College Recruitment Revealed
NEIRAD enilno edition
Students all over the country have dreams of playing college sports. Competition reaches an all-time high as athletes strive to outshine others in their area of expertise. Recruiting plays a huge role in the intense struggle to obtain a spot on a college sports team. We can all agree that Darien contains a large pool of skilled athletes, most of whom are looking forward to playing their sport in college.
For some athletes, college recruitment for a sport may never be a success, while for others it’s a different story.
“When I first started the recruiting process I was excited because I wanted to see what schools would be interested in me, but then it turned into a little bit of stress because I was anxious and I didn’t know where I wanted to go,” junior Case Matheis said. Matheis brings up the point that recruiting isn’t always happy-go-lucky. You can be the best of the best but still feel the pressures of college recruiting.
Based on your skill-level and how committed you want to be in college, schools all over the country offer three divisions which include Division 1, Division 2 and Division 3.
Division 1 schools tend to be the most competitive schools. According to Coach Brameier, “D1 is the best of the best. There is more time commitment and more expectations.”
Athletes are expected to train year-round. The next most competitive division is Division 3 which doesn’t require students to play year-round. According to senior Ellie Riegel, “I really got a sense of D1 and D3 through visiting schools and hearing about their programs. You probably already know that D1 is basically an all year round sport with lifting and running the off season and playing still in your off season. So you are judged with how much time you want to put into the sport and what college program suits you,” Riegel said. Riegel, a field hockey recruit for Bucknell University (which is D1), said it was the time commitment to the sport that was a huge factor in her college decision.
Other differences between each division include scholarships; Division 1 offers around 12 and a half scholarships each year to incoming athletes. According to Brameier, “Every D1 school gives about half of their athletes scholarships.”
Division 2 schools often fall to the background of the three. These schools are the least popular of the three divisions because they aren’t as competitive as D1 and D3.
Based on the sport, athletes often begin getting recruited in their junior year. For football, the recruiting season is in both the fall of junior and senior year because in the fall of senior year students often aren’t committed to a school yet, leaving the athlete more time for late recruiting. For spring sports such as lacrosse, the recruiting season is in the spring of junior year. “It’s a measure of what the athlete has done up and through their junior season.” Coach Brameier said. Every coach wants their athlete to be successful, but it’s mainly up to the athlete to push themselves to attain that.
There are even a rare few who are recognized during their sophomore year. If an athlete puts themselves out there by participating in club teams and tournaments, they will more likely be recruited at a younger age. Junior laxer Tony Britton, who is one of the lucky early recruits, verbally committed to Cornell University the summer going into his junior year. “Over the summer I went to recruiting camps in Maryland, three recruiting showcases and I played for Chargers.” For those of you who don’t know, Chargers is a summer club team that practices and competes in tournaments within New England. By putting themselves out there and making an effort, athletes will better their chances for getting noticed by college coaches.
Coaches also play a vital role in how an athlete gets noticed. “I call coaches at schools that a player is interested in or a coach that has expressed interest in them. We talk about the players strengths and weaknesses and coaches always want to know what kind of person the recruit is: is she a hard worker, is she a kind, honest person etc,” Coach Lindley, DHS girls’ varsity lacrosse coach said. Coach Brameier agrees, “Coaches give guidance into what the schools are like and whether or not they match up with the athletes’ interests.”
Matheis said student athletes should not discount the importance the college coach can have to landing a successful recruitment. “The college coach definitely plays a huge role in getting athletes into schools. I think that in D1 sports the coaches have the highest amount of influence. The coach will give an athlete a certain GPA or SAT score that they need to get accepted to the school. The process of getting in is the same as a student who would be applying without playing a sport. The athlete still needs to fill out an application, but it is a lot less stressful,” Matheis said.
Students and athletes have to remember that committing to a sport in college involves a significant amount of devotion to that sport. “It’s what I love doing, it’s my favorite sport” Britton said. With the amount of stress and the large time commitment that college sports demand, the key lesson of college recruiting is to not commit to a sport unless you truly have a genuine desire of playing that sport.
“In high school you have to work hard to get to the level of college sports,” Coach Brameier said. “Once you get there its fun but it’s also like a job.”
