Your Athletic Teenagers Might Help you Save for Retirement…instead of Saving for the Exorbitant Costs of Their College Educations

Wouldn’t it be fantastic if you could save a lot more cash for retirement and be concerned less about how you are going to put your kids via college? But how can you when the spiraling cost of a college education are enough to send you into a panic. It could cost as much as ,000 at a public institution and twice that at a private university for a student entering college in the fall 0f 2008. No wonder parents anxiety out wondering how they are going to afford it. And, no wonder they put their plans for retirement saving on hold until they know how considerably they will have to invest on their kids’ educations.

An answer to your troubles might be correct under your nose…or practicing hook shots in the driveway.

Over 1.2 billion is awarded each year in college athletic scholarships, according to Penny Hastings and Todd Caven, authors of the newly released 3rd edition of “How To Win A Sports Scholarship” (Redwood Creek Publishing, 2007, .95, www.winaportsscholarship.com). Very best of all, athletic kids don’t have to be superstars to get a sports scholarship. Instead, scholarships are awarded to better-than-average athletes who also have good grades.

But, a sports scholarship, awarded to talented high school and 2-year college student-athletes, can cut the cost of tuition, room and board and other expenses…and in some instances pay for it all!

Who gets sports scholarships? According to Hastings and Caven, it is proactive student-athletes who jump-begin the recruiting procedure without waiting for coaches to notice them. They learned from encounter when Caven was a high school soccer player who wanted to continue on at the college level. He wondered if he was great enough to compete at that level and how coaches would know about him in the agricultural-based region of Northern California where he lived.

He and his mom, Penny Hastings, talked to many coaches and guidance counselors and searched the libraries for information…but, they discovered only bits and pieces…nothing that gave them the answers they sought. So, they developed their own game program, whereby Caven selected colleges he thought he may be interested in. He wrote to the soccer coaches at every single school, introducing himself and indicating his interest in their school.

To his surprise, he was contacted and interest shown in him by every one of those coaches. Sifting via the details they sent him about the colleges and their teams brought him to a reasonable list (he sent out 30 introductory letters!) Ultimately, he was provided four scholarships and took the 1 from prestigious Stanford University, where he played soccer on scholarship and graduated in four years with a degree in economics.

“I received a fantastic education for a fraction of the cost and played the game I enjoy, too,” says Caven. In the meantime, Hastings was able to save dollars for her own retirement, one thing that numerous parents aren’t able to do when they’re busy paying for their kids’ college costs.

They wrote the book “How To Win A Sports Scholarship” right after Caven graduated. While at Stanford he learned how college coaches recruit athletes, and he and Hastings decided to write a book to teach other parents and their student-athletes, about the recruiting process and how they can maximize their chances of success.

“Don’t sit back and wait,” advises Caven. “Start the recruiting procedure yourself or you will probably be left sitting on the bench.”