why so many 18s quit tennis before college

E46luver

Professional
met parent of junior today utr12
boy quitting tennis now
can't play tennis at good academic school and not wanting lower quality college just to play tennis
he will go to good college and not play tennis
so his tennis adventure over at 18 before college
 
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jcgatennismom

Hall of Fame
met parent of junior today utr12
boy quitting tennis now
can't play tennis at good academic school and not wanting lower quality college just to play tennis
so his tennis adventure over at 18 before college
Maybe the good academic school has a club tennis team....Bonus is teams are co-ed....Know players who were 4 star in middle school, dropped to 2-3 star in HS due to academic load of APs (players did play HS tennis), and then played on club tennis teams-one team reached national QFs. UTR 12 is high for club-he'd probably be top guy, but the best club teams at P5 schools probably have some UTR 11 guys... Lot of tennis options-in our state we know kids who enjoyed playing club, NAIA, D2, D3, as well as Power 5 and MM D1. Other option is to continue tennis in summer or winter break playing men's prize $ opens, UTR events, ITA summer circuits ,etc. Some tourney directors will work with players so they can play their matches after work or summer internships, and some tourneys are weekend only. The tennis adventure does not have to end unless player is burnt out. Knew one guy in similar situation-wanted top academic school, not good enough for men's team-he became a hitting partner for ranked women's team. He did not get athletic aid but he kept up his tennis for the year he helped the women's team.
 
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met parent of junior today utr12
boy quitting tennis now
can't play tennis at good academic school and not wanting lower quality college just to play tennis
he will go to good college and not play tennis
so his tennis adventure over at 18 before college

Why can't he play in a high academic college? There are also HA d3 as well as D1 so shouldn't there be a fit?
 

bobleenov1963

Hall of Fame
I can relate

Ended up kickstarting tennis once more after college

was busy doing college things in college anyways :cool:

Same here and my boy is starting to lose interested in tennis and he not even in college yet, last year of high school.

There are many reasons he is starting to lose interest in tennis but one of the biggest reasons is just like the famous Motley Crue song girls girls girls :cool::cool::cool:

There are so many things competing for his time such as spending more time on his guitar and writing music. He told me recently that he can easily pick up girls at the nearby Starbucks with a guitar and a writing music notebook, playing songs from ColdPlay or One Direction. According to him, he would have a hard time picking girls sitting at Starbucks with a tennis bag.

How can tennis compete against for an 18 years old?
 

andfor

Legend
This is not necessarily a new trend. For years I've seen some top H.S. players have their sights (or their parents have their sights set for the kid) set on going to the big state school or top academic school. When narrowing choices to a handful of top schools many of which are top 25-50, tennis scholarship opportunities may dramatically decrease. Being an excellent top HS player with a high UTR and deciding academics over sports may be somewhat sad on one hand, however is very admirable.

I do have a physician friend and tennis buddy that played his freshman year at an ACC school, then quit to focus on his academics. Every now and then he'll reminisce he should have stayed on the team and believes he could have still done the pre-med track. One of his kids was a very strong HS player and went on to play at a very strong DII school tennis and academics. The kid loved the school his tennis experience and is now in med school.
 

Sardines

Hall of Fame
met parent of junior today utr12
boy quitting tennis now
can't play tennis at good academic school and not wanting lower quality college just to play tennis
he will go to good college and not play tennis
so his tennis adventure over at 18 before college
Burnout from the pressure, hardwork and also lack of progress. Many are pushed into it by parents for various reasons, and simply lose interest, others, like many teenagers who grow up and out of things, chose to leave it for other pursuits. Unfortunately, parents are quite commonly the cause as well because they put in the money and effort.
 

