Millions of children and high schoolers are introduced to sports every year. Many equipped with the dream of competing beyond the high school, or even collegiate levels.

Of the millions of athletes, only a single-digit percentage of student-athletes actually play at the collegiate level. While each collegiate sport has a different percentage, some, like Women’s Basketball, estimate ones as low as 3.8%. 3.8% of high school women’s basketball athletes matriculate to the Division I, II or III levels.

Higher percentages appear in sports like Lacrosse or Ice Hockey, at 12.4% and 11.9% of high school athletes continuing to play at the collegiate level.

From viewing the percentages provided by the NCAA, it is evident the more popular the sport is at the high school level (the more participants) the smaller the percentage of players playing in college.

For example, in football, there are 1,057,382 high school participants and 6.9% of those players continue playing. Although this percentage is small- it is larger than Men’s basketball, which is 3.4%. One of the reasons why it could be smaller is because of the number of players on each team.

So, now that we know the figures, one can ask the question: what does it take to be a part of that small percentage?

Although I personally don’t know, after speaking to several family members and friends that are/have been college athletes, it’s evident that it requires a lot of dedication, time and effort, among other things. In addition, attending college camps, joining a club or AAU team, and researching schools and their athletic programs can aid in an athlete’s progression.

Now, is there a set-in-stone path of what college life will be like as an athlete? No. Much like life, everyone’s experiences are different. There are various detours, u-turns, etc. in life. For a student-athlete, these can come in various different forms, such as transferring to a different school, injuries, etc.

They’re just like us, normal college students, with many aspirations in life. Some want to play in the major leagues, others want to pursue higher education and more.

To reiterate, there is no set plan a person ought to follow to reach their athletic aspirations. But, furthermore, it is important that the love for sports is prevalent in their lives. This love and loyalty to the sport they love places athletes in the percentage of athletes that play at higher levels.