By: Kareena Dhillon
This year, the Mira Costa administration has adopted a new policy regarding the requirements for student athletes intending to participate in the signing day ceremony. According to Costa principal Dr. Ben Dale, athletes who are committed to furthering their athletic career in college but do not play this sport at Costa cannot participate in signing day.
According to Dale, this new change has been made on the basis that specific club soccer teams are making athletes choose between playing club soccer or soccer at Costa. Even if students give three years of their high school career to school-sponsored athletics, they will not be honored at Signing Day, proving to be inconsiderate for all future athletes who wish to take this path.
However, this new change is out of athletes’ control and therefore they are the only ones being punished in this situation. Students should not be penalized for making a decision regarding the recruitment process if it is in their best interest for their future. Regardless of whether they play for a Costa team, these athletes have put in years of work and therefore should be appreciated at this event.
According to Dale, Signing Day is a tradition that has become significantly more celebrated in the last five years. It is an event where athletes can be celebrated by their fellow peers, and many look forward to this event culminating their high school athletic career. Also, friends and family are invited, and the Associative Student Body makes posters to honor the athletes. MBX Foundation has also taken a significant role in this event according to Dale. They help organize the event, bringing cookies and cupcakes to encourage all students to be involved and attentive.
However, this new policy does not apply to athletes who commit for sports that do not exist at Costa, examples of sports like this that have been recognized at previous signing days include rowing and fencing said Dale. Therefore, even though these athletes have never participated in a sport at Costa, they are still given the same privilege to participate in Signing Day.
However, In an effort to appeal to students, Dale has made the compromise that the aforementioned athlete(s) will be honored at Senior Recognition Night. This event is largely attended by students and parents of the MBEF community, and serves as a fair alternative to participating in Signing Day.
Moving forward, there is a possibility that this policy will not only affect current students, but there is a precedent being set that future Costa athletes who choose club over high school athletics will not be as valued as the Costa Athletics community.
DR DALE INTERVIEW
It’s not about eligibility requirements. It’s about us trying to determine what signing day means. For us at Mira Costa, signing day is a day where we recognize costa seniors who play for Mira Costa teams. We’re seeing the issue is that some club teams, right it’s only soccer but we’re hearing rumors about volleyball. In order to play on the club team you’re not allowed to play on your high school team. So a student athlete comes in and they’ve played for us as a freshman, sophomore, and as a junior, and senior year they decide not to play for us. That’s their decision to do that but at the same time we want to honor our costa seniors who play on our costa teams. We knew there would be a couple students who this would affect and so we’ve shifted that recognition to senior recognition night. So if you play on a club team your senior year and you get a scholarship to play for a college. We’ll recognize
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