LOBALOT

Hall of Fame
I didn't sense from the post they were indicating that the kid was burnt out but that they couldn't find a strong academic school where they can play tennis and I don't understand that at all. There are plenty of very strong academic colleges where a 12 UTR would make the team and play in fact I am pretty sure they would be scrambling to have them attend if the kid has the grades and test scores to get in. If the poster is referencing that they won't get an athletic scholarship yes that is possible but why would that be a concern if academics are of primary concern as indicated?
 

andfor

Legend
Burnout from the pressure, hardwork and also lack of progress. Many are pushed into it by parents for various reasons, and simply lose interest, others, like many teenagers who grow up and out of things, chose to leave it for other pursuits. Unfortunately, parents are quite commonly the cause as well because they put in the money and effort.
I'm sure that happens, how often is hard to quantify.

I did see it first hand only once. A friends daughter was a top sectional player for years. Also had some decent national results 12s-16s. Dropped back a notch Jr. and Sr. years but still was good enough to receive and commit to a D1 full ride. Shortly before college she says to her father she's thinking about not playing tennis. Dad tells her the college fund for her was spent earning a full ride. LOL. She played 4 years and taught tennis for a couple years after before going into the regular workforce.
I didn't sense from the post they were indicating that the kid was burnt out but that they couldn't find a strong academic school where they can play tennis and I don't understand that at all. There are plenty of very strong academic colleges where a 12 UTR would make the team and play in fact I am pretty sure they would be scrambling to have them attend if the kid has the grades and test scores to get in. If the poster is referencing that they won't get an athletic scholarship yes that is possible but why would that be a concern if academics are of primary concern as indicated?
I picked up the same. It would be somewhat interesting to know the kids school choices and how open he is to other offers. Also if the kid has good enough grade for high academic scholarship dollars allowing him to go where he wants could explain some the desire to not participate in college athletics.
 

LOBALOT

Hall of Fame
The reason I responded is my son is 16 and attends a very strong academic high school. He also is doing pretty well at tennis and is hearing from colleges. Our family and his coaches are looking at D3 schools and a lot of them are fantastic academic institutions. In addition, they have some great tennis teams and play against other strong teams as well. If academics are of primary concern and a kid wants to play tennis there are plenty of options where a kid can be challenged academically and at the same time play a high level of tennis.
 

graycrait

Legend
so his tennis adventure over at 18 before college

I don't agree, sounds like a lot of upside for his future while playing tennis for fun. I know four young adults who made similar moves, all moving along nicely, hitting tennis balls on their terms for recreation.
 

jcgatennismom

Hall of Fame
The reason I responded is my son is 16 and attends a very strong academic high school. He also is doing pretty well at tennis and is hearing from colleges. Our family and his coaches are looking at D3 schools and a lot of them are fantastic academic institutions. In addition, they have some great tennis teams and play against other strong teams as well. If academics are of primary concern and a kid wants to play tennis there are plenty of options where a kid can be challenged academically and at the same time play a high level of tennis.
The great thing about selective academic D3 is if it becomes too difficult to balance tennis and academics, a player can quit a D3 team without losing merit or need-based aid. If a player plays d1 on a mix of athletic and merit aid, the player has to keep up a high GPA while still participating in 30+ hours a week of athletic activities. If a player chooses a tough major, that player may be doing class, labs, and tennis on little sleep with their only social life being their time with teammates. Or the player may have to take the minimum 12 hours instead of 15hrs during dual season requiring summer school or an extra semester to graduate. For STEM or premed majors, D3 is often a better choice. Even at schools like GA Tech, where almost everyone else is a STEM major, most of the athletes including the tennis team are business majors.
 

LOBALOT

Hall of Fame
The great thing about selective academic D3 is if it becomes too difficult to balance tennis and academics, a player can quit a D3 team without losing merit or need-based aid. If a player plays d1 on a mix of athletic and merit aid, the player has to keep up a high GPA while still participating in 30+ hours a week of athletic activities. If a player chooses a tough major, that player may be doing class, labs, and tennis on little sleep with their only social life being their time with teammates. Or the player may have to take the minimum 12 hours instead of 15hrs during dual season requiring summer school or an extra semester to graduate. For STEM or premed majors, D3 is often a better choice. Even at schools like GA Tech, where almost everyone else is a STEM major, most of the athletes including the tennis team are business majors.

