High School Recruiting

BOSTON, Mass. - The national trends found in the marketing and recruitment of high school athletes has led to an erosion of values and loss of perspective on the role of athletics in society. The influence of money on the athletic landscape is the prevailing power affecting the decisions of high school athletes. Materialism is infused in high school summer basketball to the degree that name-brand apparel, new gear, and trips to distant locations are offered to top prospects in order to lure them into joining a certain summer league team. This lack of perspective has also affected decisions on which high school to attend; sometimes students choose high schools based on which brand of shoe the team wears.
It is necessary for adults to encourage a reevaluation of perspective and leadership if we hope to change the culture around recruiting. To accomplish this feat, the NCAA should run their own recruiting and evaluation camps, while restricting off campus evaluations to in-season games of the athlete and sanctioned summer leagues that are monitored by state high school associations.
The multi-sport, well-rounded individual is disappearing because recruiters convince this generation of promising athletes that they must play a particular sport year round in order to secure a college scholarship. Parents have fallen into this line of reasoning as well, contributing to a diminishing role of the high school coach and elevating the perceived importance of summer team coaches.
Currently, some recruiters and summer travel team coaches claim to hold the athlete�s best interest in the forefront of the process, when in reality, many of these adults have their own self-interest in mind. The integrity of summer travel teams has been lost due to the pressure of winning at all costs and the absence of a sanctioning body.
Time spent with high school coaches must increase; they are the ones who truly care for the best interests of the athlete. High school coaches have been squeezed out of the equation because of the emphasis placed on travel team participation. Much of a young person�s development of values takes place in high school, and these athletes need to be around adults who are concerned about more than their athletic ability; adults who will discipline the athletes when their behavior is unacceptable.
If the NCAA conducts their own recruiting and evaluation camps and places tighter restrictions on off-campus evaluations, this will ensure that the interests of the athletes are in the hands of nurturing adults who are held accountable to an athletic director, principal, superintendent, or school board. The only way to bring about the changes necessary to restore integrity in the recruiting process is by reinstating some control involving recruitment decisions to leaders and adults who care for the high school athletes.

Peter Roby is Director of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University, which serves as one of the world�s leading social justice organizations that use sport to create social change both nationally and internationally. Mr. Roby is an expert in the field of Sports Ethical Issues, Collegiate Sports, and Sports Marketing.

About the Center for the Study of Sport in Society
The Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University is one of the world�s leading social justice organizations that use sport to create social change both nationally and internationally. The flagship organization located in the heart of Boston, Mass. was founded in 1984 by Dr. Richard Lapchick and touts branches in Baltimore, Md. and Phoenix, Ariz. Through research, education, and advocacy the center promotes physical activity, health, violence prevention, and diversity among young people and college and professional athletes. Sport in Society�s innovative programs are all staffed by former college or professional athletes and have been awarded America�s most successful violence prevention program by Lou Harris, the Peter F. Ducker Award as the most innovative non-profit program in the social sector, and have been cited as the National Crime Prevention Council�s 50 Best Strategies to Prevent Violent Domestic Crimes. For more information please visit http://www.sportinsociety.org