You wake up and immediately check your phone. You open instagram and begin to read the first post that comes up: “I am so grateful to announce my verbal commitment to ____ University where I will be continuing both my academic and athletic career. I want to thank my high school and club coaches as well as my family and friends for all of their support.” You slump back down into your bed. “When will it be my turn? Is it too late?” you think to yourself. As is, choosing a college and planning your future as a high school student is extremely difficult. However, athletes choosing to pursue their sport at a collegiate level face challenges that often go unrecognized. 

For aspiring athletes, the recruitment process can start as early as freshman year and is often finalized by the end of their junior year or beginning of their senior year. Oftentimes college decisions do not come out until early spring of senior year, creating a gap between student-athletes and full-time students. This makes it difficult for soon-to-be collegiate athletes to relate to their peers, making such serious decisions at a much earlier time than those they are surrounded by. This calls for cases of “forced maturity” where prospects frequently feel unprepared to make such serious decisions early on in their upperclassman years.

Skills that athletes learn are usually self-taught and not typically seen in a classroom or everyday life. For one, the social skills and maturity needed to properly communicate with recruiting coaches is one that is very niche in the sport world and improved upon making mistakes. This is arguably one of the most difficult parts of the recruitment process as athletes need to learn to show off enough of their personality without being considered unprofessional. 

Now more than ever, coaches are beginning to build teams based on a rich culture in addition to athletic ability. Advocating for yourself and juggling being respectful, composed, and understanding social cues can cause large amounts of stress and anxiety. Athletes are bound to face some level of an unexpected, uncomfortable, or awkward situation when interacting with collegiate coaches. Similar to how celebrities are put through media training to be able to handle interviews, athletes must do the same to maintain a positive public reputation. 

Stress and anxiety is common for athletes in the midst of the recruiting process, giving the potential to develop severe cases of performance anxiety. Never knowing what coaches might be watching you at your game or if coaches will actually show up is nerve wracking to say the least. Every mistake, every turnover, and every minute spent on the bench feels as if it is being dissected by the coaches in the crowd, hiding behind large clipboards and scrunched eyebrows. It is easy for pressure to overcome athletes and suck out the joy of the game, making them forget why they love playing. In the worst cases, the recruitment process can be stressful enough to push some athletes to quit, unable to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It truly is a time where athletes are pushed to the limit and it can make or break their future.

In addition, there is a sense of social pressure for athletes choosing a college. Questions that often arise are “why play if you’re not going to pursue it professionally?” or “won’t it just be a distraction from your studies?” For many athletes, it is hard to let go of a sport they have played for a majority of their life. Sports provide structure in confusing times and can be the pride and joy of an athlete, as well as the source of their sense of purpose. Collegiate sports are a way for them to continue that journey and create lifelong bonds with their teammates. 

Moving forward, society has created a negative stigma around JUCO or “junior college” sports as well as NCAA Division III sports. Clearly marked through its ranking, Division I and Division II athletes have gained a sense of superiority from a social standpoint. It is easy for non-athletes to judge commits and determine their value based on the division they play in. This has created a pressure in the athletic world as athletes feel obligated to go Division I or that it is not worth their time. Also, it has become a way for athletes to refute those who doubted them and an ego booster to flaunt the division they commit to. It comes to a point where athletes must ask themselves, “am I committing for the division label, or for the school?”

From an academic outlook, verbal commitments can cause much anxiety in athletes. Since these commitments are usually made far in advance to college applications coming out, athletes do not know if they are academically eligible and accepted into a school until the rest of the students in their grade are. Although uncommon, verbal commitments can be broken if athletes are not academically accepted into a school they committed to for a sport. This uncertainty is frequent in ivy league schools as athletes must get in on their own merit. This applies to other schools of high academic profiles, proving how difficult it is to balance both athletic and academic greatness.

In sum, the recruitment process is very difficult because of all of the criteria they must fulfill. This includes finding a school you like, a coach you like, a coach that likes you, a team you like, and everything else that goes into choosing a school such as location and pricing. This combines for high stress situations and a type of flexibility that full time students do not necessarily require. Athletes have to learn to prioritize certain factors of a school over others and carefully weigh out their choices. 

However, the recruitment process as an athlete has its positive aspects. Athletes often have a much better idea of the school they are planning to attend and are offered much more support in the transition. They can be invited to spend a night with a current athlete at the school and go along with them to classes and practices, giving them the full effect of the school. Also, they are given tours by their soon-to-be teammates or coaches which provides a more personalized experience in a tough time. Upon attending the school their freshman year, athletes already have a group of friends that they are comfortable with and can rely on, making the social adjustment much easier. 

For Division I and Division II athletes, financial stress can be lifted, as athletes have access to athletic scholarships and aid in addition to academic scholarships. This being said, sports have become a way for families to afford college with less loans and more opportunities for success. 

All in all, the recruitment and college selection process differs among all athletes and sports, marking it as an essential time for rising student-athletes. Credit should be given where credit is due and the juggling act that athletes maintain in order to achieve such aspirations should be applauded, not categorized by success.