Latest / The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast / #108: Gill1918 Presents Sydnee Walker “My Path to NCAA D1 & Beyond” Powered by Coach O

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#108: Gill1918 Presents Sydnee Walker “My Path to NCAA D1 & Beyond” Powered by Coach O · The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast

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  Welcome to the Gill 1918 Project, a podcast series by
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  coaches for coaches, powered by Gill Athletics.
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  Think of it as the Ted Talks of track and field coaching.
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  Short, insightful, and packed with valuable strategies to help
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  you grow as a coach. This episode is part of the
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  Youth and Beginner Series, brought to you by Coach O.
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  In this series, we focus on topics relating to coaching
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  youth athletes, coaching beginner athletes of any age,
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  and supporting brand new coaches as they find their way.
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  With that in mind, let's grow. Hello everyone, my name is
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  Sydney Walker. I'm a former D1 athlete.
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  I threw hammer and weight at the University of Oregon.
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  Today I'll walk through my athletic experience from high
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  school to college, including being a All American to
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  international travel with NSAF in Cuba, the recruiting process,
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  and more. In high school I competed
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  primarily and throwing events. I did shop putting discus for my
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  high school team, but my main events were the weight and
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  hammer throw. I did that through a throwing
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  club called Throw 1 Deep in Marietta, GA, the two time all
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  American and a four time Junior Olympic National Champion.
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  While I did compete for my high school, my club teammate, my
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  train schedule more rigorous than most high school programs,
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  The majority of my time was spent with my club team, which
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  included almost daily practice, lifting sessions and frequent
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  meats. So that's something that I
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  wanted to point out for any parents who might be listening.
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  If you want your kids to take that next level, I highly
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  recommend joining a club team that will kind of mimic a
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  college schedule because you're doing Olympic weightlifting,
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  which is what you'll do in college, and then you're having
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  practice similar to the college schedule, and also you're doing
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  throwing meats on a weekly schedule as well.
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  Club team practice included structured lifts, technical
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  throwing sessions, and preparation for upcoming
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  competitions. We did have some home meets and
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  we also traveled across the country and we had nationals
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  each year, indoor nationals in New York at the end of winter,
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  and we also had outdoor nationals in June.
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  And an exciting thing was during my junior year, I traveled to
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  Cuba. Whether the National Scholastic
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  Athletics Foundation or NSAF, this was a huge goal that I was
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  working toward. Every year at New Balance Indoor
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  Nationals, they would select the top 2 performers to go on the
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  international trip. In the past, they had different
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  countries, but the year I was up for it, it was in Cuba.
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  So that was one of my main goals and I ended up getting that.
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  In 2016, I went to Cuba with 27 other athletes and that was one
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  of the best experience ever. I made lifelong friends and
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  whenever we can chat or see each other in person, we do.
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  So that was just a great experience and that was my first
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  time going to Cuba. That was actually the first time
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  they opened it up, reopened it to American, so we got to go
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  over there and I've always wanted to be fluent in Spanish,
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  so I got to practice my Spanish with the locals and it's really
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  just a great experience being immersed in the Spanish culture,
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  competing internationally. It was just such an amazing
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  experience being there with NSAF, all the other top US
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  athletes, meeting them, competing with other, competing
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  against the Spanish athletes. I just really enjoyed it.
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  We got to compete internationally, which meant
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  adapting to different environments, facilities and
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  competition formats while also managing the travel logistics
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  and schedules for that week. So this was a very different
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  experience compared to the typical high school.
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  That was an incredible experience and I'm so grateful
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  for NSAF. They have opened the doors for
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  so many high school athletes over the years.
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  The recruiting process begins the summer after your sophomore
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  year, going into your junior year, and it's a little bit
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  different than other sports. So for something like football
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  or basketball, you're going to be sending in your highlight
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  tapes. Well, for throwing, you don't do
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  that. The best way to get noticed as a
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  thrower is to get exposure at key meets.
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  That's the primary way that you get attention from college
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  coaches. So you want to perform well at
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  these high level meets. So national championships like I
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  mentioned, indoor nationals, outdoor nationals, Junior
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  Olympics, or other major meets that provides the necessary
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  visibility for recruitment. I ended up going to the
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  University of Oregon and my coach noticed me at a national
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  meet that I went to in Sacramento, and being on the
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  West Coast, I was able to get noticed there.
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  So you definitely want to make sure, if you're able to, that
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  you can get to these various meets across the country or
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  definitely in the region of the school that you want to go to
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  and get noticed there. High school achievements
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  definitely help. So all American honors, national
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  championships and international experience like NSAF contribute
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  to recognition. So when they're looking around
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  to see who has these honors, where are they?
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  Are they with the club team? That definitely helps.
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  It's extremely valuable because it demonstrates consistent
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  training, technical development, and preparation for higher level
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  competition. Because when you're going into
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  college, everyone will have the same credentials.
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  So whatever you can do to make yourself stand out will help.
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  Each program will have different evaluation timelines and
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  criteria, of course, so it's just important for you to see
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  what they value and how you can best display yourself as you're
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  going through the process. Diving into my time at the
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  University of Oregon, like I said in the beginning, I was on
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  the track and field team as a hammer and weight thrower from
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  2017 to 2021. Just to give you a look at my
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  schedule, college training is very rigorous and involves
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  multiple daily practices, strength and conditioning, and
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  competition year round. So look at my schedule.
