By: Mike

Very interesting post and sadly absolutely accurate. My son had a similar experience but luckily for him, he had a fall back sport. He was the starting fullback on a top nationally ranked prep school team, where all of the players with the exception of my son were recruited. When the starting tailback went down with a serious hamstring injury during the second game of the season, he stepped in and scored five touchdowns breaking several long runs. He went on to lead his team (1700 yards and 17 TDs) to the State title of the top ranked conference in the Mid-Atlantic. Despite being the consensus fastest player on the field (per both his own and opposing coaches, film and the track times), college scouts kept saying he lacked breakaway speed. The funny thing is Nike had flown him out to their Oregon HQ a Top 50 prospects camp in another sport (lacrosse), where he was awarded the top athlete award (based on combine SPARQ results). It all ended up fine though because he used his 1400 SAT (2 part) score and his lacrosse skills to get a lacrosse scholarship (unfortunately not full) from one of the best sports and academic schools in the nation. As a parent, I’m also happy because its a safer sport.