The Official Visit

The official visit. This is an opportunity for a prospective student athlete to experience their potential future institution at the expense of the school. The student gets to experience many great aspects of their ensuing academic year. They attend classes, tour facilities, meet with coaches, eat with the team, etc. The problem with the official visit is the bad activity which generally goes on when the players stay with a member of the team that night. It has almost become a tradition for the players to take out the recruits, get them drunk, and show them a good time that hopefully will sway them in their decision making process to attend that certain school. This raises the question as to whether or not this is ethical and proper. I personally feel that it is just another factor in the recruiting process and as long as players and recruits don’t get in trouble, so be it. But my mindset changed a little after I talked about the recruiting process with Dr. Heather Lawrence, a professor of Sport Management here at Ohio University. She has done a lot of work pertaining to the official visit and I found it interesting to hear a professional perspective on the matter. She explained to me that most schools do not condone the alcohol side of things and do their best to eliminate the possibility of it. She said only about 10% of schools actually have the inappropriate activity that is portrayed in the media. Schools like Colorado, who had a big recruiting ethics scandal a few years ago, are the ones who give the black eye to the recruiting process. This made me realize that maybe drinking shouldn’t be a factor in the recruiting process. Maybe the players should just get a feel for how their experience will really be: sober. This will be the best way for the best athletes to go to the place most suited for them to fulfill their ultimate purpose in school, which is learn and perform.

End To The Innocence

It has dawned on me that the purest form of athletics anymore is probably when kids are in sixth grade or so. This is something many will argue, but I feel that beyond middle school, sports are a business. Professional athletics are for people to make a living. At the college level, the same problem occurs. My brother-in-law did not enjoy his playing time at 1AA (excuse me, Football Championship Subdivision) New Hampshire. The coaches were there making their living, so the only thing that ultimately mattered was winning. I used to think that high school was the purest form of athletics, where it was all for the love of the game. But nowadays you see all these athletes who could care less about their team and are only working to get a college scholarship. So it could be argued that junior high is where athletics are at their finest. But I realized that by their 8th grade year, players are being watched by the high school coaches to consider whether they will be moved up to varsity as a freshman. Thus, junior high is another proving ground that is cut throat. This brings us back to sixth grade, where hopefully the athletes aren’t being scrutinized too heavily before they reach the next level. These youngsters are playing in their final chances to simply just play. After that point, it all becomes a proving ground. Everyone is becoming more and more competitive to win that starting spot, unlike in elementary school where pretty much everyone gets playing time. I think we need to put the focus back on the team and the learning experience players get from it. This way, kids will be able to enjoy their whole high school career. I understand beyond high school that it is a business and I agree with that. But until that time, don’t allow the game to become a business and lose the element of fun.