Sports play a huge role in the lives of many high school students, but not all of them are fortunate enough to continue playing their sport when they get to college. For Joe Hilliard ’15, however, his dream of playing college football became a reality on February 4 when he signed up to play on Siena Heights University’s football team later this fall.
Before Joe officially agreed to become a student at Siena Heights, he considered quite a few other schools. “I had to decide between Northwood, Findlay, Ashland, and Toledo, but when I visited Siena Heights in December, I immediately felt at home,” Joe said.
Joe has been dreaming of playing college football since he was in seventh grade, and when he first met up with Jim Lyall, the head football coach at Siena Heights, he couldn’t help but feel hopeful that the meeting would lead to something more. “I originally met Coach Lyall when I was in tenth grade. I really didn’t end up hearing from them again until halfway through this past season. About two or three weeks after I visited their school, I was offered by Coach Lyall to come play football for him and I committed a day before I signed up,” Joe shared.
It took Joe a long time to realize what he wanted to do after graduating from high school, but he was very relieved once he finally made his decision. “It was stressful these last couple of months trying to figure out where I wanted to go, but once I decided and committed, I was very emotional and happy to accomplish one of my goals I set six years ago,” Joe said.
Joe was surrounded by friends and family when he finally signed all of his paperwork on February 4, and the entire room was filled with happiness and joy. Mr. Mackenzie took to Twitter shortly after everything was made official to share the good news with Titan Nation. “Congratulations Joe Hilliard on signing his National Letter of Intent to play football at Siena Heights University,” Mr. Mackenzie tweeted. Later, Joe also shared his content on Twitter. “I’m pleased and blessed to announce that I will be attending Siena Heights University in the fall,” Joe tweeted.
Joe was so excited about his future that he also tweeted some words of wisdom for others who have high aspirations – “Set your dreams big! If your dream is not bigger than you, there is a problem with your dream!” Congratulations Joe, and good luck with all of your future endeavors!
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