Academics comes first for Canadian post-secondary athletes
A lot has changed with the post-secondary athletic recruitment process over the past ten years.
Athletic scholarships have been introduced across all schools in the country. The money for which schools can offer students has worked its way up to $4,000 per year. The advancements in technology have allowed the player-coach relationship to improve to a point where they are almost talking on a daily basis.
All these major changes have greatly affected the way most schools go about their recruiting. The only thing that has stayed the same throughout the entire process is the type of athletes Canadian schools are looking for.
The term “student-athlete” gets used a lot when talking to members of athletic departments all across Canada.
This is because most schools in this country are looking for students will athletic prowess that can also meet the academic requirements of the school they are going to attend.
Universities such as Queen’s have harder times finding students because they need to meet the strict entrance requirements of an 80% average. They are looking for skilled athletes for their team but they will only recruit students that impress them academically as well.
Even Loyalist College has strict recruiting guidelines in that they will only take athletes that are a good fit for the school.
No school in Canada will ever try and force a student to take a program at their school because they are a great athlete. Most schools such as Loyalist and Queen's are always looking in the best interest of the students. The whole process was created to help students gain a higher education.
If you are a student with outstanding athletic ability the Canadian recruitment process is prefect for you. You will be able to go to the academic institution of your choice and play sports as well. Most of the time, depending on how good of a "student-athlete" you are, the school will also give you a nice chunk of change.
In Canada the only reason post-secondary instituitons offer sports is to help reward athletes and off set the cost of their school.
If you have any athletic ability you should be able to get help obtaining a college or university degree.
So to answer the question I asked my self at the begining. Yes, the post-secondary recruitment process in Canada is a viable option for students to obtain a post-secondary degree.
The only thing it doesn't provide is the best competition. If you are looking specifically to pursue a career in sports through an academic institution, without much emphsis on academics you might as well look else where.
In Canada academics comes first and athletics comes second.
