DIII Field Hockey Walk-On

My name is Lilly Fellows, one of the creators of the allaccessathletics project, and I had an untraditional recruitment experience.

In high school, I couldn't afford to play club sports, but my high school field hockey team was good. I was the lead scorer four years in a row and won all-state honors my senior year. When I asked my coach about playing in college, she laughed and said I would never be able to- I didn't play club. My senior year, we had a new assistant coach who had experience coaching for a DI team, she asked me why I wasn't thinking about playing in college and told me I was exactly the type of athlete she would recruit. Still, I wasn't sure how I would even start. 

Applying to colleges, I checked off the little boxes that said "interested in playing a sport - field hockey," and one coach emailed me back. I had already gotten into my college through early decision, so I could not speak with her, but it made me think about reaching out to my schools coach. I figured, what's the worst that could happen? I already wasn't expecting to play. 

My schools coach had a reputation for being straight up with her prospective students, and that scared me, but I also knew she would tell me what my chances were. She emailed me back saying that this was a little unconventional and that she would have to see me play. Luckily, my team was already signed up to play at her spring tournament, and I signed up for the Junior Day Clinic. 

At Junior Day, I sat in a room with freshman-juniors, I was the only athlete already accepted into the school. Coach handed out a recruitment timeline, and I remember feeling so embarrassed that I hadn't known to take these steps earlier. Why wasn't there anyone to help me learn this? I had a lot of fun at the clinic, and was able to talk to my future teammates. I wasn't sure what would happen, but I knew I wanted to try my best. 

I was invited to join the team for preseason the next fall, and my summer phone call with coach went a little something like this "you will have a lot to learn, but from what I saw you are going to be an excellent leader and addition to our team." 

And, I was. I didn't play a single minute my first year, but I am a fast learner. My sophomore year I started in the first game. I ended up playing for 5 years, through Covid and injury (but that's a different story), I started, I was an e-board member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), I represented my team on the athletics diversity and equality committee, and I helped one of my teammates start an injured athletes support group. I was a captain for two years, but most of my teammates would say that I was a leader for much longer. 

I feel lucky that I was able to make it onto my team, and grateful for all of the experiences that I had there. But, I wish I had gotten this information sooner. I wish I had options. 

I started talking with my teammates about their recruiting experiences, and I quickly became someone who took all of the recruits on tours, to classes, and hosted them in my room. I was so interested in the traditional recruiting process, and the more I learned about it, the more unfair it felt. You need to pay for a club team to give you information anyone could have given you? 

When I joined the Sport for Social Change Lab at Smith College, I sought answers as to why it is so hard for athletes from low socioeconomic status backgrounds to get recruited. I found a lot (you can dive into it on the evidence tab if you're as interested as I am). However, most of the research was recommending that "someone should do something about this" and not actually doing anything about it (which is one of my least favorite things about academia). So, I decided, I am going to do something about it. 

This project is the culmination of 4 years of research, and 6 years of thinking. I hope that it is able to provide the information I wish I had to athletes who are in the same shoes I was not long ago. 

Good luck, and all my best

Lilly