This year, many Lexington High School student athletes were recruited to colleges all over the country. These sports included gymnastics, softball, lacrosse, cross country, and baseball.

 “It was so unreal, but it was definitely a dream come true,” Nyla Aquino, a senior recruited for gymnastics at the University of Georgia, said.

This sense of achievement comes from a long time working, as a large number of these athletes have been training since they were young.

“In kindergarten, I started with T-Ball. Then I started playing travel ball when I was in third grade,” Lidia Palys, a junior recruited for softball at Yale University, said.

While it starts with these small activities like T-ball, the intensity of workload only increases with age. Playing sports at a varsity level in high school requires a tremendous amount of time, commitment, and sacrifice.

“During the school year, I train five days a week for four hours a day, so twenty hours a week. And then I train twenty-five hours during the summer,” Aquino said. 

Aquino and Palys both emphasize the challenges of balancing sports and schoolwork, particularly at a school like LHS.

“I’ve had really late nights and really early mornings because I’m in the METCO program. There have been times where I’ve had to give myself a break and be like, ‘okay, today I won’t go to practice,’” Aquino said.

The recruiting process itself also had its challenges. However, both Aquino and Palys advise aspiring recruits to send emails and keep in touch with coaches.

“You feel like you’re just sending emails into the abyss, but [the coaches are genuinely] reading them,” Palys said. 

Additionally, Aquino says that although taking risks may be frightening, they are crucial to success. 

“For younger students, I would say if you have a dream school, definitely reach for it, and don’t think it’s too far of a reach. Always put yourself out there as much as you can; just trust the process,” Aquino said.