Scout Students Playing Sport Young Describing Talent Ability

A "sports scout" is a person who works to find great new players for a sports team. For example, a scout for a university football team will travel to many high schools looking for the best football players. A scout will watch the "athletes" (sports players) in action, looking for those with the skills needed "to build up" (improve) their team.

A scout may offer a "scholarship" (money for school) to the players he or she wants to recruit. This can be a good opportunity for students to be able to pay their "tuition" (school bill) while at the university, but these students will need to devote a lot of time to practicing and playing the sport, and their studies may "suffer" (become worse in quality). Of course, some athletes who are recruited continue to develop their skills even more while playing at the university, and then are able to become "professionals," making a career from playing that sport.

Before getting recruited, high school students may need to spend all their free time and energy developing their skill in a sport. In fact, children as young as 10 years old are sometimes forced by their parents to choose one sport to practice all year long. Some of these children may suffer knee or arm injuries from practicing too much or too "strenuously" (requiring a lot of physical effort) at too young of an age. Young people may also "burn out" (become tired or disinterested due to working too hard at something) on the sport. Or they may feel "resentful" (dislike caused by being forced to accept something) toward their parents or coaches who push them to succeed.