Fellas, if you have some gripes against early recruiting in general I get it. However, let's have a reality check for a moment. The 8th-9th grader that "commits" to play lacrosse at USNA is not signing a legal document that results in her foregoing her high school career and immediately being transferred to a submarine. So, you can get your collective shorts out of the knots they have formed and calm down a little.
What a kid is doing is "committing" to the application process to the USNA. She can change her mind an hour later. She can change her mind a year later. She can change her mind as a junior in high school. She can change her mind as a senior in high school. And, as pointed out above, she can change her mind in terms of "committing" to Naval service all the way up until the end of her second year in college.
Bottom line is this: She will have exactly ZERO ("0") obligation to serve until the end of her 2nd year of college when she will sign a commitment to serve 5 years upon graduation. Up until then, there is no commitment. Not even to lacrosse, which she can quit at any time and will not lose her scholarship for doing so because there are no scholarships.
Just like at other schools, as the girls get older they can and do change their minds. Or, maybe they do not even pass the admissions board. Or, maybe they fail a physical exam. The point is, as a parent, your daughter is really only "committing" to working hard on her grades, test scores, and lacrosse, and staying out of trouble. Those are goals that will serve her well regardless of where she ends up going to college.
Again, if you have concerns about early recruiting in general, I hear ya. However, to be clear about the main point, the 8th or 9th graders are locked into nothing. They can, do, and will frequently change their minds and there will be exactly zero consequences for doing so.
All very true (except I think it was said that commitment to service is after the first year of college), which further begs the question - Why go public with the decision, if not for ego?
