Miye Kodama's story
Perceptions don't match reality: In the college recruiting world, tangible achievements are less valuable than height
Who is Miye Kodama?
Miye Kodama is a freshman soccer player at Cal State Monterey Bay.
She is a former two-sport athlete at Louisville High School. She was a key cog on the Royals’ basketball team, and the bona fide star of its soccer team; she balanced the demands of those two sports each winter. The atmospheres, she said, of Louisville basketball and soccer, were completely different from one another:
Her roles. Her exposure to multiple coaching mentalities. The techniques required to succeed in each sport. She, sometimes, had to juggle all of that over the course of an afternoon.
They also went hand in hand: A striker in soccer, Miye noticed her pressing and defense improved as she had greater defensive responsibilities in basketball. Sports also brought Miye, a natural introvert, out of her shell. As a senior, she embraced a vocal role on the soccer team, both as its leader and its spokesperson. She was meticulous with her advice to teammates. Concise with her answers when interviewed by the media.
On February 17, 2024, these two worlds that shaped Miye collided, more so coalescing over the course of four hours. The Royals soccer team won the CIF Division 4 semifinals in penalty kicks. A few hours later their basketball team pulled out a three-point victory in the Division 2A semis.
Miye remembers the car ride from Walnut, CA to Encino that afternoon. It was the only time she had to reset. To breathe. She had just slotted the game-winning penalty into the bottom corner to defeat Walnut High School 4-2 in PKs. While her teammates’ days had concluded with that kick, Miye had to refocus her mindset to Louisville’s basketball game against Notre Dame.
“They always play us tough,” she said about Notre Dame, “but I had to put that out of my mind before the soccer game.”
She had successfully come down from the high of soccer, but right when she arrived at basketball, her second set of teammates swarmed her in congratulation.
This was the type of juggling act Miye had to perform time and again. Handling two sports in high school like Miye did actually makes athletes more appealing to college programs.
According to Jared Zeidman’s Nail The Recruiting Process, college coaches prefer multi-sport athletes:
“The more unique coaching experiences you have in middle and high school, the more coachable you’ll go on to be in college,” Zeidman writes. “The more sports you play, the more access you have to different coaches.”
Most athletes, however, don’t play two sports within the same season. Miye did that, excelling in both. Enough, she thought, to earn a Division I soccer scholarship. For student-athletes with her statistics, her accolades, that’s a realistic expectation.
Unfortunately for Miye, none of that matters much in the college recruiting process.
What was unclear about the recruiting process to Miye Kodama?
Miye always felt ahead of the curve, playing up in age on her soccer club, the Northwest Breakers, when she was younger. Her grades never suffered despite her strict sports’ scheduled.
Her experience as a recruit, though, made her feel lightyears behind.
She soon captured the reality of just how many girls were vying for the same, coveted spot she was. She had so few chances, far less than she expected, to convey the type of player and person that she was to college coaches as to separate herself from those competitors. She failed to comprehend that what she accomplished, tangibly, numerically — at the high school level would be mostly disregarded by college coaches and scouts. That in the eyes of a future potential suitor, you’re mostly bogged down to measurements and prototypes.
That is because most high school positions and statistics, according to Zeidman’s research, do not reflect college system fits.
“Coaches,” he writes, “will consult specific stats when applicable but general stats do not account for the quality of your competition. Your stats will not replace the eye test, and you will still need to pass it.”
Miye’s father, Rob, a former head soccer coach for Crespi, always harped on the importance of that eye test. He prepared her for the reality that coaches at the next level would be skeptical that her skill wouldn’t translate because of her height. Miye is 5-foot-3.
“I knew the type of player that I was,” she said, “but I’m not 5’8. I’m not huge.”
She got overlooked at camps, she explained, and had to “prove herself.”
“It can definitely make you doubt yourself as a player.”’
