I know it's rare, but I was curious so I looked it up. There's a well-known kid, Kyler Murray, who played both football and baseball at Univ of Oklahoma. He was drafted in both MLB and NFL which is astounding. I wonder if this can be done with soccer and baseball. Soccer college season is in the fall, Aug - Dec. Baseball college is in the Spring, something like Jan - Jun, including practice and playoffs. So, it seems that schedule-wise it might be possible. I also wonder if he could play MLS Next during his teens and high school baseball. That league won't let their kids play HS soccer but I hear they let them play other sports. I want him to focus on one sport in a couple years, but his mom will push baseball. So he might do both. He likes both. But to be competitive in both is super time consuming. So I guess you'd have to play comp in one and recreationally in the other.
I think it's a tough road, though maybe more likely at lower levels. In a past life I worked as a sports writer and spent some time covering a Power 5 football program at a school where the academics were more elite than the football program. In the 10 seasons I was around, I remember exactly one engineering major on the football team (I'm working from memory and DI football rosters are huge, so there may have been a couple more in there, but there weren't many). FWIW, my son wanted to be a music major (tends to be very demanding of students' time) and play soccer. While he was still early in high school I talked to the department head at a music school I had some contact with at a big university (50K+ students, DI sports) to see if he had any varsity athletes among his several hundred music students. He did some checking and found two at that point, both of whom he said the department advisors had a really tough time helping make their schedules work. Similarly, my son wound up at a DIII where both the music department and the soccer program said they would try to make music and his sport work. It very quickly did not work and he is not a music major.
I think its best, if you're gonna do a hard major, to not try to get all As. That will take too much time. Just try to make it through. No one in the future will really care about your grades anyways. It's better to focus on your sport. If you put that on your resume that will stand out and it will make sense why you didn't get all As. It will be too stressful to try to get As and be good at your sport. So focus on the sport and be mid or even a the bottom of your class for your major because no one cares. Look at presidents like Biden and Bush, they got low grades but became presidents. I studied my butt of in college but wish I would have pursued other things and not cared about grades so much.
Do you hire people? If I need an out of college techy I could not care less about how many goals they scored, but that A in probability or algorithms class might just get them hired. It’s a business, not a fan club First job out of college usually sets you up for a second and so on. Statistically speaking, being on the bottom of the class is not a sound strategy for a career success. Of course the grades are not a guarantee of anything, but they do give one a better leg up than being a player.
If your grad school is part of the plan, then grades matter. When my agency hires students just out of school, we look at grades so grades matter there too
You should definitely get your son on your local President Next Club, start working on those podium skills, and his press conference banter technique (sort of the presidential step-over move, if you will). He's young, but it's never too early to fix his ideology -- left wing? Hmm. And make sure he never gets a grade that's better than a C+. That's the proven president track ... (insert banging-my-head-against-a-brick-wall emoji here).
I have hired people yes. Don't think I looked at gpa. I was looking for certain skills and good character. I can't recall the last time anyone cared about my gpa. Grades are overrated. Unless you are going for certain grad schools, or certain employers that look at that, like a top 5 accounting firm and you're an accounting major. Otherwise it's a waste. Some employers will value the school you went to more than the grades. There are a gazillion different types of jobs out there though and many just don't look at grades. They look at skills. So yes learn the skills. A lot of big tech co's hire based on what skills you have and don't care about what grade you got in World History 101. And it's sad, and a bit ironic "MyKidsPlayFutbol" that you're downplaying the value of playing a sport. Many employers will value that, or other extra curriculars done during school years. It gives a clue into ones work ethic, time management, ability to work in a team, amongst other things.
True. Of course it in some cases your grades will be looked at. It really depends. But many people don't get great grades and go on to do very well. I would say to get good grades in HS if you want to go to a top Univ. However... even that is not enough these days. At least not here in Cali. Many straight A students still don't get into places like UCLA and Cal. BUT... many less than A students, who are recruited athletes, DO get in. And I'm petty sure that grad schools will value a student athlete.
@MyKidsPlayFutbol Soccer, and sports in general, is also a place of networking. And that frankly is how most people get hired. It sounds like you don't really know how the real world works.
