FEATURE |13

Isabella Hewitt Contents Editor

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It may take years of practice, but eventually, an athlete’s hard work pays off: the moment of commitment to their ideal college. Committing to college for a sport is not an easy feat and takes years of curating highlights and working on skills. For Miami Palmetto Senior High athletes, they play with their school team and with sports clubs with the final goal of playing at the collegiate level.

Multiple students at MPSH commit to a college for sports each year, with a lot of behind-the-scenes work others are not privy to. Players typically get recruiters attention through uploading online

Many start the recruiting process early in their high school career and later commit to a school in their senior year after visiting all their prospective options. In a student’s sophomore year, they will start signing up for the NCAA Eligibility Center. This essentially approves athletes for the recruitment process and makes sure their academics are up to date. College coaches are not allowed to reach out to high school students until the beginning of their junior year, so that is when the recruitment process starts in earnest. All the while, many athletes dream about going to a school they have supported from a

“My recruitment process started the summer of my junior year, and then I recently committed in February,” MPSH senior varsity football player

Justin Wood said. “I knew I wanted to go to college for my sport, the first time I put on a helmet and every practice I went to, I told myself ‘I want to do this for as long as I can.’”

Wood’s thoughts echo a common goal for many athletes. After years of dedication and hard work, those fortunate enough to receive multiple offers have a difficult decision to make. Countless components make up an athlete’s final decision, extending beyond a school’s athletic programs.

“I took a lot of visits to a bunch of different

Boston to continue his lacrosse journey.

The love for a sport often begins at home, watching one’s favorite team on television or at games. As a result, many athletes have their eye on a college that they have rooted for since they were young to finally live the childhood dream of playing for their team.

“I decided on [University of] Miami because it’s the team I grew up watching and grew up rooting for,” Wood said.

While athletes must put in time and effort to play at the collegiate level, the recruitment process cannot be done alone. Athletes require help from their community and coaches to hone their skills and for guidance throughout the recruitment process.

“My travel coach does a lot of the behind-the-scenes work; he invites a ton of coaches [to watch our games]. He knows a lot of us personally and knows what our goals are,” MPSH

“And then we take kids on college trips in the summer, we go and visit schools, we do camps. So I would say the head coach is probably the most integral part of a kid getting recruited,” MPSH teacher and head football coach Michael Manasco said.

Aside from the three athletes listed above, MPSH is home to countless other athletes recruited to play in college. Students are recruited from almost every sport to all different divisions.

Brooke Wilensky Copy Editor b.wilensky.thepanther@gmail.com

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DESIGN

BY

IVY LAGARTO

PHOTOS TAKEN BY MATTHEW LEWIS, JUAN BAUZA, JORDAN KEUSCH AND DIANE FRANKLIN

senior and varsity softball player

Abigail Wylie

she plays for has strong academics, so her sure to keep this in mind. Next year she will be playing softball at Emory University.

“Emory kind of fit best with what I was looking for: a good academic school where I could play softball. I didn’t want to go somewhere for softball where my education wouldn’t be that

MPSH’s athletic staff is also heavily involved in the recruitment process. The coaches are the ones tasked with reaching out to schools and sending them an athlete’s film and transcript. They have a designated company film every game, so each athlete has access to