For young children, activities like playing an instrument or joining an after school club are vital to development. Outside of classroom, hobbies like these open cognitive doors, spark interests and allows kids to be kids.

But above all else, the role organized sports play in a child’s life goes unmatched by nearly every other endeavor. It’s where he or she learns the value of teamwork, develops social skills and is taught sportsmanship, the most vital of concepts instilled by athletics.

For those kids whose parents sign them up for things like youth football or Babe Ruth baseball, aspirations of someday taking the field for the Carolina Panthers or suiting up for the Atlanta Braves are common. But as times passes and these children transition to young adults, childhood fantasies are often replaced by the appeal for more practical occupations like doctor, lawyer or journalist.

However, there are the select few, the most seasoned high school athletes, who get the opportunity to play at the next level — the bridge between professional and amateur, college athletics.

Even so, the chances turning a sport into a viable career after college are less than one percent, but earning a scholarship is a huge advantage to the athletically gifted, leaving them with lesser of a financial burden after graduation.

From soccer player Alana Jefferson to running back Stepfon Rodman, Washington High School has sent a collection of athletes to the next level, including one to a NCAA Division I team, preparing them physically and making sure their academics are in line with each institution’s respective requirements.

Yesterday, four players from the 2014 NCHSAA 2-A runner-up football team committed to suit up in college — Rodman, Javon Whitney, Lane Jackson and George Briley. They join soccer players Warner Little and Caitlyn Scott, volleyball player Abby Walker and softball players Haley Hutchins and Haley Wright for student athletes who have already committed this spring. Scott, a midfielder, became the first player since the school’s drop from 3-A to 2-A to commit to a Division I program in Wofford College, while Jackson will attend Division III Christopher Newport University and Briley will head to Division II Chowan University.

Rodman and Whitney will attend UNC Wesleyan next fall.

A coaching staff maintaining the high school academic eligibility of the overwhelming majority of a football team is difficult enough, but sending a series of players to college serves as a testament to not only the athletic prestige of the program, but academic quality as well.