<p>I’d use it to gain admittance to a certain D1 athletic conference in the NE…</p>
<p>If your daughter is planning on a nursing career, the UF Dance team may not be an option for her either. As you can see from the link below, this is also a very big time committment. The frequent practices, personal appearances and travel time may well infringe on the time she must committ to clinical rotations, especially in her last year. </p>
<p>[Gator</a> Spirit Program - GatorZone.com](<a href=“http://www.gatorzone.com/spirit/?squad=dazzlers&page=overview]Gator”>http://www.gatorzone.com/spirit/?squad=dazzlers&page=overview)</p>
<p>As the mother of a DIII swimmer, I can only tell you that this has been a great experience for my daughter. Yes, most of her friends, but certainly not all, are swimmers and divers. She did have to return to school early for practices during vacations and missed some classes due to travel committments for meets. And there were some days when she felt overwhelmed. But she stuck it out and learned to prioritize and manage her time. She formed friendships that she feels will last a lifetime and learned some valuable lessons about herself and what she is capable of achieving. All in all, it was a good experience for her. </p>
<p>That being said, it really is up to your daughter. It can’t hurt her to see what she is offered when the time comes; she can always say no. Better not to burn her bridges at this point. As others have pointed out, she may change her mind. Teen-agers have been known to do that! Good luck to you and your daughter.</p>
<p>My D. did not want to do it and was not recruited by Div. I. However, she was thingking about attending Div. III school where coach has been heavily pursuing her. She ended up at Div. I, do not participate in her sport (did intramural while freshman) and as far as we know all of her teammates quit participating at college, although some of them are using sport as work out. The problem is too much time commitment. D. is on full Merit scholarship anyway and in her sport commitment is 6 hours / day, 2 practices/day with a lot of travel on weekends. Simply not possible with her major and other academic and non-academic commitments some of which are reguired for her future carrier (internships…)</p>
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<p>Of course, CCers who have dealt with recruiters picked on that early in the thread.</p>
<p>Walk enough sidelines at athletic events and you will be surprised how magical the sound of “recruited” becomes, and how often it is tossed around. The fact that the most kids are 12-15 years old does not seem to phase many of the parents. </p>
<p>Recruitment takes many forms. Legitimate and official recruitment often takes the backseat to a bunch of people who “know someone” who “knows someone who can make it happen.” Some are well-meaning; others who prey on the simple fact that any parent loves to hear how special their children might have different motives. Who has not heard of a coach who recruits kids for his or her YMCA team with the “promise” of landing college scholarships?</p>
<p>Recruiting is indeed heavily regulated. However, it amazes nobody that a few of the most promising athletes DO seem to know where they will go before their junior year.</p>
<p>Kajon (#29) is right: I believe NCAA rules prohibit recruiters from contacting athletes before their junior year of HS. You can contact them, but they cannot initiate contact with an athlete before junior year. I would be leary of this ‘recruitment’ offer and ask very specific questions.</p>
<p>Money is not a problem because she has good grades and will get an academic scholarship? Wake up!</p>
<p>Go through the recruitment process so she has some options (while she is learning the realities of college admissions and merit aid).</p>
<p>Listen to Olymom (and others) D3 can be a great experience, but don’t count out D1, they are not ALL that brutal. It depends on the sport and the conference.</p>
<p>Just because she gets admitted to a strong school because the was a recruited athlete does not mean she has to matriculate there. She can always turn down varsity athletics later.
