The Pros And Cons Of Recruiting In Middle School
“In recruiting, there are no good or bad experiences - just learning experiences!” Developing to play sports at a high level always requires new learning. These experiences could lead to being a variety of different outcomes that only the future can only tell. In middle school, there are so many experiences that a kid has not even had yet. There are so many changes that can happen throughout a year. An 8th grader has 5 more years experience a change that could affect their entire life. Many colleges recruit these inexperienced kids to play for their sports teams without any idea of what the future may hold. There is only so much faith, one can have that these young middle school children can have a perfect life. Middle school recruitment
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is inappropriate because these students should stay focused on their academic achievements, young students do not have a clear idea of their future yet, and the risk of injury in a young body is high. The transition from middle school to high school is one of the biggest changes that a kid will go through in their lifetime. Often times kids who excelled in education and athletics in middle school may have a slight or major decline in what they previously excelled in. If colleges are recruiting these kids and spending their time on recruiting them, there is one major thing that is left out, grades. A kid can be a great middle school student, but a mediocre high school student. “In fact, only those students who leave eighth grade with GPAs of at least 3.0 have even a moderate chance of earning a 3.0 GPA in high school, the threshold for being considered college-bound. A 3.5 middle school GPA was found to give students about a 50 percent chance of college success” (attendanceworks.org). In college, it is very important that the athletes maintain good grades and are on top of their work. If a student is having an incredible sports season, but not so much on their academics, it won’t go well. This could lead to the player not being eligible to play in games, making them invaluable to the team if they cannot play. This can also lead to another thing that needs to be taken into consideration, no one knows how things will turn out for a student-athlete. If the athlete is not playing at the level people he was expected to play and basketball does not turn up what they do in their future, what are they going to do in college? Their grades may not be acceptable and then the athlete has nothing. When you were in middle school did you have a clear idea of what you were doing in life? Many middle schoolers are very indecisive when it comes to the future. In fact, “after infancy, the brain's most dramatic growth spurt occurs in adolescence, and that growth means things get a little muddled in a teen mind” (livescience.com). It is a time of social interactions that can change their mind a variety of times through the course of middle school and eventually high school. An assistant professor, Sara Johnson at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, stated: "The brain continues to change throughout life, but there are huge leaps in development during adolescence” (Livescience.com). This means the brain is undergoing a critical time of development through the years of 11-19-year-olds and when a kid is 12, the second burst of neuronal sprouting happens right before puberty. They can develop new thinking skills and begin to think more like an adult. If given the time and access to information they will become a little more independent and the social interaction can influence them on anything. They also begin to have intense emotions in development along with hormonal changes, which may give a rise to newly intensive experiences of rage, fear, and aggression. Every emotion a kid experiences can take control of them in a split second and decide to do something that can ruin themselves in middle school. They can be furious at their parents, teammates, classmates and teachers to the point they go out with some bad influences and drink alcohol leading to a bad exposure. Another example is a middle schooler could already be discussing with their parents a dream school. They can get into an argument on which school is better and they could easily verbally commit too early in the process and change their minds many times. Anything can happen to any student-athlete while they go through development because many kids are going through too much to finally decide on what they will do for the rest of their lives. Seniors in high school are not decided on what they will do in college, what makes you think a middle schooler can do the same five years earlier? Injuries are something very serious in a life of sports.
