Every high school athlete can agree on one big thing. Playing or competing after high school is the number one goal. Whether it be for a JuCo or a four-year university, high school athletes want the thing that only a few can accomplish; to become a collegiate athlete. According to the NCAA, National Signing Day has traditionally been the first day that a high school senior can sign a binding National Letter of Intent for a collegiate sport with a school that is a Division II member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States.
At EHS, two senior athletes are ready to participate in this honorable tradition. Grant Pebbles and Carson Campbell are signing their names to their future colleges of choice to continue their long-time sports careers.
Grant Pebbles
Grant Pebbles, a varsity baseball player, is excited about signing day, “I have worked to become a college athlete, since I was little my dream was always to play college sports and continue playing baseball.”
When he was three, he started playing, “My parents started me out playing t-ball. I remember hitting my first home run past the center fielder and running around the bases before the ball came to home plate. It felt amazing, and after I got Dairy Queen with my team.”
After T-ball, Pebbles played club baseball with the same T-ball team. The coach stayed the same, “Coach Blackford was a family friend. His son Henry and I were friends growing up. Blackford was a very encouraging coach with a good knowledge of baseball.”
That start gave him the skills he needed to continue into high school.
His plan includes Sierra College in California, “I get a nearly full scholarship. It will help me not go into student debt or pay back loans.”
On the Sierra Wolverines, he will pitch and play outfield. The other bonus to going to college in California? “Most of my family lives near the college and it will be a good support system,” Pebbles said.
Carson Campbell
One of Pebbles teammates growing up was Senior Carson Campbell.
Campbell is also excited about signing day, “I can’t wait to be able to contribute to a program chasing championships.”
Campbell comes from a family steeped in football, “My dad, played Division 1 football in Idaho and went on to coach high school football for decades. He taught me a lot of important life lessons on the field and off the field that I keep with me today, including discipline and consistency are more important than motivation.”
He started playing flag football at five years old and moved up to tackle when he was in the 6th grade. “Tackle football can discourage people at a young age, so my dad wanted me to develop in a more controlled environment to enhance my skills before moving up.”
In high school, Campbell started playing football at Englewood as a freshman, “I played quarterback and sat behind senior quarterback Gunner Johnson for my first year. I then took on the role of starting quarterback in my sophomore year.”
For the next few years, to prepare in between seasons, Campbell went to different camps and prospect evaluations to prepare for each season and gain exposure in front of college coaches, “I had gone up to Colorado, Colorado State, Northern Colorado, Washington State, TCU, SMU, and many prospect evaluations hosted by Playmakers Corner and Prep RedZone.”
Friendship Over The Years
Pebbles and Campbell have been friends and on the same team since their younger years, “We met for the first time on the same flag football team in first grade,” Campbell said. Together, they have been on 14 total teams between football and baseball, each going in their own direction as they got older, “Football didn’t fit for me and baseball didn’t fit for him,” Pebbles said.
Both came to EHS with an agreed plan to push their skills beyond high school, ” Our dream before coming to Englewood was to sign somewhere. That was the main plan,” Pebbles said. Campbell added, “The goal was to come here and be really good at sports. To do something special here.”
