Per the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the college recruitment process for soccer begins June 15 of your sophomore year of high school, which really means colleges can start talking to you directly on that day. For me, that day was pretty eventful, meaning I got a few calls, but nothing really came out of it.
Throughout my sophomore and junior years, I would try to email coaches every two weeks or so to keep updating them with my games, highlight reels, and academics. I think the biggest mistake that I made during this process was not staying on top of my emails because it is important to every coach that they know you are interested in them.
Another huge part of the process was the out-of-state tournaments. They are designed for college coaches to come watch and recruit players, so it was crucial to play my best soccer at those events. I had a few schools express interest in me, but it wasn’t anywhere that I could see myself playing soccer and definitely not living for the next four years of my life.
That was really important to me. I knew that I wanted to play soccer in college, but I also had to take into consideration the campus and the programs that the school had. It was very important for me to find somewhere that offered a place I could see myself living and going to school.
Eventually, the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) began showing interest in me. I’m not sure what tournament UTSA first saw me play in, but their interest in me started near the end of my junior year. Luckily, I had private training every morning before school and the coaches at that training were good friends with the coaching staff at UTSA.
This was really significant for me because I tore my ACL the summer before going into my senior year and I was already considered to be “late” in the recruiting process. Having both the private training coaches and UTSA coaches watch me play and train prior to my injury allowed the UTSA coaches to be confident in recruiting me.
A few days before my ACL surgery, head coach, Derek Pittman, called me for the first time. He told me he had faith in my skills as a player and knew I would work extremely hard to not only get back to where I was, but better.
My first time ever communicating with coach Pittman, he offered me the chance to play for his team. It’s valuable for me that Coach Pittman was willing to offer me a spot on the team despite my injury, because it shows that he has confidence in my ability.
Once I could walk after my surgery, I went on an official visit and loved the atmosphere of the team. All of my worries about being able to continue to play the sport that has shaped me to be the person I am today left when I got to meet my future teammates.
Another big part of my decision to commit to UTSA was the fact that they are putting a lot of effort into growing the women’s soccer program. They just built a new locker room for women’s soccer as well as a brand new athletic building for all of the athletes.
The athletic building has a weight room, training room, hot and cold tubs, athletic massage as well as study rooms for only athletes. The day after my visit, I decided that UTSA was the place where I wanted to spend the next chapter of my life.
