Staff Writer
Sean McDonald
High school can be one of the most stressful times for students. Students have to stay on top of school work, extracurriculars, and athletes have to worry about college recruiting. One person who is trying to help students with this process is former Mira Costa, and USC water polo player Matt Burton.
Matt Burton played water polo at USC from 2008-2012, where he was very successful and won multiple national championships. After, he became interested in a way to simplify the recruiting process for high school athletes so it wouldn’t be so stressful anymore.
“After college, I got involved in a startup that was helping recruit golfers out of high school,” Burton said. “I was interested in it, and what it could become.”
This company is now called Recruiter Elite, and it has transformed from a startup company focusing on golfers, to helping with the recruitment of golfers, rowers, rugby players, and water polo players. Matt’s goal is to help high school water polo players with whatever is confusing to them regarding recruitment.
“Recruiter Elite is based around helping high school players make the transition from high school to college sports, and help their development,” Burton said. “This eliminates the confusion of college paperwork.”
Water polo is an endurance sport, so an important part of it is being in the best shape possible. Players get in shape through constant practice and lots swimming. Swimming allows players to be ready to play for extended amounts of time.
“Since water polo is such a stamina based sport, I had to constantly swim and condition to make sure I was in the best shape I could be in for the games,” Burton said.
High school sports can be very involving, but there is usually time for players to engage in their other activities and school work. In college the level of commitment is intensified, and sometimes players even have to miss multiple days of class for their sport.
“The difference between Costa and USC was that Costa was relaxing and chill,” Burton said. “In college it was much different because it was more like a full time job.”
Burton plans to help some of the players on the Mira Costa water polo team with the recruiting process, although he has not yet started working with any of the players yet. He already knows some of them from being one of their club water polo coaches.
“He used to be a club coach for me and some of the other varsity players about two years ago, and he helped me and others improve, because he knows so much about the game” senior Finn Pardon said.
Although Matt is not planning to have any direct connection to Mira Costa in terms of being a coach, he is excited to help their players with the recruiting experience. Burton hopes to make the process less stressful and more enjoyable for them.
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