For every Marcus Paige there are hundreds and hundreds of athletes toiling on the playing fields who will never get a penny of financial aid at the next level.

Paige excelled as a Linn-Mar basketball player and earned a full-ride scholarship to North Carolina. He should be applauded for his skill, determination and will to improve. Plenty of others have the same outlook but will never get that call from a major-college coach to accept a tender.

Perhaps that is why the best message a high school coach can give his athletes is that an extremely small percentage of them will realize the dream of a scholarship. This also is an important message for parents, especially those who may live vicariously through their child and believe college will be paid for by some athletic ability.

Those parents are most often disappointed. Research shows that for every athlete who earns a full scholarship there are 100 others who don’t. More than 60 percent of NCAA athletes compete with no financial aid. That includes Division III, in which no athletic scholarships are given.

It is in the sports that are under way right now – track, tennis, golf, soccer – that far fewer opportunities exist, even at the major-college level.

For example, you might be good enough to earn a Division I scholarship in baseball but it most likely will not be a full ride (full payment for tuition, fees, room, board and books). Major-college baseball coaches are allowed only 11.7 scholarships, so they have to allocate portions throughout the squad. Twelve scholarships are allowed in Division I softball.

The other scholarship allowances by the NCAA for spring sports:

-- Tennis: 5 for men, 12 for women.
-- Cross country/track: 12.6 for men, 18 for women.
-- Golf: 4.5 for men, 6 for women.
-- Soccer: 9.9 for men, 14 for women.

Do the math. You can see very quickly it is nearly impossible for a Division I coach to offer a full scholarship in any of these sports, and still put together a full squad that is competitive.

The best sports to get into position for a full scholarship are football and basketball. Major colleges are allowed 85 scholarships in football. There are 13 scholarships for men and 15 for women in basketball. Even in wrestling, there are only 9.9 scholarships to offer, and that’s to fill out 10 varsity weight classes and field a solid group of backups.

Whether they realize it or not, high school athletes – especially those toiling in the spring and summer – are competing largely for the enjoyment. Even if they reach the major-college level, mom and dad had best save some money to cover a portion of their child’s education.

Better yet, crack the books. An academic scholarship might be a lot more attainable.

(Mark Dukes is former sports editor of the Cedar Rapid Gazette. He is co-host of The Gym Class radio show weekdays from 3-4 p.m. on KGYM-AM 1600 and FM-106.3.)