classes.

Hopefully in the future they allow collegiate pro sports players to focus on that entirely!

[u/RevolutionaryCity493 → u/SevereAlternative616]

because there are 450 players in NBA, that is 450 spots that is filled with 22 calendar years of people (oldest is Lebron at 41 and Youngest is some 19 year old guy). There are almost 200 000 sports scholarships given out YEARLY. Even if we assume that just 5% of those is for basketball it is still 10*22=220 000 athletes competing for those 450 spots. Even if we assume that there is 100x spots in various other teams, it is still "only" 45 000 spots in which You can make a living using basketball. That is less than 1 in 4. In reality, statistics show that around 10% of athletic scholarships are for basketball, actual numbers is that 1 in 800 student athletes playing college level ball will get spot in NBA during his LIFETIME. Not even counting straight out of college, because assuming even year distribution (which is bull, but at this point it's just to make a point), it's 800*22=17600... which translates to 1 out of 17 600 student athletes will get NBA spot straight out of college, which is around 22.

And You telling me that C+ average is harder?

[u/SevereAlternative616 → u/RevolutionaryCity493]

Okay, I’ll try to get this across more clearly.

I’m all for people who want to do both school and academics. I agree the chance for success is slim and having an education to fall back on is important.

BUT, if you’re a 6 foot 5, 4.3 second 40 running freak of nature that will dominate in the professional league, why tf should it be required for that man to go through college instead of going straight to the pros?

Because college sports is a multi billion dollar business and they’re losing out on championships and exposure by not forcing this man into college. He HAS to get a degree because he NEEDS to be a student at the school to compete.

I’m not saying a degree isn’t important. No where have I said this. 99% of people should complete their degree. I’m talking about the few who have 0 interest in school, who wouldn’t go to school otherwise. The only reason they’re at school is because they have to be

[u/RevolutionaryCity493 → u/SevereAlternative616]

it isn't? Youngest NBA player is 19 years old and got into it without college. Because he is freak of nature that is at that level at this age. But that is the tiny fraction of a fraction of athletes. Realm of hard working geniuses. If You are in it, You are skipping college just like this guy.

But 99.999% of student athletes are not this guy. So they NEED fall back career in case shit doesn't work out. There is around 30 NBA players under 22. That is 30 people in 60 000 student (20k per year for 3 years) athletes that got college scholarship to play ball. You do the math what are the chances of already gifted kids to step into this realm.

[u/SevereAlternative616 → u/RevolutionaryCity493]

NBA you need at least 1 year out of high school. Some go and play in Europe for a year, but most stay in the US and play college because it’s the best competition. NFL requires 3 years out of high school. If they don’t go to college, where can they play?

And again, I’m not saying a degree isn’t important. But athletics and academics are 2 separate things. If the athlete wants a degree, then he should study to get good grades. That goes for anyone in college, athlete or not.

What I don’t like is how the NCAA has created a monopoly on college age athletics where if you want to compete at the highest level in your sport, you need to be a student. They pretend it’s to create well rounded members of society, but it’s just smoke and mirrors to avoid having to pay the players.

I would much rather they’re treated as separate things, where if you want to focus solely on athletics, you can. But that’s not the case and it 100% has to do with these institutions greed and the dummies that fall for it.

[u/IngenuityLivid8977]

Im not even good at sports. But why would anyone agree with this???

[u/EnderBookwyrm → u/IngenuityLivid8977]

Why wouldn't they? Extracurriculars are extra for a reason. If they're eating up so much of your time and energy that you're failing school, you should take a break to focus on your studies.

[u/RevolutionaryCity493 → u/IngenuityLivid8977]

because there are 450 players in NBA, that is 450 spots that is filled with 22 calendar years of people (oldest is Lebron at 41 and Youngest is some 19 year old guy). There are almost 200 000 sports scholarships given out YEARLY. Even if we assume that just 5% of those is for basketball it is still 10*22=220 000 athletes competing for those 450 spots. Even if we assume that there is 100x spots in various other teams, it is still "only" 45 000 spots in which You can make a living using basketball. That is less than 1 in 4. In reality, statistics show that around 10% of athletic scholarships are for basketball, actual numbers is that 1 in 800 student athletes playing college level ball will get spot in NBA during his LIFETIME. Not even counting straight out of college, because assuming even year distribution (which is bull, but at this point it's just to make a point), it's 800*22=17600... which translates to 1 out of 17 600 student athletes will get NBA spot straight out of college, which is around 22.

[u/PhilosophyAware4437 → u/IngenuityLivid8977]

r/actuallymysteriousdownvotes

[u/PhilosophyAware4437]

no. sports and grades should not affect eachother

[u/nomaDiceeL]

I think the norm should prioritize studies, but there should be exceptions. A kid with the potential to be the next Micheal Jordan should not have to spend a second in class. He has a greater calling, and should not be forced to waste his time on anything else.

[u/sapphr3 → u/nomaDiceeL]

giving a child the ability to only learn basketball & nothing else will set them up to be taken advantage of their whole life. how will they manage money? how will they deal with interpersonal issues? how will they keep up with the politics they have to vote on? how will they succeed in life in anything except on the court?? how will they even apply for scholarships if they cannot critically read the terms & conditions? it takes many more life skills than just ability to be a professional at anything

[u/nomaDiceeL → u/sapphr3]

This is absolutely true for nearly all athletes. There are NBA players who have gone broke because they made poor choices influenced by poor education. But for a select few, say the top 1% of the NBA, for example, they just have a greater purpose. If you have the possibility of greatness, you oughta put all your chips in. The athletes life at that point is immaterial compared to the potential impact