And, by the way, most really good female athletes start to get recuited their sophomore year of high school. So, believe what the coachis telling you.</p>
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<p>Are you saying that a NCAA coach will start recruiting and talk to a HS sophomore? Or that the same coach talks to the parents of a sophomore and promises to recruit the student?</p>
<p>I agree that you should investigate the matter. When my D. was a senior, she received a call from a college coach inviting her to participate in a tryout. It appeared that she was being recruited, but in reality, she was not. I think it is a very deceptive tactic. In her case, the tryout was held the following fall. She may or may not have been part of the team. There was no guaranty, and the coach never told her so, although he hints at her great potential. However, had she not made the team, she would have been stuck at a college that she never intended to apply to in the first place (one has to be enrolled to that university to participate to tryouts). She refused the invitation and I thought she was very wise to do so. To this day, she never regretted her decision.</p>
<p>My son is a recruited athlete. He is now a freshman. He loves his teammates and get great support from his team not only socially but academically because he is mixed with the upperclassmen who give him all sorts of advise on courses to take. I think in your daughter’s Junior year or beginning of Senior year, she should go to the colleges and meet with coaches and the teams to get a sense of the chemistry in the team. She can even try to go to one of the college competitions, she might like the camaraderie in playing in a college team.</p>
<p>OK, I know your D is not interested in HYP etc., however keep them in mind because your D may change her mind about her academic direction. And being an Ivy athlete isn’t nearly as intense as in many other D1 schools. Niece was a recruited basketball player at one of the Ivies. The program was geared to the school, not the other way around, so there were no games during exams. Athletes started their freshman year during the summer, to lessen their load once the year started: that ensured athletes grades did not suffer. Practice time was limited, and not nearly as intense as it was in many other schools she talked to. There were tremenous resources for athletes in the way of tutoring if necessary. Niece was still able to take summer classes in her home state one year, another year she went to China for 8 weeks as part of a school summer program (not in any way related to her sport.) In other words - this was as close to a ‘traditional’ college experience as a college athlete can get.</p>
<p>Diving can be a very intense and solitary sport. Perhaps this is not how your daughter currently envisions spending large amounts of time in her college years. </p>
<p>The fact that she is already interested in such specific health care fields is pretty impressive. If she keeps her grades up and brings up her test scores, there is probably a good chance she will qualify for money at places like Miami of Ohio and other Ohio state schools…but…be sure you’ve carefully read the necessary qualifications for schools that provide merit money based soley on scores and grades.</p>
<p>If getting money for school is important to your family, she should try to keep all options open…including athletic recruitment.</p>
<p>A diver with her talents will be “known” and recruitment takes place in subtle ways. Right or wrong, gifted athletes are making contacts at camps, travel/club leagues, off-season training. </p>
<p>Let her decide, but keeping her options open at the same time is a good idea. She can personally want to end her diving career in high school. But she does not have to make that knowledge public yet. </p>
<p>And with diving, she could have a college experience and dive for fun in her off time, and go back to it after college. Women have competed at the Olympic level well beyond college in years past.</p>
<p>We know a sophomore who has a “letter” from an SEC U. on his facebook page.</p>
<p>As a college instructor, I have had a number of athletes in my classes over the years. For those who love their sport, it is a great experience. But, it isn’t easy for these kids to go to practice, get their schoolwork done and have time to relax. Thus, unless a student is 100% committed, I would say that it is not a road to take. Getting into a “top” school with the help of athletics is not as important as having a positive college experience. As for scholarship money, there are other options, such as state schools or schools with good aid, if money is an issue.</p>
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I had the same reaction … the colleges can not (following the rules) initiate contact with a sophmore (at least in basketball, lacrosse, and soccer … I’d guess the same for swimming) … however there are at least two ways being recruited as a soph is within the rules. First, the posting mentioned “recruiters” and did not explicitly mention school representatives so this may have been 3rd party recruiting services, club coaches, etc. Second, schools can respond to any contact by a prospective student … this one a HUGE hole that allows recruiting of any age kids … a few years ago a middle school age player made a verbal commitment to USC for bball.</p>
<p>A was in the same position as a kid. Athough I was a state-level athlete as a junior in high school, I never sought to be recruited, because I, like your daughter, did not want to be a “slave to my sport.” That is exactly the way I would have put it. I went to a Div III school. The good news is that I was able to walk on the team for a different sport, and then decide that wasn’t for me, either. Then I started a third sport that I loved. Loved. I never had a moment of doubt that I wanted to train. It was pure joy. I eventually became an international athlete in this sport (I also got a great education.)</p>
<p>Listen to your daughter, and teach her to listen to her heart.</p>
<p>Aw, c’mon; What was the sport!</p>
<p>I think the CC poster Katkittens has a D who was a college diver and also a strong student. I think some of her other children also were college athletes and excellent students.
Univ of the Pacific in Stockton Ca has a pharmacy school. A student with your D’s scores and grades could get a large scholarship from them.</p>
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<p>What sport can you pick up in college, and become that good at?</p>
<p>Being a recruited athlete has MANY strings attached. Listen to your daughter. If she really does NOT want to be a college athlete, she should NOT be one. There are club level and intramural sports at virtually every college. She will still be able to be active in a “fun” way.</p>