For the 99.9 percent of kids who won’t go pro in sports, Scouting offers a leg up

If you know a kid who dunks like Blake Griffin, runs like Adrian Peterson or hits like Miguel Cabrera, you’ll have a hard time recruiting him to join Scouts.

Because, as the Scouting recruiting video below explains, parents of these super-athletes have won the genetic lottery, and their kids are set for life. (Assuming we ignore the countless examples of high-paid athletes who wash up after their playing days are done.)

For the parents of normal children, the Boy Scouts of America provides a chance to make young men and women stand out from the crowd. Scouts and Venturers gain skills in leadership, fitness and character they can’t get elsewhere. Scouts are more likely to graduate college than non-Scouts, and studies show former Scouts pull in a greater income than people who were never in Scouting.

These facts, laid out in an entertaining way in this Coronado Area Council video, offer the perfect answer to the question weighing on the minds of parents of potential Scouts: “Should my son join this Cub Scout pack or that Little League team?”

My response would be, “Why not both? Make your child well-rounded, and he or she will go far.” But if you come across a parent debating one over the other, send them the video below.

Probability of going pro

Before we get to the video, let’s do what any sports fan would do: check the stats. Based on the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s own research from last year, a high school athlete’s odds of making the big leagues are minuscule.

High School Athletes who Play Professionally:

• Men’s basketball: 0.03 percent
• Women’s basketball: 0.02 percent
• Football: 0.08 percent
• Baseball: 0.51 percent
• Men’s ice hockey: 0.10 percent
• Men’s soccer: 0.03 percent

And that’s just young men and women who play in high school. At my large suburban high school near Dallas, only the top players even made the high school teams, so the odds of a randomly selected student making a pro team are even smaller than the numbers here.

So how can parents increase their son or daughter’s chances of success later in life? By signing them up for Scouting. 

Download the movie