College Admissions 101 - What Happens If You Have a Career Ending Injury

Bay State Games • October 16, 2024

We asked our 2024 Summer Interns to give advice on a variety of topics for student-athletes entering the college admission process. Next up, we asked Ava Hilaire about experiencing a career ending injury after being recruited to play a sport in college.

Q: What school do you go to?

AH: I go to Western New England University

Q: Why did you choose your school?

AH: The sports management program and being recruited to play softball

Q: What factors influenced your decision?

AH: The main reasoning was the softball aspect of school. I knew I wanted to play college softball and the program had a great resume to back them. The coaches and being able to meet the players was a great opportunity to see more of an insight into everyday demands of that schedule but also getting advice on to actually balance school, softball, and social life.

Q: How did your college experience change when you made the decision to stop playing softball?

AH: I tore my achilles the first day of the second week of school, which was also the first practice of preseason of my sophomore year of college. I stayed and helped out the team for the entirety of sophomore season, helping with paperwork, taking stats, giving the pitchers signs, and being the best teammate I could be. But I knew the injury was a full year recovery after surgery. Going through my freshman year, I knew of the demand it would have on my physically and mentally plus the addition to retraining my body on how to pitch. I knew my junior year was going to be my most difficult year yet academically so I chose to step away for this year and see how it works. Overall, my workload and recovery were the main factors that swayed my decision. This past year I got a job and have another for this upcoming school year so that has helped keep my free time productive. I definitely miss playing softball and would advise anyone going through any type of decision about taking a step back from the sport you love, to think about what is best for you in the future, meaning either sticking with it because you know you still have more to accomplish or moving on and doing other things that you wouldn’t expect yourself to do with this new found free time.

Q: What advice do you have for an incoming college student or someone going through the process of choosing?

AH: When it comes to the recruiting process, I have two pieces of advice - (1) be prepared with questions for coaches after clinics and (2) market yourself as much as you can.

My BIGGEST piece of advice is to, before clinics, think of 2-3 questions to ask the coaches. It can be about anything - what everyday life is for athletes at that school, how do people balance it, what a week in preseason looks like, etc. At the end of recruiting clinics, coaches always bring all the players and parents into a huddle and talk about the softball aspect, what they are looking for, etc. To set yourself apart from others, think of some questions that they could take a minute to answer. It makes them think you care rather than just one of the girls who just showed up because their parents made them and are just waiting to go home. I can’t count the number of times coaches, including the coach I eventually committed with, told me they remembered me specifically by either the question I asked them or the conversations we had.

Another thing I did specifically, was I filmed EVERYTHING. My parents bought a GoPro and we filmed every hitting practice, pitching practice with my pitching coach, and games. Before games, my mom would go and stick the GoPro in the fence right behind home plate to get the best view. We then edited them to into small clips and posted them on a softball Instagram page we made. YOU NEED TO MARKET YOURSELF! I would post clips of every clinic I went to and would send them to all the coaches to show them my progress or just what I am up to. Follow all the schools you like so that your videos can show up on their feed.

About Ava Hilaire

Ava is a senior at Western New England University studying sports management. As a two-sport high school varsity athlete, Ava continued to play softball at WNE before tearing her Achilles sophomore year. In the summer of 2023, Ava was a Sports Coordinator Intern with Boston Ski and Sports Club and looks forward to growing her sports management experience with Bay State Games. A fun fact about Ava is that to celebrate her high school graduation, Ava went skydiving!

See more recruiting tools and college admissions process information at our Recruiting Tools page.

College Admissions 101 Previous Posts

October 2, 2024 - Going to School Far From Home

October 9, 2024 - Transferring After Your First Year

< Older Post

Newer Post >

Bay State Games Presents 2025 Berkshire Hero Award

By Bay State Games • January 9, 2025

Pictured: Ashwan Malhotra (right) receives the Berkshire Hero award from Bay State Games Executive Director, Kevin Cummings (left) on Saturday, January 4, 2025.

