College coaches recruiting players three years away from enrolling are not looking at specifics; they can't. Size, skill, athletic brains and academic brains will change in those three years. Grades do not matter and most haven't taken standardized tests (or have and need to take them again). Take a picture of your sophomore player and again when she is a senior. If she is training there is a huge difference. A coach may look at any clubs top teams for this reason--commitment to the sport. Don't hammer me on this; I know every level is committed. Still, the college coach will seek where she/he has been successful before.
Dominant, impact freshman exist but are not the norm. Most of these girls, rightfully so, will watch a lot of games from the sideline. Remember, the girls recruited before them were just as good.
It's not an easy task for college coaches. They have to make choices long before these girls will be their athletes. Don'e envy them.
Although I applaud and congratulate these younger girls committing before their junior year I think its crazy. First off some kids peak long before others do especially girls. So a kid who is a stand out as a freshman or a sophmore amongst her peers may only be mediocre when she becomes a senior amongst her peers. Next there is so much movement with college coaches its insane. My daughter went on a visit in May last year, met with the coach, coach made her an offer and we said our goodbyes to think about it. Plus we had other schools we were looking at. Three days later we email the coach to find out a good time to talk to her because my daughter decided that was the school she wanted, only to get the email returned stating that the coach was no longer with the school. fast forward new coach is hired in July and doesnt even reach out to my daughter. Next scenerio is the kids change their minds about things. My daughter thought from the time she in 7th grade because we had looked at schools with my son that she wanted to go to a small school..fast forward five years later she decided on a school with 20,000 students. There is so much involved with committing young. It puts too much pressure on these kids to make decisions. They miss out on meeting other coaches, visiting other schools and have to decide their future when most 10th graders are barely 15. I think the NCAA needs to put stronger rules on the no contact of students before September 1st of their junior year like it used to be. It gives everyone a fare chance to develop and it stops other kids from feeling pressured because their peers are committed why arent I. My middle daughter in the fall of 10th grade was [lacrosse] bent on going to UMASS to play women's soccer, when it came time for the recruiting process to start she turned to us and stated I dont want to play in college...that was just one year later. Let them be kids as long as you can its the best thing for them...making adult decisions in 10th grade is insane!! Congrats to these young girls however but remember at the end of the day they are still only 15!!!
