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    Sweeping reforms to girls' college recruiting

    Sweeping reforms to girls' college recruiting
    Contributed by ESNN (Elite Soccer News Network)
    Friday, 27 February 2009
    Last Updated Friday, 27 February 2009
    In the midst of a lot of hand-wringing, politically correct comments and ignoring the problem, a major proposal is
    emerging as a possible solution to the issue of the recruiting process on the girls' side of youth starting earlier and earlier.
    University of Florida head coach Becky Burleigh has drafted the proposal after discussions with some of her colleagues,
    and is now working on using it as a platform for continued discussions with more than 300 DI coaches around the
    country. Last week's adidas ESP event provided the occasion for further talks, and more meetings will be held in
    upcoming events on the coaching calendar including the Texas Shootout at the end of May.
    We'll discuss the proposal in detail below, but the main points of it are as follows:
    1. Players would not be allowed to have contact with coaches before the summer between junior and senior years of
    high school. Emails are permitted but any unofficial visit to a campus cannot include meeting with the coach.
    2. Verbal commitments would also not be permitted before then. Offers of scholarships would not be permitted to club
    coaches, parents or other parties.
    3. Coaches would not be permitted to coach ODP, club teams of UI4 and older or any other select team other than
    ins***utional camps (theirs or another's).
    Eventually, Burleigh hopes to see the proposal considered by the appropriate NCAA Committee, but first she must build
    consensus among a large group of soccer coaches.
    And that consensus is not there yet. The issue is that college recruiting, especially for the top college programs, is now
    directed primarily at freshmen and sophomores in high school, with verbal commitments typically secured in the junior
    year of a player's high school tenure, even in the early part or before the junior year. Players, parents and coaches seem
    to agree that it's too early, but the process continues to start and end earlier.
    "The reason it's not ideal for the prospect is the early pressure they have on them. It's much earlier for them than their
    peers in terms of picking schools, and they're often not ready to make that decision, but there's pressure to make it
    because they feel or their parents feel the money will dry up," Burleigh said. "The reason it's not good for coaches is that
    we are having to make decisions on kids who probably will go through more peaks and valleys before they go to college,
    and that's a little scary. Plus we don't really know our needs for kids because we have to project so far in advance."
    Burleigh shared one instance where an uppercl***men on her Gators' squad was injured early in the season. Had she
    applied for medical hardship to be eligible for another season, Burleigh would have been in a major jam because that
    scholarship money was already committed to a future enrollee.
    "All I could think was ‘Oh my goodness, we've already spent that money.' Here she is with an opportunity to come
    back. Obviously I want a proven player back but at the same time, one of the commitments is going to lose out. I'm not
    sure how we would handle that."
    As it turned out, the injured player was able to return to action, but the predicament Burleigh describes is illustrative of
    the potential problem. She cites several others that arise from the current emphasis on early commitments.
    "Right now the system is very economically biased because we're operating on the basis of unofficial visits, which of
    course are paid for by the prospects. Some players can't afford that. This also makes recruiting more regionally biased
    based on which recruits can and can't pay for a visit," she said. "Having a lot of upper-middle cl*** families is one reason
    why we've gone down this road with less trouble than other sports, since our official visits (paid for by school) now are
    almost all used for kids who have already committed, the financial burden is placed on the prospect."
    Burleigh's proposal for fixing this is sweeping.
    Find out what the proposal is all about - Continue to Part 2...
    TopDrawerSoccer.com
    http:/

    #2
    This is a great start, but it is unlikely to bring significant changes with the NCAA for at least one, probably two, recruiting cycles.

