![]() Maddie will join the Class of 2028 at Bates College after graduation this year. She committed to Bates in August of last year before her senior year on NESCAC offer day. She focused her recruiting on schools in the NESCAC and Centennial Conference - competitive D3 field hockey conferences that usually field a few teams that go quite deep in the post-season NCAA D3 playoffs. Maddie chose to stick with D3 schools because of the balance between academics and athletics. While many athletes believe that D1 holds the highest level of competition in any given sport, it's not necessarily true for field hockey. Many of the top D3 programs will give several D1s a run for the money. If you have ever watched the post-season NCAA D3 playoffs, you would agree. To hear it from a D3 coach, the real difference between D1 and D3 programs is that the school decided to ensure academics remained priorities for all of their student-athletes by limiting the amount of time practiced as a team. But the time spent at practices is just as intense and hi-level as many D1 programs ![]() Moreover, while athletic scholarships are not available at D3 schools, other forms of aid could be organized to meet a family's needs such as grants, merit scholarships, loans, etc., making even the most expensive D3 schools reasonable to consider. The in-person visit helped her decide as she found the coaches and women on the team so welcoming. Maddie also liked the vibe on campus and the tight-knit community. She knew Bates was the right fit for her. When it comes to the recruiting process, Maddie offers this advice: "Recruiting definitely has its ups and downs and may force you outside of your comfort zone at times. My biggest piece of advice I can give players that want to be recruited to play in college is to keep an open mind when looking at schools. You may end up loving one you initially did not think would be a fit." Lastly, Maddie has several people she would like to thank: "I would like to thank Coach J (Justina Williams), my high school coach for the last four years at Archbishop Mitty High School and Coach Leaf and Coach Linda, my coaches for the last two club seasons with NorCal Impact. I’d also like to especially thank my parents for their encouragement and time, as they flew me out to schools all over the country and supported me as I went through the recruiting process." All the best, Maddie! We are so glad you chose to join NorCal Impact last year. We're so proud of you; happy to see how much you developed in such a short amount of time with us. We're looking forward to livestreaming your games and following your collegiate career.
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![]() Adya Kadam has been with NorCal Impact since she was an itty bitty middle schooler. We've had the pleasure of training and nurturing her talent and couldn't be prouder of how far she has come. Adya committed to UC Berkeley in the fall of her junior year to join the Class of 2029. She has one more year of high school (class of 2025) as a Willow Glen Ram before she morphs into a Cal Bear and steps up to the collegiate level. A Californian through and through, Adya knew that if she had her way, she wouldn't leave this sunny state. Unfortunately, that limited her top prospective schools to play field hockey, so she explored other schools back east as well. Ultimately, Cal became her top choice, especially since she had dreamt of attending Cal when she was in fourth grade and played in their 6v6 tournament. Cal's field hockey program has a rich history and after getting to meet and chat with some of the current players, she knew it was the right place for her. Academically, Adya is interested in STEM and Cal offers the top 3 programs for the majors she is considering. ![]() Her top 3 criteria when considering schools were the academic programs, the coaching staff, and whether it passed the "broken leg test." Since her interests are in engineering and computer science, Cal is an ideal choice given its #1 ranking of all public schools in the country the last few years. Having a connection to the coaching staff was also an important consideration. Finally, Cal passed the "broken leg" test for Adya. The "broken leg" is exactly that - if you were to break your leg and be unable to play for a while, would you still want to attend that school? A choice of university should be based on more than the field hockey as your college career will encompass so many varied experiences from academics to athletics to social clubs and so much more. Adya has some great advice for anyone who wants to play in college: "I would advise all players who want to be recruited to play in college to always remain on top of their game, sending out emails and editing highlights [videos]. I know it may seem time consuming but it will pay off in the long run! I also want to advise them to continue to attend clinics/events for schools they are interested in as the best way for schools to see you and your interest in them is through these events!" Many college coaches are hesitant to recruit a player they have not seen live. So, getting out to that school's clinics, camps or prospect days is key. Adya is grateful to many people who helped her along this field hockey journey. "I want to start off by thanking my family for all the support they have given me for the past couple of years. I also want to thank all the coaches who have helped develop me as a player and given me the opportunities/advice I needed to get here especially Coach Leaf, Coach Linda, Coach Erin, Coach Harry, all my old coaches at Lions Field Hockey Club, and my future coaches: Coach Shellie, Coach KC, and Coach Manny! Another big thank you to all of my friends and teammates who have supported me or ever given me advice about the recruitment process, and a HUGE thank you to NorCal Impact FHC for giving me the guidance and support I needed to achieve this goal!" We are so happy for her - even happier that we get to work with her one more year before she leaves for Cal and competes at the next level. We encourage all of our older players to give back to the field hockey community in some way...and lucky for our younger U16 players, not only is Adya happy to coach and help them hone their skills and increase their knowledge of the game, she welcomes any questions regarding recruiting and her own journey that could help your efforts. Congratulations, Adya! You've worked hard - earning recognition and a commitment to Cal and we couldn't be prouder of you! ![]() As we wind down this 2024 spring season, we would like to recognize our college committed players by learning a bit about their recruitment journeys. Hopefully, their stories will provide some insight to help anyone aspiring to play at the collegiate level. Last August, Gabi committed to the admissions process at Wellesley College. In December, she was officially accepted and is excited to join the team as part of the Class of 2028. ![]() For those players aiming for high academic schools, the "committed to the admissions process" phrase is often used because the player still has to be officially accepted to the school on her own merits. It is a "supported" process where the coach is able to interact with an admissions liaison to address any questions that may come up from the application review and resolve them while communicating with the prospective student-athlete. Wellesley College was her