"It’s just, well, it’s actually rather destructive"

Parents Forum
1

<p>An article in today's New York Times about 8th graders committing to colleges: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/27/sports/committing-to-play-for-a-college-then-starting-9th-grade.html?hp%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/27/sports/committing-to-play-for-a-college-then-starting-9th-grade.html?hp&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p>

<p>For sports, of course. Now, I consider Early Decision to be difficult for seniors; I cannot imagine this is healthy for middle schoolers. NCAA rules apparently forbid this sort of thing, but the NCAA is taking no action to stop the practice.</p>

2

<p>I actually like the part where the recruiter says they end getting athletes who arent competitive because they don t pan out in high school. </p>

<p>Well duh. There is such an obvious exposure there I dont see how this practice really helps the recruiters. </p>

<p>How many high school kids are in the same set of activities they were in middle school ? Half ? </p>

3

<p>These are verbal commitments only. Before a national letter of intent is signed the coach is free to offer the scholarship to another athlete.</p>

4

<p>^^^ and the child/student is allowed to change his/her mind too. Just last week the #3 football recruit switched from Alabama to USC because of a coach change.</p>

<p>But I do know that most D-1 lacrosse teams are set by the sophomore years. A few changes, but most kids play 3 high school seasons knowing where they are headed.</p>

5

<p>Whoah.</p>

6

<p>Its to early and not fair to the students. Many of them learn so much about themselves in high school. My D hadn’t even thought about playing college sports until her junior year of high school.<br>
The word “commitment” is bothersome because when the student decides to back out, is he/she breaking a “promise”? We know kids who have committed to a school only to change their minds. There is no binding contract at that point.</p>

7

<p>Such a terrible, terrible idea. </p>

8

<p>The coaches are only doing it because the parents are allowing, and probably encouraging, it. The numbers say that even in the most heavily pre-recruited sports, over 60% of the scholarships are still available at the beginning of recruiting, and most were in the 75%-95% range. Parents who justify this practice by saying that if they don’t do it, they are going to miss out, are simply trying to rationalize selling their kids to the highest bidder.</p>

9

<p>As a parent of an athlete, the process of college recruiting felt very much like pimping out my kid. </p>

<p>Coaches are looking at their own interests. They may not always mesh with the student athlete’s interests. </p>

10

<p>This is really awful. And I agree with mathyone that the parents are not likely pushing back against the practice. It’s funny–we in the US judge people from certain other cultures who force their kids early into various activities. I don’t see a big difference here. There seems to be little free will for the child (of course, I’m SURE the parents will say “But Josie lives and breathes soccer! This is what she wants!”).</p>

11

<p>One more reason to drain the festering corrupted swamp that is college sports.</p>