Pali held its National Signing Day Ceremony in the big gym at lunch on Tuesday, Feb. 13.
Across the United States, more than 48,000 aspiring college athletes committed to the college of their choice on National Signing Day. At Pali, 11 senior athletes delivered speeches and, if available, signed their binding letters of intent to colleges during a ceremony honoring their achievements.
The ceremony was led by assistant principal Dr. Chris Lee, and parents, siblings and friends of athletes came to watch them commit.
Athletes who committed during the ceremony are as follows: Axel Greve (lacrosse), John Iacono (baseball), Kyra Morris (soccer), Erica Hamilton (soccer), Sawyer Ramberg (soccer), Mason Binder (baseball), Emily Von Goetz (beach volleyball), Taylor Gair (water polo), Bronwyn Hoffman (gymnastics), Jaden Williams (football) and Madeline Terry (rowing).
Ramberg said she has played soccer since she was three years old and decided to continue playing soccer in college because of that longtime commitment.
“It’s a really good emotional outlet for me,” Ramberg said. “It keeps me happy.”
Ramberg said she did not initially want to go to a small liberal arts college like Oberlin College Oberlin, Ohio) but changed her mind after touring the campus.
“After meeting the team and being on campus with them, I really saw myself being happy there,” she said.
“The small college had a really good sense of community,” Ramberg added. “That made it super appealing to me. I didn’t feel like that at all at any other big state school.”
Another Pali athlete, Hamilton, signed her commitment to play soccer at Macalester College (St. Paul, Minn.) during the ceremony.
Unlike Ramberg, Hamilton has wanted to attend a liberal arts school since the beginning of her college application process and planned to play division three. However, she said she struggled to find a division three liberal arts school close enough to a city as she wanted.
“All the liberal arts schools I visited were in the middle of nowhere…I wanted to be in a city, not a farm,” she said.
Hamilton said her parents, one of whom is a professional athlete, encouraged her to play soccer when she was five years old.
“My dad played college and professional basketball,” Hamilton said. “I always thought that he wanted me to play basketball, but my parents told me that they didn’t care what sport I chose as long as I loved it.
“They put me into a lot of sports, and after trial and error, I found soccer,” she added.
Hamilton was unable to try out for Pali’s soccer team her freshman year because of COVID-19; however, she made the team her sophomore year and has enjoyed playing soccer for Pali since. In addition, she plays for a club team, Santa Monica Surf, and has traveled to Arizona, Nevada, Washington and Florida for tournaments.
Between the Pali and club teams, Hamilton said she has dedicated a lot of her time to soccer.
“I would miss birthday parties and school and hangouts because I played on a travel team,” she said.
However, Hamilton said that, “getting into Macalester has made it all worth it.”
“Playing soccer at Pali was one of the best experiences of my life,” Hamilton said. “I made lifelong friends and memories I will cherish forever. I’m so glad I get to go off to college and continue to play the game I love, but in my heart I will always be a dolphin.”