The effects of injuries vary widely between sitting out for a game or two, missing a couple weeks, missing a season, to never be able to play again. When a child is in middle school the body is developing drastically. “More than 3.5 million kids under age 14 receive medical treatment for sports injuries each year” (stopsportsinjuries.org). In the early development stages, kids are more exposed to some serious injuries that can affect their entire sports career, possibly even cutting their sports career short. Why risk recruiting a kid who has not fully developed into their body with a high risk of injury when their kids in high school who have grown into their own bodies and know what common injuries they may be exposed to. Anything can happen in sports from a twisted ankle, a concussion, a broken bone, to a tear in a muscle or ligament. Some of these injuries are so serious that they affect the careers of NBA or NFL players. If an injury can change the career of someone who has been playing for years, then how is it any more certain for a kid to face one of these injuries. As a matter of fact “in 1985 a study estimated that 17 million sports-related injuries occur each year” (Clayton). There is a very high risk of injuries in sports and there is no guarantee that one of the 17 million injured sports players is not one of those kids. Also, kids are going to push their limits when they are being recruited by colleges, …show more content…
making them even more exposed to the risk of an injury. It puts children in a situation where they are at serious risk, possibly changing their entire lives. When a normal kid is going through life, people say “It’s not that hard to change paths in early years”. This is true for a fact, but when athletes already chose the path to be committed to a college. It gives them a bad reputation if they end up changing schools multiple times. It gives their family and themselves in a tough spot saying you're verbally committed. The athlete feels rushed in the process and chooses a college from misinformed information. While anything can change in the early stages of development, the college itself can find a completely different student that is more of a fit. Likewise, the athletes can change sports easily finding that it is more fun because many of their friends play that same sport. Lastly, the parents influence their kid on going to their own dream school, the kid commits and later down the road they finally find the right career for him and a different school that fits his own style. Committing too early also gives time for other colleges to recruit the athlete against the rival school, giving the athlete more choices down the road. A lot more could happen in the few years in middle school and the four long years of high school. College scouts need to worry about students in high school already. They're closer to maturing and knowing what the future consists of more than the youth. Also, the scouts have a lot more time to evaluate this athlete at a higher level because some athletes never progress because they do not have potential. Recruitment in middle school should not happen because they can miss committing to the wrong school too early and anything can happen in a span of four-six years. Not all colleges will offer a scholarship to an athlete early in the process but when one commits. It can affect their future success in two ways. One way is bringing attention from other schools when they commit early. Then the second, it can scare other colleges away. When an athlete gets the offer and verbally commits it allows them to focus on playing the sport and not worry about speaking to other coaches. An issue with this is when they offer the scholarship athletes can pretend they have fewer slots to pressure these kids into committing too early. They have six slots for eight athletes they try to recruit, but they only say they have four scholarships to pressure them into committing. Edwin Weathersby, an analyst proclaims, “The players will continue to generally feel that pressure and more early commitments will be made” (bleacherreport.com). There is already a downside in that and once an athlete gets offered or commits to a big school it draws a lot more attention to other big names. Giving other schools an opportunity to keep contacting them to try and “steal” this player. This misinformation can affect a middle school athlete to verbally commit too early when they're not ready. This can also scare other colleges away. Once a college realizes that an athlete commits it gives them an option to turn their heads to another athlete that's a better fit. They will no longer waste resources and money on the athlete. It will limit athlete's chance of having more opportunities through the rest of middle school and high school. If the athlete commits to early and didn't do their research the school they want might not have their career and they have two options. To either switch careers at that school or change to the school that fits them but they might not get a scholarship because they’re not getting recruited anymore in the process. Recruiting is a very serious part in sports today.
Coaches want the best of the best to play on their teams so they can dominate. Recruiting middle schoolers is not the answer to this though. Yes, keeping track of how a young athlete performs is okay, but the recruitment of a young athlete is not. There are too many things that can go wrong in the process of recruiting an undeveloped kid. A kid should never be put in a situation where they are already deciding what they want to do in their life as if they are a high school senior. There is a big gap between college and middle school and it is almost unfair to the kids who have to be put through the recruiting process when they are so young. It is never certain that academics will remain the same from the transition from middle school to high school, a kid does not really know what they want to do with their life, and serious injuries are likely to happen to a young body that it just is not safe.
Works Cited
"In Middle School, Grades and Attendances Matter." Attendance Works. N.p., 12 Nov. 2014. Web. 18 Apr. 2017.
Morin, Amanda. "Developmental Milestones for Typical High-Schoolers." Understood.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2017.
Nixon, Robin, and Robert Roy Britt. "10 Facts Every Parent Should Know about Their Teen's Brain." LiveScience. N.p., 31 Mar. 2016. Web. 15 Apr. 2017.
Weathersby, Edwin. "College Football Recruiting: Is Committing Early a Good or Bad Growing Trend?" Bleacher Report. Bleacher Report, 10 Mar. 2017. Web.
