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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]IAC schools and colleges look for a mixture of scholars, athletes and artists to fill a student body. The families of athletes must initiate contact with the school to circumvent the recruitment process. [/quote]

Is that true?

My son was on an 8th grade age travel team that had an excellent record.  Coaches from high schools, Catholic mostly but also Maret, came to games and practices, and sent emails to the coach that he forwarded to the whole team.

Maret kind of cracked me up.  They came to practice and what my child took away from it was that "I know you probably want the schools that are really good at (sport) but just in case you want academics more, you should think about us".  [/quote]

I think what they probably said is if the other coaches are not interested, we are.[/quote]

I don't doubt that they said something more nuanced than what he reported.  I do think that the big idea that he walked away with was probably accurate, which is that Maret's a good place for a smart kid who likes sports but also wants some balance and to have time for rigorous academics, community service, and involvement in the arts, whereas some of the other schools that recruited are good places for a kid who wants quality academics, but also wants sports to be the focal point of their high school experience, and may have dreams of playing Division 1.

My point, however, is that we didn't reach out to any of these schools (I already knew my kid was going public), and I didn't in any way give permission, and yet my kid was spoken to outside of my presence, by several coaches.  While it didn't bother me, and my kid was kind of flattered, I certainly wouldn't consider that contact to have been "parent initiated".

[/quote]

A parent initiated, just not you. They don't have to get permission from every parent to attend a game or practice. Coaches are allowed to be polite to kids without your permission, "hey you look good out there". "Spoken to outside my presence" is a little dramatic. I mean how rude would it be for the coach to act like the other kids didn't even exist. They were polite to you kid and it boosted his ego for a moment.

It is no secret what kind of grades student athletes get, their resumes are on line for the public to see. These are very bright, accomplished kids.[/quote]

The coach gathered all the kids on the team, introduced the coach, who then passed out brochures and made a speech about his school.  It wasn't him being polite, and while I'm sure my kid, who isn't a superstar, wasn't the target, but every kid was included.  As I said, I didn't have a problem with it, but it seems to contradict the idea that coaches need to wait for parents to reach out.

I didn't mean to imply anything about the grades of kids at any school.  I know you can be a top student and a top athlete at an athletic powerhouse school.  I think that most kids, except perhaps the most gifted, would have trouble doing both of those things, and keeping up with other outside commitments.  [/quote]

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