What's your take on commiting to a college at 13

[Momo'sDad]

I see nothing wrong with this. If UT is her dream school, there are more than enough degree programs for her to find something that'll interest her. Depending on the person, there can be incredible value in being a local celebrity, of sorts. Some of you have been to or through Murfreesboro and know it's not exactly a small town, but is far from being a big city. It's been more than 30 years since I last went through there, but I'd be surprised if it didn't still have a lot of its small town charm appeal. There's nothing wrong with folks being proud of their hometown girl, nor is there anything inherently wrong with her feeling that she in some way represents her community. Maybe she's the 1st in her family to be on track for a college scholarship. Maybe she's the 1st in her family to be going to college at all. Maybe she's more humble than some are giving her credit for.

I don't think being the talk of the college softball fans in your town presents nearly the same sort of pressures as being given a $1 million Nike endorsement contract at the age of 14. For those tracking at home, Freddy Adu's career flamed out pretty quickly after so much promise. While we're seeing more of the early commits, it'll still be a long time before this becomes commonplace, and for me, it's hard to argue against female student-athletes getting more opportunities.

 

[BobInMadison]

I don't like it.

This helps one sort of girl, but hurts several other sorts of girls.

It helps the girl who shows a lot of potential very young, and continues to improve during HS and college, and happens to be a good fit for the school she chooses at the age of 13.

It hurts the girls who are late bloomers. The girls who are good, but not great, early on, or even start the sport late, but really break out later in HS.

It hurts the girls who show a lot of promise when young, but don't live up to it in HS. Oh, that scholarship you were depending on, we decided not to give it to you anymore.

It really hurts girls who wind up verballing to colleges that tend to overpromise. Oh, we promised too many scholarships. None for you. We just didn't want you to verbal at our competitor. You are free to go to them now. What? They are filled up now? Not our problem.

It hurts the girls who can't decide that early where they want to attend college. One of the posters mentioned she got a LOT of #### when her DD realized the school to which she had verballed wasn't working out, and went elsewhere. At least she was able to FIND another school.

 

[BobInMadison]

Interesting situation with football:

When Urban Meyer left the SEC for Ohio State, he continued common SEC practices, such as recruiting kids who had verballed to other schools.

The coach at Wisconsin, Bret Bellima, sent out a really scathing press release condemning Meyer for poaching students from other Big 10 schools. Bellima said this is NOT the way gentlemen recruit, and is NOT the Big 10 way.

A few months later, Bellima leaves Wisconsin for Arkansas.

Soon afterwards, Bellima is poaching kids who had verballed to other schools, including Wisconsin.


SO, does poaching happen much in softball?

 

[CoogansBluff]

I'm not saying the kid or family is being boastful, or that they lack humility. If Tennessee calls my 9th grader with an offer tomorrow, I'm breaking out my orange clothes and dancing in the street.

But as far as an article goes and if it were my 8th-grade daughter, I would just have the attitude ''let's wait until it actually happens'' before we alert the media. Not because it's bragging, but because it's premature. She hasn't really done anything yet. UT is 5 years away. Let's lay low and keep working hard and see what happens and maybe check back later.

That's just me. I can't tell this family what's best for them and theirs.

 

[RetiredCoach]

The only advantage that I see in verballing to a college at 13 is for bragging rights for the girl and her parents. Besides the fact that this 13 year old, probably, has no idea what she wants to be when she grows up, if she somehow loses the "goods" or does not develop as expected, this school can decide to pull their verbal commitment. And if this girl develops as expected she will still have some good offers when she is older and may have a better idea of what she wants to do in life.

 

[Momo'sDad]

SO, does poaching happen much in softball?

Are you asking about high school? Travel? Or rec?

 

[CoogansBluff]

SO, does poaching happen much in softball?

What I hear is that softball programs don't have the recruiting budget to chase kids that are already committed. They have to spend more wisely. You don't hear as many softball players changing commitments unless it's from a smaller school to a bigger one. Not as much 'Florida to Alabama' kinda stuff.

 

[MNDad]

I think what Tennessee and others are doing with the early verbals will force the NCAA to do something. Tennessee might plan on having 25-30 kids on their roster in the coming years, but looking at GoldFastpitch or Full Count Softball and it appears more like they’re giving verbals and commitments without any intention of having players around until they graduate.

 

[BobInMadison]

Are you asking about high school? Travel? Or rec?

I meant college level. Schools recruiting kids who have already verbally committed to another school. Common in SEC football, but I have no idea if it is common in other sports or even other conferences in football.

 

[Jojo]

If my DD was recruited at 13 by a top school, pretty sure I'd say yes. Saves us a lot of trouble searching and trying to get recruited, video's etc.

My DD on the other hand at 13 may think differently. She didn't know she wanted to play college till she was a junior, and then she wanted to play on the East Coast. As it closer to signing time, she changed her mind and wanted to stay in TX, she wanted to stay closer to home, go to a smaller school, focus on her academics. If she had verballed already she may feel overwhelmed to perform and stress out when she wasn't performing "Top D1 status". Then if she declined the offer she may even feel like a failure for going to another school, instead of doing what was best for her.

Being a player in an area in TX where it's very competitive, I think it does tend to trickle down and add stress to everyone else that feel they need to get their foot in the door at 14 or 15. One of my pitchers waited till she was a senior and everyone had full rosters for the next 2 years.