123 days since June 15. 123 days since my dreams of college gymnastics were within reach. 123 days of decisions and more to follow. Throughout these 123 days, I scheduled eight official visits: Illinois, UNC, Georgia, Auburn, UCLA, Iowa, Michigan State, and Alabama. I’ve been to seven, and once the clock struck September 1, my weekends were filled with nonstop action, stress, countless flights, stress, meeting numerous people, and more stress.
The change from recruits only being allowed to take five official visits to an unlimited amount came with hesitation from many college coaches I talked to. Many were shocked when I said I had eight planned, and I had to hope their patience wouldn’t run out as I made my way through each one.
In a perfect world, my decision would only come after visiting every school in the country with my choice remaining No. 1 throughout. Of course, that’s unrealistic. To make my process a bit more so, I wanted to make my decision without any regrets. I didn’t want to be left wondering, “What if I visited to this other school, loved it, and chose it instead?” Plus, we can’t forget that college gymnastics’ constant improvement in talent, resources, and added programs makes the decision much more difficult than in the past.
Objectively, there is no bad choice. I learned over these visits that every school has similar academic and athletic resources, and they all have the ambition to win (and think they can). Where things differ are the people. The ones you relate to. The coaches you mesh with. It really comes down to culture.
Going through these visits and meeting not only the coaches in person but more importantly the gymnasts showed me two general categories of teams: One where the team is looking for someone with a one-size-fits-all personality and another with more of a a we-accept-all mentality.
Only a select few schools I visited demonstrated the desire for their culture to grow, not just with the gymnastics being performed, but with the individuals as well. They wanted to recruit gymnasts with all sorts of personalities and from all different backgrounds because they felt like the team would thrive with diversity. These teams’ cultures weren’t signified by one word but were ever-changing.
For me, this is so important. But it’s also important to note that a defined culture or a team where each individual is more similar isn’t bad. It’s just not what I’m looking for. Seeing these differences during my visits helped me narrow down my decision.
You also hear a lot from gymnasts in college who choose a certain school because it just “felt” right. It sounds cliche—and trust me, before this process I thought it was silly—but you really do get a feeling of home when you step foot on some campuses.
I talked with Bryn Bartman, a freshman at Auburn who described the small Alabama city as being “perfect.” The North Carolina native said her decision was especially easy since she had already narrowed down her schools to two: Auburn and LSU. But with no offers from either school prior to the visits, she wished she knew she was going to be offered on her Auburn visit. “You look at the campus and gymnasts in a different way. It’s more of a ‘this could be it’ rather than ‘what if?'”
Like Bartman, I felt the same way. With offers from North Carolina, Georgia, and Illinois prior to my visit, I didn’t feel as if I needed to put on a show or prove myself since they already showed their commitment to me. It felt like the cards were in my hands rather than it being a roll of the dice, like I had to impress the coaches and the team to earn a scholarship offer.
Despite taking only two visits, Bartman doesn’t regret her choice, as she didn’t want to waste coaches’ time or resources when she already knew her top two schools. From being a recruit to now a host for Auburn recruiting visits this year, Bartman says she tries to make the potential newcomers feel “welcome and included, because I was once in their position and wanted the same thing.” Right now she has a 100% success rate with her recruits committing to Auburn, as she hosted Bryn Torry, who recently committed to the Tigers.
Official visits are jam-packed weekends since programs are only allowed to bring recruits to the campus for 48 hours. They are planned hour by hour, with late nights and early mornings. The schedule of a visit is normally surrounded by a football game and watching practice. Here’s an example of the schedule I had at UNC from Friday to Saturday, the two main days of the visit.
Friday
7:30 a.m. Coaches pick up Sydney from the hotel
7:45 a.m. Have breakfast and watch practice
12:00 p.m. Lunch with the coaching staff at the top of the hill
1:10 p.m. Photoshoot at the MCC
2:35 p.m. Tour Smith Center
3:10 p.m. Basketball Hall of Fame tour
4:00 p.m. Tour Loudermilk – meet with academic advisor Dada Willis-Gregory and strength and conditioning coach Jordan Nilson
5:15 p.m. Tour Stallings and meet with athletic trainer Nina Walker
5:45 p.m. Dinner with coaches and team
6:45 p.m. Activity with the team
9:00 p.m. Back to the hotel
Saturday
9:00 a.m. Breakfast with hosts at Flying Biscuit
10:30 a.m. Tour of campus with hosts
2:30 p.m. Tailgate
4:15 p.m. Head to the football stadium – on the field for warm-up
5:15 p.m. Kickoff – Carolina football Appalachian State
Even with a set schedule, uncontrollable factors can throw things up in the air like rain during my UNC visit or an incorrect boarding pass causing a missed flight home from Georgia. Despite this, these visits are exhilarating and tiring, especially if there is a time change.
I was commonly asked if I was wiped out from multiple visits, week after week, and my answer was always no. For me, no amount of tiredness or busyness that I experienced during and after these visits would’ve made me change my mind on any of them. I was so enthralled by every school and enjoyed meeting new people. So much so that I felt like I could keep going forever if it weren’t for my own practice and schoolwork.
My outlook on it was that not only could I not complain because I chose this for myself, but I was also living the dream. On these visits, the hosts would often ask the recruits if they wanted to go do something or head back to the hotel, and every time my answer was, “Let’s go do it! We’ll never be on this same visit again.”
So, what’s next? Now that I’m done with my visits, I’ll be making a decision very, very soon. Actually, when you’re reading this, I may have already decided! Look out for a commitment post on Twitter and Instagram because my dream will be a reality very soon.
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Article by Sydney Seabrooks
I’m hoping for Auburn!