Advisor for 13 Yo ??

Around here advisors for players that age are called parents.

Jerseydad,
That was REALLY funny, good job on that one!

I see a lot of progressive things, but I don't know anyone in our area that has dealt with an "Advisor" at 13. My son is in this age group, as well.

HunterMac, you should ask them if they've hired tutors for college yet? Or retirement advisors for their sons yet too?

Jerseydad, that was pretty good..

quote:

Originally posted by HunterMac95:
Am I way behind the power curve or what. I had a friend tell me the other day that two local 13 YO have already had "advisors" over for dinner.

Did they enjoy their grandparents visit?

Is this friend prone to fits of nose lengthening?

Sometimes you need an advisor to negotiate what snacks are provided after the game and where your seat on the bench is or he will sign with another 13U team

I really must consider this for the Webby awards, the most funny post to date!

I advise my son all the time......pick up your clothes, clean your room, take out the trash, feed the dog, mow the lawn, etc. If he balks I threaten to get the GM involved who will quickly modify the contract.

I read this and it didn't surprise me. Didn't a freshman last year verbally commit? Sophmores are getting verbal offers from coaches at camps. The game is getting younger and younger, just like basketball. Plus you add in sleazy/ambitious advisors and gullible parents and it was bound to happen sooner or later.

In my opinion, 13 years old and accepting advice from anyone outside of the family is lunacy. I could wax prosaic on how youth baseball is an entirely different animal than s****r, basketball or football in terms of projecting ability. Sports aside, there are a heck of a lot of other things that a 13 year old should be concentrating on than whether or not they are marketable to a college program and beyond. And any parent who would condone this probably doesn't have the attention span (like their 13 year old) to have even finished reading this post.

quote:

Originally posted by HunterMac95:
Am I way behind the power curve or what. I had a friend tell me the other day that two local 13 YO have already had "advisors" over for dinner.

Advisors are usually employees of a recruiting service. 13 is not all that unusual but not necessarly what a 13 year old might want or need.

Companies that offer their recruitment services usually do so starting with an interview of the kid and parents. The services often work WITH YOU to promote your kid. The best are really just great big database services that try to match an athletes interest in sports, acedemics and geographic school preference to their contacts within colleges and universities.

An athlete who uses such a service usually pays a set fee and the service works with them until they are through college (just in case a student decides to transfer). They should be teaching parents and the athelete the ins and outs of school research, how to talk to coaches on the phone, and generaly be there to answer questions during the high school journey. Do you need to start this at age 13? Probably not.

If you do want such help, starting during the sophomore year is usually best.

Unless your athlete has a strong desire to play their sport in college these services are a waste of money (but the good ones will tell you that).

We did work with a service and started the process during the 2nd half of my son's sophomore year. It can be expensive but if you put in the required work (they don't do the little things) it can pay off.

Our son played with various travel/club teams outside of school. Many coaches talked to him during his junior and senior years as a result. However it was the work we did through the service and their help in sending his information to more than 300 schools plus putting a skills video on their website and YouTube that ended up getting him his scholarship.

I was semi-shocked when I heard about the "dinner adviser" but the 2 families are a little over the top. Pushing their kids a little early on everything and always have great tall tales to tell.

It is my opinion that 90% of what a parent tells you about there son is either fabricated, stretched and/or wishful thinking. This applies to the parents who when asked how their son is doing will go on and on about the all the schools and scouts that are after sonny boy.

Sometimes it makes me wonder what we are doing wrong since my son doesn't have all that action. And sometimes I walk away thinking what a bunch of BS. Usually it's BS.

While we can all make jokes about this topic, it certainly doesn't merit any kind of serious response. If a kid needs an advisor at 13, it is only for how to do better in school and avoid some of the temptations that kids are exposed to in jr. high and high school.