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OCVarsity Voice: Sports shouldn't factor into school choices

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Nearly one million high school athletes play football.

Across the NCAA, there are only a little more than 56,000 football players.

And this weekend, only 252 players will be picked in the NFL Draft, only a small percentage of whom will make a roster for next season.

Do the math.

We’re approaching that annual period where parents of eighth-graders are making decisions on high schools, and inevitably the question is posed to ocvarsity.com staff members:

What’s the best school for my kid to attend so he/she can play (fill in the blank)?

The answer always should be simple: Pick the best school and don’t worry about the sports.

After all, the numbers don’t lie. When fewer than one-tenth of one percentof all high school football players reach the professional ranks, it’s a huge mistake for all but a few parents to place any importance on sports when choosing a school.

If you’re feeding a phenom at home, then find a football factory (and there are plenty around), but still make sure it’s a good school.

All others? Pick the right school for your student, even if he is an athlete in any sport.

It won’t necessarily be the one with the highest standardized test scores, no matter how much the schools that thrive on them will tout them. But at least API scores are more important than won-loss records.

The key is to find a place that will be a good fit for four years and will set up the student to succeed beyond high school.

And since success in athletics beyond high school is reserved for only a few, factoring it into the equation too often will lead to the wrong answer.

Contact the writer: tharmonson@ocregister.com