Each year, HISD showcases the talent and skills of students across its many athletic programs and honors them for their hard work and success.

This year was no exception as the HISD Athletics Department hosted its annual National Signing Day ceremony on Wednesday, Feb. 1, to celebrate students district wide signing their letters of intent to compete at the collegiate level.

“What we do here in HISD is bring all our athletes together and we celebrate them,” said Athletics Director Andre’ Walker. “We get a chance to show our appreciation for their time and their talent that they provided for us.”

158 students from 18 high schools gathered inside Delmar Fieldhouse with an abundance of support from family, coaches, school staff and HISD Superintendent Millard House II.

“Congratulations on this accomplishment,” said House. “I look forward to seeing you all flourish academically and athletically in your next chapter. The most important thing that you can do as apart of signing that letter is to go get that degree.”

According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, National Signing Day is the first day of a two-month period when students can legally sign a letter of intent to play sports for colleges or universities.

Traditionally, National Signing Day is reserved for football athletes, but HISD showcases both female and male athletes from all sports completing their letters of intent with colleges and universities.

“From the get-go, I’ve been dreaming of playing soccer in college,” said Bellaire High School Senior and University of Louisiana-Lafayette commit, Annelise Switzer. “Today officially makes my dream a reality!”

The ceremony featured special guests including keynote speaker and founder of K12 Sports Tech, Abby Emmerson, who was welcomed on stage by Furr High School Senior and Rice University commit, Christopher Clark. 

“I’d like to challenge you to do something that I struggled to do,” said Emerson. “I’d like you to think about what you want to get out of the next four years and bet on yourself. Bet on yourself now. Enjoy the amazing ride ahead of you and grab hold of that steering wheel today.”

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