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We all do it. We sit on the field, in the stands, in the gym. We watch our young kids compete, improve, show promise, and we fantasize about that day when our talented little goalkeeper/point guard/running back will be a college athlete. At that point, we just hope someday they want it, too.And when they express an interest, we pour resources into that fantasy. By resources, of course, we mean time and money: private trainers, travel teams, club fees, recruiting showcases, recruiting services. There is nothing wrong with the fantasy, by the way. Its a good one. Collegiate athletics often provides young people extraordinary, character-building, once-in-a-lifetime experiences. But it comes with some realities that only begin with the process of getting there.The statistics are not hard to find.* According to the NCAA, 8 million kids are participating in high school sports.* Only 480,000 of them (6 percent) will eventually compete in collegiate athletics at an NCAA program.* Only 56 percent of those athletes will receive some level of scholarship assistance, and that amount averages less than $11,000 per student athlete.The myths, meanwhile, are not hard to bust.* Its all about the scholarship. Full-ride scholarships are not the norm in college athletics. Only six NCAA Division I sports offer full scholarships for athletes who make the team: football, mens and womens basketball, womens gymnastics, volleyball and tennis. The rest of the NCAA sports are called equivalency sports, in which each team has a set number of scholarships (11.7 in Division I college baseball, for example), and those scholarships are divided up among the players on the roster at increments determined by the head coach. That means some kids might get half of their tuition paid for. Others might only get their books covered. Some get nothing but a spot on the roster.* College programs will come looking for you. In reality, even the strongest, hardest-working, most talented kids on your high school team likely arent going to catch the eye of big-time college programs without a lot of legwork on your part.* If youre good enough, youll get your pick of schools. Often, kids who are being recruited are not choosing among the colleges they are most interested in attending, but among those who are most interested in them. And equally often, those choices are limited.And if you are a parent of a kid who truly, honestly wants to be a college athlete, one who has already demonstrated he or she is willing to put in the work and the effort to achieve that goal, keeping it real is the best thing you can do.I think as parents, we have to be realistic about where our kids fit in, said my friend Shari, whose three kids have been recruited by colleges in the past five years. It was a very different story for each of them.Indeed. In our house, our experience was shepherding a hard-working kid who was a successful high school athlete to the best opportunity he would have to play baseball for another four years. Because lets face it, considering the minuscule number of college athletes who end up playing professionally in their given sports, that is what we are talking about here. A chance to play for four more years.As a family, we put in a lot of labor, setting him up for exposure by signing him up for showcases and individual recruiting events at specific schools. He joined summer teams that might maximize his chance to get seen.He emailed coaches, sent videos. We created a spreadsheet to keep track, along with a nice one-page reference to his stats, academic achievements and goals. We suggested to him that if he was interested in a school, he should check their roster on the website and see how many of the guys on the team were his size. (A reality check for our 5-foot-9 right-handed pitcher.) We reminded him to follow up. We encouraged him through the frustration of not getting a response from a school he really liked, or the coach who said he didnt get a chance to come out and see him throw after all.?And on the odd day that he didnt throw particularly well, we tried (really hard, in my case) not to say much at all.We watched him for signs that maybe this wasnt what he really wanted. But he kept working. And he kept wanting. So we kept going.Thats not to say we did everything right. But we did it with a sense of reality and appropriate expectation that this was going to be hard, and it wasnt just going to happen because it was what he wanted.My son ended up at a Division III school, where he has indeed gotten his opportunity to play -- an opportunity initiated by a contact from his high school coach and barely any of the stuff we did. And sometimes, that is just how it goes.Sharis oldest son, a football player, used a recruiting service that matched him up with a Division I-AA school that was a fit for his academic profile. Her middle son is a Division I swimmer at a school in the Midwest after getting a late start in the recruiting process. And her youngest daughter, a swimmer and high school senior, began making lists and sending out letters to coaches in her sophomore year.You cant sit back and wait to be discovered at a meet or a tournament, Shari said. In a lot of instances, like 99.9 percent of the time, unless you are a star athlete who gets a lot of press coverage, you have to be very proactive, get your face in front of these coaches. And once you do that, its follow-through, follow-through, follow-through.And still, theres no guarantee how things will turn out. The week after my son decided where he would be going to school, the coach stepped down. My son went anyway. Sharis oldest son went across the country for his opportunity to play football, but his college career was limited by injury. He still loved his college experience.It is a tenuous