Many senior athletes have committed to play their sport at the next level. One that has potentially gone overshadowed by other athletes is senior Joe Stoessel, who has committed to play roller hockey at Lindenwood University.
“I chose Lindenwood because they’re a great finance program. I’m going into finance and they have a great internship with all the business people, there’s great connections there and they have a really good campus,” Stoessel said.
Stoessel will have one of his club coaches, who played a big role in his roller hockey journey, there to guide him at Lindenwood.
“The past five years I’ve played for Car Shield, and that coach has kind of guided me towards where I am today and how I’ve gotten there,” Stoessel said. “He’s been a really great coach for the past five years, and I’m glad to have him there at Lindenwood to help me get through that, too.”
Coaching staff played a big role in Stoessel’s decision to choose Lindenwood, and even caused him to reject other schools.
“Maryville called me about six months ago and they were interested in me, but I said no due to their coaching staff and due to past experiences with previous players,” Stoessel said.
The recruitment process took Stoessel multiple steps before he decided Lindenwood was the right fit for him.
“Before I applied, I toured the campus and made sure that I liked it, and then after I did the campus, I applied and then after that, they kept sending me emails and text messages about where my application is at and what status it’s in and then I got a call around 4 p.m.,” Stoessel said.
The recruitment process did add some stress to Stoessel’s college search and even had him debating which school he wanted to attend at the next level.
“I was worrying about getting into college. I wasn’t sure if I was going to get in and my GPA wasn’t the best, but it came down to STLCC and Lindenwood,” Stoessel said. “But once I applied and once I got that money, I felt like a relief just lifted off my shoulders — I was so happy.”
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Stoessel plays both ice and roller, but will have to make a tough decision to leave ice hockey behind.
“Most of my memories with my high school buddies come from ice hockey,” Stoessel said, “so it will be pretty hard.”
Stoessel also had advice for those who plan on going through the recruitment process and find themselves in a similar situation as him.
“Reach out to the coaches as much as possible. Reach out to that staff, and you also want to get in touch with the administrations through that college,” Stoessel said. “Also, visit to show that you’re interested. But not only do that, email and talk to the coaches about how you have grown as both an athlete and student.”