These are great points!!!!!
 

atatu

Legend
My son was not as strong as the players mentioned above, but was still good enough to play at a lot of D3 schools but elected to go to one where he was not good enough to play. He's really happy, playing rugby (I kept him out of football growing up) lifting weights, getting good grades and has time for his girlfriend. I hate to admit it, but he's probably better off not playing tennis in college.
 

BusyMom

New User
Lots of good points have already been made. I'll add another possible angle which I have seen play out a lot, especially in states with top rated public universities . Sometime during sophomore year, the parents finally understand the college recruiting game and recognize their kids options. Parent realizes they can pay $70k per year for a strong academic D3 where their child can play varsity tennis. Or they can pay $20-30K for their child to go to their stellar state university and have their child play club tennis or not play at all. I have seen many parents select the state university route.
 

LOBALOT

Hall of Fame
My son was not as strong as the players mentioned above, but was still good enough to play at a lot of D3 schools but elected to go to one where he was not good enough to play. He's really happy, playing rugby (I kept him out of football growing up) lifting weights, getting good grades and has time for his girlfriend. I hate to admit it, but he's probably better off not playing tennis in college.

Sounds actually pretty similar. There are a couple of very good D1 state schools in our area so who knows. He may play club and go to one of those. One option may be not playing tennis at all but I personally would hate to see it come to an end. He is really playing well right now and beating kids that used to beat kids that used to beat him...

It is really up to my son so what we are trying to do is put a portfolio of options in front of him.
 

ChaelAZ

G.O.A.T.
My son was not as strong as the players mentioned above, but was still good enough to play at a lot of D3 schools but elected to go to one where he was not good enough to play. He's really happy, playing rugby (I kept him out of football growing up) lifting weights, getting good grades and has time for his girlfriend. I hate to admit it, but he's probably better off not playing tennis in college.

Same with my son. Had a few offers to play college tennis but just decided he didn’t want to. He is working and happy being a young adult, trying to figure out what he wants to do next. He can still jump back in tennis for fun, and it was a great character building sport for him to play while growing up.


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mikej

Hall of Fame
met parent of junior today utr12
boy quitting tennis now
can't play tennis at good academic school and not wanting lower quality college just to play tennis
he will go to good college and not play tennis
so his tennis adventure over at 18 before college

I’ll bet good money that his tennis adventure isn’t over

Don’t have to play college tennis to enjoy playing tennis in the future, whether that’s club tennis in college / adult league tennis / etc

I don’t regret making a similar choice (choosing to go to a college where I was going to have no chance of playing for the team) - tennis is still a big part of my life
 

LOBALOT

Hall of Fame
I’ll bet good money that his tennis adventure isn’t over

Don’t have to play college tennis to enjoy playing tennis in the future, whether that’s club tennis in college / adult league tennis / etc

I don’t regret making a similar choice (choosing to go to a college where I was going to have no chance of playing for the team) - tennis is still a big part of my life

What great advice. I bet you are doing great both professionally and with tennis. I would like to think I have done that with my son and past down the sport that my aunt started me with and and played well into her 70s. Hopefully my son's kids will play as well and their kids after.
 

W4TA

New User
Depending on one's financial situation, the cost of attending and playing tennis at a high-academic DIII school can rival the cost of a state school. 100% financial need is met at many select DIII schools, where the quality of tennis can be high (many NESCAC, SCIAC, or UAA schools have several male players at 11.5 - 12.25 UTR... sorry, not familiar with the female ratings).

Very roughly speaking, at a $70k per year DIII school, a low-income family might receive full financial support, while a middle-income family might pay the equivalent of a state school (one would have to run the NPC and/or discuss with the school's financial aid office).

