If your child wants to play college sports, especially basketball, make sure s/he is carry a high school course load and level that is acceptable to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Many African American students desire a college or career experience that centers around sports, while all too many fall short of the academic rigor/curriculum that is acceptable in the NCAA world.
Parents of students taking "special education" courses beware!
The NCAA eligibility rules have changed...become informed at http://www.ncaa.org/ . Accordingly, students may need the guidance of a parent or guardian to adjust their high school course curriculum and levels (college prep/standard, honors, advanced placement) to reflect NCAA eligible course requirements.
For example, the Lower Merion School District (where Kobe Bryant attended high school) in Pennsylvania provides several courses that qualify as well as disqualify students from NCAA eligibility. Unfortunately those disqualifying courses tend to be heavily attended by African American students who all too often learn about the NCAA Approved Course list and eligibility requirements when they become disqualified for respective college sports programs upon application, when it's too late.
Take a peek at the NCAA Approved and Denied courses for Lower Merion School District on the NCAA website, and then search for your school's Form 48 document to determine whether your sports minded child is carrying both an appropriate curriculum and academic course level: https://web1.ncaa.org/eligibilitycenter/common/f3_48h_approved_list.jsp.
Don't allow your child to be denied access to college sports programs because they are tracked to the wrong academic courses!
