As the 2020 seniors are leaving their teams, coaches are searching for new recruits that will fill the roles of the leaving athletes. The head coach of University of North Carolina (National Champions for the past 2 years) said that “while all teams are looking to fill their key roles that left, they’re recruiting has to be ‘top notch’”.
During an interview with Karen Sheldon, the head coach of UNC, she gave the college itself most of the credit for her recruits. She said that they “have the most beautiful, modern stadium in the country, and I think that’s recognized”.
This raises one of the major questions involved with college recruiting— Are the more appealing colleges more likely to have better sports teams? Do athletes typically choose their college based on the academic piece, or is it mostly athletics?
Obviously all college-bound athletes have some amount of focus on academics. Though, research has found that most athletes take athletic scholarships over the quality of the school.
According to NCSA, field hockey coaches are only allowed 12 scholarships per team maximum. Not all schools will fulfill these scholarships based on the allotted school funding amounts. Both division I and II teams are allowed to give athletic scholarships, but many DIII coaches will pull strings and will use any tactic to have their prospective athletes play on their team.
Coach Sheldon is convinced that in her case, “they come here education first, and then they’re able to combine it with amazing athletic experience”.
https://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2019/12/q-a-with-karen-shelton-decade-in-review
Analyzing Athletics 