You seem to have well formed opinions and answers before you even post your questions. Why bother then if you are not open to a dialogue?
My son's DIII soccer team, actually has a, albeit short, "spring season". I think it last two weeks, includes practices, some friendlies (two in one day), and ends with an "alumni" game. If that's being done at DIII, I assume it happens at other levels. Is it possible to participate in a "fall" sport and and "spring" sport in college? Sure. But I think it's going to take some time to find a school that has two "understanding" coaches that will be OK with it. And what happens if/when one of the coaches leave the school and the replacement ISN'T as understanding? The good news is you have 8-9 years before a decision needs to be made.
As someone who makes graduate school admission decisions, no one cares one iota if you played a sport in college, and it’s more likely to hurt you than help you.
My wife is a partner in a Big 4 accounting firm and I can vouch that for new hired out of college, it's really hard for a resume under a 3.0 to get past even the pre-screening step. She's not looking for the 4.0 student necessarily, but a 2.5 student isn't going to even get a second glance, unless they've got connections. After the first job out of college, GPA is rarely factored in. I don't think I've even seen a resume that lists it anymore for experienced positions. As far as your original question goes, I assume you're trolling, so I'll just say, sure, if your kid's the Kyler Murray of soccer, he can certainly play two sports in college.
You're looking at one tiny slice of the world. Most people don't aspire to work at a big 4, but I get how you can think it's true if that is the world you're exposed to. I used to be exposed to that world too, growing up in the midwest. My dad was an accountant and that was my major for a phase. I even took an honors accounting class in Univ and got an A. But over time I saw much more of the world and realized that there is so much more out there. The richest, and smartest, friend of mine didn't finish college. He tried many things but eventually built a media company in California that made him wealthy. My kid's mom is a doctor. She didn't get great grades and went to a bottom tier med school. And guess what... she works at the same hospital as the Cal and Stanford grads and makes the same money as them. As far as accounting, there are many paths outside of the big 4. My friend, in his late 30s, got a masters in accouting and his CPA and now makes a lot of money, but he's always worked for small firms and now has his own small firm. I know a lot of people around here who have associates degrees and make good money working for the state. I could go on and on, but I think I made my point. Anywho this is way off topic for the thread. Maybe it should be its own thread since people seem interested in this topic.
... not trolling. Not trying to brag... but my kid is excelling in both soccer and baseball... so while yeah it's more of a entertaining hypothetical... it's still a real question. It used to be more common... you even had a few pros in baseball and football... but it seems to have become obsolete in the pros... so I was wondering about the college level.
Taylor Twellman was recruited to Maryland as a two-sport soccer/baseball athlete. After his freshman soccer season, he was named to the US U-20 team and chose to forego baseball in order to participate. Julia Dorsey, currently a rookie on the North Carolina Courage, played soccer and lacrosse at UNC.
It just happened this school year at the University of Nebraska: Nash Hutmacher--Defensive Tackle for Husker Football Nash Hutmacher--Wrestling team
That's neat, I didn't now that about Twellman. What a stud. Wish it happened more often, even in the pros. It just creates a cool story, and marketing interest. I would that, if one is really strategic with their time, that they could spend enough time on each sport to keep their skills in tip top shape.
I believe Twellman was a real prospect in baseball; had a reasonable chance of getting drafted. But ultimately decided he had a better shot at making a career in soccer. Worth noting--the wear & tear of playing baseball (pitching excepted) is quite different from soccer.
This is the first time I’ve ever heard such a thing. For grad school, and for the “real” world. Employers love athletes. They love the [assumed] work ethic. They love team members. Competitors. You name it, there’s not been a negative that has come from athletes moving beyond sport — in education or work force. Even all studies show that athletes perform better in the classroom than non-athlete counterparts. Graduation rate is better. Etc. Sometimes made-up statements should just be left in one’s own mind.
A professor looking to fund a student in science or engineering for graduate school wants someone who is absolutely obsessed with their topic, and only their topic. I'm not saying that it's right, but I have seen many candidates rejected for having the wrong, or too many, outside interests.
A sport isn’t “too many” outside interests. In the flip side, it’s rather evident that having outside interests or involvement in sports is wildly productive for school, grad school, and job placement. Studies have shown this for years.