Thus, if a student will not earn a DI athletic scholarship and wants to continue playing tennis, DIII is worth investigating. Often, there is more immediate opportunity to play, and the financial aid (depending on the school and one's financial profile) can be generous enough to rival to the cost of a state school. While the benefits of DIII tennis are many, the prioritization of academics over sport can reduce burn-out, while allowing the student to pursue a rigorous academic curriculum.

Many of these schools are very selective, with ~10% admission rates. A high-level player with strong academics and the coach's support can often gain access to a school that would be a reach for even the highest ranking students. Not for everyone, but worth considering for some.
 

bobleenov1963

Hall of Fame
Depending on one's financial situation, the cost of attending and playing tennis at a high-academic DIII school can rival the cost of a state school. 100% financial need is met at many select DIII schools, where the quality of tennis can be high (many NESCAC, SCIAC, or UAA schools have several male players at 11.5 - 12.25 UTR... sorry, not familiar with the female ratings).

Very roughly speaking, at a $70k per year DIII school, a low-income family might receive full financial support, while a middle-income family might pay the equivalent of a state school (one would have to run the NPC and/or discuss with the school's financial aid office).

Thus, if a student will not earn a DI athletic scholarship and wants to continue playing tennis, DIII is worth investigating. Often, there is more immediate opportunity to play, and the financial aid (depending on the school and one's financial profile) can be generous enough to rival to the cost of a state school. While the benefits of DIII tennis are many, the prioritization of academics over sport can reduce burn-out, while allowing the student to pursue a rigorous academic curriculum.

Many of these schools are very selective, with ~10% admission rates. A high-level player with strong academics and the coach's support can often gain access to a school that would be a reach for even the highest ranking students. Not for everyone, but worth considering for some.
 

atatu

Legend
It's actually CRAZY how much it varies. My son could have played at Occidental in LA but the cost would have been almost twice as much as Trinity, that just did not make any sense at all !
 

tlsmikey

Rookie
Some of this has to do with what's happening at the college level now. Most of the D1 schools are now taking kids from Europe that are top challenger players or players that could be borderline pro's and giving them scholarships for one or two years until they turn pro. It's important to understand that most countries outside of the U.S. have programs that sponsor tennis athletes which allow them to either drop out of school or help offset limited education so they can practice 4-5 hours per day (Andreescu is a good example of this). The U.S. doesn't have this type of program so if a junior wants to go full time and drop school they can, but the risk is much higher and it often times doesn't seem like it's worth it.

The second piece of course is the pressure. I played junior tennis and i have two daughters that play currently. It can be a pressure cooker and as a solitary sport there are times where you can really get down on yourself and feel like you aren't having much fun. If you really want to go pro, you have to enjoy the monotonous workouts and grind that is tennis today.
 

MaxTennis

Professional
I fall into this category. I grew up in SoCal, was an average junior (2 star, 324 TRN), and was talking to a few D3 coaches, but chose to go to UCLA to focus on academics.

The nice thing is I actually didn't get as burned out as some of my other friends who ended up playing college tennis. I now compete in Men's Open and 5.0+ league tennis in NorCal, and I honestly think I enjoy tennis now more than I did as a junior player.
 

AndI

Rookie
When kids grow, they like to try different things to expand their horizons and to find what they really like to do. Tennis might be THE thing for the parent, but just A sports related activity for the kid. One of many possible activities.

Quitting before college or in high school is reasonable. The workload at high school or at college is much higher, and there is much less time. One does not go to college to play tennis. One goes there to get education and to get a well paid job afterwards.

A typical motivation for quitting at a young age is when a player reaches a plateau, either due to his/her own athletic abilities, or due to less than perfect coaching. Lack of progress leads to lack of interest.

