1) While some believe that athletes who leave school early to pursue sports careers earn more money than those who finish school, this is generally not true. When comparing the world's richest people to the richest athletes, not even Tiger Woods, worth $115 million, cracks the top 10, and soccer star David Beckham is worth just $50 million compared to billionaires on the top richest list. 2) Even the highest paid athletes cannot compete with the true wealth of billionaires like Carlos Slim, worth $74 billion, and Bill Gates, worth $56 billion. Sports careers are relatively short, while careers built on education can generate wealth over a lifetime. 3) Many athletes pursue endorsement deals after retiring

1. MISCONCEPTION
Some weeksago,I hada brief conversationwiththe Vice-Presidentof the Scholarshipand
TalentClub,whoisa good friendof mine,andhe citeda veryscintillating observation.He saidthatthe
thoughtof many that,people whostopschool at some pointtopursue sportsas a career pocket
unspeakable sumsof moneymore thanthose who finishschool withafew degrees wasquitefalse.I
foundthisissue debatablesoIdecidedtolookintoitand it will shockyoutoread whatI foundout.So
brace yourselvesforarollercoasterride.Here we go.
Letus firstconsiderthe numberof yearsspentinschool byboth sects.Clearly,majorityof the
sportsmenspendalessertime inschool thanthe scholars.Isay majoritybecause anumberof the
varioussportsdisciplinesrequire thatone stopsschool atsome pointconsideringthe factthat sports
demandthatone is young,andstays fitand active.School wouldonlyinterfere withtheirprogressas
some coursesmake youstay longerinschool.Withthe pointthatthe sportsmenstarttheircareers
earlierthanthe scholars,youwouldexpectthattheywouldbe richerthantheircounterparts.Thisisn’t
alwaysthe case.
Whenyou compare the listof the top 10 richestpeople inthe worldtothe top10 richest
sportsmen inthe world(youwonderwhyIdidn’tjustsay:the richestpeople inthe worldbuthadto
separate them– thisshowsthe disparitybetween the two),youwill be astoundedtodiscoverthatnot
eventhe richestsportsman,TigerWoods(worth$115m), couldplace inthe top 10 world’s richest
people,thantotalkof the top 100. DavidBeckham, whoarguablyseemstohave landedthe biggest
football contract,isonlyworth$50m as comparedto the billionsof the top10 world’srichestpeople.
So inthe top 10 of the world’srichestpeople,we have CarlosSlimcomingin1st
positionwith
$74 B. Bill Gates,Microsoftmogul comesin2nd
with$56 B, mainlybecause he donatesmassivelyto
charityorganizationsandevenrunsone himself.RomanAbramovich,ChelseaF.C.’sbig-spendingoil
tycooncomesin at 53rd
position.Even he isnot“rich enough”. Soevenwhenyoucutaway three
quartersof Carlos Slim’sbooty,TigerWood’scashwouldn’tmatchup. Sad,butthat is a reality;noteven
withall theirendorsementscouldtheytopple theirbillionairesorbecome billionairesthemselves.
You mightsay that not everyone iscutout for school.Couldbe true butknow that youcan
engage insportsfor onlythatlongand at the endof that, youhave to lookfor somethingelsetodo
because the contractsand the endorsementdealsend.Eventhese sportsiconshave realizedthisand
have soughtto secure themselvesforthe after-sportslife withthe likesof DavidBeckham, Thierry
Henry,RogerFederer,LebronJamesandUsainBoltsigningendorsementdealswhichwouldtake them
intotheirpost-retirementera. Butthe thingis if youwere DavidBeckham, youwouldn’twanttogo in
for a jobthat pays lessbecause youwould wanttoupholdyourreputation; sotheiregoscome tothe
fore. Thisbecomesabig headache forthe sportsguys.Probably,enrollingthemselvesbackinschool
mightdo the trick or maybe not,whoknows?Yoube the judge.If you’re consideringstoppingschool to
pursue a passioninsports,I can’tbegrudge youfor that;you probablyhave the talentbutbe
constructive inyourthoughts.
Refertothe S.U. notice boardforthe continuationof thiscritique. InGodwe trust.
HenryAsante
President