In the sports world, the word “transfer” can come off with a negative connotation. When an athlete transfers schools, it is often perceived that they are doing so because they sit the bench, or they don’t want to work hard to win. That is not always the case though.
More often than not, when athletes are unhappy about their current situation, they feel like they are stuck, especially those athletes who are on a full-ride scholarship. They often think to themselves, “My school is getting paid for. I need to suck it up.” And if they do decide to transfer, they sometimes have to sit out a year, and no athlete wants to do that.
This however, has led to higher rates of depression in college athletes, and is sending the wrong message to athletes about what college athletics is really all about
In NCAA Division II, 19% of athletes transferred from another school, but the number of athletes who want to transfer is likely much higher. I am one of those athletes who wanted to transfer. While there are many student athletes who want to transfer, our stories are all different. We all have different reasons for transferring.
Not all transfer stories are the same.
In this post, I am going to share my story of why I made the decision to transfer, the entire process, and lessons that I have learned from this experience. If you are a current college athlete thinking about transferring, or someone who is unfamiliar with the transfer process, I hope you can take something away from this. I hope you finish this post with a better perspective on what transferring really entails.
My Story
I played my first two years of collegiate volleyball at Catawba College. Playing volleyball in college was not just a dream of mine, but almost an expectation. I have been playing since I was eight years old, so I simply could not imagine myself giving it up. In addition to playing in college, I got the experience of playing with my sister, who was also on the team.
Although that experience was fun, my overall experience in general was not. My freshman year, we placed last in our conference, and did not perform much better my sophomore year. What was most frustrating was the fact that I went from loving every second of volleyball in high school to dreading going to practice and playing in an environment that was simply not good for my mental health.
After my sophomore year, my sister was graduating and one of my close friends on the team was transferring. It was at that point when I began to wonder whether Catawba College was where I wanted to continue by academic and athletic career. A part of me was saying that I needed to toughen up, that I chose to go here. I was worried that if I made this decision, that it would feel as though I had made a mistake about going to Catawba in the first place.
A part of me was saying that I needed to toughen up, that I chose to go here.
I had long discussions with my family about the possibility of transferring, and they were surprisingly supportive. They just wanted what was best for me.
In December of 2018, I gave my notification to transfer to my former coach and athletic department. Coincidentally, my coach resigned, which gave me an even bigger reason to leave, although many thought that would change my mind.
Once I notified the athletic department that I wanted to transfer, I was placed into the NCAA Transfer Portal, something that all athletes are put it upon transferring. The transfer portal was made to make the transfer process easier and more efficient for coaches, administrators, and athletes.
After being placed into the portal, I started to get emails from many college coaches from both DII and DIII schools. I was contacted by my former assistant coach at Catawba, who was now the head coach at William Peace University (WPU). I visited Peace in February 2019 and loved everything about the campus.
It was a small school in a bigger city with my academic major and a successful volleyball program. What more could I have asked for?
However, I struggled with the thought of starting over at a new school, leaving my friends at Catawba and the campus I once called home. I was worried I would decide to transfer and then ultimately regret my decision.
It became a constant battle of people telling me one thing while my mind was telling me another. Nonetheless, I made the decision to transfer and attend Peace beginning in the fall of 2019. Transferring schools ended up being one of the best decisions I have ever made. I have grown so much more as both an athlete and a person. Deciding to transfer gave me the confidence to make tough life decisions I know I will continue to face. I ultimately grew to have more power over my own life decisions.
Lessons Learned
There are countless lessons that I learned from transferring schools as an athlete. From where I was my freshman year of college to where I am now, I have definitely changed as a person, and transferring schools played a pivotal part in that. Here are some of those lessons that I think everyone contemplating transferring should know.
Look at the NCAA transfer rules: Depending on what division you are transferring to or from, the rules might be different. For example, if you transfer to a school in the same conference as your previous school, you will most likely have to sit out a year.
However, this may change, as the NCAA has proposed a one-time transfer rule, which would allow any athlete from any conference or division to transfer without having to sit out for a season. A decision should be made in soon, but many coaches have rallied against this proposal.
However, I believe that this proposal would be a good idea. Although more athletes will be transferring schools than before, the athletes will overall be happier, and isn’t that what the NCAA wants?
Another note to add about NCAA transfer rules is to make sure you do not lose your athletic scholarship money upon transferring. The only way this can happen is if you 1) quit the team before making the transfer, 2) get cut from the team for breaking a team rules, or 3) are not in good academic standing.
Focus on academics more than athletics: When you are transferring schools, it is important to focus on academics more than just athletics. When high school athletes are looking at colleges, athletics is often the first thing on their mind. I realized that there is so much more to college than just athletics.
Once you get to your sophomore year, you most likely have found your major. For me, it was marketing, so I made sure that I was looking at universities that had that major.
Not only does your major matter, but your class credits matter too. Before you commit to a school, make sure you check with the school’s academic office to make sure your credits transfer over. Luckily, all of my credits from my previous institution transferred over to WPU.
Be as open and honest as possible: Having to tell my coach and teammates that I wanted to transfer was one of the most difficult things I have ever done. However, I realized that what was most important was being honest with them, just like I had to be honest with myself.
When telling your coach, make sure you are well-prepared with your reasons why you want to transfer. It is critical to make sure that the conversation and feelings are controlled by you.
Your coaches may react in a negative way when you tell them the news; don’t take it personal. They have a right to be frustrated at first when losing a player, but will respect your honesty.
Don’t second guess yourself: One of my biggest struggles with deciding whether I should transfer was that I was holding onto what could possibly be, instead of realizing what actually was. I would often think to myself that maybe things would get better at my old school. I was worried that whatever decision I made it would the wrong one.
During the decision process, many people would say things like,
“But Abby, you seem so happy here. Why would you want to leave?” and
“You are going to have to start college all over again. Do you really want to do that?”
Nonetheless, I finally grasped the reality of putting myself first, and not worrying about what people would think about my decision. I was lucky as, for the most part, my former teammates supported my decision to transfer.
Follow your heart: Believe me when when I say this: If you are even having thoughts of transferring, just do it. There are many athletes I know who were thinking about transferring, but ended up not doing it. In the long-run, they regretted it.
Remember why you started. Remember the little boy or little girl who had a dream, and worked countless hours for years to make that dream come true.
Long story short, just follow your heart. You have been training your whole life for this dream of playing in college. Make that dream yours. I did and I could not be happier.
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If you have any more questions about the transfer process, message me on Twitter @SpeakingOfAthletes1 and check out these amazing resources from the NCAA about transferring.
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