Bay State Games Announces 2024 Future Leaders Scholarship Recipients

By Bay State Games • November 15, 2024

WOBURN (November 15, 2024) – The Bay State Games has selected six statewide scholarship recipients for the 2024 Future Leaders Scholarship Program. These student-athletes were selected from a large applicant pool after a process that included committee reviews of all applications and virtual interviews with selected applicants. These future leaders were selected based on their achievements and involvement in academics, community service, athletics, and leadership roles. The Bay State Games Future Leaders Scholarship program was established in 1989 and has since distributed nearly $400,000 in financial aid. Each of these high school seniors will receive a $1,000 scholarship for their first year of college. “Since its inception in 1989, the Future Leaders Scholarship Program has recognized outstanding high school students that excel in the classroom, in the community, and on the field of play,” said Kevin Cummings, Executive Director of the Bay State Games. “We are proud that this program has provided nearly $400,000 in aid to support the continuing education of these well deserving student-athletes that represent all regions of Massachusetts and many different sports.” This year’s six scholarship recipients are Akosua Adu-Gyamfi, Priya Bedard, Shannon Gustin, Keira Manning, Emilia Maria-Babcock, and Amelia Spencer. Akosua Adu-Gyamfi is a resident of Holden and attends the Winchendon School. At school, she plays on the varsity basketball team, where she is an active team leader. She played in the 2024 Bay State Games Girls Basketball Showcase on the Central team and won the DICK’S Sporting Goods Sportsmanship Award. Akosua started a Bible study club at her school and plays the piano. Outside of school, she is a childcare worker at a local elementary school and volunteers at the Akwabba Free Clinic in Worcester. She hopes to continue playing basketball in college while studying criminal justice with hopes of becoming a lawyer. Priya Bedard is a senior at Medway High School. At school, she is captain of the varsity softball team and plays on the varsity soccer and basketball teams. Priya competed in the 2024 Bay State Games Softball Showcase and was awarded the DICK’s Sporting Goods Sportsmanship Award for the Southeast team. She was selected as her school’s representative to attend the MIAA Leadership Conference. At school, Priya is a photographer for the school newspaper and volunteers for Relay for Life. She is currently completing an internship at the Innovation Center Pathways at Milford Regional Hospital. She volunteers at the Medway food pantry. After graduation, Priya plans to continue her academic and athletic career at the University of Hartford as a member of the softball team. Shannon Gustin is a senior at Rockland High School. She is ranked #11 in her class, sporting a 4.22 GPA through her junior year. Shannon is the Spirit Chair on the student council, which includes planning inclusion pep rallies, dances, spirit weeks and any other school spirit related event hosted at our school that bring us together as one “Bulldog Nation”. At school, she is also a member of the volleyball team, a founding member of her school’s DECA chapter and Vice President of Career Development, is a feature editor and writer for the RHS Veritas newspaper, and a secretary of Key Club. She was a founding member of the Women’s Empowerment Club at her school, which successfully was able to get feminine hygiene products installed in all the girl’s bathrooms at her school. Shannon is a high school sports and prom dress content creator as well. Shannon also competes in figure skating with the Winterland Skating School and has competed in Bay State Games Figure Skating competitions since 2016. Shannon plans on attending a 4-year university to study marketing and journalism to later work in the sports media field after graduation. Keira Manning is a native of Marlborough and attends the Advanced Math & Science Academy, where she plays field hockey and lacrosse. She is captain of her co-op field hockey team with Marlborough High School and is on the MIAA Student Advisory Committee. Within her school community, she is involved in a variety of clubs, including Leaders of Tomorrow, NHS, and Peer Mediation. She is a member of the Principal’s Council and is a Bay State Games Ambassador. Keira played for the Central team in the Bay State Games Field Hockey Showcase for 3 years. Keira is involved in the community through the Marlborough Public Library as a member of the Teen Advisory Board. She has won several leadership awards and attended leadership conferences all around the county, including being one of the four students from Massachusetts to be selected to attend the National Student Leadership Summit in Indianapolis this past summer. Keira plans to continue playing field hockey at Dickinson College after graduation while studying international studies or pre-law with hopes of attending law school. Emilia Maria-Babcock is a senior at Everett High School. She is ranked #6 in her class of 630 students with a 4.76 GPA. She is captain of the varsity basketball and soccer teams and plays softball at Everett High School. She played in the Bay State Games Girls Basketball Showcase for the Metro team twice, winning a silver medal in 2023 and gold in 2024. Emilia is the president of her class, in NHS and Spanish NHS, a student ambassador, and a member of Key Club. She has been presented with a National Women in Sports Leadership Award. When she’s not on the field or court, you can find Emilia playing the violin in the high school orchestra. Emilia is a youth basketball and softball coach and works as a sailing instructor. She hopes to become a physical therapist. Amelia Spencer is a native of Lynn and Winthrop and attends Winthrop High School. She holds a 4.3 GPA through her junior year. She has been president of her class for two years, is president of the student council, and was the sophomore class videographer. She is also a member of student government, debate club, math club, and wellness club. She is an MIAA Student Ambassador, Morgan’s Message Ambassador, and Bay State Games Ambassador. Athletically, she is captain of her school’s ice hockey and softball teams and played in the Bay State Games Girls Ice Hockey Showcase for 3 years, winning the gold medal each time. She is a Learn to Skate instructor, a Special Olympics volunteer, and completed an internship with the North Shore Navigators. Amelia was one of 4 students from Massachusetts to attend the National Student Leadership Summit in Indianapolis this past summer. In college, Amelia will continue to play NCAA Women’s Ice Hockey and will be studying special education and minoring in nutrition. Her dream job is to become an adaptive physical education teacher. For more information on the Future Leaders Scholarship Program, click here. For a list of past recipients and the colleges and universities they've attended, click here .