Might be wrong, but doesn't CC's son play a sport for the AFA? I would think he has a very good heartbeat on the sports arena, through their experience as a parent and now that their DS is at the AFA.
Over on CC there was a child recruited by Dartmouth and the AFA. He took the Dartmouth route. His coaches were pushing him to take the AFA and the parent even stated they were disappointed he didn't. The coach wasn't looking at the academic reality or the 5 yr payback, they were looking at which team was a better football team.
you make posts that suggest that recruited athletes should not be "recruited" (don't you like a winning football team?
Maybe to him and many other cadets/candidates they don't give a fig if the AFA wins or loses...are they going to have more pride...DOUBTFUL. Our DD will be a 2010 grad, she is looking at colleges right now, she doesn't play sports, but she wants to go to a college that has bball and football, just to go to games for the camaraderie and the college experience. DS never even put that in his mind when he thought of applying ..he never went what is their football team like?
Not to be rude, but are we recruiting athletic students or exceptional students that are athletes? I would think and hope the latter, so winning or losing shouldn't be the foremost issue.
There are some who apply whose Daddy is a grad and a career officer - for some of these kids the military life doesn't pan out for them and they leave, since they only went because of Daddy.
I think for almost
every military parent, they take a much deeper, harder look and have very long conversations with their children regarding a military career. Military parents remove the rose color glasses and throw it out there like it is in all its glory, good and bad. ALO's play close attention to this and really want to make sure to this their ability that this doesn't occur. These kids get an additional question besides
are you doing this because it is free or
do your parents support this...they ALSO get the question
are you doing this because your parents are military. Our ALO, also interviewed us in detail...How do you feel about DS applying, do you want him to go, if he goes and doesn't get a pilot slot how will you feel (Bullet was a flyer). All of those answers go into their rec...I guess we came through in flying colors, since he told us he not only maxed out the pts for DS, but also ranked him #1 out of his 7.
You might not realize that the Daddy comment is offensive, but it is...you are inferring something that should be left alone...it will only take us back into the pro/cons of SA parents sending for a free education, which none of us want to go back into.
Do I believe a higher percentage of military children join the military more than those with no military background? Yes, but I also believe that it wasn't because of the parent, it was that they loved the life so much as a child and saw the enjoyment that parent had, they want it for themselves too.
I don't know one Acad grad parent that has children and pushed them to apply. Off the top of my head, I know 7 AFA grads personally and socialize with them very regularly(all of them attended Bullets retirement and traveled from across the nation to do so)...they told their kids to run the other way, only 1 has a child at an SA, and he is at USNA! They are also the same people who go back for the reunions every yr and wear their rings. They just knew that the fit wasn't a good fit. One was recruited to play sports at the AFA. General Goldfein has 2 sons, neither went to the AFA. I also know 2 parents (both military) that both of his children went there...they didn't go for DAD or MOM, they went for themselves. His name is Gen. Gould.
there are a number of recruited athletes who show up and play, but decide in the 3rd or 4th year that their sport just takes up too much time. They are focusing on becoming an officer and choose to get as much military training as possible. Hence, teams lose a lot of upperclass athletes because unlike a civilian school - they don't need to keep playing to keep their scholarship
Have you ever watched college bball...how many of them leave after 3 or 4 yrs? The top players usually do, unless they are coming from a great school like Duke, where they had to make it over the academic bar to get admitted and understand that after the knee blows out they need a career to fall back on...or if they get injured an can't play they have again an amazing academic opportunity
I doubt one cadet looks at their new roomie and says crap I have a prima donna athlete. However, when that cadet starts to state I came because this was my best option to play, than I bet their opinion changes. And then when they start the I am going to try to get out of committment the cadre might start to have issues towwards him. I wonder how many coaches pose this option to the kid when he is being recruited...don't worry, look the military released XXXX to play ball. Again the Dartmouth kid didn't want an SA education, he wanted to play ball at the best school possible for him.