Softball Phenom UCLA-Bound Before Playing One High School Game
VALENCIA (CBS) — How early is too early when it comes to college recruiters scooping up student athletes?
KNX 1070 sports anchor Randy Kerdoon reports in the case of Maddy Jelenicki, the future is now.
Podcast
The 9th-grade catcher and infielder for Valencia High School has already made a verbal commitment to play for the UCLA Bruins' softball team before ever taking one swing as a freshman.
"I knew that was my dream school," Jelenicki said. "Every school I went to, I was comparing it to UCLA...I wasn't comparing it to any other school."
Jelenicki's high school coach, Donna Lee, said Maddy starting playing the game at a very early age.
"I've known Maddy since she was four," Lee said, noting she played on her son's T-ball team.
She tried out for the USA Athletics travel team at the age of eight — still just "a baby", according to Maddy herself.
As she kept playing and improving, Jelenicki's dad Dan found himself spending more of his weekends chauffeuring Maddy to games with her travel team.
"I've pretty much gone from Saturday morning 'til Sunday evening, and I probably drive anywhere from 200 to 400 miles on the weekend," Dan said.
Jelenicki made trips to four schools before finally settling on UCLA right out of middle school.
"I wanted her to wait until sophomore [year]" her dad said. "But she just said, 'You know what, I just need to do this, this is where I want to go'."
Coach Lee said for Maddy and countless other high school phenoms, earlier really is better when it comes to committing to a school.
"For any athlete — it doesn't matter what sport you are talking about - once they commit, the stress is off, you can take the weight off your shoulders and just go out there and play," Lee said.
"I never in my entire life thought this would happen so early, let alone get a scholarship to a major university," Jelenicki's dad said. "But it's happening, and the recruiting is just off the charts."
While there are no guarantees beyond the verbal commitment, Maddy will be bound for Westwood in 2015 if she keeps up her grades — and her batting average.
