Inside Look at a College Recruiting Visit

Editor’s Note: With college decisions coming soon, The Johnny Green thought it would be helpful to show what a typical college recruiting visit is like. Our Deanna Jackson recently visited Utica University (where her older sister Christina is enrolled) and has this report:

The Utica assistant field hockey coach emailed me and said she was interested in talking to me and my parents about joining the team. She asked if I would be interested in an official overnight visit and I accepted the offer.

On Saturday, November 19th, I went to Utica for an overnight stay as a recruit for their field hockey team. When I first got there my parents and I went to the coach’s office to have a meeting before they release me with my host (a member of the field hockey team). At the meeting, the coach talked about what their plans are for next season, and even though my sister is on the team, she wants me to have my own experience, not Christina’s. She wants me to experience things on my own and not let my sister impact my experience. She also asked if I had any questions about school or field hockey. I told her that I was not sure what I wanted to major in yet, and she said that’s ok not everyone knows exactly what they want to do coming into college.

After the meeting, I got introduced to my host who I would be staying with for the rest of the day and night. My host’s name was Alanna. She played as a forward on the field hockey team and is majoring in physical education.

Alanna and I went to her dorm and put my things away, then we went down to the lounge and talked for a bit. I told her I was thinking about majoring in physical education and she told me a little bit about that program. She said she loves it and that there isn’t much paperwork, which is good for me because I like hands-on work rather than paper and pen. She said they do a lot of physical activities inside and outside. It really made me feel better about maybe going for physical education.

After we chatted for a bit she took me to Dunkin and we got coffee, then we went to the cafe and got lunch. I got the pizza and it was actually pretty good. When I think of school food I don’t think of it being that good, but it was actually good – they have fountain drinks too, and they have a lot of different food options. This is really good for picky eaters because they also have salads. Also right down the stairs from the cafeteria, there’s a restaurant called The Pioneer.

After lunch, we got together with some of the other field hockey girls including my sister and we went to the dome to play field hockey. The dome has an indoor turf field for soccer and field hockey, and volleyball and basketball courts where the teams practice if the weather is bad. Your student ID can get you in there just to go have fun. So we played a little scrimmage and I had so much fun.

Last but not least, we ate dinner and watched movies in her dorm, and went to bed

The next morning we went back to the coach’s office and talked about how my visit went. I told her that my visit went great and she told me to keep in touch and let them know if and when I apply.

If you are thinking about going on an overnight visit to a college for a sports team I recommend it because you get to know some of the players you could possibly be playing with next year. It really is a great opportunity so if you are offered this opportunity you should take it.