Struggles for Student Athletes who are trying to Sign
Last years Cross Country runner Alex Cuevas signing to UC Davis.
February 19, 2021
Senior signings, the process of a student athlete getting signed to a college or university based on their sports history. Normally it is a simple process for our students, but Covid-19 has decided to make it a little more challenging. There have been some changes and difficulties such as, “The process seems to be much harder than it was before. It is way harder to be looked at since there is no season and it is a risk for the recruiters to sign someone when they never seen them play. The process is much harder to be signed due to no games this season. Also, if you had bad years in the past that may cause them to lose interest in you instead of being able to actually watch you play”, according to Baseball player, Ethan Trejo. Trejo also added on about how colleges are accepting old stats, “Yes they are. That is the only way they can make a decision since there are no games”.
Gerardo Moreno, Cross Country runner, says, “I don’t think it has other than visits and such. I have nothing to compare it to, but I would assume that it’s harder since they have to go off previous results rather than more recent ones and there’s something about speaking to someone physically that makes things easier”.
Another challenge is getting colleges and universities to notice you without having anything to go off of this year. For Moreno, he says, “Not many schools have reached out, but I’m just told to fill out a form online or call” and has been unsure of any colleges questioning him.
As for Trejo he said no colleges are currently questioning him and “No, there has not been any responses to any colleges”.
Although during these rough times they have received help and support. Trejo says, “ I have received some help from coaches. They have helped by trying to get my name out by email and other recruiting apps”.
“My coach has helped more than anyone because he knows coaches from many different colleges which makes it easier for me to get in contact with coaches”, responded Moreno.
