Post #2

Don’t Need to be a Rocket Scientist or a Military Officer to Figure This Out :)

You don’t need to be a rocket scientist or a military officer to figure out how to increase your odds of success in sports and life after sports :)

But boy does it help having one on your side! Success in sports is much more than just how you perform on the field. If you want to set yourself apart from the average players, it’s also about how you perform off the field that matters to college coaches. You don’t have be an athlete, a rocket scientist, nor a military officer to figure this out, but you absolutely need a smart strategy to win.

(image above: the next step in building something great is using the raw material to form the item being built, to have it take shape, and to turn it into something meaningful; symbolized here by the pouring of molten metal into a mold; we’ll connect all the dots in the next post).

Student athlete success, what does it look like?

Is it playing college?
Is it playing pro?
Is it having fun?
Is it making money?
Is it helping other student athletes?
Is it getting a college scholarship?
Is it knowing what you are capable of (and most other students are not)?
Is it using sports to help you crush it after you stop playing?
Is it using sports to help you find other, also fulfilling, passions?

Whether your mission is to play in college or professional, the world is constantly and aggressively competitive. If you think that you only need to play hard on the field and the rest will magically happen, then you are thinking like an average athlete. What makes the difference between you and your competition boils down to two simple things: performance on the field and performance off the field.

The Student Athlete’s and Parent’s Journey…

After speaking with numerous student athletes in middle school, high school, college and their parents, we discovered a few things about the current process…

…the path is freakin confusing,
…it can involve politics (and drama),
…it has not substantially changed in decades (irrelevant, outdated), and
…it does not help nor encourage the student to reach full athlete potential.

Playing hard on the field is a must, but it does not define a real or full athlete. As I said in my previous post, we see much much more. We see student athletes in a league of their own; they not only have to do what every student does, but they also have to endure the pain, sacrifices, and demands of being an athlete. Parents many times sell their student athlete short, way too short — they don’t create life options — they don’t realize the full potential a student athlete has within herself nor the real impact she can make around her.

Excellence on and off the field is hard, very hard, but that’s why she chose to be a student athlete; to not be average.

Based on our research, here is a typical journey of a student athlete and her parent.

This doesn’t go over all the finer details nor does it show the journey through college sports (future post), but it paints the general picture for our initial focus (6th, 7th, and 8th graders). What is the one obvious thing you see when looking at this journey (there are many actually, but let’s start with a big one)?

It Almost Entirely Focuses On Performance ON The Field and It’s One Dimensional.

This is a major problem for the student athlete and the parent. Why? Great question.

Likely Outcome…

Every student athlete and parent can look up college sports statistics (it’s no secret), such as the overall odds of getting into the various college sports divisions (which we’ll dive into a little in post #4). Yes, we know it’s low (remember from my previous post, very similar odds to that of becoming an astronaut). But, this should never never ever ever discourage the student athlete from ferociously pursuing her dream.

But, given that the overwhelming majority of student athletes focus on performance on the field (for obvious and necessary reasons), and combining this knowledge with the overall odds, the fundamental question becomes — can there be more to this?

Yes!

There are two major components to this: (1) how does she increase her overall odds of success in sports and (2) how does she build excellence off the field so that when it is combined with her performance on the field, she is unstoppable?

Because if you don’t consider these two components, the likely outcome is that she will go unnoticed, she will be an average player, she will be stuck in a pack of average players, or she simply isn’t interested in seeking a larger competitive edge. This means missed opportunities for the student athletes who have made the mental decision to pursue college sports. Together, we will change this.

Published with Excitement!

KC Chhipwadia
CEO and Founder
(company name: to be announced in 2 weeks!) (sorry for the 1 week delay)

PS
We have just selected our initial cohort of passionate parents of 6th, 7th, and 8th grade student athletes (thank you all who applied!). They will receive exclusive “concierge-like” hands-on service to build their student athlete’s roadmap to college sports and beyond — for free. If you are interested (or know someone who could benefit) to be considered for a possible second cohort, just reply to this email, and we will add you to our waiting list.

PPS
Next update in my journey will be in 2 weeks. I’ll be sharing my thoughts about student athletes’ connection to Greek athletes, and announcing our company’s name, passion, purpose, and logo!

PPPS
Link to blog post #1
Link to blog post #3
Link to blog post #4
Link to blog post #5 (free roadmap download!)