BOTC - US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums NORTHEAST LACROSSE BOTC MAIN FORUM (LI, CT, WC) Girls 2021 - 8th Grade Fall 2016/ Summer 2017

This is not an "exclusive to LI" thread. It's titled 'Girls 2021'.

Please be understanding. This is one of the few places that M&D Dad can come and market his 13 year old daughter's youth lacrosse team and have people understand what he is talking about. He only has a few years left of "glory" so let him spread his wings and fly while he still can.

There is a Maryland and vicinity forum on here. Why not use that?

Dude enough. The only person continually bringing up M&D on this thread is you.

True. He is a little over zealous. I wonder how he's gonna feel when Little Superstar wants to go to a DIII school? I personally would have had no problem if my kid wanted to go DIII, but I have a feeling this guy would explode.

Nah...

wow a 2021 commits to Navy. gotta believe an 8th grader is fully aware and ready to comiit to 3 years of military service. definitely has the maturity for that...

Read this in the New [lacrosse] Times?

I literally said the same thing! How does a 13 yr old girl have the maturity level to make that decision. Barely reached puberty. This is a whole different kind of commitment. Parents. Please think before you jump just to say you have the youngest commit!

Yes, every time a kid commits to Army or Navy you see this reaction on here. Whatever, congrats to her. The bigger picture here is that it is happening for this age group already. Despite all the people in denial saying it is not and that coaches are not looking at this age group, quite to opposite is true. I know more than several girls in 2021 with interest and offers already. Still shopping around which is good. If it is an offer from a dream school I can see committing. Otherwise it takes a long time to go visit all the coaches, campuses etc....to get a good feel for where these kids want to go to school and play. Use this as a barometer- If your daughter had a career ending injury the first day she stepped on campus and could never play lacrosse again, is she still at a school where she wants to be at? Anyway, we will likely see a few more commit this year.

The older sister plays there. I am sure the family and the athlete have a good idea of what is involved in this decision.

Congratualtions to the kid and her family. Great school, great education, great program, great career opportunities.

What club does this player play for?

oh okay. not trusted to drive a car. not trusted to vote and many other things, but mature enough to sign away years of her life to military service.

racing to me the first commit therefore had zero to do with it. okay got it.

I find it extremely hard, actually impossible, to believe an 8th grader has committed to Navy. There are little things like GPA and SAT scores to be taken into consideration which they have neither.

Huh? So how do you think any of these 8th and 9th graders are committing? Obviously the kids have to get the requisite gpa and scores. It's a verbal agreement.

The kid is signing nothing away.

a) she can always de-commit. It happens every day.
b) she can pull out of the academy after sophomore year with no consequences. No money owed, no service required.

I understand that you find it hard to believe, but that does not mean it is not true. The service academies do this just like everybody else. And the kid will either qualify to get in later through the application process or she won't.

It is a commitment, not a guarantee. Obviously there are those things to consider, and the athlete has to hold up their end of the bargain. This includes getting into the academy (grades, letter of rec. from US rep. or senator, and other things). It sets the bar high academically, but maybe it's a good thing and now the kid has academic goals to accomplish and they know what they have to do.

I think its a great goal for a kid to set even in 8th grade to want to attend one of the service academies. That said I can only think of 2 reasons parents would allow their 12-13 year old kid to commit 9 years of their life to the military.
1) They are insecure in their kids academic/athletic performance and feel she has peaked already and the more the coaches see of both the less likely they are to want her.( I get why some kids commit early if they get a great offer and feel that money may not be around in the future, obviously not the case here as the offer is always the same)
2)The parents are egocentric to the point of mental illness. Why not wait until your child has a little more life experience under their belt before making that decision. I know I will get crushed for this but add in the fact about some of the recent reports on how females are being treated and there are some real concerns.

Sounds like it would not be right for you or your daughter. There is no binding commitment to service until after year 2. And yes, we have a societal issue with how men treat women. However, the instances of such difficulties are far less at Service Academies than they are at colleges as a whole, especially large, alcohol-fueled, public universities.

The sister is in 10th grade. Verbal that's it

Congratulations ! I don't get what all the commotion is over all she has gone is commit to the process . Good for her to set her goals high. What exactly is she missing out on ? She can play lacrosse for the fun of it. And if she decides against attending trust me they will be lining up to sign this terrific young lady. I will say it again CONGRATULATIONS !

Congratulations to her and the family, let me try and help you with the commotion part, is she now the 1st 2021 commit? people will ask, did she really need to commit this early to navy or did the family just want to say they were the 1st to commit in the 2021 age group.

That all sounds good but she is not committing to give the academy a try for 2 years and then leave, she is committing to give the navy 9 years of her life.The question for me is why commit now , what advantage does that give her other than mommy and daddy feeding their egos.

As stated above, it is obviously not for you or your daughter. I think that is an important thing to recognize in her and yourself. Nothing wrong with that at all. Now, simply move along and get out of this girl's way.

