Showing "Prospies" A Slice of Vassar Life

This past weekend we had our annual “Recruiting Weekend,” where high school students (usually seniors) who are interested in playing soccer at Vassar come and stay with a player for the weekend and watch a game or two. This is a great chance to see if Vassar is the right choice for the players in respect to the program, the academics, and the social scene. We have prospective students (“prospies”) visiting all year, but our coaches pick a weekend each fall where a whole group will come and stay. This past weekend we had over a dozen students from all over the country, including distant states like Arizona, Texas, and California. Our coaches generally begin with hundreds of potential student-athletes from each class, a number that is whittled down due to a players’s ability, academic qualifications, and interest in the school.

Coming on recruiting weekend is a great chance to get acclimated to life at Vassar and to meet some potential future teammates. I remember four years ago, on my recruiting weekend, meeting for the first time some of the other seniors here who have been among my best friends at Vassar. It’s also very important to get a feel for the school first if a prospective student is going to apply early decision in November, which many athletes do. Our job as hosts is to make sure these students feel comfortable at Vassar and have a great time, which they almost always do. We have good team chemistry right now and everyone on the team gets along great, which hopefully contributes to how much fun our visiting high school students have while they are here.