Can your child make it to the pros? We’ve got the odds

How likely is it your son or daughter can play pro sports? Not likely. What about college sports? The odds are not in your favor. And you can pretty much forget about getting a college scholarship for sports. It’s less than 1% of high school athletes that get a scholarship of any kind — even slimmer for a full ride.

So parents, chill out a little bit. Unless your child is the absolute star athlete — and we don’t just mean best on their team — let them play and have fun. Check out the statistics, courtesy of the NCAA as reported in the Huffington Post recently.

SOURCE: NCAA research as reported by Youth Sports Burnout Driven by Achievement by Proxy Syndrome | Ken Reed

Men’s Basketball

• High school senior basketball players who go on to play NCAA men’s basketball (all divisions — I, II & II including “walk-ons”): Less than one in 35, or 2.9 percent.
• NCAA seniors drafted by an NBA team: Less than one in 75, or 1.3 percent.
• High school seniors eventually drafted by an NBA team: About three in 10,000, or 0.03 percent.

Women’s Basketball

• High school senior basketball players who go on to play NCAA women’s basketball (all divisions): About three in 100, or 3.1 percent.
• NCAA seniors drafted by a WNBA team: About one in 100, or 1.0 percent.
• High school seniors eventually drafted by a WNBA team: About one in 5,000, or 0.02 percent.

Football

• High school senior football players who go on to play NCAA football (all divisions): About one in 17, or 5.8 percent.
• NCAA seniors drafted by an NFL team: About one in 50, or 2.0 percent.
• High school seniors eventually drafted by an NFL team: About nine in 10,000, or 0.09 percent.

Baseball

• High school senior baseball players who go on to play NCAA baseball (all divisions): Less than three in 50, or 5.6 percent.
• NCAA seniors drafted by a MLB team: Less than eleven in 100, or 10.5 percent.
• High school seniors eventually drafted by a MLB team: About one in 200, or 0.5 percent. (However, these players almost always go to the minor leagues, where the odds of making it to the majors remain steep.)

So, there you have it. Does your child have what it takes? If you think so, even after reading these stats, do me a favor: Read this.