One can verbal and keep it quite or choose to announce it.

I am not in her way , egomaniacal parents are in her way . Do not know this kid or her parents but I know the type . Overbearing , over controlling , parents who have the kid training 24/7 . Good point by previous poster of it was not about the parents ego then why commit now , what's the advantage . If the kid is good enough and bright enough the academies will have room for her in 3 years and obviously money is not the issue .

Poor kid. Unfortunately for her she is headed for one of the best educations available in the country and for what it is worth, a school that according to FORBES produces the #2 highest paid mid career grads, and she has summer jobs lined up, unlimited leadership training in place, and her first job waiting for her with no interview or resume required.

Oh, and she gets paid while she is in school. And there is no charge for the world class education she will get. And for what it is worth, they have a solid lacrosse program coached by a Hall of Famer and the all time winningest lacrosse coach at any level of lacrosse---either gender.

I wish my parents had been "egomaniacs."

Wow, since you put it like that, i think every kid should be fighting to get in there. on a serious note, i think the place is great and have a ton of respect for the midshipmen there. That was a pretty positive spin on it...reminds me of the navy commercials...its not just a job its an adventure, see the world...i get they will be officers...no place is 100% all of that.

As ex-navy, I will say that your statement that the is no charge for her education is laughable. You go spend 5 years deployed for minimal pay and come back and tell me it was free.

Minimal pay? Really? Do you know what you are talking about?

Naval Academy graduates rank #4 in the nation in early career pay ($72,900) and #7 in the nation in mid-career pay ($125,000).

Here are the rankings:

http://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report/bachelors

And thank you VERY much for your service, but yeah, there is no charge for tuition, room, board, books.

I'll add to the list of positives posted above about USNA. The kid will be serving her country. That's a good thing. Too bad more don't. Congrats to the kid and her family!!!

Think you missed the point. After graduation you spend 5 years minimum serving. During this time you get minimum pay. Academy grads are high in the starting salary rankings because they have at least 5 years experience when they get a civilian job.

You are incorrect. Upon graduation from the Naval Academy, not only is a student debt free, but their starting salary is about $57,600 with about $20,000 of that being a Housing Allowance which is federal tax free. So, they basically START on DAY 1 after graduation making over 60K a year. Hardly "minimum" pay.

Here is the link regarding starting salaries (and you will also note that this does not count bonus for nuclear and the chart shows the quick jump in salaries beyond the great starting pay):

https://www.usna.edu/Admissions/Career-Opportunities/Typical-Pay.php

Minimum pay? Uh, you really do not know what you are talking about. When they graduate they immediately make over fifty thousand. And it goes up pretty quickly after that. Do some research before you make misleading comments.

And by the way, the payscale rankings state that have USNA grads ranked #4 in early career pay defines early career pay as up to 5 years experience so it is a direct apples to apples comparison.

USNA grads make great money upon graduation, after 5 years, and throughout their careers either in or out of the Navy.

Okay mom now go take more of your meds , obviously not working .
First off no one said its not a great school. The point is it will still be a great school in 3 years .With your logic it would make sense for parents to commit kids straight out of the womb . Still have not answered the question of why not wait until the kid has a little life experience before committing 9 years of their life other than parents who are ego maniacs. Go read what you wrote and see if that seems like the thought process of a 12-13 year old or more like your thought process mom .Sounds more like your dream for your child's future , not hers .What is the rush to commit other than ego , not like the big scholarships go early .Ask the people who have gone to an academy most will tell you it's a great place to be from but a horrible place to be .

Nope, I have nothing further to add now that the silly statement regarding "minimal pay" has been dispensed with I am willing to let the facts speak for themselves. I will merely add that having been a sponsor parent, you would find yourself in disagreement with nearly all of the Mids we have sponsored in regard to your statement that it is a horrible place to be. Of course, it does requires a lot of toughness and a great work ethic.

Good luck to you and your daughter!!!

I don't need to do research. In case you couldn't tell by me saying that I am ex-Navy, I am an Academy graduate. I served 6 years as an officer on a ballistic missle submarine. If you wan't me to break down the hours that we worked under the conditions we worked in for the $52k I made I would be happy to have that conversation with you. The academy is a great place and does prepare you for life......But, it is also not your typical college experience and your service time is not going to be a cake walk. She's a lacrosse player, not David Robinson. I think people's points are, and mine included, is that choosing to attend a service academy in 8th grade is a very BIG DECISION and I doubt she necessarily knows what she is getting into. And, there is no reason to commit to a service academy in 8th grade. Look around. Find out what your options are. Grow up a little and maybe learn a little more about yourself and what you are looking for out of college. The decision could have been made a year from now if not more. It's all about the rush to say I'm committed and it doesn't benefit the player of the school really. There will be a very high rate of washout from the academies if they continue down this road.

Good for the young lady. I know several girls who have played lacrosse at navy and they would not have traded their experience for anything. It's up to each family to decide and not some old men on an Internet forum.