Kickstarting Success: How Being A College Athlete Shapes a Student Athlete's Future, for Better and not Worse.

College sports in U.S.A has been a driving force for a lot of success in professional athletic careers throughout the country for many generations. It is within such platforms that many families from all walks of life have benefited in more ways than one.

As a foreigner coming into America for College/University on a Soccer Scholarship, It was a culture shock to see the love of sports in this country and the extentent at which sports helps many people further their lives. Upon learning this I immediate started thinking of what such platforms could potentially do for people back in my country and thus my Non-profit organization LUFOY Sports US Inc was born (LUFOY is an acronym for - Luv For our Youth). I named it such as a result of being raised in South Africa during a time where our then president Mr. Nelson Mandela always preached that Education as the key to success and that the future was and is always in the hand of the youth or rather the next generation.

I now realize that being a College Athlete (no matter the level) is more of a necessity for students, due to the benefits that come with it as opposed to not entertaining the idea at all. A lot of prospect student athletes give up or stop playing sports as a result of not making it into the college or university that they initially wanted, not realizing that they were not a good fit or rather that the very program they wanted might not have been a good fit for them. These days, we have more young sportsmen and sportswomen who give up on furthering their playing careers after high school and simply settle for being a traditional student at an institution.

There are many benefits such as socializing and social skills; physical health benefits; mental/psychological benefits to name a few that come with being a student athlete. When it comes to learning time-management skills and being engaged in extra curriculum activities throughout ones life, people are able to build positive habits that essentially allow individuals to live better lives after college/university.

I would advise youngsters to continue to participate in sports for as long as possible throughout their lives for many of the reason stated and many other benefits that come with that. More than anything, I would advise prospect student athletes to learn to identify which environments within the College Sports space best suit them and can give them the opportunity to participate at their preferred level of competitiveness because not all institutions are aiming to be the number in sports, some simply appreciate and value the benefits of having sports programs as opposed to not.