Sure, let's sign us up for a sport scholarships!

Another thing I really had to read up on as an European descent not having any idea what these sport scholarships are about, I now did my homework and don't see any point in this at all.  

UNLESS (you will need to answer all 7 of these questions with 'YES')
- you have one of the 2 % wunderkinder
- that are really so talented 
- and sports obsessed performers 
- from an early age on 
- and continuing on the path all the way through high school (not just obsessed in 4th grade)
- not wanted to do anything else then 'playing' their sport
- AND there obsession is in one of the 6 sports that give full ride scholarships. 

So, chasing after this as a parent, is highly unrealistic, especially if your kid isn't really into it in the first place.

'Any sports scientist or psychologist will tell you that in order to pursue any achievement activity for the long term, children need ownership, enjoyment and intrinsic motivation.' 

“The youth sports culture is overly aggressive, and while the opportunity for an athletic scholarship is not trivial, it’s easy for the opportunity to be overexaggerated by parents and advisers, that can skew behavior and, based on the numbers, lead to unrealistic expectations.”

(Outcome)
Then the average scholarship runs around the same amount ($10K) you'll have to spent on practice, equipment, camps over all these years leading up to it. And then the scholarship is only for one year. Most athletes won't practice this sport for much longer after college.

(Investment)
And it is basically a full time job on top of school just to keep up - leaving not much time for other interests and childhood.  It will also screw up your family calendar badly, not being able to go on vacations, enjoying life as a family, giving the parents time for their own hobbies and sports. Although athletes receiving scholarships are viewed as the winners, they typically find the demands on their time, minds and bodies in college even more taxing than the long journey before to get there.

(Solution)
If you are really look for free college education, why not look further and explore beyond the US? There is a lot of great free education out there, giving your child a great experience, broadens their horizon, makes them open minded and in the end way hopefully way happier then being dragged to practice for their endure youth. 

Comment from athletic wunderkind scholar: “And if I had it to do over, I would have skipped a practice every now and then to go to a concert or a movie with my friends. I missed out on a lot of things for soccer. I wish I could have some of that time back.”

And let's keep sports a leisure activity for the rest of us that is fun and healthy.

Or is this solely about parents bragging? 
Do I miss anything?

Want to read more about it?
8 things you should know about sports scholarships

What You Don't Know About Athletic Scholarships