There may be no harder time for a first-year collegiate player to be able to break through and become an actual impact player right away than in today’s current environment.
Given the past year-and-a-half, everyone’s training and match schedules were thrown completely out of whack, which might emphasize even more the disparity in the speed of the game from the prep level to Division 1.
Then there is the matter of the transfer portal remaining open and allowing many players the opportunity to conclude their careers appropriately with additional eligibility to make up for time lost due to the pandemic.
Still, there are eager freshman players who will find it too hard to sit back and wait their turn and will be pushing for major minutes early on. Some have already kicked off the process in full, and we take a look at some freshmen who are already impacting their clubs and who could be poised for big seasons ahead.
