Signing Day at Los Alamitos High School

With Super Bowl Sunday around the corner, it’s easy to forget where the journey begins for those star athletes whose mere autographs are worth so much. On Thursday, however, Los Alamitos High School’s future college stars signed their most important autographs to date at a signing ceremony to commit to the college where they will continue their athletic careers.

Fourteen athletes had their names and university of choice displayed around the ceremony room. Colorful posters and balloons were the only glamour of the small multi-purpose room. Each athlete sported the colors of his or her future school. It was a small and private affair, and the first major moment in the athletic careers of these talented 14.

Assistant Principal Melissa Miller opened up the signing ceremony, stressing how proud she was of the Los Alamitos seniors as they head off into their promising futures.

“This was a very big decision for the students. Many of our athletes had several offers and they had to decide what was the best fit athletically and academically,” Miller explained.

So far, Los Alamitos High School has had 26 athletes sign to several nationally acclaimed athletic programs. Among them are: Terrence Brown who will be playing football for Northwestern University, a top ten school for football; Kyle Roberts who will be playing football for Sacramento State; Callie Taylor who will be playing soccer for University of Cincinnati; and Nikki Pokipala who will be playing soccer for the University of Tulsa.

All of these student-athletes are heading to different regions of the nation to participate in very different sports. One athlete, Aya Takahara, signed for a sport that was not even offered at Los Alamitos: crew. Takahara will be rowing at the University of California, San Diego, a sport she joined by chance a couple years ago and fell in love with due to the unison and spirit in the sport.

Halley Humphrey, had very specific reasons for choosing to play softball at Indiana State.

“I chose Indiana State to be really, really, really, far from California,” she said.

The high school coaches took turns to share a few words and hand the microphone off to the student-athletes who were able to introduce themselves, their school of choice, why they chose their schools, and their motivation throughout high school.

“Los Alamitos is definitely above the average when it comes to sports,” said Assistant Principal Miller. “We are very honored as a school. They are all great athletes, and they will be attending amazing schools.”

Twelve athletes were recognized early November. Fourteen were honored this Thursday. The next signing season will be in April.

Here is a partial list of some of the Los Alamitos High School athlete's college committments so far:

1. Dominique Banks, Soccer, Boise State
2. Terrance Brown, Football, Northwestern
3. Connor Campbell, Golf, Loyola Marymount
4. Natalie Donaldson, Soccer, Auburn University
5. Halley Humphrey, Softball, Indiana State
6. Corri Hunt, Volleyball, University of Central Arkansas
7. Dylan Lagarde, Football, Bryant University
8. Cody Paul, Football, Chadron State Nebraska
9. Nikki Pokipala, Soccer, University of Tulsa
10. Kyle Roberts, Football, Sacramento State
11. Lindsey Salcido, Soccer, University of Nevada-Reno
12. Aya Takahara, Crew, UC San Diego
13. Callie Taylor, Soccer, University of Cincinnati