Twitter blowing up about 7th grade rankings

[_MIA_]

Well it appears Eads has a Twitter account

Extra Elite 100 Player Rankings: Why We Launch Each Class When We Do - Extra Inning Softball

The ranking of athletes, including those in our Extra Elite 100's, is primarily to honor them for their hard work and accomplishments as they progress in their careers.

extrainningsoftball.com

 

[Greatdaytobeawildcat]

Well it appears Eads has a Twitter account

Extra Elite 100 Player Rankings: Why We Launch Each Class When We Do - Extra Inning Softball

The ranking of athletes, including those in our Extra Elite 100's, is primarily to honor them for their hard work and accomplishments as they progress in their careers.

extrainningsoftball.com

1. To honor the athlete (ok, sure, sure)
2. To inspire the athlete (eh, I don’t know)
3. For clicks (ah, there it is!)

 

[PapaBear]

Cat doesn't coach 12 year olds. Neither does Lexi so don't think that applies here.

It does apply. Cat has coached teams and she’s made cuts to players. She determined their value as a player could not help her team be successful. That’s what kids remember regardless of agenot being ranked. Had rankings been out in the early 2000’s they would have been ranked but can say today they would not have been.

 

[PapaBear]

1. To honor the athlete (ok, sure, sure)
2. To inspire the athlete (eh, I don’t know)
3. For clicks (ah, there it is!)

Think that’s fair assessment.

2. Sums it up, on the list keep balling out. Want in the list, ball out. Eventually your ranking will be a blessing or get you exposed.

Mia Williams and Keegan Rothrock have both been the best two players in the 2023 class for years. Mia Williams committed as a 7th grader.

I don’t even have a problem so much with the way that some brands sell better than others. I am all for a free market system. But consumers have to understand how the system works; otherwise, the market isn’t really free (or efficient) because people’s preferences aren’t registered correctly. My issue is that people don’t understand the system (meaning the importance and role of brand names)—or they don’t understand it until it’s too late. The EI rankings contribute to this problem, in my view, by masking the influence of the brands in the rankings and instead promoting the rankings as having some level of accuracy that doesn’t—and could never—exist.


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I agree with that. Much like the rankings being easily shifted towards the bigger brands recruiting is the same way. Too much influence by the top tier travel coaches around the country.

Get on a brand and the rest will take care of itself. This is why recruiting has gotten lazy by majority of colleges. Just pick up the phone and call Rico or Shnute and get a player of need.

EI my only issues is the multiple same rankings for a player. Don’t have 4 #18 and 5 #19 and 3 #123.

 

[PapaBear]

There was a girl on my daughter's team that was ranked in the top 70 that only played in pool games. She only played in bracket play if it was a complete blowout. If I remember correctly she hit below .100 in about 40 games in the fall. She was pretty poor on the defensive side of the ball also. She did not return to the team in the spring/summer. This was a 13u team.

My daughter was ranked in the top 15 last year by by EIS. Which really means the top 45 since they have about 3 girls at each spot. The whole ranking thing is a complete joke if you ask me.

Does your daughter promote the ranking when she’s emailing coaches? Teams promote the rankings once they sign the kid, makes them look good.


And I’m not disagreeing that they are not a joke in some cases. But they do get promoted by players, organizations for their benefit.

 

[PapaBear]

1. To honor the athlete (ok, sure, sure)
2. To inspire the athlete (eh, I don’t know)
3. For clicks (ah, there it is!)

Is that wrong?

 

[Greatdaytobeawildcat]

Is that wrong?

It was simply a summary of his reasons with my commentary.

Though I can’t actually divine his true intentions without being a mind reader, the skeptic in me suspects #3 might actually be his #1 reason, but at least he included #3 in the list…

 

[_MIA_]

Is that wrong?

Which one?

I am fine with HS kids getting ranked (regardless of the accuracy..eventually “ball don’t lie”) as a case can be made that it might help with recruiting. What value does ranking MS kids add?

 

[radness]

Well if you didn't get selected for their list create a website and make a list of your own.

 

[El Oso]

It does apply. Cat has coached teams and she’s made cuts to players.

Not middle schoolers though. and that is the rub for those coaches on Twitter. Ranking kids in middle school. Do you see them complaining about ranking older kids? Nope. Do you see them complaining about All conference or All District awards for high school and college players? Nope. they are complaining about ranking middle schoolers, so again, your analogy does not hold water. It does not apply regardless of how hard you try. You're trying to fit a square peg into a round hole with that argument.