Athletes to Continue their Education

For seniors, graduation is creeping up and for some of the athletes have to decide whether or not they want to continue their education and sport at a higher level.

The fall season has now wrapped up which meant that any last second offers to play for a college has been finalized. As for volleyball players Abigail Hoffmann and Betsy Lepak, along with basketball player Maci Meyer, they have committed to colleges to continue their sports.

“I started my recruitment process in fall of my junior year,” senior Hoffmann said. ”It was a little tough with COVID, some teams ended up not recruiting the class of 2021.”

The recruitment process for these players has been different than anyone years prior, due to the pandemic, but they all stayed motivated. Once the pandemic started to spread, being able to visit other colleges ceased and athletes couldn’t get more exposure and offers.

“It was very stressful. Talking to coaches, them reaching out to them, them reaching out to me,” said Lepak. “It’s a long process to take and a lot of emailing back and forth.”

Along with the recruitment process, they had to choose which college to go with because each had multiple offers.

“I chose McKendree because when I first got there, it felt like home,” Senior Maci Meyer said.” I really liked the coaching staff and the players.”

The players showed how important it is to wait on committing to your first college that gives you an offer. The first offer is always tempting, but taking the time to research and reach out to other schools gives more options.

“I toured the college right next to Dubuque,” Lepak said. “They were actually rivals and Dubuque reached out to me after touring their rivals.”

The process of choosing a college and then having to commit is tiring and long to take, but all these players now have a place to call home for the next coming years. These players have all mentioned that when choosing their college they didn't base it on the offer, but rather going to the college and making sure it was the best academic fit.

“The most challenging part of the recruitment process is putting yourself out there in front of coaches,” Hoffmann said. “It can be a bit scary, but you still have to do it.”

Meyer on Nov. 11 had her official signing day, where she officially has committed to her college with no intent of backing out.

Lepak will continue her education at Dubuque University (volleyball) pursuing a major in Communications, Abigail Hoffmann at Edgewood College(volleyball) pursuing Law and Political Science, and Maci Meyer at McKendree University(basketball) pursuing a career in the STEM program.