My parents had differing ideas on how to best utilize the NCSA. My dad was pretty confident I'd get a scholarship with or without the agency because of my times. However, my mom was more reserved. She wanted to make sure I didn't have to just take anything that came my way, so NCSA gave me the opportunity to really expand my options outside of my home state of California, which is one of the toughest states to get a full-ride track scholarship. It worked out, because instead of leaving California for a cold state, I committed to a school where the climate is similar to it.
The NCSA also helped by working on my highlight tape. My parents videotaped as many of my races as they could. It took some time, but they combined them and sent them off to NCSA for final editing and placement on my NCSA Scouting report. It was finished right after my sophomore year.
The hardest part of the recruiting process was trying to get straight answers from coaches on scholarship availability. Most of the time, their answers were circumstantial (if this happens, then you get this...). It was almost like a chess game. At the end of the day, we realized that schools were looking to stretch and maximize their budgets as much as possible, as soon as possible. It's so true that YOU DON'T GET TO CHOOSE the school, THEY CHOOSE YOU, and I am so happy and thankful that FIU chose me.
The best part of the recruiting process was visiting schools. They were all a lot of fun and I got to meet and make some new friends, even those from opposing teams.
My advice to recruits is to never give up. I was injured most of my junior year - which is a critical performance year for recruiters to evaluate. However I was able to show that I could come back from injuries. Videotape your competitions (no matter what sport) - it's worth investing $500 to get a camcorder to document your skills. Maintain a GOOD ATTITUDE despite injuries or adversity. Be a team player - even if your sport is an individual sport. Also, especially for girls’ sports ... grades do matter a lot!
