WAG 8th grade Verbal recruit

[Seeker]

Greg, Megan his wife and Tom Farden are top drawer people. no creep factor exists. and no way they offered this girl anything in the grade she is in at the moment. they just don't do it. i hate that site for all the BS they put up on there.

now, i'm off to go verify bar routines for Marta in my Nastia hot pink leo! i'm making the National Team this week end!! wish me luck!!! the field is so dense because Elite is so easy i only have to compete against 12 other girls. i think i can beat them!! go USA!!

Photos please!!

 

[bookworm]

. and no way they offered this girl anything in the grade she is in at the moment. they just don't do it. i hate that site for all the BS they put up on there.

I mean no disrespect to Dunno but I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that this family didn't post on their child's website , complete with school logo , and when she'll join the team because she didn't get an offer of some sort..her coaches and gym seem very adept at this kind of thing so unless there was a HUGE misunderstanding by the parties involved, I would be inclined to think she has an offer....like Bog said, it's everywhere on the internet so I think someone would have informed them if that wasn't the case (bc colleges can call clubs...)

 

[gymgal]

no, it's not. all that matters is the "core" curriculum and the ACT test. MANY have blown standardized testing out of the water and then couldn't clear the clearinghouse for eligibility. that's a fact. but i'm NOT going to names names cause i don't do that. it's embarrassing if you know what i mean.

Would love to see the percentages on this - specific to girls gymnastics. I'm betting it is very low, which is my point. Of course, there is always the possibility that she may be one of the small percentage who don't clear but the odds are in her favor. From what I have researched, the biggest problems occur with homeschoolers and private online schools, neither of which are relevant for her as she plans to go to a public high school. Why make the assumption that she would have trouble?

 

[gymgal]

Greg, Megan his wife and Tom Farden are top drawer people. no creep factor exists. and no way they offered this girl anything in the grade she is in at the moment. they just don't do it. i hate that site for all the BS they put up on there.

I wouldn't be too sure about that - they did it last year with Emily Muhlenhaupt who committed in November 2013, with a grad year of 2017. 4 years out, just like this girl we are talking about.

As for Hunter Dula, the commit is on her own website. Doubtful the family would purposely lie about a commit. It has been up since mid July, plenty of time for Utah to deny it.

 

[mpkbt]

We still don't have any idea if it is scholarship or just a commitment. I can't see her web site my computer blocks it as untrustworthy, does it say scholarship? Maybe she is going there with the possibility of a scholarship if she continues to improve but a guaranteed walk on? There is a gymnast in Utah that has a similar deal in the works but she is even younger.

 

[Tbrov]

Can't add to the discussion w/r/t this particular gymnast & announcement, but I can say, as the mom of a 14yo who just finished 8th grade (L10), the recruitment has been surprising and stressful. I had honestly believed the NCAA and USAG websites regarding timing, until letters started coming in the mail "We are not allowed to actively recruit you until your Jr. year, however, until then, please check out our [camp, course catalog, etc]" Also, "we can't call you, but please call us" with cell numbers. And then the HC tells me about the gym visits all summer (not just for my kid, obviously, but she's on the list). It's totally flattering.... and then overwhelming. Girls just finishing their freshman year are making verbal commitments - we thought we had time to check out schools, do camps during summers, figure out what kind of career DD is interested in - and instead we may be asked to make a decision next summer?? It really is catch-22, because if your dream school (whatever that means to a 14/15 year old) makes an offer, you don't want to turn it down. But we feel like (and are currently) saying - she's too young - and we are not considering any offers at this time. I just never thought I'd be having conversations with my 14 yo saying, so, what's more important to you, a winning team, or academics? Large or small campus? etc; she hasn't even started high school, and we are comparing colleges? It is happening and it is crazy. [vent done]

 

[bookworm]

We still don't have any idea if it is scholarship or just a commitment. I can't see her web site my computer blocks it as untrustworthy, does it say scholarship? Maybe she is going there with the possibility of a scholarship if she continues to improve but a guaranteed walk on? There is a gymnast in Utah that has a similar deal in the works but she is even younger.

"is excited to announce she has verbally committed to the University of Utah"...also goes on to say she will join the team for the 2018-2019 season...no mention of scholarship, just committing...