The 12 year old who you mentioned is a smart kid. His parents must have pushed him too hard, beyond the reasonable goals of doing it for fun or getting into a varsity team at high school. One cannot do both, study at 100% and play sports at 100%. College sports put emphasize on a wrong thing. One has to realize that colleges have college sports teams to make money, not to benefit students. I would never ever recommend my kids to pursue sports in college. For me, it is the worst decision they can make, short of not going to college at all. College sports more often than not would kill their future professional career.
 

E46luver

Professional
kid is ivy caliber so he is looking at elite schools he will not let tennis interfere with best college selection
pressure is also factor he does not like cheating and pressure and yes
 

MarTennis

Semi-Pro
met parent of junior today utr12
boy quitting tennis now
can't play tennis at good academic school and not wanting lower quality college just to play tennis
he will go to good college and not play tennis
so his tennis adventure over at 18 before college
By the way, just so you know. there are less than 5 kids utr 12 class of 2020 that have not committed. So it's easy pretty to figure out who is quitting tennis. Of course you could be talking about an 11th grader that plans on quitting tennis.
 

silentkman

Professional
When kids grow, they like to try different things to expand their horizons and to find what they really like to do. Tennis might be THE thing for the parent, but just A sports related activity for the kid. One of many possible activities.

Quitting before college or in high school is reasonable. The workload at high school or at college is much higher, and there is much less time. One does not go to college to play tennis. One goes there to get education and to get a well paid job afterwards.

A typical motivation for quitting at a young age is when a player reaches a plateau, either due to his/her own athletic abilities, or due to less than perfect coaching. Lack of progress leads to lack of interest.

The 12 year old who you mentioned is a smart kid. His parents must have pushed him too hard, beyond the reasonable goals of doing it for fun or getting into a varsity team at high school. One cannot do both, study at 100% and play sports at 100%. College sports put emphasize on a wrong thing. One has to realize that colleges have college sports teams to make money, not to benefit students. I would never ever recommend my kids to pursue sports in college. For me, it is the worst decision they can make, short of not going to college at all. College sports more often than not would kill their future professional career.

Most college sports teams don't make money at all,especially tennis. I've always thought playing sports is good thing for most people. its teaches you how to work together for a goal. I still have issues with tennis being a team sport. How many people actually put 100% into studying? Obviously, its been proven multiple times that you can do both.
 

AndI

Rookie
This is true that tennis is nowhere close to college football and more likely than not is not a profit machine. I totally agree with you that athletic activities are good for health. What I have trouble with, are athletic activities which run like regular classes with scheduled and mandatory attendance. Recreational sport can be pursued at almost any level, but it is different in the sense that one has full control when to play it and how much to play; the level of involvement can prioritized as needed and when needed. College sport is a commitment. If one gets a scholarship for participating in college sport (or a priority admission), it becomes a commitment with a high level of priority. This pushes other priorities down.

For recreational sports, one only needs access to athletic facilities and time and desire to use them. My daughter recently graduated from Harvard Business School, she did not have much time, if any at all, to use those facilities (or they were not anywhere close to the top of her priorities list)- and I got the feeling that her classmates felt the same. Had she, hypothetically speaking, done team sports, she probably would have failed her MBA.

But I guess it depends on what one's vision is regarding what the purpose of studies at college and what kind of career one envisions. My opinion may be biased.
 
But I guess it depends on what one's vision is regarding what the purpose of studies at college and what kind of career one envisions. My opinion may be biased.
I think it depends on how much a person enjoys the sport.

College tennis is definitely a commitment, but for those kids who love the sport, they can't imagine college life without it. My kid attended a school that has a period of time from 5-7pm blocked off for athletics and no classes are scheduled during that time frame. The fact that the athletic activities were run like regular classes made it easier to fit it into the day.

There would be a lot of D3 schools where a player with a UTR 12 could play and not feel like he was attending a "lower quality college" while at the same time, having a great tennis experience.
 
