Today is one of our favorite days of the year — Signing Day.
It’s a day when young men and women in our area and also around the state and country put pen to paper and fax those National Letters of Intent all across the country to continue their careers at the collegiate level.
Recruiting has become such a hot button industry in recent years — so much so that there are websites all over the country that cover it, generating hundreds of millions of clicks and billions of dollars in subscription revenue.
Today, on National Signing Day, we saw countless student-athletes sign at some of the biggest schools in the country for massive sums of NIL money — amounts that have generated tremendous attention as the industry continues to change.
To those people, we salute you. We’re not here to frown upon NIL, nor the star athletes who have worked hard to earn that bag.
But what we are hear to say is that those stories get 100% of the headlines, but actually only account for about 1% of the student-athletes.
What we are hear to tell you today is that EVERYONE who signs a National Letter of Intent to play ANY SPORT at ANY LEVEL is an ABSOLUTE BAD ASS, and we want to celebrate THEM ALL for the amazing work that they have done to get to this level.
Yes, it is amazing to see a local student-athlete sign with an LSU, Florida State or some of the amazing power programs that we’ve been blessed to send players to in recent years.
But for every 1 of those kids are another 10-20 who end up at smaller schools, JUCOs, Division II, Division III, NAIA programs or other types of schools to get their feet in the door and to continue their dreams.
To those student-athletes, please know: You will not get the big headlines, but we think you are amazing and are an absolute bad ass for getting where you are today.
The odds of becoming a collegiate student-athlete are slim. For starters, not every student at a high school plays sports and then for those who do, the odds to get to the next level sit at about 7%, according to studies with only about 1.6% getting to Division I schools.
In any given senior class at a high school locally, there may be just 1-2 student-athletes to move on to the next level in any sport. On a good year, a school may send 10-12 a year to the next levels.
So to those who do, you’re beating the odds and you are also showing the others in our community that it’s possible and it can be done.
Whether signing Division I, Division II, or any level above, below or in between, you’re looking at a student-athlete who has dedicated his/her entire life to their craft. You’re talking thousands of hours of work, gallons of sweat, tons of bumps and bruises, countless tears, moments of triumph, but also moments of defeat.
If through all the battles, you’re one of the few who are still left standing with a spot at the next level, you’re a bad ass.
So to all of the signees — congratulations and know that we are so proud of you and are so happy for you.
Don’t be strangers. Have your people send us updates as often as you can. There’s so many of you out there now, it’s literally impossible for us to check up on everyone, so help us out.
Not everyone can get the TV press conferences and the massive NIL bags of cash.
But to anyone who makes it this far, you’re a bad ass. And to the bad asses, we say — we salute you and congratulate you for your amazing work to get here to the point where you’ve beat the odds, made the dream a reality and are now off to the next level.