Caitlin Reynolds - Trine University
When I first saw the link for NCSA I was just checking my Myspace page. I had no idea what it was, I had never heard of it. I was desperate to find a way to get my name out there; at that point I had only heard from the local Community College coach. I knew I was good enough to play at the next level and was not going to allow my last competitive game to be in High School. So I saw the link and decided to give it a shot.
The moment I got on the site I knew it was something special. I had seen other recruiting sites and NCSA was just different, there was something about it, more professional. When I got the call a few days later I knew I had done a great thing to further my softball career. We got started immediately and within a few weeks I was getting emails and letters from college coaches.
I knew this would be no easy task because I had started this process so late. I was just beginning my senior year which didn’t give me a long time to form relationships or find the right school. NCSA really worked with me on how to write effective emails and letters, and how to talk to college coaches. I had never been called by a college coach, I just figured its like talking to anyone else on the phone and boy was I wrong. It is very nerve racking trying to make a good first impression over the phone and NCSA really worked with me on how to make that good impression.
This process is about one thing, work. It takes a lot of work to get the result you want. Keeping up with all the coaches who contact you, sending your information out to the colleges you are interested in, continuing to be persistent and not giving up if you don’t hear back. The hardest part was definitely narrowing the search down to schools that I could see myself not only playing for, but learning at as well. NCSA was really helpful in guiding me through this process.
Some advice I would give to other players out there, first and foremost start early. I got into this process really late, and I feel like I got really lucky that Trine University is active with NCSA because I could not imagine myself going any where else. Also, make sure you answer every coach who contacts you because you never know who you will connect with or what you could learn about a program. Lastly, don’t be closed minded, because with all the talk of D-I schools and making it big, there are a lot of great D-II and D-III schools out there that are just as competitive.
NCSA helped me become more open minded about college athletics. Like a lot of athletes out there I thought the only way to be successful in college was to play for a big D-I school, and when I didn’t hear from any of them I was heart broken. Through this process I learned that the division doesn’t matter as much as the people, atmosphere and competition. I never imagined myself going to a D-III school, and now I wouldn’t have it any other way. I cannot wait until I graduate and move on to great things at Trine University and I have NCSA to thank for that. Thank you to all who helped in my process; you don’t know how much it means to me. Now I can play my last High School season knowing that I will be headed to the right school for me with a great program, and that is the greatest feeling an athlete can have.
