Underage Recruiting

Underage recruiting

I was invited to attend a youth sports presentation in Chicago. During the presentation a gentleman got up and spoke about how a sophomore that he knew was already getting offers for a DI athletic scholarship. After the presentation I approached another man who said to me that “Michigan already has a lot of their 2018 recruiting done.” And another one said to me that “The kids are getting the offers, what's the problem?”

Well here in a nutshell is the problem. You cannot get a legitimate DI Athletic offer from a college until you have graduated your junior year in high school. You must also have completed the core courses required by the NCAA to be on track to graduate to a matriculated DI college. Next, an athlete then must submit all the required documents to the NCAA eligibility center. After the review, the athlete is issued an ID # from the eligibility center. That number is the only number that determines whether an athlete is eligible by the  NCAA and the college offering the scholarship.

If that does happen, the student then must sign two letters, the letter of intent. And the grant in aid letter to receive the scholarship

Until that happens, there is no legitimate binding athletic scholarship. Heck if it just took a verbal commitment, Farah Fawcett and I would have been dating a long time ago.

So what is the real problem? In talks with scouts, coaches and agents, is that the kids who are getting these offers think they are binding, when they are not. There is also the perception that if the college coach does not honor this verbal commitment; he or she will lose recruits. Maybe, but probably not. There many kids waiting to fill theses spots if you are not.

Now there is every reason for recruiters to go younger and younger in their pursuit of talent. We are putting an extrinsic force on a child that should be about internal realization and fun. The professionalization of youth sports and the adulting of kids have long term negative consequences for all concerned.

But lastly, and surely most importantly. My sources tell me that less than half of those commitments will ever be realized. And that happens for many reasons. The athlete stops developing. They get hurt. They burnout, or lose interest.

But the ones that trouble me the most are the inner city kids who are sold a dream in a race that doesn’t exist and leave sports bitter and betrayed. Then my fear is, they will pass it on to their children. Stop the Tsunami in youth sports.

The Real True Base

The Base

Over and over again I hear the phrase “we need to teach these kids how to win.” Over and over I hear the phrase “Kids need to know about winning and losing.”

And the newest one “I love my kid so I am going to let them play the one sport they love year round and support them. “I want them to take it as far as they can go. “

Now I submit to you why this is just another example of entitlement and not the base kids need and want to be successful in life.

On many occasions I have seen well meaning parents whose biggest influence on their decisions regarding their child’s participation in youth and high schools sports is televised sports. Most have not played past the high school level, if that, so they rely on what is basically false advertising.

You see only 1% of all kids who go to a 4 year college will play at the DI level and only ½ of that 1% will play for free.

 As far a s specialization goes, well I like ice cream. I can’t eat it every day. It will make me sick or I will get sick of it. Kids change their minds all the time as to what they want to do in a day!

Parents need to know the difference between goals and dreams. They are not partners with their child in the youth and high school sports experience just because they played a lot of money.

First children need to learn to play together. How many times as parents did you have an older child take away something from a younger child? You have to teach children to share and cooperate to be part of a community. They are already competitive.  Nobody knows how to win.

That’s the base. Anything after that is all about adults’ ego, status and pocketbooks.

Children need to feel safe. They need that safety so they can fail and not be called a failure. They need the freedom to be creative and try new and different things without the fear of retribution from adults. That’s right. The car ride home with the parents is one of the biggest fears children have playing sports. What we need to do as adults is to create an environment for the children that allow them the atmosphere to develop and enjoy free activity first and foremost. Since only about 10% of all kids who are the “best” at age 10 are the best at 18, let them play for fun. Also, puberty changes everything. For the kids 10 and under its equal play. Try it; I know the kids will like it….if you leave them alone.

They will learn to be competitive fairly and safely. This will teach them life skills they can use for the next 50 years of their lives. This is the base youth and high school sports should strive toward, not athletic scholarships

 Isn’t that supposed to be the true winning goal?