Struggles in college recruiting encourages rare sports

SopHIE GURDUS

There are nearly 7 million studentathletes in high schools around the country. But, according to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), not even 500,000 of them will continue to practice their sport in college.

Participating in athletics in college is desirable for several reasons: love for the sport, a desire to go professional, the scholarship money it may offer, or the prestigious education it allows. For those with more lofty ambitions, sports are a means to get into college and receive a scholarship. But, because of this, rare recruiting sports have become an industry of their own.

Title IX is especially important for those female high school athletes looking to continue to college athletics. It states women are to have an equal educational opportunity in federally funded programs, which made dramatic effects for women in sports.

Scholarships for women have since risen in quantity, but competitiveness remains an issue; after all, there is no shortage of female athletes. To remedy this, many turn to sports that garner less attention, like lacrosse, golf, fencing, crew, and wrestling. Fewer competitors mean scholarships are more easily attained, although still far from easy.

Fencing might not be at the forefront of your mind when someone says college athletics, but it remains a strategic choice for girls looking to get into college. According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, there are only 46 women’s college fencing teams in the U.S., but over KAtE bAUtINA 35% of women’s fencers participating in their high school leagues continue to the collegiate level, according to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). That is nearly quadruple the number of field hockey commits, well over double the number of lacrosse commits, and about five times the number of cross country commits. Anna Bautina, a Carlmont junior, started fencing in 4th grade and has since stopped. “We would host small, in-club competitions every Saturday, and whoever the two best fencers left were would fence with everyone else watching,” Bautina said. “Most people would attend competitions every few months, some of which were out of state.” Although not present at many high schools, fencing is a popular choice for high schoolers looking for a sport with the opportunity for a college scholarship. It’s especially common for women to take up fencing with the goals of being recruited, with women’s collegiate fencing teams outnumbering that of the men’s by 10. Lacrosse is likely one of the more familiar sports on this list. And there’s a reason why. Over the past two decades, women’s lacrosse teams nearly doubled, increasing from 256 to 505. It’s a fast-growing sport and shows no signs of slowing down. Thousands of girls across the country pick it up, aiming to be recruited for college before it gets impossibly competitive. Others start for athletic credits or for the experience of being on a high school team. Catie O’Connor, a senior at Carlmont, started her freshman year.

“I found it so fun and incredibly easy to get into because most people on the team were also beginners,” O’Connor said.

According to Patrick Smith, Carlmont’s athletic director, only one female student has continued to play lacrosse collegiately in the past few years. But, outside of Carlmont, over 12,000 women lacrosse players continue on a year; 12% of athletes make it to the collegiate level, huge in comparison to sports like volleyball and basketball, both coming in around 4%. GARY NAKAYAMA

Despite its recent rise in popularity, women’s wrestling isn’t the typical choice for high school girls looking towards athletics. Still, wrestling has become a good choice for girls looking to continue athletics into college. About 4.8% of high school female wrestlers continue on to compete at the collegiate level vying for spots at the selective universities offering scholarships. Of course, it doesn’t all come down to statistics; skill, dedication, and effort all come into play, as junior Jayden Kollmann, a wrestler for Carlmont, explained. “I joined wrestling during my freshman year and was immediately so nervous when I realized I would be one of the only girls on the team,” Kollmann said. “I am definitely looking into different colleges that have female wrestling programs. Especially given that there is a big uprising of opportunity for female wrestlers in college in regards to scholarships and such.”

Kollmann isn’t alone in this. There are 76 college women’s wrestling teams, offering high school girls a nearly 5% chance of making the cut. In the 2019-2020 school year, there were over 1000 collegiate female wrestling spots for the over 22,000 high school female wrestlers to compete for. So, while competition can be fierce, wrestlers like Kollmann work hard towards their goals of a collegiate wrestling career.

JENNIfER KoLLMANN

Women’s golf has erupted as a collegiate sport since 2008. Nearly 1,000 colleges offer women’s golf. Golf is a go-to sport for many young women looking to play in college, especially those with hopes of scholarships. According to the NCAA, just under 7% of these high school athletes continue golf into college, with nearly 3% of those playing Division I. Hannah Nebres, a junior golfer at Notre Dame, speaks for the competitiveness and opportunity golf offers.

“There are girls within my school’s league that have attended the golf Olympic trials and the US Women’s Open trials. Some of the girls I’ve played with have scores on par with professional golfers,” Nebres said.

Women’s golf is incredibly competitive within its confines but has a much smaller pool of candidates than other sports, meaning that playing collegiately is an attainable goal for many golfers. One of Nebres’s old teammates from middle school who attended Carlmont is now playing Division I golf at Bucknell University. Rowing has been a growing college sport for women following the upheaval over Title IX. It has become a go-to for scholarships in efforts to more evenly distribute collegiate opportunities. Each NCAA school has 20 full-ride scholarships to award to the 7,000 women who continue to row in college. Ellie Power is a junior rower for NorCal Crew and a Georgetown commit.

“The recruiting process was overall pretty straightforward,” Power said. “Recruitment for rowing is very numbers and results-based. Rowers who are being recruited often will send videos from practices and races so coaches can evaluate technique, but video analysis isn’t as crucial in rowing as it is in other sports.”

Rowing has a focus on times, something that isn’t always the primary consideration for other sports. If a rower has good results from races, sending those to collegiate programs is the best way to be recruited. Recruiting relies on the athletes’ self-advocacy. The majority of rowers recruited lead the charge by sending their results.