Do what's right and Please sign

[fastpitchdad05]

what a great thread to commemorate my DD who hung up her cleats a year ago.right before her Senior year.in HS changing her mind at age 16 to pursue an athletic passion where the best in the world don't peak until their mid to late 20's. She's enjoying her freshman year, has acclimated to training at 6000 ft & is prepping for Collegiate Nationals in 2 weeks where she has a 2 1/2 mile ride to the Olympic Training Center Velodrome to compete.

One thing no one has touched on (what I think is fun for kids) is they all miss the "highly touted, blue chip recruit " multiple campus visits where they get the dog & pony show, hang with the current team, spend the night , go to a big football or hoops game, etc It's not done in softball, parents pay to visit & go to the camps. Not in the budget? or do the coaches just like to travel?

The overnight visits and all the rest is done in softball. Hell, we got free 2nd row seats to a Louisville-Syracuse basketball game (Boeheim vs. Pitino) and that was just when attending a camp.

Ask 2.6. I think he got tickets to 3 or 4 big time college football games at visits. And I will never stop hating him for it (though I have to admit his kid was/is a much better player than my kid).

Sickeningly Superficial Squirrel

2.6's DD vs your DD is apples and oranges. Both D1 studs at their respective positions that bring different skill sets to the plate.

[Hollow Grind]

So when is the "Who's Going Where" page being removed?

[PDad]

So when is the "Who's Going Where" page being removed?

The forum is fine, however HB could limit it to juniors and older.

[B34R DOWN]

Or since Verbals are worthless make them wait until a NLI has been signed...

[PDad]

Or since Verbals are worthless make them wait until a NLI has been signed...

Unenforceable doesn't make them worthless. If you have to rely on a third party to enforce an agreement with someone, you have bigger problems going forward.

I haven't heard of any softball player in the past 6+ years sign an NLI without making a verbal commitment beforehand. Verbals are part of the process and overwhelmingly meaningful.

[Blind Squirrel]

Or since Verbals are worthless make them wait until a NLI has been signed...

Can I consider my wedding to be a verbal? Please? (It was in Vegas - nothing has meaning there)

Blissful Wistful Squirrel

[B34R DOWN]

PD then doesn't the plea to the NCAA for a change to verbals mean we are relying on a 3rd party to do something... If there is a problem and we want someone else to do something about it then shouldn't we follow our own advice...

[Hollow Grind]

PD then doesn't the plea to the NCAA for a change to verbals mean we are relying on a 3rd party to do something... If there is a problem and we want someone else to do something about it then shouldn't we follow our own advice...

The point of my post above. Who's going where based on NLI seems to align with the whole point of the petition and this thread.

[PDad]

PD then doesn't the plea to the NCAA for a change to verbals mean we are relying on a 3rd party to do something... If there is a problem and we want someone else to do something about it then shouldn't we follow our own advice...

Apples and oranges... NCAA already regulates recruiting, so it is the logical place to go. FTR, my posts were geared towards people not getting caught up in the early recruiting mania.

If verbals were worthless, as you posted, no one would care about them.

[mfrmorg]

Or since Verbals are worthless make them wait until a NLI has been signed...

"Legally non-binding" does NOT mean "worthless" ...

The overwhelming majority of unofficial verbal commitments come to successful full fruition.

The biggest problem with the recruiting process (whether early or late) is that a great many kids make decisions on universities with very little serious consideration beyond the softball element. For it to be the best possible university experience, a kid should give thorough consideration of the best overall “fit” of a university to them personally.

Additional regulation from a quasi-government agency (NCAA) will do nothing to solve that root problem. Parents need to step-up and assume their responsibility to guide their kids to identifying specific universities that are their best overall “fit” (athletically, academically, culturally, and socially) to them personally. Then pursue recruitment to those specific universities with an effective action plan. The earlier a kid starts this process, the better.

Some travel ball coaches do a great job of supporting the process of a kid identifying their best overall “fit”, but most do little to nothing in this regard.

Bottom line, the most effective way to address any problem is to address the root cause, rather than trying to regulate for a desired result.