Student-athletes are some of the most driven and disciplined students on campus. Many spend countless hours practicing their sport while diligently keeping up with their grades and academic responsibilities. Athletes at the top of their game are often scouted by college recruiters and offered admission, scholarships, and other benefits if they decide to commit to a specific college. A few athletes at MHS in particular have been scouted by colleges and have started the committing process.
Duke commit Madeline Le began playing baseball at the age of eight and played for four years before she switched over to play travel softball in eighth grade, she said.
“I think I’ve known that I wanted to play (softball) in college since I was a freshman,” Le said.
College coaches can begin reaching out to athletes for softball recruiting after September of their junior year, although the date varies based on each sport, according to Le.
“I wouldn’t say there’s like an application process, but most people get looked at when they play at camps or when they’re playing in tournaments or games,” Le said. “I would say that most coaches look for players that they need to replace like on their current roster, like their seniors that are leaving, or transfers, and then whoever they’re really interested in by position.”
Senior Sahil Raj, who has participated in cross country and track and field for multiple years, was scouted through an online program and later received offers, he said.
“I had a recruiting profile online through a program called NCSA (Next College Student Athlete) that I could use and that’s how I started getting in contact with the coaches interested in (my) profile,” Raj said.
He believes that any student-athlete looking to commit needs to ensure that their needs are also being met by the coaches looking to recruit them, Raj said.
“The way I think about it is like a coach shopping for their next athlete and an athlete shopping for their next coach,” Raj said. “A simple way to think about it is which college has the best deal for both.”
Cross country and track and field Coach Yohaness Estifanos Asnake has been a coach at MHS since 2019 and has extensive knowledge regarding scouting for track and field and cross country, he said.
“For cross country and track sports, there are websites where all the race results are uploaded from across the country,” Asnake said. “College coaches look at the race results and the profiles of the athletes and start reaching out to those that they think would be a good fit for their college program.”
Raj believes that there are key factors, such as campus life, tuition, location, and weather, all of which an athlete should keep in mind when considering the college they want to commit to.
“They ask you about what you want to study, what you’re interested in major-wise, and what you value as an athlete,” Raj said.
Athletes looking to be scouted by specific schools can also reach out to contact coaches that they would like to work with in order to see if there are opportunities at the college they choose, Asnake said.
“The college coaches can also send recruiting letters to athletes via school or directly to the athletes’ home addresses,” Asnake said. “Recruiters can invite athletes they’re interested in to visit the college campus, usually over weekends, and cover the cost of the visit.”
Once an athlete has decided to commit to a college, they can both verbally and officially commit, but only the latter is legally binding, Le said.
“You can decommit or a coach can pull your commitment whenever they want for any reason,” Le said. “Officially, there’s just a couple of forms, and one of them is called the National Letter of Intent, which is the one that you sign on your official signing day.”
Athletes interested in eventually committing to a college should stick with a sport they are passionate about and enjoy participating in, Le said.
“Keep working hard and have confidence,” Le said. “Play on a travel team that gets you a lot of exposure to college coaches.”