17 Apr. 2017.
Clayton, Lawrence, and Betty Sharon. Smith. Coping with sports injuries. New York: Rosen Pub. Group, 1992. Print
International, Inc. Advanced Solutions. "Youth Sports Injuries Statistics." Statistics. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2017.
is inappropriate because these students should stay focused on their academic achievements, young students do not have a clear idea of their future yet, and the risk of injury in a young body is high. The transition from middle school to high school is one of the biggest changes that a kid will go through in their lifetime. Often times kids who excelled in education and athletics in middle school may have a slight or major decline in what they previously excelled in. If colleges are recruiting these kids and spending their time on recruiting them, there is one major thing that is left out, grades. A kid can be a great middle school student, but a mediocre high school student. “In fact, only those students who leave eighth grade with GPAs of at least 3.0 have even a moderate chance of earning a 3.0 GPA in high school, the threshold for being considered college-bound. A 3.5 middle school GPA was found to give students about a 50 percent chance of college success” (attendanceworks.org). In college, it is very important that the athletes maintain good grades and are on top of their work. If a student is having an incredible sports season, but not so much on their academics, it won’t go well. This could lead to the player not being eligible to play in games, making them invaluable to the team if they cannot play. This can also lead to another thing that needs to be taken into consideration, no one knows how things will turn out for a student-athlete. If the athlete is not playing at the level people he was expected to play and basketball does not turn up what they do in their future, what are they going to do in college? Their grades may not be acceptable and then the athlete has nothing. When you were in middle school did you have a clear idea of what you were doing in life? Many middle schoolers are very indecisive when it comes to the future. In fact, “after infancy, the brain's most dramatic growth spurt occurs in adolescence, and that growth means things get a little muddled in a teen mind” (livescience.com). It is a time of social interactions that can change their mind a variety of times through the course of middle school and eventually high school. An assistant professor, Sara Johnson at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, stated: "The brain continues to change throughout life, but there are huge leaps in development during adolescence” (Livescience.com). This means the brain is undergoing a critical time of development through the years of 11-19-year-olds and when a kid is 12, the second burst of neuronal sprouting happens right before puberty. They can develop new thinking skills and begin to think more like an adult. If given the time and access to information they will become a little more independent and the social interaction can influence them on anything. They also begin to have intense emotions in development along with hormonal changes, which may give a rise to newly intensive experiences of rage, fear, and aggression. Every emotion a kid experiences can take control of them in a split second and decide to do something that can ruin themselves in middle school. They can be furious at their parents, teammates, classmates and teachers to the point they go out with some bad influences and drink alcohol leading to a bad exposure. Another example is a middle schooler could already be discussing with their parents a dream school. They can get into an argument on which school is better and they could easily verbally commit too early in the process and change their minds many times. Anything can happen to any student-athlete while they go through development because many kids are going through too much to finally decide on what they will do for the rest of their lives. Seniors in high school are not decided on what they will do in college, what makes you think a middle schooler can do the same five years earlier? Injuries are something very serious in a life of sports.
