7th grader receiving letters from Top College programs

[OnlyTheStrongSurvive]

How often does this happen? There is a girl from Oklahoma that has started to receive letters from Florida,Auburn,OU,LSU etc

http://normantranscript.com/sports-comm ... /Young-gun

I have personally seen this kid play and she is very good and the size of a high school/college girl but I do think there are kids as good as her that have not received letters from College programs...

Does the recruiting process start that early? and how do you start to get kids noticed at that age?

[Battle]

How often does this happen? There is a girl from Oklahoma that has started to receive letters from Florida,Auburn,OU,LSU etc

http://normantranscript.com/sports-comm ... /Young-gun

I have personally seen this kid play and she is very good and the size of a high school/college girl but I do think there are kids as good as her that have not received letters from College programs...

Does the recruiting process start that early? and how do you start to get kids noticed at that age?

Letters are sent out for various reasons. It depends on what kind of letter it is. Just getting a letter doesn't mean much.

[OnlyTheStrongSurvive]

Supposedly they are letters from those colleges saying they are interested in her....I don't know of any kids around here getting letters from college teams,What about in California or Texas?...She did go from 12u to 18gold

[freetacos]

Those schools should be ashamed of themselves. I think this shows the desperation that coaches have to win. When it comes to winning these people will do anything and everything legal or not to save thier jobs.

Congrats to the kid but pathetic for the schools and coaches.

7th graders are children...sheesh

ft

[fasterpitch92701]

Depends on what "receive letters" means. And, of course, content. Now... suppose... just suppose that a 7th grader wrote 23 schools giving them the bio, play nice-nice talk, etc. What does the coach do? Reply with a letter. What that letter MAY have said is "nice to see you are doing so well".... "keep up the good work and play hard in high school".... "focus and train".... "practice like you play, play like you practice".

All those "things" are nice, but... something that anyone around the game would say to an aspiring 7th grader. Net/net; without knowing the actual content of the letter it's much ado about nothing and, no, I don't think Arizona, Alabama, Washington, CAL... are having their coaches visit elementary schools on scouting expeditions. I will bet it's just a response to a letter from the kids parents written under the kids name.

[DonnieS]

Depends on what "receive letters" means. And, of course, content. Now... suppose... just suppose that a 7th grader wrote 23 schools giving them the bio, play nice-nice talk, etc. What does the coach do? Reply with a letter. What that letter MAY have said is "nice to see you are doing so well".... "keep up the good work and play hard in high school".... "focus and train".... "practice like you play, play like you practice".

All those "things" are nice, but... something that anyone around the game would say to an aspiring 7th grader. Net/net; without knowing the actual content of the letter it's much ado about nothing and, no, I don't think Arizona, Alabama, Washington, CAL... are having their coaches visit elementary schools on scouting expeditions. I will bet it's just a response to a letter from the kids parents written under the kids name.

I know of 8th graders that got 'letters of interest' from D1 schools - it happens. I would bet that fasterpitch92701 hit the nail on the head, and even more likely, the parents entered the kid on one of the recruit sites.

[OnlyTheStrongSurvive]

I'm starting to notice a lot of good players are going from 12u to 16u/18u...When do you guys think it is the right time to move girls up on age

I Always figured around 14 because if they make varsity in high school they will be playing with girls that are playing with 16u/18u gold teams


Like I said earlier this kid went from 12u to 18u...

[TheCloser]

Yeah, know a few 8th graders that have already received letters. Hell, some of DD's friends that are only a year older verbaled before they ever played a high school game just a few months back.

[TheCloser]

I'm starting to notice a lot of good players are going from 12u to 16u/18u...When do you guys think it is the right time to move girls up on age

I Always figured around 14 because if they make varsity in high school they will be playing with girls that are playing with 16u/18u gold teams


Like I said earlier this kid went from 12u to 18u...

I think it's always better to have a kid play their age until high school. Real Sports on HBO just did a piece about being the stud on a younger team.

The race to get a scholarship is driving parents to try to get their DD on 16U and 18U teams much earlier now. The best decision I ever made was hold DD back when she could've continued to play up at an earlier age.

[ontheblack]

High School changes everything. Your kid can be in 9th grade having last played 1 yr of 14u and now playing against some of the best kids in the country.

The problem with playing up too soon is playing time. Kids need to play. If they are good they will be noticed, as Closer pointed out. Some of the decisions to play up are smart ones, some are ego driven and perhaps not the wisest choice.