CHS students are no strangers to continuing their athletic careers to the next level. Although the Calabasas girl’s soccer team had a relatively mediocre season last year, they continue the trend of Coyotes in college for athletics. Ella Palmer is the first Coyote athlete of the current school year transitioning to college athletics, announcing via Instagram on September 2nd her commitment to Division 3 Denison University.
Palmer’s journey with Denison started in the second semester of her junior year, which she described as “go time.” With the help of a recruiter, she compiled a list of schools that fit her academic and athletic needs and sent emails to all head coaches of those schools.
“You don’t really get traction that easily,” said Palmer. “So it was just keep sending emails over and over again until you get them to bite and respond.”
Palmer expressed her lack of desire to play Division 1 due to the great difficulty of being scouted at the D1 level. Additionally, Division 3 schools mainly scout players through recruiting camps, so when her academic counselor suggested Denison, she was intrigued, although the process was far from easy.
“I talked to my recruiter, and he was like, ‘Yeah, it looks great, [you] might as well sign up’” said Palmer. According to Palmer, she went to Denison’s recruiting camp and it was a large success, with Denison’s head coach only needing her academic prerequisites. After about a week and a half, her prerequisites came through, and she was offered a commitment.
Palmer attended two Denison soccer games recently, one in which they lost and one in which they won, and according to Palmer, the team’s welcoming nature was a big factor in her decision.
“[The coaches] were just like, ‘Okay, you have your offer, you can commit, you can wait, it’s on your timeline,” said Palmer. “After the [first] game, I went and hung out with the players later. It was really nice. And then the next day, they had another game in a tailgate, so I watched that when they won. So that was good. I talked to my parents after, and I told them, ‘I know what I want to do.’”
Palmer notes that the feeling of committing to a college so early in the year is complicated, especially considering she still has an entire upcoming season. Although she doesn’t have to focus on typical senior assignments like college essays, she faces a unique pressure that comes with being a committed athlete.
“It’s weird, already knowing where I’m going to school and being committed,” said Palmer. “We haven’t started [the] high school season yet, but I feel like people are going to expect a lot more from me now because I’m already committed. So, it’s very much ‘Let’s see what she can do. Or is this just a fluke?’ I’m just trying to stay focused on doing what I usually do.”
Despite much anxiety, Palmer touches on how her belief in herself as a player has risen since she committed.
“I see other girls who are going D1, and it gets a little frustrating,” said Palmer. “I do have a lot of self-doubt, but now I proved to myself that I can play in college, and I think that’s going to help my mindset. Just, like, ‘Okay, I know I can trust myself more.’ I know a coach believed in me. I know all my high school coaches believed in me to do it, so it’s more just seeing if I trust myself at this point.”
Above all, Palmer emphasizes that it doesn’t matter where or how you commit: if you can, you should.
“The commitment process is hard, but it’s definitely worth it,” said Palmer. “To anyone who is trying to commit, I definitely say keep working. If you see people in your grade committing whenever, it doesn’t really mean anything. You can commit in the summer of your senior year for some schools. Gotta grind it out and just keep working at it.”
