Anna Hinde’s Journey to Florida State

Guess what??  I’m going to be a NOLE!!!

Who knew that curious 8-year-old little girl who wanted to spend time with her dad playing in the dirt would land in the company of one of the most successful and well-respected college softball programs in existence? God knew, that’s who! His hands have been all over my journey and I am so thankful for His vision for my life and where it’s taking me.

As September 1^st approached, my family and I began reflecting on the plethora of people who affected and influenced me over the years and Extra Inning Softball was one of the first things I thought of. In light of the controversy surrounding the rankings, I hesitate to bring it up; however, your rankings were a pivotal moment in my recruiting process. Not because it made me a better player obviously, but because you gave me a platform in addition to the opportunities my travel team was giving me to play in some of the most competitive events in the nation. The rankings controversy also offered a challenge to overcome from the negativity of those who didn’t believe I was worthy of a top-10 spot. I learned a lot about people and a lot about myself; especially during the covid shutdown.

Fast forward to September 1^st and I really thought my family and I were prepared for what was going to happen but the joke was on me…lol! I had watched my older teammates go through this recruiting process and thought, “I got this” when in reality, I was completely overwhelmed. I had decided that whether I got two calls/texts/emails or 20 calls/texts/emails that I was going to respond to everyone and eventually I did respond to them all.

In that process, I had some incredible conversations with coaches I had admired from afar for so many years. I may or may not have had multiple fan-girl moments in some of these conversations. I know folks like to exaggerate so I hesitate to share how many schools reached out for fear someone may think it’s a made-up number so I will just say it was more than I anticipated, a lot more. Flattered as I was, I still had the challenge of making sure I talked to everyone giving them the respect they deserve for expressing interest in getting to know me better.

Moving on, I scheduled six visits over the next five weeks after painstakingly trying to narrow down where I should go because honestly, I would have loved to have visited every single school who showed interest, but I didn’t feel that was the responsible thing to do. These coaches have an important job to do so I did not want to be the prospect who held up scholarship monies while I traveled the United States on their dollar.

My first official visit happened this past weekend at Florida State University. Now I’ve known this staff for years having attended camps multiple times a year for the past four years and I also was a huge fan of many of their former and current players. I knew a lot about their program and had learned the ins and outs of their emphasis on culture during many of those previous camps. FSU has always been a top contender for me when thinking about my future; however, I really thought I was going to explore at least six schools before making a decision. God showed up in a BIG way and had other plans. It was our final night in Tallahassee just before the football game, I was sitting by myself in my host’s (Kaley Mudge) apartment while she was getting ready and my future was clearer than it’s ever been. This after two full days of learning about life as a Nole being immersed in their culture and experiencing all that FSU has to offer. I sent my mom a three-word text….”this is it”. Now this was not the plan, and my mom is a planner, so you can imagine her surprise; not surprise that I felt FSU was my fit, but surprise that I was making that declaration so soon in the process.

My mind went back to our pre-September 1^st conversations about “when you know you know” and our desire not to use this process as an opportunity to travel all over if I knew exactly where my heart was. After a lengthy conversation with my parents prior to our final meeting with the coaches, it was clear to all of us exactly how this meeting was going to end.

That meeting will be a moment in my life that will forever be engraved in my heart and mind. I have never felt so loved, so seen, so accepted and so wanted as a human and as an athlete as I did when I announced to my future coaches that I want to be a NOLE! There wasn’t a dry eye in the room and I have thanked God every day since for opening and closing the right doors which led me to that exact moment in my journey.

That’s so exciting, right? Things movies are made of; however, there’s the other side. The side where I now have to cancel visits with schools I have also built relationships with over the years and respected deeply. Remember how I returned every call/text/email? Yeah, well now I have to do it again but this time it was to decline offers, halt recruiting conversations and let them all know that I found my perfect fit. The very last thing I would ever want to do in my life is disappoint someone who believes in me like many of these coaches did.

I did it. I made those calls, sent those texts and wrote those emails and wouldn’t you know it…..the support (after the initial disappointment) was unpredicted and so soothing to my spirit. This whole process has proven over and over why softball is the absolute best sport in the world full of the most incredible people.

So guess what, I’m going to be a NOLE and I could not be happier!

Here’s my very personal advice to younger athletes working on their recruiting (in no particular order):

• Every athlete’s journey is different. Don’t fall into the comparison trap, it’s a dangerous place to be.
• Choose a travel team which has a staff who makes you a priority and is willing to have difficult conversations with you along the way.
• Surround yourself with a community of friends, mentors and teammates who are like-minded and genuinely want to see you succeed.
• Work, work, work, work, work, work and then work some more. If it becomes a chore to put the work in, then you have your answer and you need to pick a different path.
• Work on your mental game and do it every day. You may not see an immediate impact, but mental training will come in clutch when you need it most.
• Be a good teammate, watch your body language and do whatever it takes in whatever role is needed to help your team win. If any of these do not come naturally to you then again, pick a different path.
• GO TO CAMPS – I am going to be a Florida State Seminole because I built a relationship with the FSU staff via camps and clinics prior to my official visit.
• When attending camps, hustle, work hard, interact (be relational), watch your language (it’s not cool) and leave the staff excited to come watch you play.
• Send emails and be genuine. Don’t just check a box because believe me when I say coaches can easily separate the genuine messages from the messages that are simply task oriented.
• Use your social media platforms as your resume understanding it’s the first place coaches (a/k/a future employers) will search to learn more about you. Make sure you are showing the world your work ethic and emphasize the moments that mean the most to you. What you put out for the world to see is a direct reflection of how you would represent their program.
• Tune out the noise because everyone has an opinion of what you should do. Different methods work for different people but for me, prayer, along with my belief that God has a specific plan for my life, was the perfect recipe to quiet the noise so I could listen for His voice. For me, it wasn’t a whisper, it was loud and clear.

I could go on and on but those are just some of the main points that stuck out to me throughout the years.

Respectfully,

Anna Hinde – FSU Softball Commit (that sounds great when you say it out loud..lol)

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