The annual date of February 6^th is the date that is recognized as National Signing Day. This day is for every athlete in their senior year of high school planning to play a sport at the college level. The intention is to sign to an intended school they are offered to play for in their team’s upcoming season.  This date applies to thousands of student athletes across the country who plan on play the sport they love at the next level. Being given the opportunity to showcase their talents at a higher level, while being able to get an education from the college or university they are attending. The papers you see athlete’s sign on this date are a type of contract to a school, stating that you have committed to play for their institution in your intended sport. With this contract, it’s included with athletic scholarships that are granted to these athletes for their performances, to help cover most and sometimes all the debt that comes with enrolling into a college. To many athletes, this date is one of the most important days of their lives, reshaping their futures and giving opportunity to this young adults.

This year at Dakota High School, a large number of athletes ranging from a number of different sports have decided to commit to continue their passion at the next level. One amazing story that came out of this year’s Signing Day was the unique situation where three players from the Dakota football team all decided to commit to the same school to play football. These athletes where Jerimiah Major, Riley Orlando, and Mark Tocco, which had all declared to continue their academic and athletic careers at Albion College. A situation like this is not seen very often where multiple student athletes are offered from the same school, not to mention all of them committing to the same college. When talking to one of the Albion commits, Riley Orlando, he explained the reasoning for him to decide to commit to Albion. Being described as, “A place I felt the most love from, where you felt wanted.” Riley has a true love for the game of football and it will be exciting to see what he will be able to achieve in his next 4 years. Riley is loving the fact that his teammates have also decided to attend the same college and says, “We’re going to have a ton of fun,” which I don’t think anyone that knows this group of friends would argue. The Dakota community wishes the best of luck to these talented athletes in their adventure to new challenges and their lives after high school.