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atatu

Legend
This is true that tennis is nowhere close to college football and more likely than not is not a profit machine. I totally agree with you that athletic activities are good for health. What I have trouble with, are athletic activities which run like regular classes with scheduled and mandatory attendance. Recreational sport can be pursued at almost any level, but it is different in the sense that one has full control when to play it and how much to play; the level of involvement can prioritized as needed and when needed. College sport is a commitment. If one gets a scholarship for participating in college sport (or a priority admission), it becomes a commitment with a high level of priority. This pushes other priorities down.

For recreational sports, one only needs access to athletic facilities and time and desire to use them. My daughter recently graduated from Harvard Business School, she did not have much time, if any at all, to use those facilities (or they were not anywhere close to the top of her priorities list)- and I got the feeling that her classmates felt the same. Had she, hypothetically speaking, done team sports, she probably would have failed her MBA.

But I guess it depends on what one's vision is regarding what the purpose of studies at college and what kind of career one envisions. My opinion may be biased.

Ok but you know that most college athletes are undergrads right ? I don't think there are many MBA's playing college sports.
 

Fabresque

Legend
Because they burn out senior year, normally the summer after junior year. Seen a lot of great players play like absolute garbage their senior years because they hate the sport and/or just don’t enjoy it anymore. It’s like they purposely play bad so the coach can bench them and not play them. A lot of them probably put in the effort to get better but once they realized that a certain school they wanted to go to wasn’t replying to their interest/not giving them an offer, they just stopped caring. It’s not uncommon, in fact it’s very common. Tennis senioritis if you will.
 

Cashman

Hall of Fame
can't play tennis at good academic school and not wanting lower quality college just to play tennis
I think that covers most of the kids you are talking about. Because the professional options for tennis are so poor compared to a lot of sports, the value of the sport often gets reduced to purely being the academic doors it opens.

Kids treat it as transactional - if college tennis gets them a better education at a cheaper price, they will play college tennis. If not, why bother? Better off using the time for study and other things.

I don't think that is a bad thing. I wouldn't want my kid compromising their education to pursue a sport that will probably never give them a decent living.
 
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andfor

Legend
I think that covers most of the kids you are talking about. Because the professional options for tennis are so poor compared to a lot of sports, the value of the sport often gets reduced to purely being the academic doors it opens.

Kids treat it as transactional - if college tennis gets them a better education at a cheaper price, they will play college tennis. If not, why bother? Better off using the time for study and other things.

I don't think that is a bad thing. I wouldn't want my kid compromising their education to pursue a sport that will probably never give them a decent living.
I don't think a large percentage of kids play college sports for the possibility of transitioning to professional athletic career. Not even close. There's really only a very small percentage of kids who are 4 star and above that skip college tennis.

I'd add that playing a sport with the goal of being a pro has a higher likelihood of burnout for the average tennis kid or HS athlete. Only something like 1% of HS athletes receive a college scholarship which is far more realistic than aspiring to become a professional athlete.
 

texrunner

New User
I was actually talking about this with our veterinarian the other day. He was a college athlete (baseball at a D2 school) and quit his sophomore year. He said the competition to get into vet school was immense and he knew something would have to give. And because he wanted to have some semblance of a social life baseball was what he gave up. I'll never forget what he said - "you really had to love baseball" and he said he didn't love it enough to put his chances of getting into A&M vet school in jeopardy. Baseball is still part of his life, as he plays on an adult league and coaches his kid's team.
 

andfor

Legend
I was actually talking about this with our veterinarian the other day. He was a college athlete (baseball at a D2 school) and quit his sophomore year. He said the competition to get into vet school was immense and he knew something would have to give. And because he wanted to have some semblance of a social life baseball was what he gave up. I'll never forget what he said - "you really had to love baseball" and he said he didn't love it enough to put his chances of getting into A&M vet school in jeopardy. Baseball is still part of his life, as he plays on an adult league and coaches his kid's team.
I know two physicians who were both All-Americans, DI and DIII. Both universities they attended very highly rated. Just pointing it out because it can be done. That said your Vets choice is his own and obviously a wise one. I have another physician tennis friend that played his freshman year only at an ACC school, then quit due to the pre-med study load. He said he wishes now he'd have done both, his son now is doing it. (Sorry, I've told that last story recently). Each case is unique and decision personal.
 

