As the 24-hour sports networks cover National Letter of Intent Day and high school athletes choose what university they’ll make millions for in the upcoming years, Michael Kasdan wonders how young is too young
—
Today is National Letter of Intent Day. Away we go!
Last year, the NY Times ran an article entitled Committing to Play for a College, Then Starting 9th Grade. There are similar articles every year, but the kids seem to get younger and colleges more aggressive:
The article profiled the trend of our colleges beginning the sports recruiting process at a shockingly young age:
Before Haley Berg was done with middle school, she had the numbers for 16 college soccer coaches programmed into the iPhone she protected with a Justin Bieber case.
She was all of 14, but Hales, as her friends call her, was already weighing offers to attend the University of Colorado, Texas A&M and the University of Texas, free of charge.
Haley is not a once-in-a-generation talent like LeBron James. She just happens to be a very good soccer player, and that is now valuable enough to set off a frenzy among college coaches, even when — or especially when — the athlete in question has not attended a day of high school. For Haley, the process ended last summer, a few weeks before ninth grade began, when she called the coach at Texas to accept her offer of a scholarship four years later.
Don’t like ads? Become a supporter and enjoy The Good Men Project ad free* * *
“Even the coaches told me, ‘Wow, we’re recruiting an eighth grader,’ ” she said.
Yeah, wow indeed.
Both parents and the schools are complicit in this race to . . . the middle school. And if it keeps going at this rate, some day soon we might well have scouts poring over our toddlers . . . .
♦◊♦
Right after my son Pete learned to walk, I bought him his first wiffle ball bat. And boy oh boy. He took to it like a duck to water.
From the moment that hollow plastic cylinder settled into his waiting hands, it was clear to me. Pete was a special athlete. Hand-eye coordination and reflexes like that just can’t be taught.
Special, I say. Not average like all these other drooling kids.
I know this, of course, because of the scouts that started appearing at our play group. They didn’t introduce themselves as such. But they were there, radar guns and clip-boards in hand, watching closely and jotting down notes: arm, running speed, fielding, hitting, power, accuracy, aptitude.
♦♦♦
I just read about a famous slugger named Duke Snider, whose father tied his right arm behind his back to turn him into a lefty. Genius! That’s an awful short porch out there in Yankee Stadium. I’m pretty inspired by parents like that who are so invested in their children’s success right from the start.
♦♦♦
Finally filed his official name change form last week. Still getting used to calling the boy Charlie Hustle.
♦♦♦
Working six days a week with that trainer is really paying dividends. Sure, there’s not as much time for school-work, but what’s he really learning there anyway? To play with blocks? And of course I’m going broke paying for all this training and equipment. But what am I supposed to do? Just let his lifelong dream die??
♦♦♦
That Field of Dreams book was right! If you build it, they will come! Just this morning, I put the finishing touches on the backyard pitching mound. And boy is Charlie bringing it.
I’ve been religiously posting videos of Charlie on YouTube and then tweeting them out to various college scouts. I’m absolutely positive that quitting my job to do this full-time was the right move.
Just printed off 20 “Team Charlie!” T-shirts for the family. We’ve got a grass roots campaign here!
♦♦♦
We all know that if he doesn’t commit to a college by the time he’s four, its probably not going to happen. And its going to happen for him.
|
Finally! A break-through! Three scouts in attendance in the backyard today, from Central Florida, Florida State, and University of Florida. Nice touch by the University of Florida guy, who gave Charlie the Gators-themed onesie.
Oddly, he’s got no scholarship offers yet. I’m starting to get nervous. Er, for him.
We all know that if he doesn’t commit to a college by the time he’s four, its probably not going to happen. And its going to happen for him.
At least I got some nice feedback from the Central Florida guy. Said Charlie’s got a strong looking baseball jaw, a quick bat for his age, and smooth baseball instincts. He said that Charlie really has some growing up to do though. Seemed to question his drive and his maturity.
At least all three made a point of saying that they would revisit the issue and make a scholarship decision once Charlie is out of diapers. Humph.
The whole thing left me wondering exactly what we are waiting for here!?
I mean, since when is potty-training a prerequisite for getting a scholarship commitment from Florida State anyway?
♦◊♦
—
Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons/RebeccaLee (lead photo) and Ed Yourdon (little league player)