And the case of a friend of mine who was recruited for football but whose
academics weren't strong enough?  He spent a year at the Naval Academy
Preparatory School, which the Navy paid for, and then came here once his
grades were up.  In fact, A LOT of our athletes did just the same thing.
 
I see Sean's arguement that an appointment isn't really an athletic
scholarship.  It is, however, a process similar to what someone else (I
apoligize for forgetting who it was) described earlier.  A
student-athlete receives financial aid because his grades are good, and
just maybe a bit because he can run with a football rather well.
Only in some cases the grades aren't there...
 
I agree that the service commitment is a rather large price to pay,
unless you're like me and plan to make a career of it.  There has to be
some motivation other than athletics behind one's choice to accept an
appointment to a service academy, but how much else is a good question.  I
have athlete friends who had no idea what they were getting into when
they arrived.
 
 
-Brian Sprague
 
P.S. Another way you make a commitment:  You get stuck here on Friday nights
like I am now.
 
 
BTW, this is getting away from hockey, and it just started as a simple
listing of who offers athletic scholarships and who doesn't.  Officially,
Sean is right in saying that these schools are not allowed to do so.
However, when a student is awarded financial aid, it doesn't necessarily
HAVE TO be chalked up as an athletic scholarship...  It's a big gray
area, I can see.  Can we leave it at that?