Too Soon?

[Me_and_my_big_mouth]

I am hoping for good things for my DD, and a college career if that's what she wants - but 8th grade commitment? When do they get to be kids? I'm sure this young lady is very talented and her parents are rightfully very proud - but this seems like an awful lot of pressure to have to live up to. It has been my experience that many of these girls (mine included) are overachieving, type-A's, so this kind of pressure just seems unnecessary. Just my .02.
http://www.dnj.com/story/sports/high-school/2015/04/06/eighth-grader-commits-play-lady-vols/25393349/?from=global&sessionKey=&autologin=

 

[riseball]

I am hoping for good things for my DD, and a college career if that's what she wants - but 8th grade commitment? When do they get to be kids? I'm sure this young lady is very talented and her parents are rightfully very proud - but this seems like an awful lot of pressure to have to live up to. It has been my experience that many of these girls (mine included) are overachieving, type-A's, so this kind of pressure just seems unnecessary. Just my .02, of course.

13-year-old commits to play for Lady Vols
http://www.dnj.com/story/sports/high-school/2015/04/06/eighth-grader-commits-play-lady-vols/25393349/

1) They did not have to say yes and IMO fools for doing so. Any pressure as a result is a self inflicted wound so no sympathy there. Any pressure will surely be offset by basking in the limelight as an early commit to an SEC school for the next 4 years. Which lets face it is the primary reason this happens.

2) This is no guarantee that the young lady will actually play an inning of college ball with the Vol's or anyone else. It is just as binding as when you planned your life together with your sweetheart back in High School.

 

[Jquick823]

Is it too early? YES. Is it necessary for schools to do it to remain competitive? YES. My DD would have a hard time saying no to Michigan if they offered as we are Michigan fans. Remember money runs out around the Sophomore year of high school for that grad year so in some cases you might be left behind.

But as riseball said the guarantee is not binding.

 

[Me_and_my_big_mouth]

Is it too early? YES. Is it necessary for schools to do it to remain competitive? YES. My DD would have a hard time saying no to Michigan if they offered as we are Michigan fans. Remember money runs out around the Sophomore year of high school for that grad year so in some cases you might be left behind.

But as riseball said the guarantee is not binding.

Sophomore year? Wow - I am constantly amazed at the amount of stuff I don't know about this sport. I only have myself at 15 years of age for reference, and man I was so dumb! I can't imagine having to face big life decisions at that point in life, and when it comes to teen girls, it's even more difficult because they tend to rebel against their parent's opinions anyway. Thankfully, my DD seems to have an excellent grasp on what she wants to do and where she wants to go (even has a board on her wall listing her goals) but my DS, on the other hand, is absolutely clueless - and he's graduating in 3 months. He was SO clueless that he up and enlisted last month, so the decision is no longer his to make. I can't imagine being the type of girl who still doesn't know what she wants or what her options are, yet being expected to make choices at 15.

I guess instead of telling her to relax, she has plenty of time to make those decisions, I should be telling her to go hard and pick a road and walk it. Just seems to bizarre; I was still playing with dollies at 13.

Or maybe I'm just getting old. That's probably it.

 

[Jojo]

This is scary, especially about the Sophomore year. One of my pitchers just verballed to a D1 as a sophomore. At first I thought it was too soon, but the more I read I think she did the right thing. I'm on my Freshmen right now if they are serious about playing college ball to start working on those grades and start making those emails.
One of my seniors had a school she wanted to go to real bad, she was accepted by the school but not the softball team, the coach said she could come do a walk on try-out but her roster is full till 2017.

 

[redbirdone]

Is it too early? YES. Is it necessary for schools to do it to remain competitive? YES. My DD would have a hard time saying no to Michigan if they offered as we are Michigan fans. Remember money runs out around the Sophomore year of high school for that grad year so in some cases you might be left behind.

But as riseball said the guarantee is not binding.

I agree whole heartedly. There are a handful of programs/coaches that if they offered a verbal to my youngest at any age she would probably say yes. She has worked so hard for the past 4 years you can't expect her, or quite frankly even us as parents, to say no thanks, we'll wait. If you're getting verbals from major programs as an 8th grader I'm sure you could find something else somewhere else, but if it's on your short list then why not say yes? By the next year they probably have already found someone to fill the need they offered to you.

Congrats to this young lady for getting a verbal from what is probably her #1 choice in her home state.

 

[riseball]

The vast majority of players verbal in the summer or fall of their JUNIOR year. Kids verballing as Sophomores is the exception not the norm. Unless your kid is truly in the top 1% of all players nationally you have plenty of time.

 

[BobInMadison]

Does this happen much in other NCAA sports?

Some kids my kids knew in HS are at D I schools on scholarships in sports they didn't even start until Sophomore year (football at Pitt and women's rowing at Wisconsin)

OTOH some of the best freshman SB players are already starting to look at schools. One local kid was getting offers as a Freshman.

 

[PA SB Dad]

The vast majority of players verbal in the summer or fall of their JUNIOR year. Kids verballing as Sophomores is the exception not the norm. Unless your kid is truly in the top 1% of all players nationally you have plenty of time.

This is true of our Gold team. Most get done in their junior year, either in the summer or going into fall/winter.

 

[JAD]

As a recruit you feel like you are playing a big game of "musical chairs". While I know a lot of players would like to wait until the end of their junior year/senior year to verbal and sign, they feel pressure to verbal early before the school verbals another player for their position or the coach runs out of money for that class.....