Cradling the ball in the net of her lacrosse stick, junior Kate Love sprints down the field. As she nears the opposing side she does not hesitate; she dodges the final defender and hurles the ball at the goal. The powerful shot not only impresses the team and the fans: A college recruiter is in the stands.
After traveling to tournaments and attending several camps across the country, then-sophomore Love received an offer to play in college. After exploring her options, Love verbally committed to Pennsylvania State University in December of her sophomore year. Despite Love’s verbal commitment to Penn State, her admission to the school will not become official until her senior year when she signs a letter of intent.
“My grandparents went there [Pennsylvania State University], so I’ve known what it is for a long time and it has huge school spirit,” Love said. “They also have a really good, competitive team and I really like the coaches. It seemed like the perfect fit.”
Like Love, junior Emily Stallings verbally committed to the University of Southern California at the beginning of her junior year.
“I like how close the girls are [on the team] and their drive to go big places,” Stallings said. “It makes you want to be excited to be a part of that team.”
Assistant lacrosse coach at USC, Devon Wills, communicated with Stallings through several handwritten letters during the recruiting process. After Stallings attended a clinic at USC, Wills wrote her about what he thought of her as a lacrosse player overall.
“After the weekend it is so clear to us that you would be a great asset to this program! We see so much potential in you, and know that at USC, you would get the most out of that potential, both as a student and as an athlete,” Wills wrote in one letter.
Director of Athletics Tina Slinker says that a verbal commitment to play a sport in college is rare for juniors at Hockaday.
“[When students are recruited before their senior year] is actually a compliment, in my opinion, that the colleges are asking for a verbal commitment at an earlier date,” Slinker said.
Along with playing on the Hockaday varsity lacrosse team, Love and Stallings both play for the club lacrosse team Coast 2 Coast, commonly called C2C.
Molly Ford, C2C’s coach, is a big part of Love and Stalling’s love for lacrosse and successful recruitment. Ford has seen their confidence as players as well as their skill levels grow.
“I think the biggest thing is that I’ve helped be a little bit of a role model for [Love and Stallings] because I’ve played lacrosse at a high level and know the expectations of what it takes,” Ford said.
Ford’s experience comes from playing lacrosse at Georgetown University.
“I’ve known for a really long time that I wanted to play lacrosse in college, so it was much anticipated,” Love said. “I just couldn’t wait. I was just really excited.”
– Amelia Brown – Asst. Sports and Health Editor –