bobleenov1963

Hall of Fame
I know two physicians who were both All-Americans, DI and DIII. Both universities they attended very highly rated. Just pointing it out because it can be done. That said your Vets choice is his own and obviously a wise one. I have another physician tennis friend that played his freshman year only at an ACC school, then quit due to the pre-med study load. He said he wishes now he'd have done both, his son now is doing it. (Sorry, I've told that last story recently). Each case is unique and decision personal.

Yes, it is possible to win the powerball lottery too but the odd is extremely low. You can study to be future physician and play D1 tennis at the same time but the odd of that is a little bit higher than winning powerball lottery. Let not talk about those outliers.
 
D

Deleted member 769694

Guest
met parent of junior today utr12
boy quitting tennis now
can't play tennis at good academic school and not wanting lower quality college just to play tennis
he will go to good college and not play tennis
so his tennis adventure over at 18 before college

There is a massive difference between juniors and adults.

I played a year of opens before i won my first match (won 8-10 tournaments my last year of juniors). Got lucky and played a college guy instead of a grown man. I did get very bad draws, they always put me against the top seeds so i could get better. Basically pay $30 to play a atp guy or former, heck of a deal. Butt kickings are the best lessons :)
 

andfor

Legend
Yes, it is possible to win the powerball lottery too but the odd is extremely low. You can study to be future physician and play D1 tennis at the same time but the odd of that is a little bit higher than winning powerball lottery. Let not talk about those outliers.

I know a former Ivy League player who also got an Ivy League MBA and works on Wall St. Another DIII champ doc, another former SEC player doc, former ACC player lawyer. These are just former players I know. You act as if I know the only former college athletes who are doctors and lawyers. There’s many more.

Your statement about odds and what can be accomplished shows how little you actually know.


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jcgatennismom

Hall of Fame
Yes, it is possible to win the powerball lottery too but the odd is extremely low. You can study to be future physician and play D1 tennis at the same time but the odd of that is a little bit higher than winning powerball lottery. Let not talk about those outliers.
At the college my daughter (not a tennis player) attended, there was a D1 midmajor female tennis player in the same Science honors program with a premed major. She played lines 1 and 2, volunteered 100 hours a year, graduated with a 3.93 GPA, continued at med school through the same university and now is doing her residency (BS graduate in 2015). That said only 41% of premed students who apply to med school are accepted to at least one med school with each individual school having acceptance rates of 3-18% (South and North Dakota). Considering some premed majors with low MCATs or GPAs dont even apply, the true % of premed majors who make into med school is even lower, and those are mainly regular students, not athletes. Only a student athlete with great discipline, high iQ, extremely fast processing skills, and excellent memory would be able to earn a 3.7+ in science courses with labs while also committing 30 hours a week to tennis, traveling, and missing class. Somehow they also have to get in research and volunteer hours and study for MCATs but maybe they do that during the summer. I agree it's rare but for a smart disciplined kid the odds are better than the lottery, especially if the players chooses to play D3 vs D1. Maybe those who hope to attend med school should play tennis at a university with a med school/hospital to make it easier to volunteer and to receive positive references from faculty who know medical school staff.

@andfor Do current tennis players put in more or less hours than tennis players in the past? Do they travel more? I know rules have been put in place to limit athlete hours but a lot of hours spent dont count in the 20 "countable" hours. Was it easier or just as hard to be a premed tennis player 10 or 20 years ago vs today? Is it the same or more competitive to get in med school today? I am curious as a player at our local HS is considering premed. I have encouraged his mom for him to look at D3s but he might have a better chance of getting in med school if he attends the in state university with a med school but his UTR is rather low for that university.
 
