Signing Day, an event where senior athletes commit to their future colleges by signing the National Letter of Intent, was Wednesday, Nov. 13 in the gym. This year, the ceremony has changed because the National Collegiate Athletic Association eliminated the NLI, meaning that the student-athletes simply signed together for ceremonial purposes.
Athletic Director Andrew Mashburn explained how athletes are able to commit to a school “whenever they want,” rather than only on this specific day. Now, the signing day ceremony is more to celebrate what the seniors have accomplished and the next stage of their lives.
Mashburn discussed the effect of the NCAA rule change on students: “It helps them. It gives them more freedom…I think it’s a good thing.”
This year, there are 16 seniors signed to 14 colleges, representing 15 sports, including eight multisport athletes. The signees combine to an average 4.13 GPA with three California Interscholastic Federation Championships: Baseball, Girls’ Volleyball and Girls’ Tennis.
Four seniors committed to schools for softball this semester, which is the most of any sport represented at the ceremony. Ella Haugo (12) signed to Cal State San Marcos, Olivia Kuhnel (12) signed to the University of Rhode Island, Isabella Phelps (12) signed to Rhodes College in Tennessee and Lindsey Hubbard (12) signed to Chico State.
After signing Hubbard said she “feel[s] amazing and ready to start [her] college experience.” She advises athletes to “keep pushing” because they “can succeed.”
Additionally, three student-athletes on Aliso’s Girls’ Soccer Team signed to attend colleges around the country too. Emily Trapp (12), set to attend University of California Davis, and Ava Wright (12), Cal State San Marcos commit, will go to college in California while Alaina Villa (12) is moving states away to attend Iowa State University.
Another Aliso Soccer signee is Chase Seager (12) who committed to Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California.
Seager said he chose his school due to “the location, the values the school has, the program in general and what they stand for.”
Olivia Allegre (12) committed to the University of California San Diego for tennis. Also going to UCSD is Siena Nguyen (12), a nationally ranked fencer who has competed for Team USA.
Alex Hamada (12) signed with Chaminade University of Honolulu in Hawaii for baseball. Jarett Sabol (12), his teammate, committed to the University of Southern California to continue playing baseball as well.
Addison Breymann (12) signed with Oklahoma Baptist University and Jillian McElroy (12) signed with Stonehill College in Massachusetts, both to play volleyball in college.
Gigi Green (12) committed to the University of Utah to play beach volleyball.
Devon Silberman (12) signed to the University of California Santa Barbara for swim.
There will be another signing ceremony in the spring to celebrate the seniors who continued their hard work to commit to a school after the fall event.
Seager’s advice to other athletes who want to sign: “Just keep working hard, talk to those coaches, do what you need to do and let everything else control itself.”
