By: Misheel Enkhbat
Photos by: Wendy Qiu
As talented athletes apply for colleges, it is not uncommon for them to be granted National Letters of Intent (NLI). When an athlete signs the NLI, the athlete is agreeing to attend the school for one year. In return, the school promises to provide financial aid for the full course of the year. The penalty for not fulfilling the NLI is that the athlete must attend the school the next year and lose one season of competition.
The letters of intent are given out depending on the different sports. For example, basketball’s initial signing date is Apr. 11 and its final signing date is May 16. The dates range from Nov. 9 to Aug. 1.
Currently seven seniors have signed national letters of intent: Catherine Perez who signed for basketball at Seattle University, Allison Doerpinghaus who signed for volleyball at Eastern Washington University, Julia Ama who signed for swimming at Stanford University, Elizabeth Anderson who signed for water polo at Santa Clara University, Paul Blanchette who signed for soccer at Loyola Marymount University, and Keenan Venuti who signed for football at Harvard. “The process actually started a year ago. The way it happens in soccer is that you express interest in the school and if they like how you play then they show interest back,” Blanchette said. “I was really excited that Loyola showed interest in me. It was always a part of my top 10.”