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Reply to "What to expect?"

It’s soapbox time for me. The heavy interest for my son didn’t start until post soph summer. But I have an older daughter who played softball. Girls physically mature sooner. Recruiting fourteen and fifteen year old female athletes is common. These girls are already playing 18u Gold (equivalent to 17u for boys).

What you have with college recruiting is adult professional recruiters preying on naive, awestruck kids and their parents. Even though I went through recruiting with college baseball it was so long ago I was of no help to my daughter. Fortunately one of her teammates had older sisters who were already in college. I leaned heavily on the father. The baseball recruiting model was created by softball so I was ready for helping my son.

Colleges should not be allowed to talk to prospective recruits until the summer after soph year. If kids don’t commit to colleges academically until senior year it should be good enough for college sports.

How in the world does a fourteen year old know what he needs for a useful major to eventually join the real world? It’s hard enough at sixteen and seventeen. I majored in economics only because math was easy for me. My son chose economics solely on “it worked for dad and look how I grew up.”  

My daughter knew what she wanted to do when she was fourteen. She had no problem committing to a softball program where the college had a top ranked forensic science program. I warned her the field will not be like tv. How many days did she work as a forensic scientist? Zero.

Their professional careers ultimately were a result of college internships. My daughter spent a semester in Washington. It ticked off her college coach. She openly told my daughter she was choosing not to start the following spring by taking the internship. My son was planning on playing down (lower level league) in college summer ball so he could do a summer internship in NYC. His baseball coach was not pleased. Surgery wiping out summer ball solved the problem.

Last edited by RJM
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