Candrea Sport specialization

[1bucketmom]

Youth sport specialization having major impact on Arizona softball and baseball
Arizona softball and baseball coaches concerned about overuse of high school athletes - Arizona Desert Swarm

 

[marriard]

I am sick of Candrea and others bitching about this. Youth sports does this because college coaches recruit at these ages and at these events, so what choice do they have? "Go play another sport" they say ,or 'more meaningful games", but there they go recruiting and verballing another 8th grade 14 year old. You can't do what they say because while you are off somewhere else, these coaches are in the stands watching the player who is your competition for a spot.

You also can't NOT specialize because to get good enough to recruit as a 8th/9th grader you need the 2-3 years of lead time to do that - because lets face it, you will be trying to stand out against other girls like this PLUS a bunch of older girls who physically bigger and stronger and likely have a lot more experience than you.

You have 1,000,000 recruiting rules already. How hard would it be to just put one in that says 'no recruiting until they are juniors. no 'verbals'. No offers.' Stop bitching to the media and work with all your little coaching buddies and the NCAA and figure it out.

This is the situation the colleges have created - the parents and players have zero control over the process. They have to figure out how best to work within it.

Recruiting for most families it is the first time through the process - even the rare family will not go through it more than a couple of times. And once you have signed the NLI, you are pretty much done. College coaches go through it every year and are involved in this recruiting business on a ongoing basis.

And the whole 'they are injured when they get here' - well duh, look what the colleges and coaches made them go through that just so you would look at them and let them keep their scholarship (which you can yank at any moment for almost any reason). And in the end you are complaining because you wanted to physically use them up in college and are annoyed that someone got there first. And you know how I know that - because as per a recently posted report discussed on this forum, college programs demand 30-40 hours per week both in and out of season while they are playing. So even though it may be more practice/less games (which is debatable), you expect more physically from them once they get to college than what most of them are spending while they are in youth sports/high school programs.

 

[Sparky Guy]

^^^^^^^^^ THIS!!!!!!!!! ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
hit the nail on the head with a sludge hammer. That needs to be sent to every college coach out there and to the NCAA.

The NCAA has rules about contact with younger players. But the coaches have found ways to skirt them legally. The NCAA does not recognize verbals and will not honor them. The coaches are in charge of the rules. I don't see things changing too much in the future unless a large amount of them are effected by young recruits changing their minds. And so it goes.....

 

[CoogansBluff]

In this article, Candrea is not complaining. He is being quoted from an interview that was posted here a few days back with the audio of it. It didn't sound like complaining.

He is merely explaining the dilemma --

'' ... kids are playing a lot of games, but they're less competitive because they're not playing a lot of games that count. Everything is revolved around exposure, getting a scholarship, and it's working for them because we're recruiting kids right now that are in 8th grade. So who's the dummy? They're getting what they want, but it's changed the complexion of how kids are being prepared for our game."

He is pointing out what he sees as a problem, but conceding that he doesn't know what to do about it.

The dilemma -- (1) stop recruiting 8th and 9th graders and be less competitive or (2) recruit 8th and 9th graders and perpetuate the unhealthy trend of specialization and non-competitive showcasing.

 

[nanotech14]

He knows what to do about it, don't give me that crap. Make it so that colleges can't even offer anything, until they are a junior in HS. The thing is there are thousands of girls, that are better then the ones that play in these big tournaments. This whole thing is about money, not skills. Believe me I'm not a socialist, I'm all about capitalism but just because a parent can afford to send their dds all over the country to play, doesn't mean they are better then the girl that plays a more local TB team.

 

[CoogansBluff]

He knows what to do about it, don't give me that crap. Make it so that colleges can't even offer anything, until they are a junior in HS.

So, you are saying that Candrea can have a top-10 program by seeking out diamonds in the rough and not making any scholly offers until players are juniors? I'm very skeptical of that, but who knows. Is there an elite college program that is taking that route?

 

[marriard]

So, you are saying that Candrea can have a top-10 program by seeking out diamonds in the rough and not making any scholly offers until players are juniors? I'm very skeptical of that, but who knows. Is there an elite college program that is taking that route?

No that is not what anyone is saying - but that is the point. They set it up so you have to do it how it is done - they then don't get to complain that is how it is done. If they ALL agreed and regulated that they would stop looking at players until they were juniors and that recruiting started only when players were juniors then they could easily create an even playing field and achieve what they like. Instead they all just try and out recruit younger and younger players despite knowing it really isn't best for anyone.

This is the not the first time he has commented on this - especially since he now has to recruit instead of relying on using the USA head coach position to attract players.

 

[nanotech14]

So, you are saying that Candrea can have a top-10 program by seeking out diamonds in the rough and not making any scholly offers until players are juniors? I'm very skeptical of that, but who knows. Is there an elite college program that is taking that route?

You, know your missing the whole point. These are the same coaches that wanted the umpires to call illegal pitch a few years ago, then when the umps started call the pitchers on it, the next year these umps were out of jobs. The coaches of these university have all the power. If they want, the rules could be made that you can't make any offers until the players are juniors, then it is up to them. Besides, these coaches don't make the players, they put together the team. After all they don't take girls that never have played. All the coaches and parents before college are the ones that make these players.

 

[Spartans21]

Youth sport specialization having major impact on Arizona softball and baseball
Arizona softball and baseball coaches concerned about overuse of high school athletes - Arizona Desert Swarm

Thanks for posting! I couldn't agree more. 99.9% of kids are not going to get a college scholarship. I encourage all of my high school kids to take some time off, or to play soccer, basketball, etc......Or just plain and simple, BE A KID!

 

[CoogansBluff]

You, know your missing the whole point. These are the same coaches that wanted the umpires to call illegal pitch a few years ago, then when the umps started call the pitchers on it, the next year these umps were out of jobs. The coaches of these university have all the power. If they want, the rules could be made that you can't make any offers until the players are juniors, then it is up to them. Besides, these coaches don't make the players, they put together the team. After all they don't take girls that never have played. All the coaches and parents before college are the ones that make these players.

No that is not what anyone is saying - but that is the point. They set it up so you have to do it how it is done - they then don't get to complain that is how it is done. If they ALL agreed and regulated that they would stop looking at players until they were juniors and that recruiting started only when players were juniors then they could easily create an even playing field and achieve what they like. Instead they all just try and out recruit younger and younger players despite knowing it really isn't best for anyone.

This is the not the first time he has commented on this - especially since he now has to recruit instead of relying on using the USA head coach position to attract players.

OK, thanks for clarifying.

Here are some barriers that I see. If every college softball coach in America pushed for big changes in recruiting rules, is the NCAA going to pass something that applies to just softball? Or do you envision such a rule for certain sports, the non-revenue sports?

re: If they ALL agreed and regulated that they would stop looking at players until they were juniors and that recruiting started only when players were juniors then they could easily create an even playing field and achieve what they like. Instead they all just try and out recruit younger and younger players despite knowing it really isn't best for anyone.

Are you saying that if all coaches agreed, that would get the NCAA moving on a rule? Or that if all coaches agreed, that the NCAA wouldn't need to get involved, that softball coaches can just go by the honor system? Without NCAA making a rule, I don't see it changing. It's like steroids. If everybody just agreed not to take them, they wouldn't be a problem in sports. Sometimes you have to make rules to protect people from themselves.