Come back every Tuesday for Recruiting Horror Stories™, athletes' first-hand stories on what can go wrong during the recruiting process.

Maddie Machado was an excellent softball player throughout high school…but she was planning to attend Sacred Heart University and not play softball. That is, until an exceptionally good game the summer before college, when a coach walked up to Maddie and asked her where she was going to school. Maddie answered her, and the coach asked if she was playing softball. Maddie said no, and before she knew it, she was connected to the Sacred Heart coach and had a spot on the team as a walk-on.

Related: Rate Sacred Heart University

However, after her freshman year, Maddie realized DI was not a good fit for her, so she decided to look elsewhere. She had many DIII offers from before college, so she decided to exercise those options. She narrowed her options down to Wheaton College and Salve Regina University. 

Maddie and her showcase team were heading down to Virginia for the National tournament, and she found out Salve was going to be at the tournament, too. At this point, Maddie set her mind on playing for Salve and was communicating frequently with the coach. The second day of Nationals, Maddie was playing the game of her life and Salve was there to see. 

Related: Rate Salve Regina University

But two innings in, she went to track a fly foul ball but was about to collide with her outfiler. To avoid the collision, Maddie broke off from the play and the ball dropped. The next thing she knew, she was on the ground in a lot of pain. She had stepped on the ball while breaking off from the play and broke her ankle. 

After returning from Virginia, she followed up with the coach from Salve. The coach informed her that she had a very full list of recruits and she had not seen enough of Maddie's game to offer her a position but added that Maddie was more than welcome to try out in spite of her injury. In the end, Maddie gave up her position on a DI team for the opportunity to play at a DIII school that she was more than qualified to play for once her ankle healed, and she found herself having to walk on once again.

The key takeaway here is that your recruiting process doesn't always go according to plan, and you have to be willing to adjust. Learning to roll with the punches will make you a better athlete, even if it means you have to walk on not once, but twice.

Have a horror story of your own? Email us at [email protected]

* Originally published on July 5, 2022, by Madison Machado