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Jack the Hack

Hall of Fame
Yes, it is possible to win the powerball lottery too but the odd is extremely low. You can study to be future physician and play D1 tennis at the same time but the odd of that is a little bit higher than winning powerball lottery. Let not talk about those outliers.

I know four doctors and one lawyer in just our local USTA League that played NCAA D1 tennis for all four years of their undergrad before going on to medical and law school. Such high achievers are definitely in the top percentages of society at large, but not all that rare. Not as rare as a Powerball winner.

How many new doctors and lawyers graduate each year? According to a quick web search, it's about 25,000 doctors and 35,000 lawyers. If 0.5% of them played college sports, that's 300 every year that have done it. The number is probably higher. The neurosurgeon that operated on my mother-in-law last year was an NCAA champion volleyball player.

How many Powerball winners are there each year? About 6 to 8. I've never met or known anyone that won the lottery...
 

Drew Dennison

New User
Junior tennis is so easy to burnout in because there's such a long gap from playing USTA to college. Plenty of kids I knew stopped playing at around 14-15 after playing the juniors since 8-9 years old.
 

bobleenov1963

Hall of Fame
I know a former Ivy League player who also got an Ivy League MBA and works on Wall St. Another DIII champ doc, another former SEC player doc, former ACC player lawyer. These are just former players I know. You act as if I know the only former college athletes who are doctors and lawyers. There’s many more.

Source?

IYour statement about odds and what can be accomplished shows how little you actually know.

I went to Ohio State University and I don't know of any medicine doctors that played "tennis" for Ohio State.
 

3kids

Rookie
Ok, I'll bite. How many "tennis" players from Power-5 schools that go on to become a medical doctors in the past five years?

I am a physician who played tennis back in the day (not nearly good enough for college) and have kids that are highly ranked juniors so have some interest in this subject. Without wasting time searching the internet, a couple of names I've previously come across below. Hsu is at UPenn and Nguyen is at UChicago Pritzker school of medicine

 

JW10S

Hall of Fame
Some years ago I had a player who I coached while he was a junior player. He competed at the sectional level and earned a pretty good ranking but did not compete on the national level. He had wanted to play in college but ended up accepting an academic scholarship to UCLA and knew there was little chance he could make their varsity team. I encouraged him to look into the school's club tennis program. He did join and had a blast. He was able to continue competing and now as a business professional still plays, and competes, regularly. Since then I have always encouraged players I've worked with who were not quite good enough to make a college team to look into the school's club program and most who did have had a great experience. No reason you have to hang the racquets up just because you can't make the college's varsity team.
 

texrunner

New User
I agree with everything you said! We were at a resort a few summers ago and my daughter was doing a tennis lesson from a guy who went to either Georgia or Florida - I cant remember which. I assumed he was on the team and was surprised when he said he played club. He was a high nationally ranked junior who chose to do club bc of his rigorous school schedule. But what surprised me the most was how competitive club is at schools like that - apparently they have levels and he had to try out for the top level.
 

jmnk

Hall of Fame
I am a physician who played tennis back in the day (not nearly good enough for college) and have kids that are highly ranked juniors so have some interest in this subject. Without wasting time searching the internet, a couple of names I've previously come across below. Hsu is at UPenn and Nguyen is at UChicago Pritzker school of medicine

While I can't speak about Denis, giving David Hsu as an example of a player that can juggle D1 tennis with being a prospective doctor is perhaps not the best one? It appears David was on the team as freshman and a sophomore, but not later. Kind of seems it has become really, really hard to keep up doing both? (Disclaimer: I have zero knowledge of actual circumstances above what can be derived from studying Stanford roster - so my conclusion can certainly be a wrong one).
 
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