Mind of an athlete: Playing in college

As the school year goes on for the class of ‘24, many OH student athletes have decided to play beyond the walls of Oswego High School. For these athletes, they have dedicated a lot of their time throughout their childhood and teenage years to get to this point.

On Wednesday, Nov. 8, OH athletics held one of the multiple signing day events. 7 athletes were celebrated and congratulated at the event. 

Ryan Walsh, an OH soccer player committed to University of Indianapolis, spoke about when he realized he wanted to continue his soccer career in college.

“I think in middle school when I realized I might have decided to do everything I could to get to this level,” Walsh says. “It meant that I needed to dedicate time every day to working on becoming a better player, which meant that I couldn’t always do the things I wanted to,” said Walsh.

Along with Walsh, Maddie Hernandez, an OH softball player who is committed to University of Wisconsin-Parkside, emphasized her determination for her sport as well. 

“I decided I wanted to play in college in middle school/early into high school. I knew I had to work extremely hard since there are a lot of other athletes out there working towards that same goal,” Hernandez said.  

Most people only see the commitment posts, and the Instagram photos, and hear people talk about their desire to play in college. However, nobody truly sees what goes on behind all of that, and the dedication it takes. After devoting themselves to the sport, most athletes go through a goal-setting process to give them accountability and discipline, which is needed to get to this level of play. 

Kaylee LaChappell, OH softball player committed to Missouri S & T, made specific goals to keep her on track with the sport and committing to a school. 

“My main goal was focusing on my social media/recruiting websites and emailing coaches, that way there were solid highlight videos the coaches could watch or they would know my tournament schedule to come to see me play,” LaChappell said.

Kaelyn Stager, an OH basketball player committed to Webster University, set mental goals to help her play better in games. 

“I had to believe in myself and play with confidence on the court. This was a big key in taking my skills to the next level because like all sports, basketball is ninety percent mental and ten percent physical,” Stager said. 

There is a lot that goes into choosing a school besides just the athletic standpoint. Student-athletes take into consideration how far the campus is, their academics, and even the people and professors.

For Hernandez, she had different qualities she specifically looked for in each school she visited. 

“My ultimate focus for a school was that it was good for me from an academic standpoint. Even if I didn’t play softball, I wanted to make sure that the school was somewhere I could see myself being at,” Hernandez said. “While I love softball, I only play for 4 more years and then it ends, which is why setting myself up for the future was very important to me”

Similar to Hernandez, LaChappell based a lot of her schools on academics. It is important for the athletes to continue playing the sport, but also focus on their careers past school.

“I focused on the colleges academically, and which ones had engineering majors. After narrowing it down a lot I decided that D2 would be the best fit for me to continue academically and athletically,” LaChappell said. 

Amber Lymenstull, OH bowler committed to Missouri Baptist University, emphasized the stress of choosing the school meant for you. 

“The process of choosing the school was difficult because after being offered from quite a few places I was making a pros and cons list of each school because I wanted to make sure I was making the right choice,” Lymenstull said. 

The decision and commitment process for any student-athlete is a very thrilling and rewarding feeling.

“I knew this school was the one because when I met the girls they made me feel right at home and we all immediately clicked, but the part that drew me into the school was their great Psychology program and the campus in general made me feel at home,” Lymentstull said. “I got the feeling of not wanting to leave, which is when I knew it was the right school for me.”

Stager, feeling very similar to Lymenstull, talked about her immediate connection to Webster.

“After visiting so many schools, Webster was the one where I got the gut feeling that this is where I want to spend my next four years,” Stager said. 

Although playing in college is nerve-wracking for most of these athletes, we are excited to watch them continue playing and we congratulate them on their commitment!