College is coming quickly, and some Williston Wildcats are planning on keeping their athletic careers going at the next level.
Ryan Fitzpatrick ’19 is committed to play Division I lacrosse at the University of Massachusetts and is very pumped to put on for his home state.
Ryan’s already had a good mind set going into next year. “I am planning on running two miles every day, training in the weight room, and playing in tournaments with other committed athletes,” Ryan said.
Josh Ofili, a post graduate from Katy, Texas, comes from an area where his sport, football is woven indelibly into the culture. Going into next year, where he’ll play football at Division 1 Brown University, Josh is going to have to adjust.
“I am going to miss my friends and the community,” Josh said. “Back at my high school, I grew up with those people around me and getting to play for them on Friday nights was something really special.”
It seems that adjusting to the new environment is a concern on the mind of many Williston athletes.
Sarah Sullivan ’19 is going on to play basketball at Assumption College, in Worcester, Massachusetts. “I am extremely nervous, I am going to work hard but what if I don’t live up to my expectations,” Sarah said.
The Williston Northampton School offers more than 35 sports. Thirty one percent of the 2018 class was recruited to play at the next level. The prosperous tradition of Williston athletics has produced 295 All-Americans.
According to the website Scholarship Stats, the number of kids that play college sports is not as high as you may think. “Overall a little over 7 percent of high school athletes (about 1 in 14) went on to play a varsity sport in college and less than 2 percent of high school athletes (1 in 54) went on to play at NCAA Division I schools,” the website read. “The largest percentage of both male and female college athletes competed at NCAA Division III schools.”
This story originally ran in The Willistonian.