New to BOC but wanted to provide some thoughts since I already had a couple of daughters go through this time period and college recruiting process.
1. Girls change (duh). Some dominate players will become just ok by high school, some ok players will become dominate by high school, some girls will quit lax and focus on soccer/field hockey
2. Team rosters will change dramatically until around 9th even 10th grade. Rankings don't mean to much until fall of 10th grade, recruiters will show up for top tier games (M&D vs Heroes, YJ LI vs. SW Blue, Monster Purple vs. FL Select, etc) For example, at Presidents cup you will see 10-20 coaches at the AA games, 5-10 at A games, 1-5 at B games
3. College coaches will pay really attention starting in fall of 10th grade...again...they don't care about middle school at all. (not even a little bit)
4. College coaches all ask the same questions. a. How are their grades? b. Is she coachable? c. How are the parents (they already know if the girl can play)
5. College coaches don't care about the score of the game or who won. Recruiters are looking at the skill set, body type and look for intangibles. (hustle, attitude, etc)
Final thoughts, don't ruin the sport for your kid. Being 12-14 is hard enough with social media, puberty, middle school, boys, sports, etc...ensure your daughter know you love her, support her and want her to learn the intangibles of the sport. Learn how to win, lose, be a good teammate, deal with adversity, etc.
The parents are the ones who will ruin the sport for the kid (they will resent you or be embarrassed by you)...don't be that mom or dad.
Generally a good list.
But a few glaring comments/additions/corrections that need to be addressed:
#1 If girls quit, they weren't D1 material anyway.
#2 "Rankings don't matter" to losers and kids on bad unranked teams.
#3 The only coaches that truly "care" about middle school are D1 coaches.
#4c College coaches want to know if the parent REALLY understands the game. Parents should show them they do my yelling instructions at their daughter and correcting referee calls as much as possible.
#5 D3 college coaches don't care about scores. But D1 coaches do. Always play to win...and win by a lot. FOrget situational awareness and sportsmanship. D1 coaches like to see how many goals you can beat your opponent by.
Carry on.
