Feb. 2 is the national signing day for senior student-athletes, where they sign with the university of their choosing to play a sport. This allows them the opportunity to continue playing their chosen sport after they graduate high school. At Bonita Vista High (BVH), several student-athletes who share a passion for playing soccer are committed to a university of their choice. One of these students is varsity girls’ soccer  Center Midfield and senior Mirayah Villalpando, she committed to the University of California Irvine to play soccer.

“Soccer has a big meaning to me because I’ve been playing for 12 years. It’s become part of my everyday lifestyle,” Villalpando said. 

Similar to Villalpando, varsity girls’ soccer Right Back, Center Back and senior Oluwabukunmi Babatunde has also been playing soccer since a young age. Growing up, she practiced the sport and her family has supported her passion for playing soccer as well as her plan to be signed with the Pacific Union College (PUC).

“[Playing soccer] means a lot to me because [my parents] always told me ‘You’re going to be the one to play college sports’. I have an older sister and a younger brother, and my sister didn’t play sports in college,” Babatunde said. “For me, it means helping my family out financially and helping myself out too [because the college I’m planning on attending provides scholarships if I were to play for them].”

Being committed and getting signed with a university to play sports is a long process that takes years. Varsity girls’ soccer Co-captain, Eight Defender and senior Jada Gibson committed to the University of Georgia. She mentioned that during a student’s high school career, they have the opportunity to reach out to different universities and their coaches in an effortt to find a school they would like to play for. Additionally, students would be provided opportunities to showcase their talent to coaches during games. Luckily, now that these students are signed with a university, there is no pressure on them when participating in a game, according to Babatunde.

“It’s really nice. When I go to games now I don’t have to worry because I already [committed to a] college. I’m excited to play at the school I’m planning to play for [PUC]. [Along with playing soccer], I wanted to travel and hang out with friends. The college I’m going to is allowing me to do that, so I’m happy with my decision,” Babatunde said. 

Although a student’s commitment to sports and playing it during college requires talent from them, it also requires strong support from families, friends and teachers. The support system of student-athletes is a big contributing factor to the process of signing with a university. Gibson describes that without a proper support system, student-athletes may feel demotivated to play their sport. 

“[My parents] left the decision [for playing soccer in college] up to me, but they’ve been amazing. Through the process, my parents sacrificed a lot. My family has been there with me through the pressure of balancing school and soccer. They’ve been through all of it,” Gibson said.

Committing to sports requires hard work, sacrifice and dedication. However, it can pay off in multiple ways over the course of time as it opens doors to new opportunities such as playing for a university and meeting new people with similar interests. 

“It’s very surreal. It’s such a blessing to say I’ve made it this far. Signing day was so unreal [because I] was able to take everything in and to finally say that all of my hard work paid off,” Center Forward, Outside Forward and senior Hannah Burns said.

Burns has recently committed to the University of San Francisco. For her, playing soccer has provided her with many opportunities and exposed her to new experiences such as being “an amazing teammate and a great leader.” Due to these opportunities, she has learned a lot of life lessons from playing soccer. 

“There’s just so many things that can be taken away from sports that I don’t think one truly thinks about when getting into sports, but you truly learned so much,” Burns said.