It's the end of summer, and as a someone who grew up around a football field (my Dad was The Coach) I always associate this time of year with the beginning of football season. In fact, my best friend has her twin 8 year old boys in their own tackle football league right now. They practice a lot and are even expected to have the playbook memorized. This is different from when I was growing up. More intense. Younger.
I gotta say, I was totally shocked that the majority of those polled were ok with recruiting middle-schoolers for collegiate scholarships. I feel like the people who think it's a good idea are at minimum, medically shortsighted.
In fact, that is why I'm so uncomfortable with our 8 year old friends playing such hard (tackle) football. I think it is medically dangerous. And this is coming from someone who loves the sport dearly, I lived it for most of my life. In fact my husband laughs at me and calls me a weirdo because I love the way he smells when he comes in from mowing the lawn. Like fresh grass and sweat. A familiar smell from the fields, the stadiums, the Thursdays and Fridays under the lights.
I fear that if kids this young are being recruited, there will be more push to train harder and harder at younger ages, before their bodies should. Before their (bone) growth plates are mature. And what happens if the child's middle school athletic potential doesn't pan out?? Or if they get injured? What then?
I'm the mom of a very athletic (already) 3 year old boy. Sport Talent (with a capital T) is heavy on both sides of our family. But I just think this is too young. And when my son is a pre-teen, I will not entertain recruiters even if he turns out to be some kind of a phenom.
What do you think? Is athletic recruiting of middle-schoolers a good thing? Would you encourage it as a parent?
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Comments (9)
I completely agree with you! I don't think pre teens should be recruited regardless of their talent. They are way too young!
Why would it matter? They cannot 'recruit' without your permission, so where is the difficulty?
@CanuckFascist@xanga - No, there are parents who not only allow the recruitment, but encourage it and seek it out. I never thought the recruitment was without permission, how silly would that be?
What I am saying, is I would not give permission. Would you? How do you feel about it?
@sarahsmurfette@xanga - Well, if you would not give permission, then where is the problem? I would not give permission either. You are quite correct about exposing a youth to such physical dangers. Alas, there is no worry, since I need only utter 'no', and that is the end.
The reason I mention this would be due to the fact that in the former Eastern Bloc countries, and even today in communist China, the government may take your child any time they so desire. The former communist states and today's China did it in order to create perfect athletes as part of their 'communism is better' propaganda. It is then one would need to worry.
Oh gosh I really don't know. At first I was thinking no way! 7th and 8th grade is too young to be worried about scholarships and obsess over sports. Plus it is physically demanding and time-consuming. But then on the other hand, how can I deny my son a scholarship if he is good at what he enjoys? (Assuming he enjoys the sport.) I don't know if I could look at him his junior/senior year and say "Well you had a scholarship offer for college but you were too young at the time..." That is so rare to get that. I guess it would depend, if he didn't absolutely have to choose that college later then I'd say yes. I mean, if he changes his mind he can go somewhere else, right?
I agree with LondonsMommy . I have a niece that plays softball. Her team did really well at the West National Championships up in Washington. She is only 11, but this next season she has been asked to play on a 14+ team. I get a little concerned when it feels like the sport puts a lot of pressure on her or dominates her life. Parents can sometimes take the athletics a little bit too seriously, but fortunately my niece shows a genuine passion for the sport and her mom takes care to avoid becoming a crazed, overbearing sports parent. I did the whole gymnastics thing for ten years and was forced out of the sport. I wouldn't wish that on her, so as long as she wants it, I support her whole heartedly. If early recruitment comes her way, well why not?
Football at a young age is negligent on the part of parents. In my nursing career, I never stopped seeing young men who were quadriplegics, because they played foot ball. It's usually for the parents joy, and rah rah rah feelings that this is encouraged. My son was angry with me for quite some time, because I wouldn't allow him to play. He went on to hone other athletic skills, such as long distance running, that didn't have him being bashed around.
I think it's bad investing in middle school kids for college and adult athletics 1. for their safety definitely, 2. they're still growing, could get more talented, some get less talented, we all know how puberty affected us when we were kids... goofy, clumsy 3. they should get to explore other avenues of interest, hell i didn't know what i wanted to do in life that would make me feel fulfilled and also able to pay the bills. if they get recruited so early, the pressure to stay down that same road is more intense, the fear of dissent or failure, greater.
The problem is the "dream." The kid who wants to be a superstar, the parent who would love it for their child OR themselves. The truth is, there are very, very, VERY few phenoms who are truly phenoms. The rest "fail" by high school or college - they can't live up to the potential when the potential was only that the kid was slightly faster than his peers to develop agility or strength, but his peers would develop it soon enough. Early recruitment sets a kid up for that inevitable failure, not to mention, the toll it takes on his/her development. The other problem is that the "recruitment" is often for the sake of volunteer coaches who are wanna-be heroes, and can not see past the wins or the power of being #1 at the cost of children are still growing physically and emotionally. Give a nickel for every kid who "loves" it to a dysfunctional hotline for parents who have inadvertantly made it the criteria of their lives to support their superstar at any cost. No decent or successful college athletic program recruits junior high or younger students. None.