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Since tomorrow is our first game of the season and next week begins my LAST season of football recruiting (due to some changes in rules…they are no longer allowing grad students ;( which I’ll talk about later ), I thought this would be the perfect time to look back on my first year of football recruiting.
Before this season, Alabama had a group called the “Bama Belles” that they used for football recruiting. My friend Crystal and I had both interviewed, but neither of us made it. I was devastated, but I had other commitments that kept me busy (i.e. being an Avanti student orientation leader mainly) and as with everything else…I knew there was a reason and just assumed it was not the job for me.
Not long after I interviewed, there was an incident in Colorado where a recruiting hostess got raped by a recruit so the NCAA changed a lot of the rules and ultimately cut out athletic specific hostesses such as the Bama Belles. Since this new ruling was put into place only weeks before the kick-off of the football season, the football program was scrambling to find replacements. Since they WERE allowed to use an already existing support group, they decided to use the Avantis (since we went through an extensive interview and training process) and I jumped at the chance to sign up to work the football games. I felt like God was again reminding me that HE knew what was best for me and that if I was patient, he would work things out :)
I studied up on both the rules of football and Alabama football history before the first home game and was ready to go once it finally arrived! One of our responsibilities was to memorize information about our new football complex and give group tours to recruits and their families on Game Day. At that time, there were only a few of us that were recruiting so we alternated taking turns giving tours and usually averaged about 5-10 tours per game.
Anyway, the first game was nerve-wrecking and exciting at the same time. I nervously squeaked through my tours and it was finally time for kick-off. One of the best things about recruiting (there are many perks as you can imagine) is that we get to stand on the field to watch the team’s warm-ups. I remember stepping on the field for that first game and it gave me chills…I knew that this is what I needed to be doing and was proud to be a part of this group!
Minutes after stepping on to the field for the first time (Note: you won’t see a cool silver name tag on me. When I went to pick mine up, they had Morgan Staten so I was stuck with a sticker until the next game)
My favorite girls
The following are some pictures my dad took of me on the sidelines.
The Avantis that worked this game (except for Crystal…not sure where she is in the pic!)
Then, we continued the picture taking in the stands…
It was a great way to start our first recruiting season. Stay tuned for more highlights from that season! :)
2 comments:
Your friend Crystal...I feel like I worked with her somewhere, had classes with her, or SOMETHING. I am racking my brain! Actually I recognize (by face, but not name) most of the gals you are pictured with. But since I graduated in '05, that makes sense.
Probably. Crystal wasn't in a sorority but did a lot with SGA and different organizations on campus. Lauren (the girl in the crimson and white strapless dress) was a Tri Delt, and Michelle (in the blue and white) was a AOPi. The rest weren't in sororities, but were very active in different things on campus so you probably did see them somewhere :)
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