Proving yourself. It’s easier said than done. Not only do your skills have to translate to the collegiate level, but you have to be fit enough to handle the conditioning. Apt enough to balance a class schedule with multiple practices and workouts a day.
And here’s the catch:
College coaches aren’t going to make the trip to watch your games. To see if you are who your stats say you are. It’s up to you, the recruit, to reach out. To advocate. To post film on Hudl and X and send packages to coaches. To stay patient when they meet your countless emails with automated responses, or none at all. To not take the words: “You’re not what we’re looking for,” personal.
Like many student-athletes, Miye didn’t know the extent of the communication process. How much responsibility would be put on her shoulders or that her confidence would be completely torn apart throughout her experience.
She started doubting her own abilities.
“I thought I may not be good enough and that college soccer wasn’t for me,” she says. “I couldn’t take another no; I couldn’t take another non-response.”
She also knew, deep down, that she just needed one shot, one school to buy in.
How did Miye Kodama earn her shot?
Mentors are a vital part of any student-athlete’s recruiting journey. Coaches, older teammates, siblings; a strong network of people who have been through the fire. Miye’s brother had committed to UC Berkeley for baseball the year before and reminded her that he had to stick with it, too. Her parents have been involved in the sports ecosystem for two decades.
Miye’s uncle connected her with Cynthia Cervantes, a former NJCAA women’s soccer coach.
“She gave me a piece of her mind,” Miye said about Cervantes, who’s coached at every level from youth programs to Olympic soccer. Miye leaned on Cervantes for guidance, and the two developed a sturdy relationship.
Like networking in the job world, strong mentors can directly lead to scholarship offers.
“A mentor is always prepared to challenge you with the truth because they trust you are capable of responding to it in a positive way,” Zeidman writes. “Great coaches are great mentors.”
Cervantes was hired at Cal State Monterey Bay. Her “truth” for Miye was that she would fit CSU Monterey Bay’s program. She also felt that the college would fit her needs because a mutual fit is important for both the athlete and college to find success. She advocated for Miye.
Soon, Miye was taking an official visit to CSU Monterey Bay.
How did Miye Kodama make her decision?
Miye’s official visit began with a meal. Then a practice with the team. She was the only prospect there.
“It was a normal day,” she said. “Nobody was trying to be something they’re not.”
That authenticity appealed to Miye. Her parents took her to the nearby aquarium. She saw the school’s campus and dorms. She took time there to discuss her experience with her family. She felt CSU Monterey Bay's head coach, Laura VanWart, was “straight up with her” on where she saw her fitting in.
The next day, Miye received an email with an offer to play college soccer at Cal State Monterey Bay. Her dream had life. Her patience had a reward.
Still, she took the next few weeks to mull over the offer.
“It’s important to consider all your options,” she says.
Miye’s parents accompanied her on the official visit in April. They supported her, but ultimately, this was Miye’s decision — as it should be for every student-athlete. The college recruiting process is an opportunity for student-athletes to develop their decision-making skills, to be given freedom over their future.
“The more you facilitate your recruiting process,” Zeidman writes, “the better your chances of finding the right program.”
Miye eventually signed CSU Monterey Bay’s offer. She committed on May 9th and has begun to prepare for her first season as a collegiate athlete. To do so, she’s focused on her conditioning and health because she says that’s what the program emphasizes. They administer a multitude of fitness tests.
What is Miye Kodama’s advice?
Miye’s recruiting process started with an idea that did not match the end result. She had every right to think she could represent a D-I soccer program. The reality, though, is that most college athletes end up at the non-scholarship level, according to Zeidman’s research.
That was the case for Miye.
Yes, her college career is starting at CSU Monterey Bay, but, your start, she says, doesn’t define where you finish. It’s the shot she needed to prove herself. To show that she can pass the eye test. That her skills will translate against greater competition.
She wants future recruits to know they “just got to keep with it.” “Stay patient. Everyone’s path, timing, is completely different.”