thing, the opportunity to be a college athlete. Shari was right when she called it a gamble. Shes also right about this:I think kids end up where they were meant to be, even if its maybe not where they thought, she said. But I think thats true whether they are an athlete or not.A reality that trumps fantasy every time. Steve McNair Womens Jersey . The Celtics closed out their first preseason under Stevens on Wednesday night with a 101-97 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, who rested a lot of their lineup including former Celtics Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. Kevin Byard Jersey . Their experience showed Tuesday as the No. 10 Badgers blunted a Saint Louis surge to win 63-57 and advance to face West Virginia in Wednesdays finals of the Cancun Challenge. http://www.titansstoreonline.com/Black-17-Ryan-Tannehill-Womens-Jersey/ . Peter Gammons, an analyst for Major League Baseballs network and website, drew the ire of hockey fans on Sunday when he criticized the two NHL teams on Twitter for their physical game the night before. Jurrell Casey Womens Jersey . Uniteds eighth defeat of a wretched campaign means Liverpool, which currently occupies the fourth and final Champions League place, could go nine points clear of its fierce rival by beating West Bromwich Albion on Sunday. Charlie Adam scored both of Stokes goals at Britannia Stadium either side of Robin van Persies equalizer, with a miserable day for seventh-place United capped by first-half injuries to centre halves Jonny Evans and Phil Jones that forced them off. A.J. Brown Womens Jersey . Shot outdoors against the stunning backdrop of Banff, Alta., the networks 30-minute original production airs tonight at 8pm et/5pm pt on TSN2. The four All-Star teams will play for $100,000 in prize money during TSNs annual skins game, airing live this weekend on TSN from The Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre. ATLANTA -- Matt Kemp once believed he would spend his entire career with the Los Angeles Dodgers.Now that he has been traded twice in 19 months, Kemp is just excited somebody still wants him. He debuted Tuesday night for the Atlanta Braves, batting cleanup and playing left field three days after he was acquired from San Diego.I never, ever thought I was going to be traded, Kemp said before the game. I always thought I was going to be with the Dodgers.Kemp wrote Monday for The Players Tribune that the Braves were his favorite team as a kid. He mentioned some of the rocky times he had with the Dodgers, when his attitude suffered.Speaking with reporters before Tuesdays game, a 5-3 loss to the?Pittsburgh Pirates, Kemp indicated that he wanted to preempt notions that he isnt a team player.Its stuff thats out there, not all stuff that I agree with, he said. I dont want people here to wonder about me as a person. Im here to be a good teammate and to help lead these guys in the right direction. Im excited about this new journey.The Braves traded troubled outfielder Hector Olivera for $10.5 million and Kemp, who is earning $21.5 million this season and will make the same salary in each of the next three years.Kemps jersey number is 27. He received loud cheers, with several hundred fans giving him a standing ovation, as he was introduced before his first at-bat in the first inning. He?went 0-for-4 and ended the game with a strikeout.Kemp met with interim manager Brian Snitker a few hours before the game. Snitker wanted to assure his new slugger that the Braves are excited to have him under contract through the 2019 season.Atlanta has the worst overall record and the worst home mark in the major leagues this season. Ticket sales have plummeted. The teams marketing department offered a three-night special through Thursday: two outfield tickets for $7.?Under president of baseball operations John Hart and general manager John Coppolella, the franchise started a major rebuilding project about the same time the Doddgers dealt Kemp to San Diego before the 2015 season.dddddddddddd In recent years, the Braves have traded Craig Kimbrel, Jason Heyward, Justin Upton, Evan Gattis, Andrelton Simmons, Melvin Upton Jr.?and Shelby Miller, and the team let Brian McCann leave as a free agent. The only everyday player brought in was right fielder Nick Markakis as a free agent, but the goal was to acquire prospects.Atlanta is excited about the arrival of shortstop Dansby Swanson, a former No. 1 overall draft pick acquired in the Miller deal, second baseman Ozzie Albies and several young pitchers as it moves into a new ballpark a few miles north of Turner Field next year.Getting Kemp makes the team feel more legitimate.Its like we told him: Were trying to do something big here. Were in the infancy stages of it, and we really want you to be a part of it, Snitker said. I think he can be.Snitker batted Kemp between first baseman Freddie Freeman and Markakis. That trio might not sound like much to contending teams, but Kemps arrival is considered a big upgrade for Atlanta, which ranks last in the majors in runs and homers.Itll help Nick. Itll help Freddie, Snitker said. It helps everybody when you get a guy like that, as weve seen over the course of time. When one of those guys gets going, it kind of relaxes everyone else and doesnt make them feel like they have to do too much.In 254 games with San Diego, Kemp hit .264 -- 28 points lower than his nine-season batting average for the Dodgers -- with 46 homers, 169 RBIs and 247 strikeouts.Its a beautiful city;. Its a beautiful place to be, Kemp said of San Diego. They treated me well.Now, Kemp says hes all-in with the Braves.I dont think the East Coast really knows that much about me, Kemp said. This is my introduction to them and to let them know what Im willing to do for this organization.Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.? ' ' '