Every year, thousands of high school athletes set out on a quest for scholarship opportunities, hoping to someday play their sport at the next level. However, more and more kids every year are kicking, tackling, diving and dunking their way into the hospital. Kids are pushing their bodies to the limits and fighting at all costs to complete their quest for scholarships.

According to USNews.com, roughly 138 thousand athletic scholarships are available for Division One and Division Two sports. Though this number seems quite impressive, the reality is that these numbers are lower than ever before. Taking into consideration there are over one million high school football players and only 19,500 scholarships, only about 14 percent will be offered a spot on a college-level team.

If you are a female track and field competitor, the odds are even lower. There are about 603 thousand female track and field athletes in the United States, but only an abysmal 4,500 scholarship opportunities.

To focus a little bit more on the financial side of things, these scholarships only average about $10,400 each. This pales in comparison to the thousands of dollars required to attend a Division One, four-year school. Currently, there are only four National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sports that offer full rides for four years: football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball and women’s volleyball.

So, it is hard to be granted one of these scholarships… Not just hard, but very hard. This leads to the question: “What are kids willing to do to achieve greatness?” It is clear that more and more kids are becoming involved in organized sports. Most do it for fun and leisure, while for others, it is the only opportunity they have to further their education. This is why we are referred to as the “win at all costs generation.”

3.5 million kids receive sports-related injuries every year, according to safekidsoregon.org. 40 percent of these injuries are among kids between the ages of five to fourteen. Among your typical sports injuries, the most common are: “overuse injuries,” dehydration and concussions. Schools and parents alike are pushing as hard as they can to prevent as many injuries as possible.

What about “overuse injuries?” What is the action being taken to prevent this? Athletes are the only ones who can listen to how their bodies are feeling. Since so many hope to compete at the next level, they push themselves too far; sometimes to the point where they have destroyed their bodies and any chance of achieving a scholarship. It is a sad but honest reality.

At this point, all anyone can do is keep promoting the importance of speaking up. We need to make sure athletes know how to listen to their bodies and know when it is time to relax. Fighting for scholarships is something that will never end, but it is up to the community of athletes to support one another and ultimately keep each other safe.