The phone rings. An unknown number lights up as it streaks across the top of the screen. Could this be it? Anticipation and anxiety ripple through your head as you hear a pounding in your ears. You stare at the phone vibrating in your hand with wide eyes. Could this finally be the moment you’ve hoped for your whole life?

     For student-athletes across America, to be recruited for college sports is the dream. Working throughout their high school years to become the best athlete they can be, they await commitment day, hoping an unknown number appears on their screen. 

    Senior soccer player Scout Brummett remembers the day she got that fateful call from her dream school, Eckerd College. 

     “Last year in January, I left during lunch one day at school and had a call with the coach, and he was like, ‘We want to offer you a spot,’ and all that. It was the best moment of my life,” she said.

     However, for Brummett, the road to competing in college has been a winding one. After frequently switching teams and a recent ACL tear, she looks forward to having a tight-knit community of players for the next four years and taking her game to the next level. 

     “I want to play soccer for as long as possible,” she said. 

     Senior Arden Katcha has also achieved her goal of being recruited to compete collegiately; as a sailor at Tulane University in New Orleans, La.

     Katcha found her passion for sailing at a very young age, despite her fear of the water. She credits her success to the people closest to her. 

     “I had always been a little bit afraid of the water ironically when I was a kid … But I remember I went in the boat and I actually liked it,” she said. “My dad has given me a ton of help … And then my coaches Coach Todd and Coach Ian, who were both helping me out basically since I started sailing.”

     While Katcha will be leaving the school she’s called home since third grade, she looks forward to delving into a new place with new experiences. 

     “Exploring my passions like sailing is always fun, but I also like just exploring stuff outside of sailing. I’m going to be a political science major, so exploring and learning more about that, I think it’s gonna be really fun,” she said.

     Assistant Director of College Counseling Aidan Steinly described the recruitment process as a “four-year process.” He added that “It feels like a lot of hurry up,” and that patience and trust are key when working towards recruitment. 

     Steinly, a former division three tennis player at Shenandoah University, now uses his experience from athletics and college counseling to help Shorecrest students. 

     “It was really fulfilling when I was working on the college side … I’m really excited to see now that four-year process and see how much effort these students really put in to go through the recruitment process.”

     However, for senior Maddox Matyas, a George Mason swimming commit, the road to recruitment became so uncertain he considered quitting. The House vs. NCAA antitrust lawsuit led to many top universities cutting down their rosters, leaving many top recruits like Matyas scrambling to decide what to do next. 

     “I went from talking to all these power five schools, top-tier programs, and then had to end those conversations because they couldn’t [continue]. They didn’t have the roster sizes to accommodate me,” he said. 

     Despite this setback, Matyas, with the help of his parents and coaches, was able to commit to a division one school in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

     “Self discipline was the greatest skill that I’ve gained from it,” he said. “I was like, ‘I’m not gonna quit yet’ … And then by the time school season had [come] around, I had committed to George Mason and I found a program that really met my needs.”