Students forgo collegiate athletic opportunities for regular application

Each year, thousands of high schoolers reach out to college coaches in hopes of being recruited. There are 460,000 athletes in the NCAA right now. Provided the opportunity, most student-athletes will look to accept a recruitment offer in order to pursue their sport in college. 

For others, however, being a student at the university of their choice trumps the chance to play a sport at a school that is less attractive to them.

Senior Parsa Hashemi is one of these students. 

He started playing soccer, lacrosse and football as a freshman. Hashemi had hoped that he would be able to receive football offers from large Division 1 schools. Although a number of Division 3 schools have reached out to him about alternative admission processes that would lead to admission, Hashemi turned each of these offers down.  

“They were a little too small for me,” Hashemi said. “I’m looking for the college experience.”

Hashemi hoped to attend larger schools with more school spirit and a more competitive athletic environment. Despite his efforts, he didn’t receive offers from schools he was interested in attending. 

“I’ve wanted to pursue a collegiate career since middle school,” Hashemi said. “I’m a little disappointed in myself.” 

With this in mind, Hashemi plans to apply to college through the normal application process to see where he ends up. 

While Hashemi hasn’t been interested in the schools that offered him athletic opportunities so far, senior water polo captain and swimmer Marcus Kuo’s reasons for pursuing the standard application process stemmed from wanting to focus on enjoying his sport rather than stressing about the recruitment process.

Kuo began playing water polo as a toddler at the De Anza College Aquatics (DACA) water polo program. In 8th grade, he switched to the Stanford Water Polo Club (WPC) for better visibility in front of college coaches, as the club was recognized nationally for its performance in competitions and tournaments. 

“I guess I started thinking about recruiting in the beginning of 8th grade,” Kuo said. “Even then, it seemed like people were already playing just for college recruiting and that getting a spot on a top team was their number one goal.”

Kuo quickly found success, working his way up to 14A (the most competitive team for athletes under 14) and receiving medals consistently in tournaments such as the Junior Olympics. At the same time, he said that he still made time for school and his other interests such as music. 

“I tried to keep a healthy balance of athletics and academics,” Kuo said. “I remember telling my parents when I switched to Stanford WPC that if I were to get an early commitment to a college team with admissions support, I wanted to know I belonged at that school and was equally qualified as non-athletes in my academics, too.”

For Kuo, that meant juggling practices, extra training, lifting weights and schoolwork. Despite the time commitment, Kuo said he does not regret any of the efforts he expended. 

During the summer, he ultimately decided that getting recruited for college was not the right path for him. Due to the expectations of coaches and recruiters, Kuo felt constant stress to perform at practices and tournaments. 

“I dealt with a lot of anxiousness and pressure around feeling I always needed to perform my best at practices for playing time and tournaments in case coaches were watching my game,” Kuo said. “I’d already been experiencing that with the increased competitiveness at Stanford WPC, but this summer was at another level.”

Instead, Kuo plans to apply as a regular student, leaving open the chance to play on the team later. 

Being a student athlete can be physically and mentally exhausting. With hours of practice each day, and flying across the country for games, their schedules are packed to the brim. Kuo knew that balancing a high quality education and a sport is incredibly difficult, and wanted to first determine his other commitments before having to dedicate himself to four years of grueling practices. 

Regardless, the schools he had been talking to have already assured him that he will have a spot on the team should he attend and choose to play. For Kuo, this has allowed him to enjoy water polo without the stress of the recruitment process.

“That focus on always playing for someone else took away a lot of the fun from water polo,” Kuo said. “I don’t regret choosing not to pursue these opportunities.”