ideal choice because of the academic rigor and location just 30 minutes outside of Boston. She liked the idea of having a true campus feel while being close to a large, historical city like Boston. Though it is a relatively small school, there are many resources for students and the ability to take classes from other nearby universities such as MIT, Babson, Olin, and more. She plans to major in Data Science or Economics. Advice she would give to aspiring collegiate student-athletes is to build a relationship with the field hockey coach. Gabi not only talked about any field hockey updates but mentioned other things to give the coach more of her personality like something she did over the weekend or something she was looking forward to. Gabi would like to thank her parents, high school coaches (Coach Ng & Coach Katie), all of the Impact coaches, Coach Callie (Wellesley Head Coach), and the many teammates she has had. We're super proud of Gabi and her hard work; we look forward to following her career this fall. ![]() One of our newest club members is Morgan Caldera, a senior at Archbishop Mitty High School who is committed to UC Davis. Though she is new to our club, she already knew several of our players from Nexus and other recruiting events and we're happy she joined us to play her last club season. Morgan had been considering UC Davis seriously for school, "I wanted to go to UC Davis because they have strong academics, the “college” town itself is great, and obviously they have a great athletics program. Also, my brother attended UC Davis, so I grew up visiting him at Davis’ campus and town. I always enjoyed traveling up to Davis..." Combining her love for the school with the possibility of playing collegiate field hockey there was super exciting. She contacted UC Davis in the summer/fall 2021 after playing in Davis' spring 2021 11v11 tournament and at their summer camp. But her recruiting process hit "pause" when the coaching staff changed. Regardless, Morgan knew that she wanted to go to Davis as she intended to study Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior. UC Davis is well respected and highly ranked in the country for its biological sciences. This meant she had to restart the recruiting process with the new coaching staff - emailing them, sending videos, and making plans to be seen. She attended the pre-clinic camp in April 2022 where she met Coach Austin, the new head coach. Having seen her play at their camp and then their 7v7 tourney, Coach Austin contacted her and invited her to an official visit. "On my visit, I was able to see what being a part of the field hockey program was like and I learned about the resources and support that they provide for their student-athletes. I really enjoyed being able to meet the team and experience life in Davis, and it confirmed how great of a fit that Davis was for me." At the end, she verbally committed to UC Davis. Morgan's story highlights a few things when being recruited and after committing:
Knowing what is important to you in a college will help you decide which ones to continue to pursue. Like Morgan. She knew UC Davis was right for her and we're looking forward to cheering her on as she competes for the Aggies. ![]() Jordan Reicher's story is a bit different from most. We're excited for her to join the field hockey program at American University where she committed last year. But her path to American U was not a straightforward one. The past few years have seen several coaching changes throughout the collegiate field hockey community. Coaching changes could happen for several reasons - retirement, restructure of athletics organizations, movement to administrative roles in USA Field Hockey, assistant coaches taking the next step to head coach positions, and more. You, as a field hockey prospect, need to stay on top of your recruiting process, even after you've committed to a field hockey program. Jordan did not start playing field hockey until her freshman year in high school. [While this seems late, she spent several years playing soccer and fortunately, many of the tactics of playing the game translate directly to field hockey.] She attended Super 60, a popular multi-day event that lets prospective student athletes meet and work directly with several college coaches. Many of our players attended this at the beginning of their recruiting process to get broad exposure to many different college coaches. "During my summer going into junior year I did super sixty and started the NEXUS program where I first met the UC Davis head coach and gained interest from a lot of D3s and a few small D1s. Later in that summer Davis gave me an offer and I accepted it. I knew UC Davis was an amazing school with great academics. I didn't really get the chance to look at any other schools so I accepted." One would think that she could relax now that her search was over. Six months later, though, the UC Davis head coach moved to an east coast school, leaving the position open. This put Jordan back in limbo. Well aware that a verbal commitment is just that - verbal - she realized that she had two options. Does she stay and hope that she will like the new head coach and everything will work out or does she start searching for a new field hockey home? Jordan decided to look at this as an opportunity to do more exploration and research into other colleges. UC Davis was/is a great school but with such a big unknown, it makes sense to take the time to rethink your priorities and your fit into the program and university. This of course meant that she had to get back to work - introducing herself to coaches, sending video highlights, essentially, restarting her recruiting process. "...so I started sending emails with highlights to other schools that I had interest in. Unfortunately by this time in my junior year, I learned that most D1 schools already had full rosters for my class. I did gain interest from a few D3s again and a few more D1s like Indiana, Bucknell, and American through emailing them and sharing my highlights." The new search opened her eyes to the possibilities of studying and playing outside of California and what she could gain from a collegiate experience on the east coast. "After researching American more I decided that it would be the best fit for me. While Davis was great, I wanted a change of pace from what was too familiar to me. AU had an amazing location and had more of what I wanted in a major. I came to learn that AUs coach is one of the best in the country, he was super positive and I felt strongly that he was going to help me grow as a player. Luckily he valued me as a player and offered me a spot on the team. I gladly accepted." Jordan hasn't decided on a major as yet but AU offers several more fields of study that interest her than UC Davis. And living and studying in Washington, DC, would be a decidedly distinctive collegiate experience. We're thankful that Jordan was happy to share her story because it highlighted several things about college recruiting to keep in mind:
We love a happy ending, especially when it comes to college recruitment. We're looking forward to streaming Jordan's games next fall as we watch her play in her American eagles uniform. |
AuthorThe official blog of NorCal Impact field hockey club. This is where you'll find the latest goings-on with our club and field hockey at large. Archives
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