The recruiting process for some (me), is one of the more stressful times in a young athlete’s life. It’s trying to find that place that you can call home, but also wanting the school that will let you continue to play the game you love. 

For regular students, you may not think about where you are going to college until that guidance counselor asks you at the end of your junior year, and right then and there you can virtually choose any school in the country to apply to. 

For an athlete, they might not have that free range of schools to choose from. They have to find somewhere that not only fits their academic needs but also their athletic needs.

The toughest parts for any athlete through the recruiting process are patience and pressure. For me, I can recall several times where a coach has seemed really interested, and then out of nowhere they ghost you and won’t text you back. Or they set up a call with you at a certain time and never call you. Not only may you have gotten your hopes up, but you just feel flat-out disrespected

“It has been very slow and stressful,” says Knoch baseball captain Jacob Stallsmith. 

For Stallsmith the hardest part has been, “having to deal with all the transfers going to the bigger schools.” 

That is another issue for college sports; nowadays you are not only competing for a scholarship with high schoolers, but now with sometimes twenty-four year old men that have played college sports for three years. 

As Stallsmtih and I remain uncommitted, we just have to stay patient and remain positive through this process because we know it’s all going to work out. 

So if you ever find yourself playing your sport in front of some scouts, just remember to play your game and everything will fall into place.