College Coaches Push Back Against Early Recruiting

Photo Libby Bassett, an assistant women’s soccer coach at the University of South Carolina, scouting at a girls’ soccer game in 2013. Credit Sarah Beth Glicksteen for The New York Times College coaches are pushing the N.C.A.A. to end a largely hidden practice that has become increasingly common: the recruitment of young high school and occasionally even middle school students.

Women’s lacrosse and softball coaches separately sought approval from the N.C.A.A. this fall for proposals that would limit recruiting of younger students. Men’s lacrosse coaches are set to discuss doing something similar at their annual meeting this month. Ivy League universities have recently started sending letters…