WAG New Recruiting Rules?

[rjb123]

I really feel for the girls who have committed but can no longer communicate with their future coaches. How odd and stressful that must be for them! I can't imagine the stress they could feel if they had an odd injury pop up, and they have been cut off from communication. While I understand why the rules have been changed, and I actually think it is a *good* thing in many ways, it does open up so many other issues.

 

[FlippinLilysMom]

I really feel for the girls who have committed but can no longer communicate with their future coaches. How odd and stressful that must be for them! I can't imagine the stress they could feel if they had an odd injury pop up, and they have been cut off from communication. While I understand why the rules have been changed, and I actually think it is a *good* thing in many ways, it does open up so many other issues.

This has been my concern as well, my daughter had two teammates commit on May 1, the day the new rules went into effect, they both accepted their offers via an email sent to the coach but got nothing in return, no congrats, no excited to have you on our team, nada. For the next two years they can have zero contact with these coaches. Her teammate that committed to Utah will be going to the campus in June for the Classic and can not even talk to her future coaches, that is going to be so odd. My other concern is, what if the coach decides to pull an offer from one of these early commits, they can't even contact them to tell them that they are pulling their offer! It's all just so strange. I wonder if they will revisit some of these issues next year when they get together to vote again.

 

[JBS]

It's all just so strange.

That's for sure... that's the way everything seems to work now though... fix something that is broken by breaking it more.

 

[B&M's mom]

A lot of the perceived problems with the early commits will go away once this crop is through the system because there will no longer be these types of commitments.

 

[doublestrike]

My personal concern is how this rule will impact rising juniors now and in the years to come. By setting a date relatively late (even if arguably at a great time), most recruiting will happen within a very narrow 1-2 month time period. Right now, recruiting spans at least 18 months or more and often as long as three seasons.

What if you are injured that season? What if you need to switch gyms? What if your family situation is not ideal for recruiting that summer? What if you have a sudden growth spurt? Will gymnasts from smaller gyms or challenging regions have an even more difficult time getting noticed? What if a college's top recruit sits on her offer (which she is entitled to do) for a few months, leaving others panicked about their need to pick something else?

I'd hate to have a bad few months hurt long-term opportunities.

I didn't think of that, puts more pressure on them for JO's this year. I'm actually surprised there were not more verbals. Probably will be some juniors in May/June and the rising juniors maybe in May thru summer now.

 

[bookworm]

A lot of the perceived problems with the early commits will go away once this crop is through the system because there will no longer be these types of commitments.

I agree. My oldest was in the days of yore when they committed in their Junior year ... she was a multi year Level 10 and JO qualifier, had won at JOs in her freshman year , did a stint in elite at 12 ... and didn’t verbally commit until March of her Junior year ... as did most of her teammates .. and they survived, no one was shut out per se... she even had a teammate with multiple knee surgeries her sophomore and Jr years who was signed as well .

My take home on this is that everyone needs to do their homework going forward... the parents , athlete , club coaches and the NCAA coaches . Back then , with the exception of probably Utah and Val, kids verballed in their Jr year because that’s how it was done... and the mind set needs to return to that so that everyone (including coaches with friends everywhere) is in the same page . It can work if people make it work.

 

[Aussie_coach]

Elite athletes generally do not have hours in the day to attend full-time, brick and mortar school. Yes, it affects their academics in ways that are as diverse as there are children in this sport. It's not ideal and often leads to forks in the road by age 22, but the choice to pursue unique education structures is not a wholesale collapse of educational or of parenting norms. Just because academics are affected does not mean they cannot handle a college course load. They can - and do - at all levels of the spectrum regardless whether they verbal at age 13 or 18 and whether they are gymnasts, swimmers, or axe throwers.

It's has been shown time and time again that full time brick and mortar schools are not the most ideal ways to deliver education. Schools are the way they are, not because it's the best option for kids but because it's financially more viable to educate large volumes of kids together, in one place.

Home schooling for gymnastics does not mean academics are nessesarily affected at all.