Fiancé’s weird understanding re professional sports men / women and qualifications

[EL8888]

Randomly chatting with fiancé last night, he reckons if you have done sport to a professional level e.g. for gymnastics, football etc. You don’t really need to bother to do GCSE’s or A levels. You’re too busy with your sport and that demonstrates your dedication. Later on if you want to do a degree then they let you in, even if you don’t have the correct requirements or sufficient qualifications. Not sure where he had got this from and l don’t think it’s correct which l told him. For some reason this has really aggravated him and claims lm being judgemental. It’s more l don’t think it’s factually correct and practically doesn’t make sense e.g. why would someone be accepted on a psychology degree but don’t even have GCSE biology. Or do English literature but they didn’t do it A level or even GCSE. It would make things difficult for the person doing the course, plus hard for tutors and peers if that person didn’t have a basic groundings in things. What makes this even funnier is l even used to work in admissions for a university but lm still wrong apparently

I’m guessing he hasn’t got much in the way of qualifications?

Why would a professional sports person decide to go to university at 19 anyway?

I suspect he said it when it was half thought through and then convinced himself into it. Not a very nice trait.

He claims l am judgemental and snobby.

He doesn't sound very nice TBH.
Universities have to make sure the student can actually do the work or else what's the point?

@4PawsGood not all. He has 3 degrees and other professional qualifications

I used to work with a lot of ex-pro athletes, including numerous Olympic medallists.

1. all of them had knackered bodies - a pro sports career is very, very finite
2. all of them did their qualifications alongside their sport
3. all of them had to earn their jobs and qualifications on their academic and professional merits.

OK I'm cutting to the chase here - LTB ffs he's an eejit and it's not going to end well you'll kill each other or end up divorced.

[quote EL8888]@4PawsGood not all. He has 3 degrees and other professional qualifications[/quote]
So he's not young and clueless, he's old and belligerent.

He sounds unpleasant

[quote EL8888]@TheDevils yep he often thinks he’s right! This
I thought it was blatant mansplaining but l didn’t want to write that. To see if other people thought the same. Especially galling as l have professional experience and actually know 2 different people who were Olympians. As l wrote earlier, they did qualifications like the rest of us[/quote]
He sounds like my Ex..... and he's an ex for a reason.

It's quite draining to live with someone who always has to be right and dismisses women's opinions and knowledge so readily.

As PP say, even the footballing academies make sure teens get their qualifications these days. It's a safeguarding and responsibility issue, arguably. It's unethical to lead impressionable teens to believe they don't need qualifications when their sports careers could end at any time, either because they just don't cut the mustard or because of injury. Every pro sports person, in my experience, knows that any day they could pick up the injury that ends their career in a flash.

given that you work in university admin I’d be pretty pissed off that he didn’t believe you.

A levels are probably different but I imagine it’s pretty rate for children in U.K. to leave education without attempting GCSEs. Even the Harry Potter stars who knew from early teens they would have enough money to be set for life still sat there’s.

and why do you want to marry him..?

I think its changing - the England football team have all been encouraged to do GCSEs, study etc.

Its more known now about the psychological impact of having a professional sports career end in mid life while you still have a vast working life ahead of you and the training of an athlete- the focus can dissipate if you don't have a plan.

A bit of a tangent but I’m curious to know what it would look like if you compared the educational achievements of the England football squad from Euro 1996 to this year’s squad. I recall that in the 1990’s it was rare that any premiership players had degrees, I think Ian Dowie was one. Now I think it would be much more likely, although it would be interesting to see how many are in sports or sports management related subjects. Sorry @EL8888 your DP sounds a right self important mansplainer that doesn’t really respect your knowledge or opinions.

Loughborough uni have an 'elite athletes' pathway but it starts at a lower level than other students and students still have to pass all their assignments.

There has been quite a lot of criticism (rightly so) that the football clubs who take on youngsters to train do not do enough academically so those who do not succeed into professional careers have nothing to back them up.

This sounds like:

• knowledgeable female passes on knowledge of sport, based on professional experience
• mansplaining man bats her down because he just fancies mansplaining

I know of an international footballer as we grew up in the same small town in the 1980s - he went from school to uni to complete an engineering degree whilst playing semi pro football.

I also know a few high level sports people who went from school to uni for non-sports related degrees - the uni was chosen for the sports team but they still had to meet the entry requirements for the degree course.

I went to Cambridge and there were a few grads who probably wouldn't have been accepted on their post grad courses had they not had such massive rowing talent. However, they had been to Uni. It wasn't a massive stretch.

Does he think that 1 Olympic medal = 20 UCAS points? England cap = 10 points?

But university admissions do go on more than just GCSEs and A-levels though, even for younger students. I'm not saying that he's right, but I know quite a few 18-year-olds who have gone to university without traditional qualifications.

I imagine that elite athletes probably learn quite a lot in relation to their training, so it's not out of the realms of possibility that they could demonstrate knowledge equivalent to a biology GCSE is it? I know musicians who have been accepted on courses without any exams on the basis of their observable skill and talent too.

Don't contradict him, people tend to resist being contradicted.
Mention foundation courses that allow students to fill the relevant knowledge gaps before going on to higher level qualifications, as they can't progress without specific knowledge.

Could he be confused with an honary doctorate? Maybe he saw an Olympian receive one at one of his graduations. Not justifying his attitude but wonder if that is where he got the idea. Or maybe he doesn't realise that they might be on an access course.

@picklemewalnuts

Don't contradict him, people tend to resist being contradicted. Mention foundation courses that allow students to fill the relevant knowledge gaps before going on to higher level qualifications, as they can't progress without specific knowledge.

Frankly, I think the OP should contradict him thoroughly.

@BuffySummersReportingforSanity exactly, ethically and morally it’s not right leaving people stranded with no qualifications. If their football or running career doesn’t pan out

@BloomingTrees exactly, why set people up to fail. If for example l did start a chemistry degree then l wouldn’t be able to take the pace and would be unlikely to complete it. It would hardly be pleasant for me, plus thoroughly stressful and lots of money wasted

@Rainbowshine most definitely. There was a 90’s footballer who had a nickname and linked to his intellectual prowess -can’t remember who he was or what the nickname was though. Maybe an Arsenal player?! He had an A level which none of the rest of the team had

@MistySkiesAfterRain l have met people in my current line of work -mental health. Who had professional sports careers that came to an abrupt. They seemed to find it very crushing, unsettling and distressing

Certainly, premier league teams’ academies now prioritise education for their young players. Statistically, few will go on to have professional football careers, so they need to ensure they have a good education and qualifications.