Reframing the ROI of Student-Athletes

By Matt Amerlan

Director of Workforce Development

Student-Athlete Skills that Transfer: The Dual Purpose Playbook

In our last piece, "Why Today's Top Athletic Programs are Building Champions for Life," we discussed the multibillion dollar industry that is sports and the unintended consequences of youth and high school sports evolving into a multibillion dollar industry on its own. This growth is fueling a "more is more" culture (for both young athletes and parents) in the form of time, commitment, dollars spent, and pressure to be a part of it and to ultimately "make it" in sports.

Within this, we have an opportunity to rewrite the narrative about what it means to "make it" and how the athlete's journey can serve a "dual purpose" for life.

An April, 2025 article from New York Life discussing the fact that parents face growing financial strain pursuing youth sports for their children, made us think more about the importance of there being intentionality and explicit discussion and education on the concept of sports serving a "dual purpose" for life. According to the article, which was based on New York Life's recurring survey Wealth Watch, many parents make financial trade-offs to help insure their children are able to participate in sports with the average parent spending $3,000 annually. This is in addition to the substantial time commitment and juggling of daily life in order to make this happen.

The article goes on to discuss that while parents do see sports as creating a pathway for education and future success there is a majority that are optimistic about their child's athletic future (particular in higher education) with this majority taking active steps to, "increase their child's chance to play, get recruited, and receive an athletic scholarship at the collegiate or professional level". The survey revealed that 83% of parents believe their child has the potential to compete at the collegiate level with 75% believing their child has the skills to play professionally.

We should absolutely believe in our children and help them follow their athletic dreams, but this data also underscores our need to educate both young athletes and parents on sports serving a dual purpose for life. If 83% of parents believe their child has a chance to compete in college (contrasting most data that shows that in reality there is about a 5% chance to compete in college), there is an opportunity to reframe what they are ultimately investing in by providing opportunities for their child through sports. There is an opportunity to re-examine what the return on investment truly is. When we do this, this should make us even more excited about the investment that we make in our children through sports.

What if we looked at it more as a "dual purpose" investment opportunity? Some of the most sought after investments are ones that have a high upside with a low downside. This combination is highly desirable but often hard to find. While we often see "making it" in sports as achieving the athletic scholarship or playing in the pros, "high upside", if we educate and celebrate the dual purpose of a student-athlete's journey there will be more awareness on the "low downside" of this investment. The athlete journey teaches our children highly sought after soft skills that will help them succeed in life and career.

As Jessica Ruggles, Corporate Vice President of Financial Wellness at New York Life shares in the article, "Sports are more than competition - they're a training ground for life... Young athletes learn discipline, perseverance, and the value of investing in themselves".

Let's continue to invest in sports for our children and focus on the dual purpose investment that it is Dual Threat Playbook Tip: Athlete Skills Transfer