 

[GymMom4]

I am so sad to see that there are so many posts here about Hunter. She is a friend of ours, a very talented gymnast, and her family is not on here to help defend her. I let her mom know about this thread and she gave me permission to stick up for Hunter. She is amazingly talented and so many have been quick to bash her without knowing anything about her. She is training to compete level 10 this coming season after having a great year as a level 9 after a comeback from a devastating injury and other health problems. Some are so quick to judge and question why a college would want her but I am sure that a coach from such a program as the U would not extend an offer to someone they didn't see potential in, someone they felt would be an asset to their program. They do know her as she attended a camp there at the U this summer. They did extend a verbal offer for a scholarship spot on their team for the 2018 season. The video you saw labeled "developmental camp" on her website was because a member of the coaching staff from the national training camp saw her at SEG, was impressed by her, had the gym record video of her and she was invited to attend a developmental training camp earlier this month.

While some might argue the need/efficacy of such verbal agreements to someone of that age, I think that specifics about a particular gymnast should be left out of that, and most definitely questioning someone's skill level and why a big school would want someone that you deem is not "worthy."

 

[bogwoppit]

Great to hear the true story.

I do not think anyone "bashed" this gymnast. But I do think people are bashing the system that offers places to such young children as it encourages many years of training at a very high level and intensity,

This is very hard on young bodies, as is evidenced by so few seniors at Champs this week.

Considering this board is all about young gymnasts and their gym careers I think the discussion has been about as calm as these things can be on a public forum.

More than that, when we put our children out into the public domain in the way that college recruits are, then they will be discussed. Unfortunately this gymnasts story was all over the internet, including some private gym forums, so her name, and career, are linked inextricably to the issue at hand. The story is exceptional, and news worthy. Hard to close that down.

Had I seen any directly obnoxious comments relating to this gymnast I would have deleted them. None were reported through our reporting system, so I can only assume none were made. The system is highly effective in most situations as the members are self policing

I still believe that grade 8 is too young for these offers, nothing to do with any gymmie, but all about a system that is off kilter.

To end, if you find any post in the thread offensive, as in it breaks our rules, do report them and they can be edited.

 

[happychaos]

I am so sad to see that there are so many posts here about Hunter. She is a friend of ours, a very talented gymnast, and her family is not on here to help defend her. I let her mom know about this thread and she gave me permission to stick up for Hunter. She is amazingly talented and so many have been quick to bash her without knowing anything about her. She is training to compete level 10 this coming season after having a great year as a level 9 after a comeback from a devastating injury and other health problems. Some are so quick to judge and question why a college would want her but I am sure that a coach from such a program as the U would not extend an offer to someone they didn't see potential in, someone they felt would be an asset to their program. They do know her as she attended a camp there at the U this summer. They did extend a verbal offer for a scholarship spot on their team for the 2018 season. The video you saw labeled "developmental camp" on her website was because a member of the coaching staff from the national training camp saw her at SEG, was impressed by her, had the gym record video of her and she was invited to attend a developmental training camp earlier this month.

While some might argue the need/efficacy of such verbal agreements to someone of that age, I think that specifics about a particular gymnast should be left out of that, and most definitely questioning someone's skill level and why a big school would want someone that you deem is not "worthy."

Frankly, the "devastating injury and other health problems" make the situation MORE questionable, not less. No one is bashing her. Merely questioning Utah's reasoning for extending an offer to a L9 8th grader.

If the family doesn't want their daughter's gymnastics discussed publically, then perhaps you could suggest that they remove her public website that was obviously created to promote her. Gotta take the good with the bad.

As parents of gymnasts, many of us are interested in the process by which girls are recruited and given scholarships. Discussing the skills and achievements of gymnasts receiving these offers is relevant, and is perfectly acceptable, especially when the gymnast has a website with skill videos publically posted.

No one would ever suggest that "specifics" about football or baseball recruits should be off-limits. Why should it be so with gymnastics? Football fans like to analyze every detail and statistic available. There is no expectation that specifics of a particular player be left out of the discussion. That is just silly.

I wonder if I am the only one, but the more I learn about this gymnast and the recruiting process in general, the more discouraged I become. It seems like having aggressive coaches and attending the right camps were key for this gymnast. As has already been said, there are plenty of girls without offers that appear to be just as (if not more) qualified than this girl. Perhaps there are other factors that made this gymnast desirable beyond what her videos and scores would suggest.

 

[kandkfunk]

@happychaos raises some very valid points. Entire articles are written about potential college recruits in football, baseball and other sports. Articles detailing every stat imaginable, including height and weight. Stats comparing ERA, on base percentage, fielding percentage, etc. People openly compare players and discuss their strengths and weaknesses. My son is a baseball player. He is young, but is already playing at the varsity level. We have prepared him as best we can to have people criticize his performances and talk about his stats. We want him to play in college and we understand that he will need to be seen, charted and discussed in order to achieve his goals. He is an incoming freshman, but there is no way any sort of offer will be made prior to his Junior year, and most likely not until his senior year.

