[nivo_slider source=”post” link=”image” size=”500×300″ limit=”20″ effect=”random” speed=”600″ delay=”3000″] Feb. 6: a day of athletic achievement for numerous Rock Bridge seniors. It linked the high school success of each student with their future. A total of 17 seniors celebrated the decision of the next step in their lives as they signed on to various colleges in the RBHS cafeteria after school.
“We have everything from Division One National Levels of Intent to preferred walk-ons,” RBHS Athletic Director Jen Mast said. “So every time we have a signing ceremony, we are celebrating a student’s decision to play at the next level, and there is a mutual commitment from the school. And when I say that, it’s because we celebrate signings from full scholarship D-1 to division 3 with no money to preferred walk-on.”
The students recognized on National Signing Day were all athletes from cross country, track and field, football and soccer. Each athlete signed a contract with the college they will be attending to play that specific sport for that college team. Mast said, as an educated guess, there are about 25 to 30 students who have signing ceremonies each year, but this one was the largest one to date.
Head football coach A. J. Ofodile had coached all of the football players that signed. Football claimed 11 of the 17 students who signed. Ofodile said the football team usually has a pretty good number of kids that sign for a college every year, so this wasn’t out of the ordinary.
“We have kids that do the right thing in the classroom and on the field, so that opens up a lot of doors and opportunities,” Ofodile said. “We also have guys that put a lot of time into the preparation, and a lot of people think the college recruiting process is mostly about promotion, but it’s really not. It’s mostly about preparation and how you’ve developed yourself over the last couple of years athletically and academically, and if you’ve done the right things in that realm, then it usually opens up a lot of doors for you.”
There’s also more money available for football scholarships, Ofodile said, because football is the main revenue generating sport for most colleges, which could account for why most of the students who signed today were football players. He said all RBHS athletic departments do a good job, so looking at sheer numbers of people from each sport signing doesn’t mean that one sport is superior to another.
Principal Mark Maus said he was proud and enthusiastic for the signings today. For RBHS, there’s a lot of weight involved because the students are making the mature decision to take the next step in their athletic careers and that their dreams and aspirations are becoming real.
“Hopefully they’re thinking ‘I was a high-schooler, loved it, now I’m going on,’” Maus said. “It’s really just making that connection to that next stage in their life. I still remember when I signed. But for me, and for our kids, it is really that opportunity to connecting their next step with their future.”
By Julia Schaller
Have you seen these young men and women compete? Read about their specific decisions and wish them good luck in the comments below.
[spoiler title=”Open to read about where each athlete is headed.” open=”0″ style=”2″]

 

 

[/spoiler] Story by Julia Schaller
Photos by Maddy Jones