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
      Sweeping reforms to girls' college recruiting
      Contributed by ESNN (Elite Soccer News Network)
      Friday, 27 February 2009
      Last Updated Friday, 27 February 2009
      In the midst of a lot of hand-wringing, politically correct comments and ignoring the problem, a major proposal is
      emerging as a possible solution to the issue of the recruiting process on the girls' side of youth starting earlier and earlier.
      University of Florida head coach Becky Burleigh has drafted the proposal after discussions with some of her colleagues,
      and is now working on using it as a platform for continued discussions with more than 300 DI coaches around the
      country. Last week's adidas ESP event provided the occasion for further talks, and more meetings will be held in
      upcoming events on the coaching calendar including the Texas Shootout at the end of May.
      We'll discuss the proposal in detail below, but the main points of it are as follows:
      1. Players would not be allowed to have contact with coaches before the summer between junior and senior years of
      high school. Emails are permitted but any unofficial visit to a campus cannot include meeting with the coach.
      2. Verbal commitments would also not be permitted before then. Offers of scholarships would not be permitted to club
      coaches, parents or other parties.
      3. Coaches would not be permitted to coach ODP, club teams of UI4 and older or any other select team other than
      ins***utional camps (theirs or another's).
      Eventually, Burleigh hopes to see the proposal considered by the appropriate NCAA Committee, but first she must build
      consensus among a large group of soccer coaches.
      And that consensus is not there yet. The issue is that college recruiting, especially for the top college programs, is now
      directed primarily at freshmen and sophomores in high school, with verbal commitments typically secured in the junior
      year of a player's high school tenure, even in the early part or before the junior year. Players, parents and coaches seem
      to agree that it's too early, but the process continues to start and end earlier.
      "The reason it's not ideal for the prospect is the early pressure they have on them. It's much earlier for them than their
      peers in terms of picking schools, and they're often not ready to make that decision, but there's pressure to make it
      because they feel or their parents feel the money will dry up," Burleigh said. "The reason it's not good for coaches is that
      we are having to make decisions on kids who probably will go through more peaks and valleys before they go to college,
      and that's a little scary. Plus we don't really know our needs for kids because we have to project so far in advance."
      Burleigh shared one instance where an uppercl***men on her Gators' squad was injured early in the season. Had she
      applied for medical hardship to be eligible for another season, Burleigh would have been in a major jam because that
      scholarship money was already committed to a future enrollee.
      "All I could think was ‘Oh my goodness, we've already spent that money.' Here she is with an opportunity to come
      back. Obviously I want a proven player back but at the same time, one of the commitments is going to lose out. I'm not
      sure how we would handle that."
      As it turned out, the injured player was able to return to action, but the predicament Burleigh describes is illustrative of
      the potential problem. She cites several others that arise from the current emphasis on early commitments.
      "Right now the system is very economically biased because we're operating on the basis of unofficial visits, which of
      course are paid for by the prospects. Some players can't afford that. This also makes recruiting more regionally biased
      based on which recruits can and can't pay for a visit," she said. "Having a lot of upper-middle cl*** families is one reason
      why we've gone down this road with less trouble than other sports, since our official visits (paid for by school) now are
      almost all used for kids who have already committed, the financial burden is placed on the prospect."
      Burleigh's proposal for fixing this is sweeping.
      Find out what the proposal is all about - Continue to Part 2...
      TopDrawerSoccer.com
      http:/
      OMG This is exactly what we are going through. Pressure to make a decision before we miss out on anything. Junior this year with many e-mails with hints at the programs being fully susidized. Feeling alot of pressure to make a decision quickly! I hope this goes through before my now freshman gets started with the search!

      Comment


        #4
        This is terrible for the players. Becky only cares about building her program not the student athlete. Just look at the amount of players on her roster, many were taken by her knowing that they will never see the field. If you think it is rushed now, just think how rushed and pressured it will become if it starts in the senior year. The big schools will keep the 2nd, 3rd 4th and 5th choices on hold until christmas and then that player will be scrambling to find a place to play.
        If they want to change a rule with the NCAA, let the kid transfer out with a release to sign anywhere they want after each year. The school can cut the kid for no reason (some schools do it often), all I am saying is let the player have the same rights.

        Comment


          #5
          The issue with banning coaches from coaching club for ages U14 or older will be a huge sticking point at the national level. That coaching is extra income for many who are not full-time or not 12 month employess, and it is also already restricted by residency rules.

          This year at the NCAA convention legislation was RELAXED on college coaches working camps side by side with prospects in DIII. This rule change had been attempted for a few years, but always shut down - this year, given the economy, it was a no-brainer.

          The issue is you can't legislate ethics.

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by Unregistered View Post
            This is terrible for the players. Becky only cares about building her program not the student athlete. Just look at the amount of players on her roster, many were taken by her knowing that they will never see the field. If you think it is rushed now, just think how rushed and pressured it will become if it starts in the senior year. The big schools will keep the 2nd, 3rd 4th and 5th choices on hold until christmas and then that player will be scrambling to find a place to play.
            If they want to change a rule with the NCAA, let the kid transfer out with a release to sign anywhere they want after each year. The school can cut the kid for no reason (some schools do it often), all I am saying is let the player have the same rights.
            I have to agree a bit with the above...she has 21 returning players who are either freshmen or soph and that doesn't count the juniors - and they just had media day and announced the signing for 11 more.

            ????

            Comment

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