- April 2014
Personal Statement
My name is Nicole Vandermay and I am currently a junior in high school. I have been playing softball my entire life. It is my life and without the sport I don't know where I would be today. My dream is to play at the collegiate level and help to better a college team with not only my skills, but with my character and personality. No matter what school I play at or how good the team is, I will give my all at every game and practice. All that matters to me is getting the opportunity to play the sport I love for another 4 years at a college.
I am a person who will not give up. Even if I fail 100 times, I will try until I succeed. My goal is to be the best player and person that I can be skillfully, academically, and character wise. If you want me on your team, I will give 110%. I am not only going to be a good player, but a good teammate. For my teams I am currently on, I make sure the bench is never quiet. You always hear me cheering my teammates on and encouraging them even if they make a mistake. I consider my teammates my sisters. They are my best friends and I would do anything to help them succeed. When I was younger, I will admit I would get down on myself when I made a mistake and I would give up. As I have grown up, my attitude has changed completely. My motto is if you get down on yourself, then you are only hurting yourself and your team. You allow yourself to stop trying and continue to make mistakes.
As a player, my coaches have always told me I was one of the most coachable players they have had. My high school coaches give all of the players on my team evaluations. I received perfect scores for the character section. They always tell my team character defines a player. I am willing to play anywhere on the field. If a coach tells me I have to catch, I will catch even if I never play that position. My goal is just to be out there on the field playing softball. I don't care if I'm on the bench my freshman year, I will continue to work hard at practice and show my coaches that I deserve to be playing on the field.
As an athlete, I am one of the hardest working girls you will meet. I push myself no matter what. There will be nights when I go to the batting cages at 10 at night just to get practice in. My parents are a big part of helping with my athletics. They have put up the money for me to play for 3 softball teams, have a gym membership, and have a private hitting and fielding instructor. They have sacrificed so much for me to be the best player I can be. At the gym, I lift weights and do cardio as much as I can. My private hitting and fielding instructor has helped me to increase my skills greatly. If I did not have him, I do not think I would be as good as I am today. Also, playing for 3 softball teams allows me to get a ton of playing time. I am constantly doing reps and playing in games. I will be the first one to say I was a late bloomer in softball. But over the years, my skill has increased greatly. Some girls have reaches mostly their full potential, but I know that I have so much more potential as a player and will fight my hardest to become a better softball player each day.
Academics are one of my best qualities. Ever since I was younger, my grades were always very high. In grade school, I received honors every year and my grades were wonderful. I did not realize how smart I really was until high school. I am currently ranked 6 and my goal for the end of the year is to move up to 5. I am the type of person who is never happy with a 90 or 92 as a grade. I want my grade to always be a 100. I will be the first one to say, getting good grades like mine is not easy. I work for my grades; they are not handed to me. I am up until 12 doing school work on some nights, but it is going to pay off in the end. In my opinion, education comes before softball in my book. Softball is very important in my life, but it is not like baseball where it can be a career. I need an education in order to have a good job when I'm older and to be a successful person. As a player, a coach will never have to worry about my grades suffering or me having failed a subject. I work just as hard with my academics as I do when playing softball.
So this entire statement was basically me telling you all the great things about myself and why you should recruit me. You are probably thinking every girl says all the same things and they just tell us what we want to hear. All of these things are completely true. And I am not lying when I say this; I will give everything I have into playing for a college softball team. I am determined to play for a college and I will not give up until I am officially recruited. This is pretty much all you need to know about me and I hope you enjoyed reading.
