Pursuing opportunity in sports; Field hockey player’s college recruitment

     Senior Zoe Mikles has been an important player on North Harford’s field hockey team throughout her high school career. She decided she wanted to play the sport in college so Mikles started, “an account on this website called Next College Student Athlete.”

      She described the website as, “ a sports profile for athletes stats, academic, athletic achievements, and field hockey highlight videos.” If they were interested, “coaches would go on the website and email athletes.” 

     Mikles did not just wait for coaches to notice her, but instead emailed schools she wanted to go to and had “coaches come to watch tournaments or games,” the athlete played in. 

     When Mikles got recruited to Goucher College “it was really exciting,” for her and her parents because of all the stress while she was waiting to be recruited. It felt “like a relief,” to finally know where she was going. 

     The Senior, “chose Goucher after a really long process. […] [She is] not good at making decisions, especially big ones.” There were many different reasons she chose Goucher such as, “really liking the coach and the growth […] [she] will experience as an athlete.”

      She explained that “their field hockey team has historically always been pretty good! They do well within the conference and their goal is to make it into the NCAA tournament in the upcoming year!”

     Along with sports, “Goucher had a lot to offer academically. They have a required study abroad program that is included in the tuition.” So Mikles will get to grow in her understanding of other cultures during her studies. Ready to see the world she wants, “to go to India for public health.” 

     Soon to be a college Freshman, Mikles confessed that she is feeling a mixture between nervousness and excitement, “but definitely more excitement.” Confident in her decision she knows, “college-level play is obviously more advanced but […] [she] feels ready to take the next steps!” 

     Another thing for Mikles to look forward to is she knows, “one of the goalies, Julia Foster. She went to North Harford and played field hockey with […] [Mikles].” She is, “really excited to be able to play with her again.”

     Along with the players she already knows, the athlete is “looking forward to growing close with the team and working together towards success.” She is ready, “to have a new field hockey family!”

     Mikles is, “hoping for a lot going into college!” In field hockey, she “wants to become better in every way.” School-wise she wants to, “maintain a good GPA and gain medical experience. The end goal is to get into a physician’s assistant school.”