Dallastown Signing Days
DT athletes take the next step in their athletic and academic careers by signing to play at the collegiate level.
Signing days symbolize a major accomplishment for student-athletes as it means taking the next step in their athletic and academic careers.
Dallastown is very familiar with the National Letter of Intent process due to students signing every year.
The National Letter of Intent is a document used to indicate a student athlete’s commitment to participating National Collegiate Athletic Association colleges and universities in the United States.
When an athlete signs an NLI, they agree to attend the institution listed on the NLI for one academic year in exchange for that institution awarding athletics financial aid for one academic year.
Dallastown will host 3 signing days this year, with the next being held on Wednesday, February 6. The first of the three days was held on November 14, 2018.
On the first signing day at DHS, 5 student-athletes signed their NLI (see sidebar). Julian Bailey, a Queens College baseball commit, was one of the athletes to sign.
“Signing my NLI in November was the easiest part of the journey,” Bailey said. “The commitment process and being offered a scholarship is the part that takes a while and where things can get complicated.”
Samantha Miller, a Saint Francis University womens basketball commit, was also one of the five athletes to sign in November.
“The process of committing and signing was really fun. I got to visit with the team and create connections with the players and coaches,” Miller said.
For signing days, the Dallastown Athletic Office is in charge of organizing and setting up for the event.
In addition to set up, Dallastown also notifies everyone that the event is occurring so family and friends can attend this monumental moment.
Though this is a crucial part of the day for student-athletes, according to Athletic Director Vince Sortino the department doesn’t have much influence in the recruiting process.
“Most of the recruiting of the athletes take place between the coaches and the student-athletes,” Sortino said. “The athletic department serves more of a PR tool for our athletes when they select what college or university they want to attend.”
Although the athletic department helps athletes in some ways, student-athletes usually go through the recruitment process with coaches and families.
“The only communication that the athletic department gets involved with is if there is a coach that wants to talk to a student-athlete or if a message is left for a student-athlete to return the call of a college coach,” Sortino said.
Though most see a photo and caption on Twitter, the athletic department and student-athletes go through lots of behind the scenes work to make the day and process a success.
This article will be updated after the February 6 signing day at DHS.
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