In this highly competitive day and age, you can't seek publicity in the hopes of being recruited and then get upset when people talk about you. This is part of the danger in recruiting such young athletes. It's hard enough for the older athletes to deal with the pressure. Now, we're asking middle schoolers to deal with it. And if she succeeds in graduating a year early (which would be a major accomplishment in itself deserving high praise), she is going to be an incredibly young collegiate athlete who will be forced to endure much worse criticism than anything that's been posted here.

I didn't see anything in these posts that attacked this young athlete. People are concerned with the process and are questioning why this one girl, who publicly put herself out to be viewed, is more deserving of an early commit than other girls with more credentials.

 

[Gymmonkeymomma]

Can't add to the discussion w/r/t this particular gymnast & announcement, but I can say, as the mom of a 14yo who just finished 8th grade (L10), the recruitment has been surprising and stressful. I had honestly believed the NCAA and USAG websites regarding timing, until letters started coming in the mail ........I just never thought I'd be having conversations with my 14 yo saying, so, what's more important to you, a winning team, or academics? Large or small campus? etc; she hasn't even started high school, and we are comparing colleges? It is happening and it is crazy. [vent done]

Same. Exact. Boat. so I feel your pain. I am discussing colleges at the same time with my 14 and 17 year olds, and my older DD is joking that her 'baby sister' will get into college before her! These are talks that I did not plan to have for at least another year!

 

[cbifoja]

I am so sad to see that there are so many posts here about Hunter. She is a friend of ours, a very talented gymnast, and her family is not on here to help defend her. I let her mom know about this thread and she gave me permission to stick up for Hunter.

Why are you so sad to see so many posts about her???? I think it's pretty neat that she has accomplished enough to be discussed as a high level athlete. And I'm not sure what you are defending her against. No one on here has said that she is ugly, stupid, or an awful gymnast. No one has implied that she boils puppies in her free time. Life will give you plenty of legitimate opportunities to be offended so you really don't need to go looking for ways to be offended.

She is amazingly talented and so many have been quick to bash her without knowing anything about her. She is training to compete level 10 this coming season after having a great year as a level 9 after a comeback from a devastating injury and other health problems.

I believe that everyone has acknowledged her talent. I think even the most unexperienced of us recognizes the talent it takes to get to L9 but we also understand that training L10 isn't easy on the body of these girls. I have seen several posts expressing CONCERN (not criticism) about how potentially hard it will be on Hunter's body to train so many years at this level. And this is true of all young L10s. There are a lot of moms and dads on this board so we don't see these girls as just athletes but also as kids much like the ones we have. And we all want our kids to be healthy and not hurt.

Some are so quick to judge and question why a college would want her but I am sure that a coach from such a program as the U would not extend an offer to someone they didn't see potential in, someone they felt would be an asset to their program. They do know her as she attended a camp there at the U this summer. They did extend a verbal offer for a scholarship spot on their team for the 2018 season. The video you saw labeled "developmental camp" on her website was because a member of the coaching staff from the national training camp saw her at SEG, was impressed by her, had the gym record video of her and she was invited to attend a developmental training camp earlier this month.

While some might argue the need/efficacy of such verbal agreements to someone of that age, I think that specifics about a particular gymnast should be left out of that, and most definitely questioning someone's skill level and why a big school would want someone that you deem is not "worthy."

Now you are getting somewhere. Yes, absolutely some people are questioning why a college would want to commit a scholarship to an L9 gymnast so early in the game. Others have brought her published credentials into the argument and have legitimately questioned why she was offered something when lots of other young gymnasts have had more podium success than she has. This is not a criticism of Hunter but of the college and the system that allows it to operate in this manner.

You cannot discuss the early verbal agreement without including a discussion of the specifics of the recipient. That is a ridiculous expectation. It's like saying we can't discuss the scores and skill set of Olympic gymnast all around winners.

 

[gasrgoose]

guys and gals...please don't believe everything you see and read. thanks, Dunno.

Greg, Megan his wife and Tom Farden are top drawer people. no creep factor exists. and no way they offered this girl anything in the grade she is in at the moment. they just don't do it. i hate that site for all the BS they put up on there.

now, i'm off to go verify bar routines for Marta in my Nastia hot pink leo! i'm making the National Team this week end!! wish me luck!!! the field is so dense because Elite is so easy i only have to compete against 12 other girls. i think i can beat them!! go USA!!

Wise advice......

