Sports

Athletes sign out of Hereford and into college

Caroline Daily, Co Editor-in-Chief
November 23, 2022

Senior athletes have decided and presented where they will continue their academic and athletic careers at the annual signing day on Nov. 15th. The recruiting process can start as early as an athlete’s first years of high school, as they email coaches, send footage of them playing, and share their academic successes until they commit to a college.

Varsity lacrosse player Maddie Magliocca (‘23) committed to St. John Fisher University to continue her athletics. The long process brought many challenges, but she found her college fit in the end.

“It was definitely hard waiting, because it’s not really something you have much control over besides doing your part to email and play well, hoping the right college notices you,” Magliocca (‘23) said. “I think that things do work out the way they’re supposed to but that’s why it’s so difficult because you don’t know when or how they will.”

Varsity baseball player Liam Diehl will play at High Point University for their baseball program, and the overall atmosphere of the school helped him make is final choice.

“Initially I went and saw the campus and it was super nice, and the academics were good,” Diehl (‘23) said.

Hereford coaches are also a pivotal part of the recruiting process. They help reach out to coaches by giving them extra information on an athlete. The college coaches can learn more about the athletes from sources other than the athletes themselves, and from their guides who watch them grow.

“Obviously the [college] coach can see what the kid’s record is and what their GPA is, but we give them information about their character, their background, or what kind of a teammate they are, which helps coaches decide if they want to have somebody as a part of their team,” Mr. Brett Baier, wrestling coach, said.

13 students committed to play a sport in college and were celebrated by their coaches, families, and teachers at the signing. With a commemoration of the special event where photos by John Roemer IV taken, and athletic director Mr. Mike Kalisz and principal Robert Covert gave speeches.