@smileymomma Okay, Samantha Huge was the athletic director of William & Mary. However, your post above (1577) seems to imply that Stanford’s athletic director resigned:
So what you’re saying is Samantha Huge has resigned… yes?
@fencingmom I stand corrected; I was referring to the W & M athletic director.
pasteinhastewhatawaste
Thank you @BrooklynRye and many other dedicated fencer parents who continue to contribute for years after their children went through the admissions process. I have a D24, who is a HS junior now and all this info has been invaluable. I am unable to PM you or other members directly, but I was hoping to ask a question that I would rather keep private. Please PM me if you can so I can reply. Thank you again.
It is an unusual and sad year for everyone-Summer Nationals canceled, programs closed, no in person visits. Is anyone committing to the programs? Any rumors? November is 1st approaching…
New NYT article today on the effect of COVID-19 on youth sports. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/12/sports/covid-youth-sports-canceled.html?action=click&module=Features&pgtype=Homepage.
Now that we are in the fall, albeit a very strange one, recruiting for 2022-2023 has actually begun in earnest. One of the circumstances that arises for top recruits is an early commitment from a college prior to a full due diligence of other schools and possible offers. This raises the question of if and when it is appropriate to renege on an earlier commitment in favor of a subsequent one. I know that many posters here experienced this at different times during the recruitment period. For those more experienced, it will be very helpful if you share your stories about the process, when you or your student committed, subsequent offers, and anything relating to your decision making.
Great post. My daughter had her eyes on two schools from the onset. They both were fits for her academically, which was her primary focus. One of the schools told her they couldn’t recruit her weapon that year. He said he felt with his support there was a strong chance she’d be admitted and the girls on the team had a strong relationship with her. The coach of the 2nd school, which she also loved, committed to her on the first visit. I would say that was Jan/Feb of her Junior year. He admitted his assistant was strongly pushing for her. I’m not sure how well he personally knew of the recruits. That made the decision fairly simple for us. She spent the remainder of her time making sure her grades and board exam were strong. Other coaches told her they would offer a recruiting spot. One coach had a strong relationship with her club coach and pressured him to get her to commit to his program. But, she settled on the school she currently attends pretty early in the process.
I found this pdf to be a useful guide for us in our D’s recruitment process. The more experienced parents on this thread can probably help confirm its reliability. Source/Credit: Lakeside School (Seattle).
*Of course some information and advice are specific to that particular school which may/may not pertain to your child.
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I think they’re off about the time commitment required of the Ivy League student athlete. Some of the programs are the best in the NCAA like Columbia U fencing or Yale lacrosse. Ivy League basketball, football, ice hockey, etc are demanding commitments. I don’t understand where they got that impression. I think in the pre read section they meant to say July of the students Junior year, not Senior.
It was a good post.
Interesting read
Thank you @smileymomma. Excellent read.
Thank you both for the quick responses. The question that keeps arising is with regard to the propriety of reneging on an initial commitment if a “better” offer from another school comes in later. Most recruits are thrilled with that first formal commitment and are loathe to give it up, even if it is not their top choice. This results in committing, only to be faced with reneging if a preferable offer comes in. In my experience, most recruits manage to hold off on formally accepting offers from schools lower on their preference list, while waiting on those higher up. However, these are uncertain times and it is very tempting to accept an early offer. For those of you have have gone through the process, particularly those who received early offers, what are your feelings on this issue?
What do people think of the Atlantic article? We all probably know a few parents like the ones described, but I have to say that the vast majority of parents whom I have met haven’t lost touch with reality. Even those wealthy parents that I know from the Fairfield County 
and who do spend a lot of money on their kids, do it because they can, not because they have unrealistic expectations. But I have also seen parents push their kids too far, and it’s incredibly sad. I also think that when people write that fencing is not diverse - that means they haven’t attended any fencing competitions lately, particularly national ones (when we still had them!). I am always impressed to see such a diverse crowd at national competitions, and hope this trend continues.
@tigermaman I found myself wondering if some embellishment occurred in the article. Granted I’m not a part of the CT ecosystem, it just seemed slightly exaggerated. The description of the tournament seemed on brand though. I also agree that the fencing landscape is more diverse than people outside of the community may realize. It appeared the author was feeding into old stereotypes of the sport.
You cannot escape the fact that these sports, especially a sport like fencing with its international travel component, cost money. The question is, how far will you go, sacrificing family time and the broader life of your child, to pursue recruitment? For the fencing family featured in this article the goal is to pretty much pursue recruiting at an Ivy at all costs. Despite paying lip service to personal priorities and an occasional brief respite, the family never backs off searching for the recruiting entry. Where I personally draw the line is between engaging in the sport for joy, with recruitment as a bonus, versus targeting the sport from the beginning as a recruitment vehicle, with recruitment as the sole goal. In balancing the sacrifices, I don’t think the latter circumstance provides justification. I also think that some serious analysis of the prospects of recruitment is in order. There is no sense that either the fencing kids, nor even the squash kid, in the featured scenario, are going anywhere in their sport. While you may have the wherewithal to fund participation in these sports, how do you justify the sacrifices (enumerated by the mom) in the face of such an improbable achievement?
Question for everyone: DD is applying ED to an academically competitive Div 3 school, she’s a good student with great academic stats (very competitive public school), but just very slightly below their insanely high average, I would say. The school went SAT optional this year (like all the other schools), and we didn’t even know if she would have SATs to submit because of all the cancellations. She got her scores back, and they are about 100 points total below the school ave. Should she submit the scores? The coach thinks it won’t change the preread (she’s a “maybe”) - which makes sense. I kind of think she should submit because it’s still a decent score, and if I were looking at applicants, my assumption would be if you are not submitting your SATs - that’s because they totally suck (and hers doesn’t totally suck) 
The coach admitted that this is the first year when SAT scores are optional, so he doesn’t have much experience with this situation. Any advice? Thanks.
How does your daughter’s Academic Index compare with the school’s recruitment requirements? If your daughter’s high school GPA is already below the school’s average, can she afford to submit a below average SAT, possibly fatally damaging her AI?
As part of the pre-read process over the summer, one Div3 coach at a highly selective school gave a number and said that if you have a score and it is above X, then submit. If below, do not submit. DS followed that advice. The coach should be able to advise you what score Admissions would look for based on prior years’ recruits. If your DD’s score is not quite there, don’t submit. Do you have a back-up plan if DD does not get in ED?
@BrooklynRye - we didn’t calculate the AI - she never took SAT subject tests that seem to be required for calculation, but the preread told her she’s “qualified”. She didn’t submit her SAT scores for the preread, and the coach doesn’t think that the preread will change if she submits them now.
@escrime21 - this coach did not give her this type of advise, just said he wouldn’t submit… but that he doesn’t know for sure. At a different school the coach was more direct and asked her not to submit.