 

[gasrgoose]

I wouldn't be too sure about that - they did it last year with Emily Muhlenhaupt who committed in November 2013, with a grad year of 2017. 4 years out, just like this girl we are talking about.

As for Hunter Dula, the commit is on her own website. Doubtful the family would purposely lie about a commit. It has been up since mid July, plenty of time for Utah to deny it.

I am so sad to see that there are so many posts here about Hunter. She is a friend of ours, a very talented gymnast, and her family is not on here to help defend her. I let her mom know about this thread and she gave me permission to stick up for Hunter. She is amazingly talented and so many have been quick to bash her without knowing anything about her. She is training to compete level 10 this coming season after having a great year as a level 9 after a comeback from a devastating injury and other health problems. Some are so quick to judge and question why a college would want her but I am sure that a coach from such a program as the U would not extend an offer to someone they didn't see potential in, someone they felt would be an asset to their program. They do know her as she attended a camp there at the U this summer. They did extend a verbal offer for a scholarship spot on their team for the 2018 season. The video you saw labeled "developmental camp" on her website was because a member of the coaching staff from the national training camp saw her at SEG, was impressed by her, had the gym record video of her and she was invited to attend a developmental training camp earlier this month.

While some might argue the need/efficacy of such verbal agreements to someone of that age, I think that specifics about a particular gymnast should be left out of that, and most definitely questioning someone's skill level and why a big school would want someone that you deem is not "worthy."

Particularly considering these posts

 

[Midwestmommy]

This is not about one kid. We have a responsibility to all the five to twelve year old children who participate in this sport, and how college recruiting 13 year olds impacts them. Thia sport is incredibly demanding and tough on the body, more so than any other sport. Recruiting 13 year olds is reprehensible because of what is required of elementary age kids to get there by that age. I have not read a single good reason for that time frame. College coaches and club coaches are making this happen. It would appear they are incapable and/or unmotivated as a group of private business owners and college coaches of inserting some common sense into this process as it impacts all our children.

Can someone, anyone, provide emails or mailing addresses for parents to at least express their concern to someone who is supposed at least pretend to care?

My daughter loves this sport. As a parent sometimes it is hard for me to even like it when this stuff goes on. If those controlling this sport really do care about ALL our kids, not just five Marta picks every year, then step up already and fix this.

 

[GymGirl's Mom]

This is why my underage daughter does not have a YouTube Channel nor a Personal Webpage. When you do that for your child you are INVITING criticism both positive and negative. In making a recruitment announcement to the world via the web and your child's Personal Webpage you are inviting the public to discuss and analyze your child, and specific details about him/her that you provide for them on her website. Don't like it-- don't do it. Just my opinion!

 

[gymgal]

I cannot be the only one that sees several of these posts as "bashing" and heavily critical of this young gymnast. And honestly, I also hear a lot of jealousy, negativity and this-process-isn't-fair beneath the facts. "we have girls in our gym age 7-8 who are competing level 8 with same level of skills as her", "We have girls in our gym who are the same age, made it to easterns/nationals and they aren't being looked at", "we can't assume she will graduate early until she actually does". Really go back and read some the posts. The tone is "why does she get to commit so young and ours don't" "She obviously isn't as good as SO many others out there" "there is no way she will be able to pull this off". Life (and particularly gymnastics) isn't fair. Get over it. From the tone of these posts, I truly get the feeling that many will be watching this girl (and others like her) just waiting for it all to fall apart so you can say - "see? we were right". The Coaches at UTAH saw something in this girl that they thought would benefit their program. Are there other girls that have a better track record, more skills, at this point in their career? sure. But they chose her. There will always be girls who are better, more skilled, older, etc than what a college has chosen as a recruit. Stop trying to figure out the reasoning. You will go crazy. Just be happy for this girl and wish her the best.

That being said, at the same time we absolutely should be discussing how we can affect a change in NCAA policy in regards to recruiting so young. And honestly, I think it needs to go the route of what is best for the athlete - picking a school so young, having to train at such a high level at such a young age just to get noticed and then risking major injury during the 5+ years of high intensity training.

 

[cbifoja]

Just because life and gymnastics isn't fair doesn't mean that people should just sit back and accept things that could and maybe should be improved. Life isn't fair is about the lamest excuse of the century.

It isn't fair that some kids get abused or don't have enough to eat but we don't just sit back and shrug our shoulders and say "oh well, life isn't fair."

 

[cbifoja]

And just to be clear, I have no dog in this fight. It doesn't really affect me one way or another. I don't even have a strong opinion about Hunter or Utah. I just hope that she is happy and stays healthy and that NCAA and those surrounding them aren't harming our little girls in their quest to find their teams.