We have been through the process and the travel club scene coupled with very lose if any guidelines on early verbals is out of hand. As stated on another thread parents boast that their kid makes Blue or top team even if they don't play, then they boast on the summer sideline that their 7th or 8th grader got called up to varsity, then all the talk last summer was about the kids that committed before entering 9th grade! The only way a 14 year old is picking a college that FITS at 14 is if their parents said it was a fit for them. My kid wasn't a top 25 d1 lacrosse kid, so we waited and picked a school that was strong academically and that they wanted to be at even if the lax didn't work out. The hardest part was keeping my kid from picking a school just because a coach "had money" because every kid and most travel parents eyes light up | 