The effects of injuries vary widely between sitting out for a game or two, missing a couple weeks, missing a season, to never be able to play again. When a child is in middle school the body is developing drastically. “More than 3.5 million kids under age 14 receive medical treatment for sports injuries each year” (stopsportsinjuries.org). In the early development stages, kids are more exposed to some serious injuries that can affect their entire sports career, possibly even cutting their sports career short. Why risk recruiting a kid who has not fully developed into their body with a high risk of injury when their kids in high school who have grown into their own bodies and know what common injuries they may be exposed to. Anything can happen in sports from a twisted ankle, a concussion, a broken bone, to a tear in a muscle or ligament. Some of these injuries are so serious that they affect the careers of NBA or NFL players. If an injury can change the career of someone who has been playing for years, then how is it any more certain for a kid to face one of these injuries. As a matter of fact “in 1985 a study estimated that 17 million sports-related injuries occur each year” (Clayton). There is a very high risk of injuries in sports and there is no guarantee that one of the 17 million injured sports players is not one of those kids. Also, kids are going to push their limits when they are being recruited by colleges, …show more content…
making them even more exposed to the risk of an injury. It puts children in a situation where they are at serious risk, possibly changing their entire lives. When a normal kid is going through life, people say “It’s not that hard to change paths in early years”. This is true for a fact, but when athletes already chose the path to be committed to a college. It gives them a bad reputation if they end up changing schools multiple times. It gives their family and themselves in a tough spot saying you're verbally committed. The athlete feels rushed in the process and chooses a college from misinformed information. While anything can change in the early stages of development, the college itself can find a completely different student that is more of a fit. Likewise, the athletes can change sports easily finding that it is more fun because many of their friends play that same sport. Lastly, the parents influence their kid on going to their own dream school, the kid commits and later down the road they finally find the right career for him and a different school that fits his own style. Committing too early also gives time for other colleges to recruit the athlete against the rival school, giving the athlete more choices down the road. A lot more could happen in the few years in middle school and the four long years of high school. College scouts need to worry about students in high school already. They're closer to maturing and knowing what the future consists of more than the youth. Also, the scouts have a lot more time to evaluate this athlete at a higher level because some athletes never progress because they do not have potential. Recruitment in middle school should not happen because they can miss committing to the wrong school too early and anything can happen in a span of four-six years. Not all colleges will offer a scholarship to an athlete early in the process but when one commits. It can affect their future success in two ways. One way is bringing attention from other schools when they commit early. Then the second, it can scare other colleges away. When an athlete gets the offer and verbally commits it allows them to focus on playing the sport and not worry about speaking to other coaches. An issue with this is when they offer the scholarship athletes can pretend they have fewer slots to pressure these kids into committing too early. They have six slots for eight athletes they try to recruit, but they only say they have four scholarships to pressure them into committing. Edwin Weathersby, an analyst proclaims, “The players will continue to generally feel that pressure and more early commitments will be made” (bleacherreport.com). There is already a downside in that and once an athlete gets offered or commits to a big school it draws a lot more attention to other big names. Giving other schools an opportunity to keep contacting them to try and “steal” this player. This misinformation can affect a middle school athlete to verbally commit too early when they're not ready. This can also scare other colleges away. Once a college realizes that an athlete commits it gives them an option to turn their heads to another athlete that's a better fit. They will no longer waste resources and money on the athlete. It will limit athlete's chance of having more opportunities through the rest of middle school and high school. If the athlete commits to early and didn't do their research the school they want might not have their career and they have two options. To either switch careers at that school or change to the school that fits them but they might not get a scholarship because they’re not getting recruited anymore in the process. Recruiting is a very serious part in sports today.
Coaches want the best of the best to play on their teams so they can dominate. Recruiting middle schoolers is not the answer to this though. Yes, keeping track of how a young athlete performs is okay, but the recruitment of a young athlete is not. There are too many things that can go wrong in the process of recruiting an undeveloped kid. A kid should never be put in a situation where they are already deciding what they want to do in their life as if they are a high school senior. There is a big gap between college and middle school and it is almost unfair to the kids who have to be put through the recruiting process when they are so young. It is never certain that academics will remain the same from the transition from middle school to high school, a kid does not really know what they want to do with their life, and serious injuries are likely to happen to a young body that it just is not safe.
Works Cited
"In Middle School, Grades and Attendances Matter." Attendance Works. N.p., 12 Nov. 2014. Web. 18 Apr. 2017.
Morin, Amanda. "Developmental Milestones for Typical High-Schoolers." Understood.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2017.
Nixon, Robin, and Robert Roy Britt. "10 Facts Every Parent Should Know about Their Teen's Brain." LiveScience. N.p., 31 Mar. 2016. Web. 15 Apr. 2017.
Weathersby, Edwin. "College Football Recruiting: Is Committing Early a Good or Bad Growing Trend?" Bleacher Report. Bleacher Report, 10 Mar. 2017. Web.
17 Apr. 2017.
Clayton, Lawrence, and Betty Sharon. Smith. Coping with sports injuries. New York: Rosen Pub. Group, 1992. Print
International, Inc. Advanced Solutions. "Youth Sports Injuries Statistics." Statistics. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Apr. 2017.