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Broken Bones Lead to Broken Dreams

Ryan Burke ‘11 sticks out from the rest of his team as they walk back to the locker room after a game. Burke sustained a torn ACL in the spring football game. | Photo by Lee Halpern

The field hockey season was looking bright for Misha Strage ’12. She was talking to college coaches about playing for their team and she was ready for a great season, unfortunately a hand injury in her first game against Trumbull cut her season short, and put a halt to the recruiting process.

“I was very upset because I worked hard all summer getting ready for the season and it was supposed to be a big season for me” Strage said.

Before the injury, Strage said she had been talking to college coaches including ones from Franklin & Marshall College.

The injury has not only sidelined her from the field hockey field but also the recruiting process. “With the surgery and school, I haven’t really had time to keep emailing coaches,” Strage said.

Cases like these are becoming more frequent as competition for college sports gets tougher and tougher. Another Staples student who is going through a similar experience is Ryan Burke ’11.

Burke was receiving letters of interest from Division I colleges like Purdue University and University of Massachusetts for baseball.

That interest came to a halt after he tore his ACL in the spring football game. “I was upset; I didn’t know how to react because I haven’t dealt with anything like that before,” Burke said. This injury seriously hurt Burke’s chances because he was unable to attend showcases, camps for scouts and college coaches to look at baseball prospects.

Injuries to athletes like Burke and Strage affect the recruiting game for colleges in a big way.

Doug Vose, a Senior National Recruiting Coordinator at the National Collegiate Scouting Association said about high school injuries, “Last year, D-I college coaches reported that about 84% of their scholarship athletes were identified prior to their junior year of high school. Since student-athletes are being identified earlier and earlier, serious injuries during those years can have a big impact on the recruitment process.”

On the subject of injuries and athletes, Vose said, “While coaches may form a bond with a high school athlete during the recruiting process, they also have a responsibility and a vested interest in fielding a competitive team.”

With colleges trying to field the best team they can and athletes trying to get a full ride to college, the competition to get a spot on a collegiate sports team is brutally tough. Vose says honesty is the best policy when it comes to injuries. “We always work with our student-athletes to be direct and honest in their communication with coaches. In addition to being just a good idea in life, it’s also important to build relationships with coaches that are built on trust. Misleading college coaches is rarely a good idea.”

Vose added, “If high school student-athletes are direct and honest with college coaches about their health, they will give themselves the best chance of finding a situation that is the ‘right fit’ for college.”

There is still a chance for both of them to make a college team.

Burke says that he’s been in contact with numerous Division III colleges about baseball, and Strage says she might be able to return to the field before the end of the field hockey season.

 

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