Home Page

By Jody Hobbs, Penn State Parents Council and parents of James, a third-year aerospace engineering student

My son, James, moved to East Halls after stand-out seasons on both his high school and club soccer teams. He also was an accomplished middle-distance runner, competing at national indoor and outdoor track meets. For years, James went to soccer and track practices 4 to 6 nights a week and traveled the country playing in soccer tournaments all with the goal of securing a spot on a collegiate soccer team. He was recruited by several D3 schools and would have had a great shot at starting as a freshman at many of them. Yet, as the son of two PSU alums and with a strong interest in aerospace engineering, the lure of Happy Valley was just too strong. He officially became a Penn Stater in the fall of 2020 even though he did not have a spot on the PSU men’s soccer team. While he was promised a walk-on tryout, we all knew that there were no guarantees and that the competition would be fierce. While I was thrilled to have another Nittany Lion in the family, I had concerns. 

• After spending the majority of his life as part of a team, how would he navigate the transition to college life without the support and camaraderie of his soccer teammates? 
• What would he do now that the rhythm of his life was no longer dictated by practices and tournaments? 
• How would he create the academic discipline and efficiencies that previously were mandated by his training schedules? 
• And perhaps most importantly, what would he do with all the free time?

Fast forward to the fall of 2022. James is in his third year and is certain that Penn State was the right choice. He is receiving respectable grades as an aerospace engineering student, and he managed to find multiple ways to keep his soccer interests alive. No, sadly, he did not receive that coveted walk-on offer from the men’s team. And no, he did not get a spot on the PSU Men’s Club team (350 students tried out for only a few spots which typically do not go to first-year students). But he did find other ways to satisfy his need to play soccer and productive ways to fill his time. It was not always easy. There were bumps and periods of frustration. Many times, I was at a loss about how I could help and questions about whether I should even try (frustrating for a former soccer mom). In the end, I found that the best thing I could do was to listen and encourage him to keep looking for the athletic resources that PSU has to offer.

I am quite certain that James is not the only PSU student who has had to face the transition from an accomplished high school athlete to life at a major university where it is not uncommon for students to be recruited to professional sports teams. Looking back, there were a few things that James did either by happenstance or intentionality that seemed to help him find his soccer peeps and an outlet for his energy.

Here is what I saw and offer these as possible suggestions for you to offer to your student-athlete who may be navigating some of the same issues. While these suggestions reference soccer, the tips likely are applicable to other sports.

1. Wear Gear That Identifies the Places You’ve Played. During his first days in East Halls, James wore soccer t-shirts from tournaments he played in from across the country and with his club team’s logo. James did not wear these shirts with any specific intention, but he will tell you that he met some of his best buddies because of them. During the Move-In days, James would go out to kick a soccer ball around wearing his club team gear. It did not take long for other soccer players to wander over and make connections. James is still great friends with some of the guys he met because of those soccer shirts. In fact, he will be living off campus with two of them this year.
2. Look For IM Team Opportunities.* We encouraged James to seek out the many other soccer opportunities that PSU offers beyond just D1 spots. One word of caution about encouraging your student to pursue a “Club” sport -- while in theory this is a good idea, in practice, we learned that this is a tough road to go down given the high number of quality players that attend University Park and the very few spots that open up each year on Club Teams. James found his way to the intramural leagues, where student teams practice and compete at a variety of levels. The picture attached is this past year’s IM championship team. On his IM team, James gets to compete with a great group of soccer players who are attending PSU from all over the world including Peru, Brazil, France, South Korea, and Senegal. It’s worth noting that soccer play is at a high level even in the IM league as there are many students, who like James, spent years competing in soccer tournaments.
   
3. Be Open to The Unexpected. James was persistent in his attempt to walk on to the PSU Men’s Team and finally got a walk-on tryout in the Spring of his second year. (COVID forced the cancellation of the first-year walk-on tryouts.). While sadly, he did not make the final cut as the coach was looking for someone 4 inches taller and 30 pounds heavier, his persistence and self-directed training opened a door for him. He was introduced to the PSU Women’s Head Coach who selects several men each year to be a part of a practice squad. After completing the paperwork, and passing the physicals, James became an official part of the PSU Women’s Soccer team. Who knew that this was even a possibility? Not us. But I think that is my point in writing this piece. We had no idea that this was an option and if James had stopped when he did not make the club team or even the D1 Men’s team, we would have never known about it.
   
4. Look For Other Options. While soccer will always reign supreme with James, we encouraged him to look for the many non-soccer options that PSU has to offer. He became an avid football fan and enjoyed the tailgating festivities during home-game weekends. He joined an engineering design club. He also became a regular with the Park Avenue Army, a group that (loudly) supports the women's and men’s soccer teams at home games. While he has not pursued many of the arts options available at Penn State, I know that they are many there for him if he wants.
   

While it took some time and persistence, I can easily say that James has found his place at PSU. I hope your student does too.

*Registration deadlines come early, encourage your student to explore and register early. 

The Parent-to-Parent Blog is written by members of the Penn State Parents Council who are dedicated to enhancing communication about the Penn State family experience. Opinions and experiences expressed in the blog are those of the writer(s). The blog is a partnership with the Penn State Parents Program.

Learn more about the Parents Council.