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DefiniteMaybe

Proud Parent
I know of several younger gymnasts (ages 11-13) who have received letters of interest from colleges. I'm curious if anyone here knows how the colleges choose these girls. Do they look at posted scores? Or do they decide based more on what they see from the girls at meets? Or are there other variables that I haven't thought of?
 
I didn't think they could verbally commit until 8th grade, which would be 12-13 at the earliest.

But, I know so very little on this so please, someone who knows how this works, let a sista know!!! ;)
 
Back in the day, colleges used to send letters to most JO national qualifiers...not sure what they're doing now that they're actually verballing middle schoolers...

This whole scenario is very scary because young kids, and their eager coaches and often clueless parents will get all caught up in the "ooh this college wants me/her" at 12/13 years old...verbals ....thinks she's all set...and , 4-5 years later when she doesn't meet whatever criteria the college sets out there (i. e. "we thought you'd have a double layout"...or, god forbid, the kid hits puberty and they don't like her body anymore)...scholarship gone, and at that point, it's a scramble...
 
I didn't think coaches were allowed to contact gymnasts or send anything to them until their Junior year? Are these letters sent to the gym coach?
 
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I didn't think coaches were allowed to contact gymnasts or send anything to them until their Junior year? Are these letters sent to the gym coach?

Technically they're not...but they're not verballing people they've had no contact with...and until the ncaa steps in and penalizes the schools for early contact, nothing will change...and yes, they send the letters to the gym or coach and sometimes directly to the gymnast, claiming they didn't know how old they are...
 
My DD got a letter from a fairly successful d1 school addressed to her in care of her gym at about that age. It was a very general letter - congratulations on your gymnastics so far and keep us in mind as you progress in your gymnastics career. That was about 6 years ago so the letters could be very different now.
 
My DD got a letter from a fairly successful d1 school addressed to her in care of her gym at about that age. It was a very general letter - congratulations on your gymnastics so far and keep us in mind as you progress in your gymnastics career. That was about 6 years ago so the letters could be very different now.
So what provoked the letter? Had she recently competed in a big meet? Had they seen her? Or maybe her scores?
 
I have said it before and I will say it again, a verbal offer/comittment is worth just about as much as the paper its printed on. The NCAA does control when formal National Letters of Intent can be signed and until then its just hot air. Don't forget, signing a NLI does not mean an athlete gets a free pass thru the school's admissions process. Yes a coach can put in a good word, but if a kid tanks the ACT/SAT they will have difficulty. Be very careful and ask a lot of questions during the visits. Heaven forbid anybody on here's dd gets into a Penn State situation. Good luck.
 
So what provoked the letter? Had she recently competed in a big meet? Had they seen her? Or maybe her scores?
I think it was probably her scores, her level and her age. I don't believe there had been any big meets unless it was Easterns.
 
DD was 12 when she got her first letter after Easterns. It was addressed to her in care of her gym. The girls are excited when that happens but know nothing serious usually happens before high school!
 
1. Be very careful and ask a lot of questions during the visits.
2. Heaven forbid anybody on here's dd gets into a Penn State situation. Good luck.

Point 1. You can ask all the questions in the world on campus and they will probably all spout the party line...be wary when you're with a team of girls on campus and you ask them how they like competing for X school and how the team is, and their response is "I love X school", and they don't commit to saying anything about being on the TEAM at that school...red flag , red flag....most kids DO love the schools they're at, but if the school is all they're willing to talk about, you've been warned. Talking to former athletes who have been through the program , for whatever duration (I'm talking about you, Penn St) , will give you a more honest appraisal as well.

2. And it is baffling the daylights out of me that people are still committing to that program, with all that is out there for information. The Thompsons aren't nice, their AD Barbour isn't nice but if you want your kid crapped on and abused for f 4 years for "free", that's the carrot? There's plenty of other programs out there....
 
Parents have to become detectives and dig out the information. When we were visiting we actually visited a school without the knowledge of the coaching staff. Wow! Eye opening. Training facilities - worse than the worst club we were ever in. We crossed that one off the list pretty quickly.
 
That was Alex's first choice - she was dying to go to Penn State. I don't know why ... but I can tell you - its off our list ;)
I will be coming to this group for advice on "good coaching" and "good academic" schools for my girl.
This group has so much to offer with current and past experiences. Love it.

Point 1. You can ask all the questions in the world on campus and they will probably all spout the party line...be wary when you're with a team of girls on campus and you ask them how they like competing for X school and how the team is, and their response is "I love X school", and they don't commit to saying anything about being on the TEAM at that school...red flag , red flag....most kids DO love the schools they're at, but if the school is all they're willing to talk about, you've been warned. Talking to former athletes who have been through the program , for whatever duration (I'm talking about you, Penn St) , will give you a more honest appraisal as well.

2. And it is baffling the daylights out of me that people are still committing to that program, with all that is out there for information. The Thompsons aren't nice, their AD Barbour isn't nice but if you want your kid crapped on and abused for f 4 years for "free", that's the carrot? There's plenty of other programs out there....
 
there isn't much information who signed with the PS recently.

From collegegymfans.com (and a PSU release from Nov 2015):
PSU Commits:
Tess McCracken, WOGA, L10
Kristen Politz, Rebound, L10
Mikayla Waddell, ENA Paramus, L10

Good Luck to them.
 
Oh definitely! But, if I recall correctly (@bookworm can confirm) getting out of a signed NLI is not an easy thing and is only done if the school consents to let them out. I have heard a NLI referred to as a "binding contract".


Agreed. But some of this poop was hitting the fan way before the NLI's were signed in November. I had read about it well over a year ago on collegegymfans.
 
Oh definitely! But, if I recall correctly (@bookworm can confirm) getting out of a signed NLI is not an easy thing and is only done if the school consents to let them out. I have heard a NLI referred to as a "binding contract".

You are correct Meet Director because you sign the NLI with the school, not the coach. I would think that if a Penn st recruit and her parents went to Barbour and Greene that they were scared to death to come and compete for the Thompsons with what they have heard and wanted a release, that it "should" be granted....but Penn St seems to make a habit of behaving in ways you shouldn't....

And from what I have heard about families even entertaining their girls signing with penn st, they're all in the magical thinking world that it won't happen to their kid...I say, future penn st gym mums and dads, prepare for the sleepless nights to come as your kid calls you crying every day...not worth the freebie in my book...
 

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