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  We would have daily weights from 6:00 to 8:00 AM and I always
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  took morning classes, so I would have classes from 8:30 to about
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  noon. And then my position group, so
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  the hammer throwers, we would have practice from 1:00 to 3:00
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  PM and then I would have treatment or anything else I
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  needed to do from three to about 5:00.
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  And then I did extracurriculars in the evening.
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  So me being in the journalism school, any student clubs or
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  anything I was on the board for, I would have that in the
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  evening. And then of course, when it's
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  competition time, whenever we're traveling, we could either leave
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  as early as a Wednesday or as late as Friday, depending on if
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  it's by plane or bus. So you're doing that year round.
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  Indoor season starts in January and you could be competing as
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  late as June depending on if you qualify for national
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  championship. During my time at Oregon, I
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  became number seven all time in the top 10 for the weight throw.
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  I also set the freshman record for the weight throw and I earn
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  PAC 12 academic honorable mention.
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  I went to a small private school my whole life and like I
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  mentioned, I was doing club throws.
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  So I was really used to that college schedule of missing
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  classes to travel. I had a harder academic schedule
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  being at a small private school. So when it came to being at
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  Oregon, I was already used to the rigorous schedule of missing
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  classes traveling. So when I got to Oregon,
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  actually my freshman year, I was able to take upper level classes
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  because I was already used to the education.
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  So that worked out great being in those harder classes back in
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  high school. And I was already used to that
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  schedule of OK, letting my professors know I'm missing
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  class, catching up and all that. So that was great.
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  So if any parents are listening, just something to keep in mind
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  if your kid is worried about the overload in high school, it will
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  all work out in the end. They'll actually be ahead of the
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  game when they get to college. Each stage of an athletic career
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  comes with different expectations and challenges.
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  High school athletes should focus on building consistency,
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  technical skill, and exposure to high level competition.
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  For throwers, participating in the club team provides
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  additional practice, lifting and competitions beyond what most
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  high school programs offer, helping athletes develop faster
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  and get used to that college schedule.
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  When it comes to recruitment, the most important factor is
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  visibility. Like I mentioned earlier, attend
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  meets where college coaches are present, perform consistently,
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  and seek out competitions that attract attention.
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  If you're on a club team, you'll most likely be going to these
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  meets already. In college, athletes need to be
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  prepared for a more structured environment.
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  Looking back, my track experiences really highlight why
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  it's so important to start building discipline, focus, and
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  consistency in high school. Those years are where you learn
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  how to push yourself, set goals, and manage your time, skills
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  that carry over into college. Once you get to college, the
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  training is more structured and the expectations are higher, but
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  having that foundation already in place makes it so much easier
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  to adjust and continue improving.
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  It really shows that the effort you put in early doesn't just
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  pay off immediately, it sets the stage for long term growth both
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  on and off the track. Since I wrapped up my collegiate
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  career, I'll share what I've been up to post grad.
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  I started my career in social media and marketing at Turner
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  Sports, now TNT Sports, working on the NBAMOBNHL and NCAA
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  properties. After that, I was working in
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  marketing at a startup and now I work part time for Bleacher
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  Report on the social media team for the BRW Sports property,
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  which is 100% dedicated to women's sports.
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  Outside of that, I have my own business called The
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  Collaborative, which I started in 2020.
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  It is focused on connecting seasoned veterans and the sports
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  and entertainment industry with aspiring journalists and PR
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  professionals via virtual in person fireside chats.
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  Since 2020, we've had 60 plus guests ranging from ESP NS
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  Marcus Spears, Ryan Clark and Laura Rutledge to NB CS Maria
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  Taylor to New Orleans Saints Cameron Jordan to MLB Hall of
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  Famer John Smoltz to several play by play announcers,
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  broadcasters, sports executives and more.
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  It's a great opportunity for students, young professionals,
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  entrepreneurs, those looking to network, and others to hear from
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  those in the industry, network, hear shared experiences, gain
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  insights and more. And we're focused on bridging
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  the educational gap between what you learn in school and actually
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  getting hands on experience. So far, in person events, we've
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  partnered with the NBANFL, Overtime Elite, Atlanta Braves,
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  and more to host in person career development
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  opportunities, giving these people real hands on
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  opportunities to get in front of employees.
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  Networking events, they're able to see that these careers exist.
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  We host our virtual sessions once a month on Zoom for 30
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  minutes. So if anyone's interested in
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  being a guest, you can reach out or if you know any students who
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  would like to participate, please let me know.
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  We also host our in person events in Atlanta once a month.
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  So also we are looking for anyone who wants to sponsor
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  happy hour. You can also reach out at The
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  Collaborative x@gmail.com and we're also on Instagram,
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  Twitter, LinkedIn, on YouTube at The Collaborative LLC.
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  So if anyone wants to chat about being a guest, a sponsor or how
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  your students, university or your network and get involved
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  again, where for students, young professionals, entrepreneurs,
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  anyone in sports, entertainment or sports adjacent.
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  I would love to stay connected. Hey gang, Mike Cunningham here.
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  Thanks for joining us for this episode in the Youth and
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  beginner series Powered by Coach O Powered by Coach O is more
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  than a platform. It's a movement to benefit track
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  and field by supporting coaches, athletes, parents, officials and
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  event directors and countless ways.
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  Find out more and get yourself plugged in to the Powered by
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  Coach O by visiting coacho.com today.