If Professional Sports doesn't work out...

Many adolescents dream of becoming a professional athlete! Boys especially aspire to play on their favorite team and live the good life that a professional salary can produce. However, according to studies by D. Stanley Eitzen, former president of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport and author of Fair and Foul: Beyond the Myths of and Paradoxes of Sports, the odds are not good on making it as a professional athlete. Notice these statistics:

Professional Athlete Comparison
Number of Males in Baseball, Basketball & Football	Level
2,000,000	High School
68,000	College
2,500	Professional

That means that less than .13% of high school athletes will ever make it to the professional level!

With less than 1% of high school athletes ever making it into professional sports, students need a career plan that will provide income while they are developing their skills. Also, if a student is lucky enough to make it as professional athlete, he/she only has a limited number of years to perform before age and possible injuries begin to limit his/her competitiveness. While dreaming of playing for a professional team, make sure that you also develop skills for a successful career.

> back to info for students