A Seventh Grader Just Verbally Committed to Women's Soccer at University of Texas

I am excited to announce I have verbally committed to play soccer with my sister for coach Kelly @ UT!!!Hook em pic.twitter.com/7N8htPangd
— leximissimo (@LMissimo) July 25, 2016

Kids these days. Imagine you're just about to step into your eighth grade year—you haven't even applied to high school yet (do kids even apply to high school? Can't remember; too long ago)—and you're already tethered to an institution and an athletic program that's five years down the road. Now that's commitment. Or insanity.

On Monday, seventh grader Alexis Missimo tweeted out that she had spoken with University of Texas' women's soccer head coach Angela Kelly, and verbally committed to their program. That's class of 2021, people. While it may seem outlandish to other sports—take the incredulity sparked by 13-year-old hockey college commit Oliver Wahlstrom—in global soccer, seventh grade actually seems kind of old.

In Europe, players are often picked up by club teams around the age of eight and run through a series of increasingly competitive tiers until they reach full soccer maturity. But with the absence of a legitimate youth development program in the U.S., maybe it's not so bad for a young soccer player to have a handshake lined up several years down the line?

In an article run by [The New York Times](Early scouting has also become more prevalent in women's sports than men's, in part because girls mature sooner than boys. But coaches say it is also an unintended consequence of Title IX, the federal law that requires equal spending on men's and women's sports. Colleges have sharply increased the number of women's sports scholarships they offer, leading to a growing number of coaches chasing talent pools that have not expanded as quickly. In soccer, for instance, there are 322 women's soccer teams in the highest division, up from 82 in 1990. There are now 204 men's soccer teams.) about Haley Berg, UT's now second-youngest recruit at age 14, they describe such an early push for recruitment of young girls as partially a matter of maturity, but also endemic to the NCAA system:

Early scouting has also become more prevalent in women's sports than men's, in part because girls mature sooner than boys. But coaches say it is also an unintended consequence of Title IX, the federal law that requires equal spending on men's and women's sports. Colleges have sharply increased the number of women's sports scholarships they offer, leading to a growing number of coaches chasing talent pools that have not expanded as quickly. In soccer, for instance, there are 322 women's soccer teams in the highest division, up from 82 in 1990. There are now 204 men's soccer teams.

It may seem preposterous to anticipate how an athlete will grow at age 13—maybe it's too early to tell what kind of athlete they will be. But as Top Drawer Soccer's Will Parchman points out, Missimo brings a mental capacity—with precocious creativity as a No. 10—to the game that's unparalleled by her peers. And that's the kind of skill that can only develop. Heck, Missimo already has a blank profile page on US Soccer's website.

And now we'll just have to wait five years to see how that blank page gets filled in.